Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of light and nutrients on the vertical distribution of marine phytoplankton groups in the deep chlorophyll maximum

Ecological traits of phytoplankton are being incorporated into models to better understand the dynamics of marine ecosystems and to predict their response to global change. We have compared the distribution of major phytoplankton groups in two different systems: in surface waters of the NW Mediterranean during key ecological periods, and in the DCM (deep chlorophyll maximum) formed in summer in the temperate NE Atlantic. This comparison disentangled the influence of light and nutrients on the relative position of diatoms, dinoflagellates, prymnesiophytes, pelagophytes, chlorophytes, Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus in these environments. Three clusters formed according to their affinity for nutrients: diatoms, chlorophytes and dinoflagellates as the most eutrophic groups; Synechococcus , pelagophytes and prymnesiophytes as mesotrophic groups; and Prochlorococcus as an oligotrophic group. In terms of irradiance, the phytoplankton groups did not cluster clearly. Comparing the nutrient and light preferences of the groups with their distribution in the DCM, dinoflagellates and chlorophytes appear as the most stressed, i.e. their position was most distant from their optimal light and nutrient conditions. Diatoms stayed in deeper than optimal irradiance layers, probably to meet their high nutrient requirements. On the opposite side, low nutrient requirements allowed Prochlorococcus to remain in the uppermost part of the DCM layer. The slight sub-optimal position of Synechococcus and prymnesiophytes with regard to their nutrient requirements suggests that their need for high irradiance plays a significant role in their location within the DCM. Finally, pelagophytes remained in deep layers without an apparent need for the high nutrient concentrations at those depths.
First-Timers and Late-Bloomers: Youth—Adult Unionization Differences in a Cohort of the U.S. Labor Force

The authors analyze youth-adult unionization differences by using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) to follow a single group of individuals from age 15/16 to 40/41. They find that the differences between youth and adults are greatest at ages 15 to 17 and largely disappear by age 23. Though currently unionized workers are most likely to be in their forties or fifties, the authors find that younger workers have a greater opportunity or are more inclined to be unionized than adults and that many individuals report having had a unionized job by the age of 25. The authors also find that whereas the stock of unionized workers is largest at middle age, the flow of workers into unionized jobs is greatest between the ages of 16 and 25.
The relative impact of baryons and cluster shape on weak lensing mass estimates of galaxy clusters

Weak gravitational lensing depends on the integrated mass along the line of sight. Baryons contribute to the mass distribution of galaxy clusters and the resulting mass estimates from lensing analysis. We use the cosmo-OWLS suite of hydrodynamic simulations to investigate the impact of baryonic processes on the bias and scatter of weak lensing mass estimates of clusters. These estimates are obtained by fitting NFW profiles to mock data using MCMC techniques. In particular, we examine the difference in estimates between dark matter-only runs and those including various prescriptions for baryonic physics. We find no significant difference in the mass bias when baryonic physics is included, though the overall mass estimates are suppressed when feedback from AGN is included. For lowest-mass systems for which a reliable mass can be obtained ($M_{200} \approx 2 \times 10^{14}$ $M_{\odot}$), we find a bias of $\approx -10$ per cent. The magnitude of the bias tends to decrease for higher mass clusters, consistent with no bias for the most massive clusters which have masses comparable to those found in the CLASH and HFF samples. For the lowest mass clusters, the mass bias is particularly sensitive to the fit radii and the limits placed on the concentration prior, rendering reliable mass estimates difficult. The scatter in mass estimates between the dark matter-only and the various baryonic runs is less than between different projections of individual clusters, highlighting the importance of triaxiality.
A Study on the Factors Influencing Chinese Consumers' Purchase Intention on Volkswagen Automobiles - Focusing on Country-Of-Origin Image and Corporate Image

With the fast economic development, China has been the largest automobiles market in the world since 2009. China has been the most important market for global automobiles enterprises in the past years. Germany Volkswagen brand has been enjoying the top popularity in Chinese market and China has been the largest market for Volkswagen automobiles.This study used an empirical way to examine the factors impacting Chinese customers purchase intentions on Volkswagen automobiles including country-of-origin image and corporate image based on the TRA theory. The findings indicated that the positive Germany country-of-origin image and positive corporate image of Volkswagen automobiles both devoted to a positive brand attitude from Chinese customers. Meanwhile, once Chinese customers have positive brand attitude to Volkswagen automobiles, they will have strong purchase intentions.
Narcissism and altruism among undergraduate business and religion majors

Research has suggested links between narcissism, unethical behavior, and undergraduate business majors. It has been theorized that altruism has a negative relationship with narcissism and research has suggested that religiosity is linked to disapproval of the unethical. Based on this information, the current study hypothesized that business majors would score higher on narcissism than religion majors, measured as selfism using the Phares and Erskine Selfism Test. The current study also hypothesized that religion majors would score higher on altruism than business majors, measured by Johnson's Self-Report Altruism Scale. Forty-one male and 27 female undergraduates majoring in either business or religion participated in the study. Results revealed that business majors did score higher on narcissism measured as selfism, though religion majors did not score higher on altruism.
Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya

Palenque, known as the queen of Maya cities, fell into ruin when Mayan civilization suffered a mysterious collapse over a millennium ago. Here, father-and-son team George and David Stuart lead the reader on a journey with pioneer artists and archaeologists from the 18th century on as they rediscovered Palenque and attempted to document the city's graceful and ornate palaces, temples, bas-reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions. The Stuarts portray a lost world of palace intrigue, of war and peace, of brilliant architects and sculptors, of patron gods and revered ancestors, and of a city teeming with craftsmen, traders and farmers. Today Palenque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a place of new reverence and relevance for millions of modern Maya, archaeologists and all those fascinated by the history of the Maya.
Social support of older people in Australia and Japan

Comparable networks surveys identified the informal relationships which provide social support to older people in urban Japan, provincial Japan, and urban Australia. Spouses, daughters, and sons were major providers of expressive support in all areas. Older Australians had more expressive support from friends while older Japanese had more instrumental support from daughters-in-law. The gender of the older people and their close ties were highly significant in all areas. The many similarities in the social support patterns contrast sharply with East and West differences in cultural prescripts and living arrangements. In these two advanced countries with long life expectancies and high living standards, older people’s interpersonal relationships may be converging on the basis of selective affection and choice, rather than obligation, with individuals in and beyond the household and family.
Conversion of upland to paddy field specifically alters the community structure of archaeal ammonia oxidizers in an acid soil

The function of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) depends on the major energy-generating compounds (i.e., ammonia and oxygen). The diversification of AOA and AOB communities along ecological gradients of substrate availability in a complex environment have been much debated but rarely tested. In this study, two ecosystems of maize and rice crops under different fertilization regimes were selected to investigate the community diversification of soil AOA and AOB upon conversion of an upland field to a paddy field and long-term field fertilization in an acid soil. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction of ammonia monooxygenase ( amoA ) genes demonstrated that the abundance of AOA was significantly stimulated after conversion of upland to paddy soils for more than 100 yr, whereas a slight decline in AOB numbers was observed. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprints of amoA genes further revealed remarkable changes in the community compositions of AOA after conversion of aerobic upland to flooded paddy field. Sequencing analysis revealed that upland soil was dominated by AOA within the soil group 1.1b lineage, whereas the marine group 1.1a-associated lineage predominated in AOA communities in paddy soils. Irrespective of whether the soil was upland or paddy soil, long-term field fertilization led to increased abundance of amoA genes in AOA and AOB compared with control treatments (no fertilization), whereas archaeal amoA gene abundances outnumbered their bacterial counterparts in all samples. Phylogenetic analyses of amoA genes showed that Nitrosospira cluster-3-like AOB dominated bacterial ammonia oxidizers in both paddy and upland soils, regardless of fertilization treatment. The results of this study suggest that the marine group 1.1a-associated AOA will be better adapted to the flooded paddy field than AOA ecotypes of the soil group 1.1b lineage, and indicate that long-term flooding is the dominant selective force driving the community diversification of AOA populations in the acid soil tested.
HYBRID PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION, GRID SEARCH METHOD AND UNIVARIATE METHOD TO OPTIMALLY DESIGN STEEL FRAME STRUCTURES

This paper combines particle swarm optimization, grid search method and univariate method as a general optimization approach for any type of problems emphasizing on optimum design of steel frame structures. The new algorithm is denoted as the GSU-PSO. This method attempts to decrease the search space and only searches the space near the optimum point. To achieve this aim, the whole search space is divided into a series of grids by applying the grid search method. By using a method derived from the univariate method, the variables of the best particle change values. Finally, by considering an interval adjustment to the variables and generating particles randomly in new intervals, the particle swarm optimization allows us to swiftly find the optimum solution. This method causes converge to the optimum solution more rapidly and with less number of analyses involved. The proposed GSU-PSO algorithm is tested on several steel frames from the literature. The algorithm is implemented by interfacing MATLAB mathematical software and SAP2000 structural analysis code. The results indicated that this method has a higher convergence speed towards the optimal solution compared to the conventional and some well-known meta-heuristic algorithms. In comparison to the PSO algorithm, the proposed method required around 45% of the total number of analyses recorded and improved marginally the accuracy of solutions.
Relative importance of dissolved versus trophic bioaccumulation of copper in marine copepods

In order to evaluate the relative contribution of water and food to the accumulation of copper in herbivorous marine zooplankton, the accumulation and loss rates of Cu in coastal copepods (Acartia sp. and Temora sp.) were measured and applied to a kinetic bioaccumulation model. Experiments were performed to measure stable Cu uptake from the dissolved phase in field-collected copepods acclimated for 2 to 3 d to a low Cu diet. The copepods were exposed to a range of free-Cu ion concentrations ([Cu 2+ ] = 10 -14.8 M, 10 -12.8 M, 10 -9.8 M), but a significant Cu accumulation rate was only observed in copepods exposed to 10 -9.8 M Cu 2+ . Based on the Cu uptake rate measured at 10 -9.8 M Cu 2+ , a free ion-specific uptake rate constant of dissolved Cu of 1.1 x 10 4 1 g -1 d -1 was estimated. Efflux rate constants of Cu in copepods estimated from depuration experiments were 0.056 ± 0.016 and 0.076 ± 0.012 d -1 in laboratory-fed and unacclimated copepods, respectively. Application of these Cu uptake and efflux parameters, and those for Cu trophic transfer from previous studies, to a kinetic bioaccumulation model shows that food is the dominant source of Cu (> 75 % of total accumulation) at free-Cu ion concentrations ranging from 10 -14.8 to 10 -11.8 M. At free-Cu concentrations ≥ 10 -11.8 M, dissolved uptake becomes a significant portion (> 20%) of total Cu accumulation accounting for almost 60% of the total Cu in copepods at 10 -9.8 M Cu 2+ . These results suggest that herbivorous marine zooplankton accumulate Cu mainly by trophic transfer, but that dissolved uptake could be important in contaminated waters.
The utility of level of service inventory - revised (LSI-R) assessments within NSW Correctional environments

offenders’ risks and needs with regard to recidivism. That is, the LSI-R seeks to classify an offender’s risk of re-offending as well as to identify their particular criminogenic needs. While the LSI-R itself has been extensively validated internationally its use within the NSW correctional environment remains relatively unsubstantiated due to methodological limitations of previous research. The current study sought to rectify limitations of previous studies and to provide a sound statistical evaluation of the instrument’s psychometric properties with a sample of NSW custody-based offenders whose sentences were equal to or shorter than two years. In addition to evaluating the instrument’s psychometric properties differences due to gender and Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) status were also examined. The results revealed an encouraging pattern of discrimination with proportionally more recidivists in the high risk categories and proportionally more non-recidivists in the lower risk categories. An examination of offenders’ criminogenic needs profiles revealed that the LSI-R did not meaningfully discriminate between males and females or between non-ATSI and ATSI offenders. While the instrument’s predictive utility was acceptable with the majority of offenders, point estimates were notably lower with ATSI females. These findings are consistent with international research and provide empirical justification for the application of the LSI-R to specific populations. Corrective Services NSW Corporate Research, Evaluation and Statistics
Medicinal plants effectiveness against helminths of cattle

Objective : A study was carried out to determine the antiheminthic properties of three medicinal plants namely Gongronema latifolium (Utazi), Piper guineense (Uziza) and Ocimum gratissimum (Scent leaf) on cattle faeces obtained from two (2) abattoirs in Owerri Zone of Imo State, Nigeria. Methodology and Results : Representative faeces samples were treated with ethanolic extracts of the medicinal plants stored in concentrations of 25%, 50%, 75% and the system maintained at time schedules of 2h, 4h and 8h. Control tests were also set up consisting of no extracts. Results obtained show that all the helminthes were susceptible but differed on times taken to achieve maximum mortality (measured by distortion/paralysis of helminths). At 25% concentration, the highest and lowest mortality rates of 80% against Trophozoites of Giardlia lamblia was by P. guineese at the time of 4hr, and 50% (each of ova of Taenia saginata & trophozoites of G. lamblia) by G. latifolium after optimum time of exposure respectively. There was however no significant difference in the mortality rates observed at this concentration level of the different extracts (P < 0.05 = 10.260). At 50% concentration, O.gratissimum recorded 100% mortality after optimum time of exposure against each of ova of Taenia saginata & trophozoites of G. lamblia , while Faciola gigantic, Ascaris lumbricoides and Schistosama spp received 70% mortality by both G. latifolium and O. gratissimum . There was a significant difference in the mortality rates at this concentration level of the different extracts (P < 0.05 = 11.444). Finally, at 75% concentration, P. guineese effected 100% mortality after the shortest time of exposure (4hr) on Ascaris, Faciola and Giardia. There was no significant difference in the mortality rates at 75% concentration of the different extracts (P < 0.05 = 5.443). Similarly, results of the study carried out to determine the phytochemical properties of the medicinal plants revealed that out of the six properties tested for, only terpenoids was absent in O. gratissimum , but it contained other components. P. guineense and G. latifolium had all the six phytochemicals present. Conclusion and application of results : This method of helminthiasis control/eradication is cheap and easy to practice and could be adopted to replace conventional use of anti-helminthic drugs because of recent development of resistance of the helminthes to these drugs. The formulation of the plant extract regimen could be carried out without much technical know-how and the use of highly sophisticated equipments. Consequently, rural dwellers could access this nascent method of eradication of helminthiasis with little training/orientation. Key Words : Antihelminthic, Phytochemical, Gongronema latifolium, Piper guineense, Ocimum gratissimum , Cattle, Owerri.
Determinants of Dividend Policy: A Panel Data Analysis for Turkish Listed Firms

Dividend policy of firms is one of the most controversial issues of theoretical finance. This paper aims to investigate the firm-level factors influencing the dividend decisions of firms from an emerging market. We examined eight-year panel data for the period from 2006 to 2013 from the Turkish stock market (Borsa Istanbul). The results show that financial leverage, size, growth rate, age, profitability, ownership structure and P/E ratio are statistically significant. The relationship of leverage, growth rate, profitability and family control with dividends is negative, whereas the relationship of size, age and P/E ratio is positive. Therefore, firms with higher debt ratios/growth rates/higher earnings are likely to retain more of their earnings. The empirical evidence from the Turkish stock market shows that the maturity hypothesis proposed by Grullon, Michaely and Swaminathan (2002) best explains the dividend behaviors of firms. Accordingly, as a firm matures, the availability of profitable projects reduces and earnings decrease. As the investment opportunities reduce, the need for resources decreases and the firm increases dividend payouts to shareholders.
Analysis of Interfacial Cracking in Flip Chip Packages With Viscoplastic Solder Deformation

This paper examines the modeling of viscoplastic solder behavior in the vicinity of interfacial cracking for flip chip semiconductor packages. Of particular interest is the relationship between viscoplastic deformation in the solder bumps and any possible interface cracking between the epoxy underfill layer and the silicon die. A 3-D finite element code, developed specifically for the study of interfacial fracture problems, was modified to study how viscoplastic solder material properties would affect fracture parameters such as strain energy release rate and phase angle for nearby interfacial cracks. Simplified twolayer periodic symmetry models were developed to investigate these interactions. Comparison of flip chip results using different solder material models showed that viscoplastic models yielded lower stress and fracture parameters than time independent elastic-plastic simulations. It was also found that adding second level attachment greatly increases the magnitude of the solder strain and fracture parameters. As expected, the viscoplastic and temperature dependent elastic-plastic results exhibited greater similarity to each other than results based solely on linear elastic properties. DOI: 10.1115/1.1649242"
Learning for teaching town planning: a new approach

Enhance the creative capacity of students to intervene over the city requires new learning medodologies implemented in the workshop that improve significantly the capacity of critical reasoning of the students, thus increasing their skills to be able to resolve certain problems that may occur in the discipline of town planning that they'll have to face up in the future. Evaluate their results should allow, at the same time, enhance such initiatives and learning techniques
NOVEL SIMULATION TECHNIQUE EMPLOYED ON THE 1998 PAPUA NEW GUINEA TSUNAMI P. WATTS

Researchers have postulated that the 1998 Papua New Guinea (PNG) tsunami may have been generated by a submarine mass movement. Indeed a candidate event has been located during marine surveys. Attempts to simulate the tsunami with new bathymetric data have generally been able to reproduce the observed longshore distribution of runup but not the measured tsunami amplitude. A novel simulation technique reproduces all gross features of the PNG tsunami by: 1) considering the local geology and soil mechanics, 2) estimating the slump dimensions, 3) calculating the center of mass motion, 4) simulating tsunami generation with full fluid dynamic field equations, and 5) propagating tsunami waves with a depth averaged code. Preliminary simulations showed that slump deformation is 10-40 times less important than slump center of mass motion for such an event. The soil mechanics of slump failure informed an analysis of slump center of mass motion specific to this event. The marine geology is
Vision and distance integrated sensor (Kinect) for an autonomous robot

This work presents an application of the Microsoft Kinect camera for an autonomous mobile robot. In order to drive autonomously one main issue is the ability to recognize signalling panels positioned overhead. The Kinect camera can be applied in this task due to its double integrated sensor, namely vision and distance. The vision sensor is used to perceive the signalling panel, while the distance sensor is applied as a segmentation filter, by eliminating pixels by their depth in the object’s background. The approach adopted to perceive the symbol from the signalling panel consists in: a) applying the depth image filter from the Kinect camera; b) applying Morphological Operators to segment the image; c) a classification is carried out with an Artificial Neural Network and a simple Multilayer Perceptron network that can correctly classify the image. This work explores the Kinect camera depth sensor and hence this filter avoids heavy computational algorithms to search for the correct location of the signalling panels. It simplifies the next tasks of image segmentation and classification. A mobile autonomous robot using this camera was used to recognize the signalling panels on a competition track of the Portuguese Robotics Open.