Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developmental Light Environment and Net Gas Exchange of Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium)

The effects of shade during leaf development on photosyntheti c activity of cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagitti- folium (L.) Schott) were investigated. Net gas exchange and N and chlorophyll concentrations were determined for cocoyam leaves growing in 30%, 50%, or 100% sunlight. Net CO2 assimilation (A) and water use efficiency (WUE) were greater for plants grown in 100% sunlight than for plants grown in less sunlight. Substomatal CO2 concentration increased with increased shading. Stomatal conductance (gs) and transpiration (E) did not vary significantly among treatments. Diurnal paterns for A were positively correlated with gs, lamina temperature, relative humidity, and photosynthetic photon flux (PPF). Lamina N concentrations, determined on lamina dry weight and lamina area bases, increased with increased PPF. Shade plants (30% and 50% sunlight) had greater chlorophyll : N ratios (dry-weight basis) and greater lamina area : lamina dry weight ratios than 100% sunlight-grown plants, which indicates increased photosynthate and N allocation to leaves of shade plants and maximization of light interception. Cocoyam has been identified as shade tolerant (Caesar, 1980; Schaffer and O'Hair, 1987). Therefore, the potential exists for use of this corm-producing species as an understory crop in polyculture systems. The effect of shading on photosyntheti c activity of cocoyam needs to be elucidated to identify optimal photosynthetic photon fluxes (PPF) for maximum yields of this crop. Other aroid species grown in moderate shade have equal (Miura and Osada, 1981), greater (Schaffer and O'Hair, 1987), or lower (Sims and Pearcy, 1989) A rates than sun-grown plants. Schaffer and O'Hair (1987) observed that 60% sunlight-grown cocoyam had greater A than 100% sunlight-grown plants. How- ever, their study focused on gas exchange of cocoyam grown at PPFs above the light saturation point for A (>750 µmol·s -1 ·m -2 ). Diurnal and seasonal gas exchange data are lacking for cocoyam growing at PPFs below the light saturation point. Lamina N and chlorophyll concentrations can affect A (Field, 1983). Chlorophyll is important for light harvesting while N is an important component of several photosynthetic enzymes (Field, 1983; Evans, 1989). To our knowledge, no information exists that evaluates the role of lamina chlorophyll and N on shade acclimation of cocoyam. Previous studies have shown that biomass accumulation and yield of cocoyam are greater for shade-grown than sun-grown plants (unpublished data). The purpose of this study was to determine if the shade-tolerance of cocoyam is related to gas exchange characteristics and to lamina N and chlorophyll con- tents of this crop species.
Soft TQM practices and employee outcomes: A mediational analysis

Abstract The purpose of this study is to understand the effects that soft TQM practices have on employees. Based on the ability, motivation, opportunity (AMO) framework, we proposed that the soft TQM practices might lead to positive employee outcomes by enhancing employees’ readiness for change. Using 8,417 survey responses collected from a large-sized IT service firm in South Korea, we empirically tested the relationships among the soft TQM practices, employees’ readiness for change, and employee outcomes. The results show that the soft TQM practices enhance employees’ readiness for change, thereby increasing their organizational commitment and reducing their turnover intention. The findings suggest that the organization needs to empower employees, organize them as a team, train them to be ready for TQM, and communicate important information to them so that they can be ready for TQM and have favorable work attitudes during the change process.
When Network Matters: Data Center Scheduling with Network Tasks

We consider the placement of jobs inside a data center. Traditionally, this is done by a task orchestrator without taking into account network constraints. According to recent studies, network transfers represent up to 50% of the completion time of classical jobs. Thus, network resources must be considered when placing jobs in a data center. In this paper, we propose a new scheduling framework, introducing network tasks that need to be executed on network machines alongside traditional (CPU) tasks. The model takes into account the competition between communications for the network resources, which is not considered in the formerly proposed scheduling models with communication. Network transfers inside a data center can be easily modeled in our framework. As we show, classical algorithms do not efficiently handle a limited amount of network bandwidth. We thus propose new provably efficient algorithms with the goal of minimizing the makespan in this framework. We show their efficiency and the importance of taking into consideration network capacity through extensive simulations on workflows built from Google data center traces.
Comparing the use of methods, techniques, and tools promoted by quality management systems and programs

This work defines methods, techniques, and tools and gives examples of their use of in quality management. Different quality systems and programs such as ISO 9000, Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, and the National Quality Award off Brazil (NQAB) are presented. Integrated quality management system is approached and an alternative for the selection and use of quality management methods, techniques and tools is proposed.
Industrial democracy in Europe: a quantitative approach

ABSTRACT Industrial democracy is a dimension of industrial relations which has been largely studied. However, the international comparison of the different features and outcomes of industrial democracy has attracted much less attention. The article addresses this gap by developing three tools: a dashboard of indicators, a composite indicator aiming to measure performance, and a typology addressed to better understanding varieties of national industrial relations system. Whilst industrial democracy performance is defined in a normative way, the typology includes also other aspects related to industrial relations institutions, processes and actors. Both normative and non-normative indicators are included in the dashboard. The three tools allow for cross-time analysis and are seen as complementary for the comparative analysis of industrial democracy in Europe.
Software Testing Techniques

Software testing provides a means to reduce errors, cut maintenance and overall software costs. Numerous software development and testing methodologies, tools, and techniques have emerged over the last few decades promising to enhance software quality. While it can be argued that there has been some improvement it is apparent that many of the techniques and tools are isolated to a specific lifecycle phase or functional area. One of the major problems within software testing area is how to get a suitable set of cases to test a software system. This set should assure maximum effectiveness with the least possible number of test cases. There are now numerous testing techniques available for generating test cases.
Mismatched and Optimum Receivers for the Correlated Rician Fading MIMO Channel

A bstract T w o rece iver stru ctu re s for th e sep arately-corre lated R ician fad in g M IM O ch ann el, b ased on p ilot-aid edch ann el estim ation , are c on sid ere d . A m ism atch ed rece iver,b ased on m ax im u m -lik elih oo d estim ation of th e c h ann el m atrix,and u sin g th is estim ate in th e d ec ision m etric as if it w ere e xa ct.A n op tim u m rece iver, p roce ssin g join tly th e p ilot sym b ols andth e rece ived p ilot and d ata sam p les b y m ax im u m lik elih oo destim ation . A n iter ative im p lem en tation of th e op tim u m rece iveris p rov id ed , w h ich is su itab le to tre llis sp ace tim e d ec od in g.N u m er ical re su lts are given for a 2 x 2 corre lated R icianM IM O ch ann el w ith a sim p le tre llis sp ace tim e c od e. C h ann elp aram eter e stim ation , affec tin g th e op tim u m rece iver and n otth e m ism atch ed on e and im p lem en ted b y a sim p le algo rith m ,is sh ow n n ot to d egrad e th e err or p er form an ce . F in ally, th ecom p lexity in cre ase of th e op tim u m rece iver is investiga ted .
Analysing computational thinking in collaborative programming: A quantitative ethnography approach

Computational thinking (CT), the ability to devise computational solutions for real ‐ life problems, has received growing attention from both educators and researchers. To better improve university students' CT competence, collaborative programming is regarded as an effective learning approach. However, how novice programmers develop CT competence through collaborative problem solving remains unclear. This study adopted an innovative approach, quantitative ethnography, to analyze the collaborative programming activities of a high ‐ performing and a low ‐ performing team. Both the discourse analysis and epistemic network models revealed that across concepts, practices, and identity, the high ‐ performing team exhibited CT that was systematic, whereas the CT of the low ‐ performing team was characterized by tinkering or guess ‐ and ‐ check approaches. However, the low ‐ performing group's CT development trajectory ultimately converged towards the high ‐ performing group's. This study thus improves understanding of how novices learn CT, and it illustrates a useful method for modeling CT based in authentic problem ‐ solving contexts.
Environmental Factors Affecting Seedling Establishment of the Black Mangrove on the Central Texas Coast

The effects of salinity, water turbulence, water depth, and temperature on the establishment of seedlings of black mangrove (Avicennia germinans L.) on the central Texas coast were evaluated in the laboratory. Salinity was not the chief factor limiting seedling establishment, because seedlings rooted in distilled water and in salinities approaching twice the concentration of sea water. Water turbulence, either of distilled or sea water, inhibited root and seedling development. Seedlings tumbled for as much as 12 weeks showed rapid root development when subsequently stabilized. Various water depths promoted extensive root systems, but seedlings did not become established until water depth was reduced to 5 cm or less. High temperature treatment, exposure to 39 degrees —40 degrees C for 48 hr, was lethal to stemless seedlings, but not to seedlings with stems and roots. The results suggest that vivaparous development in this A. germinans population phenologically timed by environmental relations during winter and early spring as a protection against the lethal effects of the high temperatures that prevail on beaches and in shallow water during late spring and summer.
Effects of habitat degradation on mixed-species bird flocks in Indian rain forests

Abstract: Habitat degradation affects mixed-species bird flocks (flock hereafter) through two mechanisms – changes in the bird community from which flocks are drawn and changes in the propensities of species to flock. We determined the relative influence of these two mechanisms by examining variation in flocks across nine rain-forest fragments (range 11–2600 ha) in a plantation landscape in the Western Ghats, India. We found differences between fragments in average number of species (range 10.8–15.2) and individuals (range 19.0–37.6) per flock, number of species that participated in flocks (range 34–59), encounter rates (range 0.5–2.4 flocks h−1) and flock composition. Multiple regression and randomization tests revealed that different mechanisms contributed to this variation. Three flock variables (open-forest individuals per flock, total open-forest species that participated in flocks in a fragment, flock composition) mainly reflected changes in the bird communities of fragments. Habitat structure strongly influenced three flock variables (open-forest species per flock, total and rain-forest individuals per flock) and flock composition to a lesser extent. Finally, flock encounter rate was strongly related to fragment area, but not to abundance of flock participants indicating habitat degradation-induced changes in propensities of species to flock.
Sea-ice information and forecast needs for industry maritime stakeholders

ABSTRACT Profound changes in Arctic sea-ice, a growing desire to utilize the Arctic’s abundant natural resources, and the potential competitiveness of Arctic shipping routes, all provide for increased industry marine activity throughout the Arctic Ocean. This is anticipated to result in further challenges for maritime safety. Those operating in ice-infested waters require various types of information for sea-ice and iceberg hazards. Ice information requirements depend on regional needs and whether the stakeholder wants to avoid ice all together, operate near or in the Marginal Ice Zone, or areas within the ice pack. An insight into user needs demonstrates how multiple spatial and temporal resolutions for sea-ice information and forecasts are necessary to provide information to the marine operating community for safety, planning, and situational awareness. Although ship-operators depend on sea-ice information for tactical navigation, stakeholders working in route and capacity planning can benefit from climatological and long-range forecast information at lower spatial and temporal resolutions where the interest is focused on open-water season. The advent of the Polar Code has brought with it additional information requirements, and exposed gaps in capacity and knowledge. Thus, future satellite data sources should be at resolutions that support both tactical and planning activities.
Understanding the influence of “feeling at home” on healthcare travelers’ well-being: a comparison of Airbnb and hotel homescapes

ABSTRACT Although there is the saying “there’s no place like home”, research on a traveler’s sense of feeling at home in an accommodation and its influence on their well-being is underrepresented. Particularly, given the increase of peer-to-peer accommodations and healthcare travel segment, this gap is notable. Analyzing data including 420 respondents who stayed at an Airbnb and 320 who stayed at hotel accommodations, structural equation modeling tested the effect of an “accommodations homescape” on a healthcare traveler’s sense of feeling at home and well-being. The findings have strategic implications that emphasize the need to engineer home-like environments for particular traveler segments.
Defenses against Online Password Guessing Attacks with PGRP

Brute force and dictionary attacks on password-only remote login services are now widespread and ever increasing. Enabling convenient login for legitimate users while preventing such attacks is a difficult problem. Automated Turing Tests (ATTs) continue to be an effective, easy-to-deploy approach to identify automated malicious login attempts with reasonable cost of inconvenience to users. In this paper, we discuss the inadequacy of existing and proposed login protocols designed to address largescale online dictionary attacks (e.g., from a Botnet of hundreds of thousands of nodes). We proposes a new Password Guessing Resistant Protocol (PGRP), derived upon revisiting prior proposals designed to restrict such attacks. While PGRP limits the total number of login attempts from unknown remote hosts to as low as a single attempt per username, legitimate users in most cases (e.g., when attempts are made from known, frequently-used machines) can make several failed login attempts before being challenged with an ATT. We analyze the performance of PGRP wi th two realworld data sets and find it more promising than existing proposals.
Molecular Mechanisms Determining the Differential Accumulation of Carotenoids in Plant Species and Varieties

Abstract Carotenoids are one of the most abundant natural pigments on earth. They accumulate in plastids and play many important roles in biological processes in plants. The structure and quantity of carotenoids vary extensively in different plant species and varieties and over the past three decades the molecular mechanisms underlying these differences have been elucidated. Multiple mechanisms have been discovered, including evolution of novel carotenogenic enzymes and novel catalytic functions, alteration in carotenogenic enzyme activity caused by gene body sequence mutations, changes in gene expression resulting from promoter mutations, difference in expression of noncarotenogenic genes involved in regulation of carotenoid sequestration, plastid sink capacity or transcriptional and epigenetic regulation, as well as effects of related metabolic events. These mechanisms are summarized here, with the aim of providing guidance for future studies on this topic and for genetic manipulation of carotenoid accumulation in plants.
Prenatal exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides and infant respiratory and allergic outcomes in the PELAGIE cohort

The prenatal period is an important window of vulnerability for the developing immune and respiratory systems. Slight environmental perturbations during this period may induce several diseases. In infancy, these diseases include decreased resistance to infectious diseases, hypersensitivity reactions or asthma. The immune and respiratory systems are both sensitive to developmental exposure to chemicals such as organophosphate pesticides (OPs). This study aimed at exploring the effect of prenatal exposure to OPs on respiratory and immunological health in infants. Methods: This study is based on the PELAGIE cohort which included 256 mother-child pairs. Dimethyl (DMP) and diethyl phosphates (DEP), nonspecific OP metabolites, were quantified in maternal urine collected at the beginning of pregnancy and disease outcomes were recorded for the first two years of child life. Maternal DMP and DEP urinary levels were categorized as low, medium or high. Outcomes – bronchiolitis/bronchitis, wheezing, eczema, rhinitis and food allergy - were assessed by self-administered questionnaire at age two. Associations between exposures and outcomes were estimated by logistic regression models, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: High DMP metabolite levels in maternal urine were associated with an increased risk of occurrence of 1 or 2 bronchiolitis/bronchitis episodes with a dose-response relationship (p-trend=0.01) while no association was observed with the occurrence of three or more bronchiolitis/bronchitis episodes. Medium DMP metabolite levels were negatively associated with wheezing (p-value=0.02). No association with DMP levels was observed for the three other outcomes. No association was observed between DEP urinary levels and any disease outcomes. Conclusions: Two previous epidemiological studies identified higher risks of recurrent otitis media in infants, and respiratory symptoms around 6 years of age, associated with pregnant maternal urinary OP metabolites levels. Our results complete those observations suggesting a potential developmental effect of prenatal OP exposure on respiratory and immunological health.
Anomalías en el Desarrollo y Formación Dental: Odontodisplasia

El papel que desempenan las alteraciones geneticas en el desarrollo dental es fundamental. Se ha descubierto que si no existe una correcta expresion del gen o se da una mutacion de este, el individuo podria presentar ausencias o malformaciones de estructuras de la boca. Por esta razon se describe la forma en que se da el desarrollo de las estructuras dentales, teniendo en cuenta como las interacciones genetica y ambiental influyen en su correcto desarrollo. Entre los genes involucrados se encuentran el PAX9 y el MSX1, que segun recientes investigaciones son los implicados en las ausencias congenitas de estructuras dentarias o sus posibles alteraciones, teniendo en cuenta que la delacion de estos genes o su mutacion son factores hereditarios. Los genes odontogenicos PAX9 y MSX1, son genes homeoticos (homebox) que codifican para factores de transcripcion y son responsables, durante la odontogenesis, de la expresion de genes asociados con la regulacion espacial y temporal dentro del primer arco braquial. En determinado momento de la organogenesis pueden darse fallas en la expresion de los factores necesarios para la formacion y buen desarrollo dental, causando anomalias como la Odontodisplasia Regional (OR), tambien denominada diente fantasma o detencion localizada del desarrollo dental, la cual es una anomalia estructural del desarrollo, compleja y rara; parece ser el resultado de una o mas mutaciones puntuales en el cromosoma 4 y 14. Se reportan dos casos donde se describen las caracteristicas clinicas, radiograficas, y el seguimiento clinico.
An Institutionalist Framework for a Consistent Financial Regulation

Abstract: In the light of recurrent systemic crises that financialized market economies have been experiencing since the 1980s, this article seeks to determine the conditions required for a regulatory framework apt to ensure financial stability. Drawing upon an Institutionalist Minskyian endogenous financial instability approach, the article studies the fragilities of liberalized finance and points to some policy alternatives able to lead to an alternative financial regulatory model that is consistent with macroeconomic stability. It argues that in a weak regulatory environment financial markets naturally generate instabilities that could turn into systemic crises. The analysis maintains that in order to deal with such crises, a tight supervision should be framed under the aegis of public authorities and suggests some rules to develop a relevant regulatory system through an open and democratic decision process. Two points then deserve particular attention: a macro-prudential approach that regards instability as a systemic (non-individual) issue, and a preventive approach that aims at preventing systemic-risk generating activities from taking control over the markets.
The real effects of a new accounting standard: the case of IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers

International Financial Reporting Standard 15 (IFRS 15) Revenue from Contracts with Customers has significantly changed the philosophy of revenue recognition, not only to provide a fairer representation of corporate revenues, but also to inhibit the use of revenues for ‘earnings management’ purposes. We provide a framework to analyse the various effects of new and amended accounting standards. Changes in how companies recognise, measure, present and disclose their revenues (accounting effects) can affect how companies and their transactions are understood, both internally and externally (information effects), can change security prices (capital market effects) and can change how companies operate, and their costs and cash flows (real effects). We provide empirical evidence, based on a review of corporate annual reports, comment letters and interviews, on the effects of IFRS 15. We find evidence of accounting, information and, to a lesser extent, real effects, although, outside a few industries, IFRS 15 has had relatively little impact on the recognition and measurement of revenue.