Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Allelopathic Potential of Fifteen Common Malaysian Weeds

The use of allelopathy concept in weed management has received attentions to minimize extensively the reliance on herbicide applications on the agriculture industry in Malaysia. A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the allelopathic potential of 15 Malaysian common weed species of different morphological characteristics (broadleaves, sedges and grasses). They were screened using the Sandwich method (from leaf litter leachate) and the Dish pack method (for testing the presence and content of volatile compounds in weeds). Among the 15 weed species tested, the leaf litter leachate of Centrosema pubescens was observed to be the most sensitive plant material inhibiting the growth of lettuce radicle (84%) and hypocotyl (55%) in the Sandwich bioassay compared to the control. This was followed by Asystasia gangentica (81%) and Cynodon dactylon (80%) inhibiting the lettuce radicle growth. In the Dish pack bioassay, Rhynchelytrum repens demonstrated maximum inhibition on the radicle and hypocotyl elongations by 44% and 29%, respectively, (over control) at 41 mm distance from the source well. Meanwhile, at the same distance, Cynodon dactylon was observed to have the least inhibitory effect on lettuce radicle growth by 12%. The results presented can be utilized as benchmark information for further research on the identification and isolation of allelochemicals for weed control strategies.
Macroeconomic factors and stock returns: Evidence from Taiwan

Increasing attention is being paid to the relationship between share prices and the macroeconomic variables by both economists and finance specialists. In the present-day scenario, where there is an increasing integration of the financial markets and implementation of various stock market reforms, the activities in the stock markets and their relationships with the macro economy have assumed significant importance. Economic agents use information in forming their expectations of future returns from holding stock securities. This study is an attempt to examine for Taiwan the casual relationship between index returns and certain crucial macroeconomic variable namely employment rate, exchange rate, GDP, Inflation and money supply. The analysis is based on stock portfolios rather than single stocks. In portfolio construction, four criteria are used: Market capitalization, price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio), PBR and yield. The purpose was to make a finer point with respect to the relationship between economic growth and stock market especially in terms of stock prices. Empirical findings revealed that exchange rate and GDP seem to affect returns of all portfolios, while inflation rate, exchange rate, and money supply were having negative relationship with returns for portfolios of big and medium companies.
Player-reported Impediments to Game-based Learning

This article addresses the question of how games function as learning tools, from the perspective of player-stated problems. It is based on interviews and essays, collected from university students who reported problems dealing with unrealistic levels of trust and competitive play leading to searching for the logic in the game as an artifact instead of considering decision alternatives which would work in real-world situations. According to the respondents, the main cause of problems appears to be that for many participants, games are framed as an activity that is to be done competitively. Along with reporting the impediments, the article discusses potential solutions.
REALIZATION THEORY AS A TOOL OF STABILITY ANALYSIS FOR KINETIC SYSTEMS

The theory of reaction kinetic networks provides powerful theorems about the stability of such systems. It is known however,that differentreactionkineticsystems, called realizations, may induce the same differential equations. Since the applicability of stability theorems of chemical reaction network theory depend on the realization structure, for a given dynamics, these theorems might be usable or not depending on the actual realization. In this article we point out that in some cases it may be necessary to determine all possible realizations of the same kinetic system to find one for which an appropriate stability theorem can be applied. Furthermore, we provide an algorithm for the effective calculation of the realizations. We demonstrate the results on simple examples.
Optimal Surrender Policy for Variable Annuity Guarantees

This paper proposes a technique to derive the optimal surrender strategy for a variable annuity (VA) as a function of the underlying fund value. This approach is based on splitting the value of the VA into a European part and an early exercise premium following the work of Kim and Yu (1996) and Carr et al. (1992). The technique is first applied to the simplest VA with GMAB (path-independent benefits) and is then shown to be possibly generalized to the case when benefits are path-dependent. Fees are paid continuously as a fixed percentage of the fund value. Our approach is useful to investigate the impact of path-dependent benefits on surrender incentives.
Safety Culture Research in a Finnish Large-scale Industrial Park

Safety culture ontology has been constructed, consisting of 17 features and 51 statements. The statements specify an aspect of one or more features. Employees of the organisations estimate the truthvalue of the statement in regard to their own organisation at that point in time. The employees also specify how they wish the situation represented by that statement to be in the future. Responses are collected via an Internet-based questionnaire. Ten different organisations were studied in the large-scale industrial park at Harjavalta, Finland. This research covers all the major companies within the area with 794 employees as potential respondents. We obtained 407 responses and the response rate was 51.3 %. From the responses, we have defined a collective understanding of each organisation’s safety culture. Together, the answers provide an insight into the state of the safety culture of the whole area. The safety cultures of the various organisations have also been compared with each other and with the culture of the industrial park as a whole.
The effect of information systems on the supply chain sustainability using DEMATEL method

Stakeholder pressure from investors, shareholders, customers and nonprofits to push sustainability into the supply chain has significantly increased in recent years. Information systems are also one the inseparable parts of any company and organization. The relationship between this two has not been investigated in any research; in this paper we analyzed the effect of the information systems on the supply chain sustainability and Mobarakeh Steel Company was selected as the case study. Data was obtained through professional interviews with 32 experts and top managers of this company and then was analyzed by using DEMATEL method. Results showed that E-business, E-commerce and JIT are the most effective information systems on the supply chain sustainability and economical and environmental factors are the most affectable factors of the sustainable supply chain.
The relation between parent and adolescent depression and family interaction processes: The role of emotion context insensitivity

The Emotion Context Insensitivity Hypothesis suggests that depressed individuals show diminished emotional reactivity to positive and negative stimuli. This hypothesis served as a basis for understanding how family dynamics relate to depression. Family process and physiological mechanisms of depression were examined across two family interactions. Individuals with high depression were expected to show greater disengagement across the interactions compared to non-depressed individuals. Based on the conceptualization of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as a marker of individual differences in emotional flexibility, individuals with low baseline RSA were expected to show greater disengagement. Findings showed that for teens, high depression increased the likelihood of responding to parental anger with their own anger, thus decreasing the interaction quality during conflictual discussions. For parents, high depression symptoms decreased the likelihood of responding to teen positive affect with their own positive affect. High parental baseline RSA increased the quality of the interaction during conflictual discussions.
Hydrodynamics and Partitioning of Selected Heavy Metals in Surface and Subsurface Soil

The transport of cadmiu m (Cd), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) in acid rain leachate, through porous surface soil and subsurface soils were investigated in colu mn experiment. The granullo metric and geotechnical properties of the different soil horizons were determined using the American Society fo r Testing and Materials (ASTM ) methods. The physico-chemical propert ies and heavy metal concentrations were determined using standard methods. Surface and subsurface soil horizons, in replica of the profile pit dimension measured at Ilupeju village study site, were packed in 8 x 120 cm polypropylene plastic material. About 250 ml of contaminant solutions containing 100 mg l -1 each of Cd, Pb, Ni and Zn were leached by saturating the column with simu lated acid rain until leachates were collected fro m each soil horizon outlets. The leachates were digested using standard methods and the levels of Cd, Pb, Ni and Zn were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentrations of Cd, Pb, Ni and Zn in the acid rain leachates of soils collected at the end of the top soil colu mn were: 18.40±2.57, 0.5±0.12, 7.43±2.19 and 23.02±4.09 mg l -1 respectively. Significant (p<0.05) levels of Cd, Ni and Zn were attenuated in the fourth soil horizon, with leachate concentration decreasing from 9.60±1.58 to 1.03±0.45; 6.66±2.15 to 0.69±0.37 and 11.80±2.26 to 2.60±0.97 mg l -1 respectively, in leachates collected at the column end of the fifth horizon, while Pb concentrations was less than 0.10 mg l -1 . The surface and subsurface soil colu mn down to the fourth horizon demonstrated high metal sequestration capacity, hence there may be significant reduction or cessation in the transport of heavy metals to the deeper subsurface soil.
Territory and innovation behaviour in agri-food firms: does rurality matter?

Innovation behaviour of agri-food firms depends on firm structure but also on the characteristics of the territory in which they are established. Spatial considerations are important to determine the propensity of a firm to innovate. Using a database of innovative and non-innovative agro-food firms located in the Autonomous Community of Valencia, the paper assesses the effect of firms’ variables and also the territorial features such as urban/rural areas, percentage of native population, education level of population and distance to technological institutes. Results show that rural areas are not a handicap for innovation but improved access to training services and technological institutes have a significant influence in innovation.
Enzyme-Mediated Ring-Opening Polymerization of Pentadecalactone to Obtain Biodegradable Polymer for Fabrication of Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

The optimization of enzyme-mediated polymerization of pentadecalactone (PDL) was performed to obtain macromolecular products suitable for generation of 3D cell supports (scaffolds) for bone tissue engineering. Such parameters as temperature, monomer/enzyme ratio, and monomer concentration were studied. The maximum molecular weight of synthesized polymers was about 90,000. Methods allowing the introduction of reactive double bonds into polypentadecalactone (polyPDL) structure were developed. The macroporous matrices were obtained by modification of thermoinduced phase separation method.
Design of the Microsatellite Attitude Control System Using the MixedH

Due to the space missions limited budget, small satellite cluster or constellation would be an economical choice. From risksharing viewpoint, a number of smaller satellites have a significant reliability advantage over a bigger one. Generally, one satellite is subject to two types of uncertainties: structured uncertainty that represents some satellite parameter variation and the unstructured uncertainty that represents some kind of the satellite model error. On the other hand, the Satellite Attitude Control (SAC) design becomes more vulnerable to uncertainty disturbances like model error and moment-of-inertia variation as the satellite has great decrease in size andweight.This is the case for amicrosatellitewithmass less than 100 kgwhere theACSperformance and robustness become very sensitive to both kinds of uncertainties. As a result, the design of the SAC has to deal with both types of uncertainties which is associated with the drawback between controller performance and robustness. The purpose of this work is to model a microsatellite taking into account the uncertainties and to perform the Control System Design based on the mixed H 2 /H ∞ methodology via LMI optimization.
Suicide attempts: A contingency analysis Tentativas de suicídio: uma análise de contingências

The aim of this study was to understand, from the perspective of behavioral analysis, the possible antecedents and consequences of a suicide attempt for the individual responsible, using reports from patients that were hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital located in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, due to their suicide attempts. Three patients that attempted suicide in 2010 took part in this study. Semi-structured interviews were performed, which included questions about the attempt, its antecedents and consequences, and the life history of the patient. Functional analysis showed the presence of risk factors for suicide, as well as reinforcing consequences for the individuals, such as social care only being available after the attempts. Uniterms: Functional analysis; Risk factors for suicide; Suicide attempt.
Local and regional spatial distribution of an eruptive and a latent herbivore insect species

In this work, we investigated the spatial distribution of two sessile insect herbivores over the entire range of their host plant, Coccoloba cereifera, a sclerophyllous shrub endemic to Serra do Cipo, Brazil. The two insects have very distinct life histories and dispersal behaviours and we hypothesized that their classification into behavioural syndromes could be used to predict their spatial distribution patterns. Abgrallaspis cyanophylli (Homoptera) is an armoured scale insect that fits well into the eruptive syndrome. Stenapion aff. contrarium (Coleoptera) is a petiole borer with wide search capabilities, which fits into the latent syndrome. We expected that Abgrallaspis would follow the host plant aggregation pattern whereas Stenapion would be distributed more uniformly through the region and be less affected by host aggregation. We counted the number of attacked and non-attacked ramets within two perpendicular belt transects as well as within a 20 m � 20 m quadrat placed over a dense shrub aggregation. Local quadrat covariance methods were used to estimate the spatial pattern of each insect. At fine scales, we found Stenapion evenly distributed over the host plant and Abgrallaspis with a significantly aggregated pattern. This finding is in accordance with our hypothesis. At larger scales, however, this pattern was lost and the results were largely variable. We conclude that the classification of insects into behavioural syndromes may be useful to predict distribution patterns at fine scales. At larger scales, however, history and chance events may be more important.
Molecular Genetic Approaches to the Neuropharmacology of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor

This article describes the integration of neurobiological and molecular genetic approaches in the study of the function of the neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). CRF is a particularly relevant subject for targeted genetic mutation because of its hypothesized critical role in hormonal and behavioral responses to stressors, its potential role in psychopathology, and the limited neuropharmacological agents available to increase or decrease function in this system. We review the strategy of targeted genetic mutation in neuropharmacology using research directed at understanding the function of CRF and related neuropeptides through molecular genetic manipulation of the levels of the endogenous agonist, its different receptors, and the binding protein. Genetically engineered approaches to functional analysis cross-validate experiments to promote the neurobiological elucidation of complex systems and provide critical information about constituent differences that contribute to individual differences in brain function.
The Brain Behavior of Adolescents With Conduct Problems

A review of the empirical research on the brain behaviors of adolescents with conduct problems. Current understanding of the long term effects delinquent behavior has on the individual and implications for early diagnosis and prevention. Historical ang current publications of this research are cited. ·The· general conclusion of this review was,· early diagnosis is possibleanc1 prevention of worsening of symptoms can reduce the social, psychological, and physical impact of these behaviors. ;
A COMPUTATIONAL STRATEGY FOR TRAJECTORY OPTIMIZATION OF UNDERACTUATED MULTIBODY SYSTEMS WITH CONTACTS

In this paper we propose a strategy for improving the computational efficiency of direct methods for trajectory optimization of multibody systems. We particularly focus on those applications where the system necessarily has to interact with the surrounding environment through intermittent contacts. The problem is hereby formulated such that just the initial and final states of the system over a given time interval are prescribed, so as to let the solver automatically synthesize the best contact sequence to accomplish the considered task. The proposed computational strategy consists in: (i) solving a preliminary optimization problem that roughly approximates the original one, but differs from it by one or more conveniently chosen parameters and is faster to solve; (ii) using the obtained solution as an initial guess for the actual (fullfledged) optimal control problem. The performance of the method is evaluated in a simulated planar system, whose peculiarity is to be trivially underactuated. An extensive investigation is presented which shows how a proper choice of the parameters in the preliminary optimization can lead to a significant reduction in the computational effort required to solve the problem. The results we present assess both the validity and the robustness of the proposed method.
Transformer Based 15 Level MLI for PVCELL Applications

This study presents a novel topology for multilevel inverters so called cascaded transformer inverter (CTRSI). This topology consists of one DC source and several single-phase transformers. Each single-phase transformers generates three levels with four semiconductor switches and only two switches for all transformers alter the direction of single DC source.Whereas each single-phase transformers in conventional cascaded transformer multilevel inverter includes more switches. Hence, CTRSI has the advantage of a reduced number of components compared with conventional cascaded transformer multilevel inverter. Simulation results carried out by MATLAB/SIMULINK.The results show that the proposed inverter topology is able to reach high-quality output voltages. THD of output voltage is verified using FFT analsysis tool Keywords: multilevel inverter; transformer; three phase; PWM
Water quality status of Lake Pichhola, Udaipur, Rajasthan

The study has been carried out to investigate the impact of organic loadings on water quality in relation to fish and fisheries of Lake Pichhola. The physico-chemical parameters of water have been studied at two locations for a period of four months from February, 2010 to May, 2010. On the basis of physico-chemical characteristics, Lake Pichhola is nutrient rich, alkaline and hard water body. The water quality indicated the suitability of Lake Pichhola for fishery purpose. The orthophosphate is recorded in very high amount (0.05-1.25 mg/l) which already crossed the critical level. The lake Pichhola with high EC and TDS could be considered eutrophic. The water quality of Lake Pichhola is highly polluted. Attempt has been made to relate water quality with the observed waste water discharge in this lake. The overall results from the present investigation indicate that this water body is rapidly under going through process of eutrophication advancement. Therefore, suitable restoration programme should be initiated for the sustained use of this lake, as the lake attracts thousands of tourists from domestic and international level every year.
Job satisfaction of employees of public and private organizations in Bangladesh

This study examined the level of job satisfaction among the employees ofprivate and public organizations in Bangladesh. Data have been collected randomly from 40employees of Gaibandha District in Bangladesh through a structured questionnairein January to February, 2010. Among the respondents 50% is government employee while 50% is non-government employee. Brayfield and Rothe (1951) method was used to determine the job satisfaction of the employees. Likert scale was used for measuring the attitude of the employees on their job. This research revealed that there was no significant difference between the job satisfaction of government and non-government employees. The study suggests that an effective policy on recruitment, job security, service rules, promotional opportunities, regular payments, retirements’ benefits should be made by the government to improve the job satisfaction and attitude of employees in both government and non-government employees.
KAYNAŞTIRMA UYGULAMALARININ TARİHSEL SÜRECİ VE TÜRKİYE’DE UYGULANAN KAYNAŞTIRMA MODELLERİ

Ozel gereksinimli ve normal gelisim gosteren ogrencilerin genel egitim okullarinda ve siniflarinda birlikte egitim almalari anlamina gelen kaynastirma uygulamalari 1960’li yillardan baslayarak bircok ulkede kabul gormus ve uygulanmistir. 1970’li yillarda Amerika Birlesik Devletleri’nde baslatilan kaynastirma uygulamalari zaman icerisinde yayginlasarak pek cok ulkenin egitim politikasinin temelini olusturmaya baslamistir. Turkiye’de kaynastirma uygulamasi 1983 yilinda cikarilan 2916 sayili “Ozel Egitime Muhtac Cocuklar Kanunu” ile baslatilmis, 1997’de cikarilan 573 sayili “Ozel Egitim Hakkinda Kanun Hukmunde Kararname” ve buna dayali olarak 2000 yilinda yururluge giren “Ozel Egitim Hizmetleri Yonetmeligi” ile yaygin olarak uygulanmaya baslanmistir. Bu calismada alanyazin taramasi yapilarak kaynastirma uygulamalarinin tarihsel sureci ve kaynastirma modellerine iliskin bilgiler aciklanmaya calisilmistir. Ulkemizde kaynastirma yoluyla egitimin, tam zamanli kaynastirma, yari zamanli kaynastirma ve tersine kaynastirma olmak uzere uc farkli modelde uygulandigi gorulmektedir. Ancak Turkiye’deki kaynastirma yoluyla egitim uygulamalarinin buyuk bir kismi tam zamanli kaynastirma uygulamasi seklinde yapilmaktadir. Bu calismanin amaci kaynastirma uygulamalarinin tarihsel surec icerisinde dunyada ve Turkiye’de nasil gelistigini ortaya koymak ve ulkemizde uygulanan kaynastirma modellerini aciklamaktir.