Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors regulating the recruitment of cyanobacterial and eukaryotic phytoplankton from littoral and profundal sediments

Many phytoplankton species produce resting cysts, forming 'seed banks' on lake sediments until they germinate and provide inocula (recruitment) for future pelagic populations. We have addressed the question of whether the littoral or the profundal zone provides the inoculum for planktonic populations in a eutrophic and dimictic lake (Lake Erken, Sweden). Our hypotheses were that high temperature, light, and sediment mixing would enhance recruitment. Also, we hypothesized that recruitment from littoral sediments would be greater than from profundal sediments. In situ recruitment traps were utilized to compare littoral and profundal recruitment, while laboratory experiments were performed to analyze which factors were most important. Seven common taxa were investigated: Asterionella formosa (Bacillariophyceae), Ceratium hirundinella (Dinophyceae), Microcystis botrys, M. wesenbergii, Anabaena sp. , A. solitaria, and A. lemmermannii (Cyanobacteria). Our main findings were that light and sediment mixing were the most important factors in triggering and enhancing recruitment in the laboratory. Temperature and sediment origin (littoral/profundal) had a significant effect on recruitment only for A. lemmermannii and C. hirundinella, respectively. The field experiments showed that recruitment at the littoral site was much higher than at the profundal site, where little or no recruitment occurred. Together, these results strongly suggest that littoral sediments in temperate lakes provide inocula for most phytoplankton populations, likely due to favorable light conditions and high sediment mixing.
P o S ( N L S 1 ) 0 0 6 The Narrow-Line Region of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies

We have studied the physical properties of a sample of narrow -line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies, and present a summary of our previous results, and new result s. In particular, we have previously shown that (1) the locus of NLS1 galaxies on the M BH-σ[OIII ] plane does follow the relation of non-active galaxies after removing objects obviously do minated by outflows as evidenced by their [OIII] core blueshifts. We have (2) identified a number of so-called ’blu e outliers’ with large outflow velocities revealed by their emission-line ki nematic shifts. We also (3) present new correlations and trends which link black hole mass, Eddingt o ratio and physical parameters of the emission-line regions.
Stock Price Returns of Manufacturing Companies in India in Post M&A Period

Mergers and acquisitions are those corporate growth strategies which are taken by the companies to position their business in top among their competitors. As a part of business strategy, these are those investment decisions which contribute various economic/financial or non-economic /non-financial advantages to the shareholders, customers and employees related to the firm. Business combinations through mergers or acquisitions, helps the companies to use their complementary physical and human resources that make use of their competence and brings competitive advantage of the company among the rest of companies. In the changing face of competitive business environment, companies in India and around the world are using this M&A as growth strategy. This paper investigates the stock price performance of manufacturing companies in India. For the purpose, one year before and one year after M&A is taken to analyse performance and know immediate impact of M&A. Performance is also analysed using average of two year before and after M&A. It is found that in majority of cases (56%, i.e. 67 out of 139), the companies have shown positive return in terms of market price in both one year as well as two year after M&A.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF STRAY FINDS FOR STUDYING EVERYDAY PRACTICES – THE EXAMPLE OF STONE AXES

The following article gives an overview of the stone shaft-hole axes dated to the Neolithic and Bronze Age which have been gathered randomly from the area of present-day Estonia. While the group of artefacts under discussion forms a big part of the material culture of the respective periods, special attention is paid to the analysis of possible deposition contexts of the stray finds in order to get closer to the settlement, economy and social relations of the time. The main purpose of the article is to interpret the last find place of the axes as a possible settlement, burial place, offering site or the place of secondary deposition. The probable motives behind the activities that led to the deposition are suggested. Next to the contexts of the Stone and Bronze Age, attention is also paid to the belief in “thunderbolts”. As widely accepted, stone shaft-hole axes have also been considered “thunderbolts” in Europe, Asia, Africa and America during the Middle and Modern Ages. Arguments are given to date the beginning of the belief in Estonia. On kasitletud Eesti alalt kindla leiukontekstita kogutud neoliitikumi ja pronksiajaga dateeritud varreauguga kivikirveid. Kuna antud esemeruhm kujutab endast suurt osa vastavate perioodide sailinud materiaalsest kultuurist, on erilist tahelepanu pooratud juhuleidude voimalike ladestamiskontekstide analuusimisele, et sedakaudu jouda lahemale konealuste ajajarkude asustuspildile, majandusviisile ja sotsiaalsetele suhetele. Artikli peamiseks eesmargiks on juhuslikult leitud kirveste viimase leiukoha tolgendamine asulakoha, kalme, ohverdamiskoha voi sekundaarse depositsiooni paigana. On pustitatud oletusi viimasele ladestamisele eelnenud voi sellega kaasnenud tegevuste kohta. Kiviaegsete kontekstide korval on tahelepanu pooratud rahvaparimusest tuntud usule kivikirvestest kui “piksenooltest”, esitades argumente selle laial alal levinud uskumuse dateerimiseks Eesti territooriumil.
Is the grass really fairer on the other side? Migration and Inequality in Canada

This paper examines inequality within Canadian provinces and its effect on bilateral migration flows between 1981 and 2012. Through the availability of a large amount of data, a fixed-effect OLS model is applied to isolate this effect. Inequality in the province of origin is a significant driver of outward migration, once standards of living and labour market conditions are controlled for (through the inclusion of GDP per Capita or HDI and the unemployment rate). Relative inequality between provinces appears to be an insignificant determinant of net migration flows. The configurations of fixed effects also effectively deal with possible problems in the form of multilateral resistance to migration.
Assessment of power reliability and improvement potential by using smart reclosers

This paper presents the use of smart reclosers for improving reliability of a distribution system of one of the major cities of Ethiopia. As frequent power interruptions are posing a huge problem to the life of the people and the economy, finding a solution to the problem is very essential. Electric reliability has affected social well being, public health, water supply, communication service, and economic growth in the country. This study presents the assessment result of the power distribution reliability for the city and the possibility of using smart reclosers for improving the urgent and pressing power interruption problem. The smart reclosers are key elements for fault detection, isolation and restoration.The WindMilsoftware has been used to verify the improvement of the reliability indices for the distribution system. The simulation result of the designed model with three reclosers in each feeder and tie-recloser between connected nearby feeders shows that the application of smart reclosers improves the reliability of the distribution network by 75% in comparison with the reliability of currently existing system. Keywords: Power Reliability, Power distribution system, Smart grid, WindMil.
Toughening of Wood-plastic Composites Based on Silane/Peroxide Macro Crosslink Poly(propylene) Systems

The toughening of wood-plastic composites (WPC) based on silane/ peroxide macro crosslink poly(propylene) (PP) systems was studied. A 23 experimental design was adopted to initially optimize three parameters: silane, wood flour, and talc contents of the WPC formulation. The WPCs were manufactured on a co-rotation twin screw extruder. Test specimens were prepared via injection molding. The WPC compounding formula with 8 phr of silane, 35 phr of wood flour, and 20 phr of talc was used to study the effect of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) as a toughener. The impact strength was improved up to a 10-phr UHMWPE loading. The flexural properties and heat distortion temperature (HDT) slightly decreased. When exceeding 10 phr of UHMWPE, the unmelted UHMWPE agglomerated and the mechanical properties were inferior. The fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion was enhanced by the sauna treatment. A marginal increase in the fracture toughness was observed. The impact strengths increased with the addition of ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM) as a rubber toughener. However, high EPDM contents caused a decrease in the HDT. The sauna incubation of the EPDM-toughened WPC enhanced the impact strengths. The EPDM effectiveness was determined by the better PP matrix toughness and UHMWPE/PP interfacial adhesion.
A quantitative study of proton irradiation and UV photolysis of benzene in interstellar environments

Benzene is an essential intermediate in the formation pathways of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and carbon dust. Therefore, it is important to understand the interplay of formation and destruction in order to assess the lifetime of benzene in space. We performed UV photolysis and proton (0.8 MeV) bombardment experiments on benzene (C6H6) isolated in inert argon matrices and in oxygen-rich solid mixtures in the laboratory. The destruction of benzene in different chemical environments was measured for both methods of energetic processing. Additionally, we quantitatively determined the absorbed photon fraction in the sample layers when exposed to our UV lamp with actinometry. This enabled us to derive destruction cross sections for benzene for both UV photolysis and proton bombardment allowing us to compare these two ways of energetic processing. The laboratory data were extrapolated to different interstellar environments and we found that benzene is efficiently destroyed in diffuse interstellar clouds, but could survive dense cloud environments longer than the average lifetime of the cloud. Benzene is likely to survive in the dense parts of circumstellar envelopes around carbon-rich AGB stars but only in a very finite region where UV photons are attenuated.
Morphological and anatomical response of Acacia ehrenbergiana Hayne and Acacia tortilis (Forssk) Haynes subspp. raddiana seedlings to induced water stress

The response of Acacia ehrenbergiana Hayne and Acacia tortilis (Forssk) Haynes subspp. raddiana seedlings to 100, 50 and 25% field capacity (FC) watering regimes was studied to determine their morphological and anatomical behaviour. Both species responded morphologically as well as anatomically to water stress. Water stress caused significant (P=0.05) decrease in relative water content, leaf number and area and leaf water potential, chlorophyll content, and stem height and diameter. Seedlings of both species responded to water stress by the development of longer roots. Vessel segment length, radial diameter, tangential diameter, wall thickness and density were significantly (P=0.05) affected by water stress at 25 and 50% FC. It can be concluded that both species can adapt well under dry conditions. Keywords: Anatomical deviations, drought, morphological response, root elongation
Regional convergence in Finnish provinces and subregions, 1960-94

This paper analyses regional productivity convergence in Finland using two different data sets. Firstly, absolute and conditional convergence was estimated in the 12 Finnish provinces during 1960-94. Convergence was found to be strong in 1960-80, but after 1980 regional disparities started to grow again. Secondly, similar study was made for the 88 small-scale subregions in 1988-94. In addition, the subregions' relative growth performance and cross-sectional convergence dynamics were evaluated using Markov chain transition matrices. No clear evidence of (beta- or sigma-) convergence was found here, but the dynamic analysis revealed an evolving regional distribution of productivity and noticeable potential for convergence. Thus the regional classification and the method used can markedly affect the results obtained in a convergence study.
Hybrid silicon slotted photonic crystal waveguides: how does third order nonlinear performance scale with slow light?

We investigate in this paper the influence of slow light on the balance between the Kerr and two-photon absorption (TPA) processes in silicon slotted hybrid nonlinear waveguides. Three typical silicon photonic waveguide geometries are studied to estimate the influence of the light slow-down factor on the mode field overlap with the silicon region, as well as on the complex effective nonlinear susceptibility. It is found that slotted photonic crystal modes tend to focalize in their hollow core with increasing group index (nG) values. Considering a hybrid integration of nonlinear polymers in such slotted waveguides, a relative decrease of the TPA process by more factor of 2 is predicted from nG=10 to nG=50. As a whole, this work shows that the relative influence of TPA decreases for slotted waveguides operating in the slow light regime, making them a suitable platform for third-order nonlinear optics.
C-Beam Induces More Chromosomal Damage In Chemo-Radio-Resistant Cells Than 16 O-Beam

The major challenge to eradicate cancer is the development of resistance to chemoand/or radio-therapy. Recent studies indicate that particle radiation or high-LET (linear energy transfer) radiation kills cancer cells more effectively than low-LET gammaor X-rays, potentially by inducing complex chromosomal aberrations (CAs). However, the efficacy of inducing chromosomal damage by various high-LET radiations has not been well-studied, specifically in cells resistant to both chemotherapeutic drug as well as ionizing radiation. To address the issue, we exposed a chemo-radio-resistant cell strain M5, which is derived from Chinese hamster lung fibroblast V79 cells, to 12Cand 16O-beams using a Pelletron accelerator. Aberration frequencies were scored at two different post-irradiation times (24 h and 48 h) using Giemsa staining technique. A linear dose-dependent increase in CAs was noticed at 24 h and 48 h after 12C-irradiation. Similar linear dose-response was also observed after 16O-irradiation at 24 h, but not at 48 h. In addition, difference in aberration spectrum was noticed based on radiation quality and post-irradiation incubation times. The dose-response curves revealed that 12C-beam induces more CAs than 16O-beam. This data clearly suggests that the extent and spectrum of chromosomal damage depends on the quality of high-LET radiation as well as the post-irradiation incubation time. These findings could potentially have applications in selecting beam parameters during hadron therapy (high-LET radiation therapy), particularly to eradicate chemo-radio-resistant tumors. Received date: 02/04/2018 Accepted date: 08/05/2018 Published date: 14/05/2018
WZ Sge-Type Dwarf Novae

We have summarized the current understanding and recently obtained findings about WZ Sge-type dwarf novae. We also reviewed the historical development of the understanding of these objects, provided the modern criteria, and reviewed the past research in relation to superhumps, early superhumps and the outburst mechanism. We regard that the presence of early superhumps (reflecting the 2:1 resonance) and long or multiple rebrightenings are the best distinguishing properties of WZ Sge-type dwarf novae. We provided the updated list of nearly 100 WZ Sge-type dwarf novae mainly based on the data obtained by the VSNET Collaboration up to Kato et al. (2015, arXiv/1507.05610) and discussed the statistics. We could detect early superhumps with amplitude larger than 0.02 mag in 63% of the studied WZ Sge-type dwarf novae, which makes early superhumps a useful distinguishing feature for WZ Sge-type dwarf novae. Theoretical light curves of early superhumps generally appear to reproduce the existence of many low-amplitude objects, supporting the geometrical origin of early superhumps. Using the recently developed method of measuring mass ratios using developing phase of superhumps (stage A superhumps), we showed that there is a linear relation between the period variation of superhumps and the mass ratio in WZ Sge-type objects. By using this relation, we were able to draw an evolutionary picture of a large number of WZ Sge-type and identified the type of outburst to be an evolutionary sequence: type C->D->A->B->E, with some outliers for type-B objects. The duration of stage A (evolutionary phase) of superhumps is also well correlated with the estimated mass ratios. By using mass ratios from stage A superhumps and durarion of stage A, we have been able to identify best candidates for period bouncers.
CNN-FM: Personalized Content-Aware Image Tag Recommendation

Social media services allow users to share and annotate their resources freely with keywords or tags that have valuable information to support organizing or searching uploaded images or videos. Tag recommendation is used to encourage users to annotate their resources. Recommending tags of images to users not only depends on user preference but also strongly relies on the contents of images. In this paper, we propose a method for image tag recommendation using both image visual features and user past tagging behaviours by combining convolutional neural networks (CNN), which are widely used and have achieved high performance in image classification and recognition, and factorization machines (FM), since factorization models are the state-of-the-art approach for tag recommendation. Empirically, we demonstrate that learnable features extracted by CNNs can improve up to 7 percent the performance of FMs in image tag recommendation.
Group Consensus of Second-Order Multi-agent Networks with Multiple Time Delays

In this paper, the problem of group consensus of second-order multi-agent networks with multiple time delays is investigated. Based on the theory of frequency-domain, some algebraic criteria are proposed analytically which can guarantee the multi-agent networks to achieve group consensus. Results show that input time delays of the agents, coupling weights and coupling strengths between the agents play a key role in reaching group consensus. Meanwhile, communication time delays can only affect the convergence rate of the systems. Finally, the validity and correctness of our theoretical results are verified by several numerical simulated examples. Keywords-time delays; group consensus; multi-agent network; complex networks
Peaks, plateaus, canyons, and craters: the complex geometry of simple mid-domain effect models

Background: Geographic ranges, randomly located within a bounded geographical domain, produce a central hump of species richness (the mid-domain effect, MDE). The hump arises from geometric constraints on the location of ranges, especially larger ones. Questions: (1) How do patterns of species richness in one- and two-dimensional MDE models change as a function of range size? (2) How does dispersal affect these patterns? Methods: We used a spreading dye algorithm to place assemblages of species of uniform range size in one-dimensional or two-dimensional bounded domains. In some models, we allowed dispersal to introduce range discontinuity. Results: As uniform range size increases from small to medium, a flat pattern of species richness is replaced by a pair of peripheral peaks, separated by a valley (one-dimensional models), or by a cratered ring (two-dimensional models) of species richness. With large range sizes, the peaks or rings fuse to form a central plateau (one-dimensional) or a flat-topped mound (two-dimensional) of highest species richness. Adding dispersal to the two-dimensional model weakens the peripheral ring and introduces complex patterns for long-distance dispersal. Conclusions: Heterogeneous range size distributions (whether theoretical or empirical) used in most MDE models produce species richness patterns dominated by wide-ranged species, hiding complex patterns formed by small- to medium-ranged species. These patterns, which are analogous for one and two dimensions, are complicated further by long-distance dispersal and discontinuous ranges. Although geometric constraints lead to classic mid-domain effects for large-ranged species and for mixed range-size frequency distributions, small- and medium-sized ranges of a uniform size generate more complex patterns, including peaks, plateaus, canyons, and craters of species richness.
Biodiversity of benthic macroinvertebrates on hard substrates in the Currais Marine Protected Area, in southern Brazil

This study describes the biodiversity of benthic invertebrates on hard substrates in the Currais Marine Protected Area (Currais MPA), in the state of Parana. The benthic community was sampled during 2012 to 2015, in winter and summer, at two islands and four groups of artificial reefs (ARs). Samples were collected along shallow (2-4 m) and deep (6-8 m) transects at the islands and ~18 m transects at the ARs. We also searched the literature to review all published records of benthic invertebrates on hard substrates in the Currais MPA. We recorded 176 taxa in the phyla Annelida (class Polychaeta), Arthropoda (class Maxillopoda, order Sessilia), Bryozoa, Cnidaria, Chordata (class Ascidiacea), Echinodermata, Mollusca and Porifera, in 13 classes, 40 orders and 75 families. With these 102 new records, our list comprises 58% of all recorded species. Of these, 58 taxa were first records for the state of Parana. This remarkable number of new records highlights that biodiversity studies are lacking in Parana. Fifteen non-indigenous species and one endangered species, the sea star Coscinasterias tenuispina (Lamarck, 1816), are included. This is an important transitional area to monitor expansion or constriction of the latitudinal distributions of species, in the context of climate change, that may influence the geographical distribution of species (both native and invasive). This study is the first inventory of marine hard substrate habitats of the Currais MPA with a surprisingly diverse community.
Effect of Irradiation on Quality of Vacuum-Packed Spicy Beef Chops

To develop an alternative pasteurization process for the spicy beef jerky (SBJ), it was treated with irradiation doses of 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kGy and the sensory attributes, texture properties, drip loss, and the protein biological efficiency were studied. The results showed that lightness, drip loss, and off-odor of SBJ increased, while the hardness, chewiness, gumminess, color preference, and taste of SBJ decreased with the increase in irradiation dose. This tendency was obvious as the irradiation dose increased to 6 kGy and 8 kGy. The possible reason for these quality changes might be due to the free radicals produced by irradiation. This speculation is supported by the decrease of the content of capsanthin and the increase of the content of TBARS of SBJ with the increase in irradiation dose. The plate counts of treated SBJ indicated that 4 kGy was suitable for pasteurization of SBJ.