Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Terrestrial crater counts : Evidence of a two to four-fold increase in bolide flux at 125 Ma

(v2.4) Submitted to Earth,Planets and Space. October, 2007 Bounded before and after by long periods of stability, terrestrial crater counts document a rapid (25Ma duration) increase in crater production less crater destruction near 100Ma. Investigating these features quantitatively using crater population models, we propose that crater production accelerated near 100Ma driven by a two to four-fold increase in impactor flux spanning all bolide sizes. Current best estimates of power law asteroid flux based on astronomical methods understate the post-125Ma counts of large (dc>10km) terrestrial craters by as much as a factor of four and overstate counts of small (dc<4km) terrestrial craters by as much as a factor of ten. We suspect that stronger than generally supposed atmospheric shielding or a "dip" in true bolide flux relative to a power law rate probably generate the misfit at the small end. A possible explanation for the increased post125Ma bombardment are encounters with members of the Baptistina family of asteroids conceived in a collision of large planetoids at 160Ma. Regardless of the cause, rapid and dramatic swings in bolide fluxes and large uncertainties in atmospheric effects bode trouble for hazard evaluations that hinge on wellconstrained and current surface impact rates. 1) Introduction Two techniques exist for estimating terrestrial bolide flux. The astronomical method maps the number and brightness of NEAs, translates brightness into bolide diameter, then computes the fraction of these that might intersect the Earth’s orbit and position in a given period of time. The terrestrial method tabulates the number, size, and age of impact structures within a target area; then, together with a relation between crater size and impactor diameter, returns bolide flux. The great advantage of the terrestrial method is that it better represents ground truth -it is hard to argue with the number and age of existing craters. In this article we focus on the Earthbound method for fixing bolide flux. We place particular emphasis on potential geological biases in the terrestrial counts.
Review on pharmacological actions of medicinal plants used in ethnoveterinary practices in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu

Ethnoveterinary medicine has been very crucial for the animal healthcare of most developing countries, but it has not yet been well documented. The aim of the study is to document the ethnoveterinary practices followed in Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, India and to review the scientific background of the ethnoveterinary recipe used for treating animals based on the existing literatures. The ethnoveterinary practices were documented from traditional ethnoveterinary practitioners through a questionnaire and its scientific background was reviewed through the existing literatures. Ethnoveterinary recipe for animal conditions like poisonous bite, reduced milk secretion, downer cow, Foot and Mouth disease, anorexia and decreased weight gain due to intestinal parasitism, dystocia, infertility, upper respiratory tract infections, ephemeral fever and habitual abortion were recorded. A total of 16 recipes were documented. By reviewing the literatures, it was found that the herbs used were having various pharmacological properties like antibacterial, antifungal, anthelmentic, immunostimulant, wound healing, antiinflammatory, analgesic etc., which scientifically supports the use of these herbs for the treatment of various animal ailments.
Cotton transgenics with Antisense AC1 gene for resistance against cotton leaf curl virus

Cotton leaf curl virus is a devastating pest in the North India and in small pockets of Southern states. Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is caused by a Geminivirus, transmitted by whitefly Bemisia tabaci vector. This is a serious problem in the northern region and leads to yield losses up to 58% and 69% (ICAC recorder, 1999). Genetic engineering for cotton transgenics resistant to leaf curl disease (CLCuD) through antisense RNA approach is potential to tackle the disease in cotton. Cotton transgenics resistant to leaf curl disease (CLCuD) using Antisense (rep) (Replicase protein) gene was developed via Agrobacterium mediated transformation. A binary vector carrying the Antisense rep gene along with the npt II (neomycin phospho transferase) gene driven by CaMV-35S promoter and NOS (nopaline synthase) terminator was used for transformation. The confirmation of the rep and npt II genes in the transgenic plants were verified by PCR and integration of T-DNA into the plant genome was confirmed by Southern analysis. The individual transgenics were raised in the green house and screened for the virus resistance. T2 progeny analysis showed classical Mendelian pattern of inheritance.
FACTORS AFFECTING CROSSING OVER IN THE TOMATO

Summary An experimental technique utilizing two seedling mutants permitted an extensive survey, involving over 129,000 observations, of environmental and genetic factors affecting crossover frequency in the tomato. A significant decrease in crossing over associated with aging was demonstrated for a plant pruned to bear fruit clusters only on the main stem. Aging appeared to be the main cause of significant differences in crossing over detected between data collected for different branches on an unpruned plant. Although many experiments were made, including treatments with inorganic and organic chemicals, and grafts with other species and genera, no environmental factor gave significantly increased crossing over between the test loci. Pronounced decreases in crossing over were caused by increased sodium ion concentrat.ion, certain organic chemicals, and grafting on potatoes. The genetic background was shown to have a highly significant effect in altering crossover frequency.
Comparison of Static Balance in Different Athletes

Abstract The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences in static balance during dominant and nondominant one legged stance among athletes of different sports. The right-footed subjects of four groups; tennis (TEN), n=20; soccer (SOC), n=20; basketball (BSK), n=20; volleyball (VLB) n=20. The foot scan platform and foots can software were used for plantar pressure measurements during the Flamingo test. The software gave an image and quantified data of Centre of pressure (COP) and Sway path. The sway path was the average covered distance (surface) by COP during the 60 seconds test. The tennis players showed the best static balance of all groups on both leg (p < 0.05). No other significant differences were observed within groups. Further research needs to develop static balance of athletes in dominant and non-dominant leg.
Is Public Investment Productive in the Argentine Case? A Single Break Unit Root and Cointegration Analysis, 1960-2007

This paper addresses the important question of whether public investment spending on economic infrastructure enhances economic growth and labor productivity in Argentina. Following the lead of the endogenous growth literature, it presents a simple modified production function that explicitly includes the positive or negative externality effects generated by public investment. The paper estimates a dynamic labor productivity function for the 1960-2007 period that incorporates the impact of public and private investment spending and the labor force (rather than the rate of population growth). Single break (Zivot-Andrews) unit root and cointegration analysis suggest that (lagged) increases in public investment spending on economic infrastructureBas opposed to overall public investment spendingB have a positive and significant effect on the rate of labor productivity growth. In addition, the model is estimated for a shorter period (1970-2007) to capture the impact of foreign direct investment. The estimates suggest that foreign direct investment spending has a lagged positive and significant impact on labor productivity growth, while increases in the labor force have a negative effect . Thus, the findings call into question the politically expedient policy in many Latin American countries, including Argentina during the 1990s and early 2000s, of disproportionately reducing public capital expenditures to meet reductions in the fiscal deficit as a proportion of GDP.
Clinical Correlates Associated with Basic Ability of Social Life in Schizophrenia Inpatients

Objective: The aim of the present study is to explore clinical factors associated with basic ability of social life in schizophrenia inpatients. Methods: The subjects were 50 inpatients with schizophrenia (DSM-IV). Their mean age was 53.08 (SD = 12.08) years. Social life functioning was evaluated using the Rehabilitation Evaluation of Hall and Baker (REHAB). Cognitive function was assessed with the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) and clinical symptoms with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia and the Drug-Induced Extrapyramidal Symptoms Scale (DIEPSS). Results: The REHAB deviant behavior score showed a significant correlation with the PANSS positive syndrome score (r = 0.55, p < 0.01) and the REHAB general behavior score had significant correlations with the PANSS positive syndrome score (r = 0.28, p < 0.05), the PANSS negative syndrome score (r = 0.53, p < 0.01), and the DIEPSS score (r = 0.43, p < 0.01). However, there was no significant correlation between the scores of the REHAB and the BACS. Conclusion: These results suggest that negative and drug-induced extrapyramidal symptoms are much more important factors related to lowered basic ability of social life of schizophrenia inpatients than cognitive function.
Can Australian Universities Take Measures to Increase the Lecture Attendance of Marketing Students?

Lectures are a central element of traditional university learning, but Australian lecturers increasingly face very low levels of lecture attendance. A significant amount of research exists that investigates the drivers of lecture attendance. However, those studies typically study single factors in an isolated manner, thus overestimating the importance of individual factors. This study contributes to the understanding of lecture attendance (and nonattendance) by including a range of factors that potentially affect lecture attendance simultaneously, thus accounting for possible interactions between factors and identifying the key drivers of lecture attendance. The study uses a survey among all students of an Australian university to compute a regression model with the probability of lecture attendance as the dependent variable. Results indicate that only four of the factors previously investigated are significant for marketing students (i.e., the difficulty of the subject, the quality of the lecture as perceived by the student, the quality of the student as indicated by his or her average mark, and the format of the lecture), which leaves little opportunity for Australian universities to improve attendance with simple measures. Instead, the data suggest that universities need to improve the quality of lectures to achieve better attendance levels.
Non-terminating stochastic ratio game

— In an earlier work by Derman, a flnite state Markov Ratio Décision Process was considered with the objective of maximizing the ratio ofrewards. We gêner alizé the above mentioned process to a game context resulting in a Stochastic Ratio game. It is shown that in the non-terminating Stochastic ratio game, the players have stationary optimal stratégies with an unique value. A convergent algorithm is provided to compute the solution. Résumé. — Derman a étudié dans un travail antérieur un « Finite state Markov Ratio Décision Process » ayant pour objectif de maximiser un rapport de gains. On étend le processus mentionné ci-dessus pour le placer dans un contexte de jeu, qui conduit à un « Stochastic Ratio Game ». On démontre que dans un tel jeu indéfiniment joué (c'est-à-dire « à horizon infini ») les joueurs ont des stratégies optimales stationnaires avec une valeur unique. On donne un algorithme convergent pour calculer la solution du jeu.
Community and National Resilience and Quality of Life : A Preliminary Cross-Cultural Study

The present paper presents a preliminary cross-cultural study examining perceived community and national resilience, as well as resilience promoting and risk factors. The study included student samples from five countries: Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Israel and Greece (N=1022). Results indicated the following: (a) National and community resilience significantly and positively correlated with the Human Development Index (HDI) for the whole sample. (c) National and community resilience, well-being, sense of danger and distress symptoms differ significantly among the five countries (d) Path analysis revealed that HDI significantly mediated the association between the three predictors and national and community resilience. Keyword: national resilience, community resilience, Human Development Index, well-being, sense of danger, distress symptoms, cross-cultural.
Comparison of acute responses to four different hypertrophy-oriented resistance training methodologies

Muscle hypertrophy has been associated with both athletic performance and quality of life. Although hypertrophy-oriented resistance training methodologies are very popular, it is still unclear the different physiological and perceptual responses to some of these methodologies. The aim of this study was to compare the acute effects of four different hypertrophy-oriented resistance training methodologies. During four weeks, seventeen participants with experience in resistance training performed a once-a-week resistance training session, differing the methodology (traditional, pyramid, agonist supersets and agonist paired supersets). Acute responses to the different training sessions were measured via lactate concentration, peak velocity losses, rating of perceived exertion, and number of assisted repetitions. Both lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion showed that the agonist paired supersets caused greater values compared with either the traditional or the pyramid methodologies. Although all of the methodologies led to significant decreases in peak velocity, these decreases were not different between methodologies. The results of the present study highlight the agonist paired supersets as being the most stressed methodology when talking about acute fatigue responses to a single training session. Further research is required to evaluate if these large acute fatigue effects could lead to greater muscle hypertrophy following a training intervention.
Solar forcing of climatic change during the mid-Holocene: indications from raised bogs in The Netherlands

Two cores of mid-Holocene raised-bog deposits from the Netherlands were 14C wiggle-match dated at high precision. Changes in local moisture conditions were inferred from the changing species composition of consecutive series of macrofossil samples. Several wet-shifts were inferred, and these were often coeval with major rises in the Δ14C archive (probably caused by major declines in solar activity). The use of Δ14C as a proxy for changes in solar activity is validated. This paper adds to the increasing body of evidence that solar variability forced climatic changes during the Holocene.
PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DISPUTES IN NIGERIA

This research examines the possibility of operating a smooth Public Private Partnership (PPP) project for the entire concession period following financial closure, without recourse to litigation or arbitration for settlement of disputes by studying the causes and effects of disputes in construction projects procured in Nigeria using the PPP contracting route. The research design was by descriptive survey. Research instruments included both structured telephone and online interview methods conducted to measure the opinion of stakeholders in the Nigeria PPP market on the causes and effects of dispute in PPP operations. The findings of the study revealed a low adoption of PPP contracting route and a lack of synergy on the different ways the private sector participates in infrastructural development in Nigeria, thus, indicative of vulnerability to disputes especially in long term project partnership. The study concludes that the current mode of operation of PPP in Nigeria involves a multiplicity of financial arrangements between the private sector and the public sector with attendant risks of disputes. The study recommends an increased adoption of PPP contracting route, and a modification of a number of Nigeria PPP practices in line with global best practices.
A Modified Mode-Matching Technique and its Application to a Class of Quasi-Planar Transmission Lines

A rigorous and versatile hybrid-mode analysis is presented to determine the normalized propagation constants in a class of quasi-planar transmission-line structures. The method is accurate and covers the finite metallization thickness, mounting grooves, and an arbitrary number of dielectric subregions. Utilizing a modified mode-matching technique, one can derive discontinuity and transmission-line matrices for each homogeneous subregion. Successively multiplying matrix equations of all subregions leads to the characteristic matrix system. This procedure makes it possible to create a modularized computer program which can be conveniently extended to a wide spectrum of conceivable configurations simply by inserting the matrix equations of additional subregions in the multiplication process. To demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method, dispersion characteristics of dominant and next higher order hybrid modes in earthed and insulated finlines, suspended microstrips, and coupled striplines with tuning septa, are given as examples.
Modelling effective brain connectivity using manifolds in optical functional neuroimaging

The development of analytical approaches for decoding brain’s effective connectivity from neuroimages remains open to improvement as existing model assumptions depart from physiological processes. Manifold based topological approaches are surprisingly underexplored considering the powerful mathematical abstraction they represent. This research hypothesizes that the brain function abides to the topological abstraction of a manifold, and thus the subsequent interactions among brain regions underpinning functional and effective connectivity can be expressed either as locations within the manifold or as trips along the manifold surface. In seeking to confirm this hypothesis, the aim is to develop a model of brain effective connectivity capitalizing on topological modelling of neurophysiological processes so that the connectivity network can retrieved from experimental neuroimaging data. As the physics of the image formation shall determine the topological characteristics of the dataset, the modelling will have to consider such modality-specific demands; in the case at hand, those of functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). To realize this goal, first the topological properties (continuity, differentiality and existence of a suitable metric) of the data will be characterized and the needs to represent the segregational response attended. It will be shown how the ambient Euclidean distance is insufficient for these purposes. Later, the integrational information will be univocally integrated within the direction of the flow of information first along a Riemann manifold by means of imposing a metric inspired on causal principles. Finally the inherent causal structure of certain manifolds such as the Lorentzian, will be harness to afford a computationally efficient modelling solution. Verification against synthetic scenarios and posterior validation against gold standard Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) over experimental observation will be carried out for the two modelling proposals. One important contribution in computational neuroscience of this thesis shall be the establishment of the foundations for topological modelling of brain function; an approach which has been hinted in literature but it is thus far lacking robust foundational mathematical support . Also, two major manifold-based modelling approaches i.e. Riemmanian and Lorentzian, will be explored. Finally, additional definition and establishment of topological constraints to be demanded to the resulting manifolds will be characterized so to ensure compliance with neurophysiological conditions and the exploitation of existing, or imposition of causal structure of manifolds to encode brain’s effective connectivity. Successful completion of this research will provide new computational insights about topological modelling that should in principle be transferable to other domains, and it will further offer a new highly expressive causal modelling approach for one of the most important phenomenon to understand brain behaviour, effective connectivity.
The Racialization of Juvenile Justice and the Role of the Defense Attorney

The existence of structural racism is not new. In fact, as the second decade of the twenty-first century comes to a close, there is evidence of a national political openness to acknowledging the phenomenon. This Article seizes upon this openness as it seeks to provide a fuller understanding of how structural racism operates within a branch of the criminal justice system that is often overlooked – the juvenile justice system. The Article offers a definition of racialization that acknowledges its multi-dimensional and fluid nature and the ways it is perpetuated via juvenile court rhetoric, processing, and procedure. It demonstrates how the racial bias that animates today’s juvenile justice system has deep echoes in its early history. The Article examines the harms of racialization and the impact of those harms on children charged with crimes, providing insight into how the construction of race operates within the system as well as how the system itself contributes to the construction of race. In turn, the Article shines a light on how young offenders—who are disproportionately children of color living in poverty—are perceived and understood within American society. The Article also explores the roles of the various actors within the system, focusing upon the juvenile defense attorney and the question of whether it is ethical to utilize racialized narratives during litigation, a discussion that illustrates the tension between two very different models of criminal defense. It analyzes the rules of professional ethics that address the potential conflict between a lawyer’s duty to her client and adherence to her own moral code, and it explores a middle ground that takes into account the unique challenges of defending adolescents charged with crimes. The Article argues that the harms of racialization should be confronted in the context of broader strategies for reform of the juvenile justice system. It considers the efficacy of implicit bias training for police officers and other court actors and proposes implementing practical safeguards that enable defense attorneys to inoculate against bias, rather than focus on the nearly impossible task of eradicating it. The Article concludes with a call to diversify the overwhelmingly white bench and bar in order to create a racially- and ethnically-heterogeneous court culture that emphasizes fair and impartial lawyering, no matter one’s role.