Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular breeding for resilience in maize - A review

Abiotic and biotic constraints have widespread yield reducing effects on maize and should receive high priority for maize breeding research. Molecular Breeding offers opportunities for plant breeders to develop cultivars with resilience to such diseases with precision and in less time duration. The term molecular breeding is used to describe several modern breeding strategies, including marker-assisted selection, marker-assisted backcrossing, marker-assisted recurrent selection and genomic selection. Recent advances in maize breeding research have made it possible to identify and map precisely many genes associated with DNA markers which include genes governing resistance to biotic stresses and genes responsible for tolerance to abiotic stresses. Marker assisted selection (MAS) allows monitoring the presence, absence of these genes in breeding populations whereas marker assisted backcross breeding effectively integrates major genes or quantitative trait loci (QTL) with large effect into widely grown adapted varieties. For complex traits where multiple QTLs control the expression, marker assisted recurrent selection (MARS) and genomic selection (GS) are employed to increase precision and to reduce cost of phenotyping and time duration. The biparental mapping populations used in QTL studies in MAS do not readily translate to breeding applications and the statistical methods used to identify target loci and implement MAS have been inadequate for improving polygenic traits controlled by many loci of small effect. Application of GS to breeding populations using high marker densities is emerging as a solution to both of these deficiencies. Hence, molecular breeding approaches offers ample opportunities for developing stress resilient and high-yielding maize cultivars.
Rocky intertidal temperature variability along the southeast coast of Australia: comparing data from in situ loggers, satellite-derived SST and terrestrial weather stations

Table S1. Summary of paired t-tests and Pearson correlations comparing daily mean, maximum and minimum in situ logger air and water temperatures across 2 sites within the high, mid and low intertidal zones at Garie Beach from 3 February to the 5 October 2010 (see Fig. 3 in the main text). Mean and max. difference refers to the average and maximum differences between temperatures measured by loggers within each of the 2 sites. *p < 0.001
doped ordered mesoporous carbons prepared by a two-step anocasting strategy as highly active and selective lectrocatalysts for the reduction of O 2 to H 2 O 2

A new, two-step nanocasting method was developed to prepare N-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (NOMC) electrocatalysts for the reduction of O2 to H2O2. Our strategy involves the sequential pyrolysis of two inexpensive and readily available N and C precursors, i.e. aniline and dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN), inside the pores of a SBA-15 hard silica template to obtain N-doped graphitic carbon materials with wellordered pores and high surface areas (764 and 877 m2g−1). By tuning the ratio of carbon sources to silica template, it was possible to achieve an optimal filling of the pores of the SBA-15 silica and to minimise -doped ordered mesoporous carbon
Hand Vein Based Personal Identification System

Personal Identification is necessary and useful to prevent crime in our society. Biometric traits extracted from hand image are more secure to use for identification compared to Personal Identification Number (PIN) because these features cannot be stolen. Developing an effective hand vein based personal identification system using robust feature with appropriate classifier is a serious task. Therefore this work incorporates new hand vein feature and two different classifiers to develop a personal identification system. Experiments were carried-out to affirm appropriateness of Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Euclidean Distance Measure (EDM) for the proposed system. The results obtained show that the proposed system give better result using SVM compared to EDM.
Managers power bases, employeesâ job stress and intent to stay

The purpose of this study was to investigate the re lationship between power bases of sports federation s' presidents (PBSP-other) with employee's job stress and intent to stay (both from the viewpoint of employees). The population in this study consisted of the employees of sports fed erations including experts, chiefs and vise chiefs of federation committees, n=288 that were completed (POSP- other) questionnaire (with 15 questions in 9-point Likert scales) and employees’ job stress and intent to stay questi onnaires (with 4 questions for both , in 5-point Li kert scales) respectively, after translation process and approv ed , with commentary of experts, face and content v alidity of the questionnaire was performed and with Using confir matory factor analysis, construct validity was con firmed. Reliability of each scale was tested: POSP_other Cr onbach's alpha =0.95 and employees job stress and i ntent to stay, α= 0.83 and α= 0.81. Pearson correlation coefficient and hierarc hical multiple regression analyses were used to analyze all the hypotheses. The results indicate d that employees believed that presidents of sports federations had legitimate, referent, expert, reward and coercive p ower bases, respectively, and a negative significan t relationship was found between PBSP-other with job stress (r= -0 .190) and a positive significant relationship was fbetween PBSP-other with intent to stay (r=0.434). Hierarchi cal multiple regression analyses revealed that, amo ng power bases of sports federations; referent power base wa s a better predictor for employees’ job stress and intent to stay.
Rural Tourism in the Petro şani Depression - Current Features and Outlooks for Future Development

The paper analyzes the main opportunities for devel opment of rural tourism, focusing on the study of t he tourist potential of rural localities in the Petrosani Depression, and on highlighting the main action underlying the future development of such an activi ty. The first efforts to develop rural tourism are recent and influenced by the creation of rural accomodatio n spaces and a significant number of secondary residences. The development of rural tourism is one of the means to diversify economy in the area and works an alternative to the subsistence farming use d in the villages in the depression.
Sistema de telepeaje en zonas urbanas

Las Low Emission Zones (LEZ) limitan el acceso de vehiculos a las zonas mas centricas de las ciudades con el objetivo de reducir la densidad del trafico y la contaminacion ambiental. Estos sistemas tienen problemas de privacidad de los conductores y de efectividad en la deteccion del fraude. Este articulo presenta un sistema de telepeaje para LEZ que mejora estos problemas.
Axial dispersion via shear-enhanced diffusion in colloidal suspensions

The familiar example of Taylor dispersion of molecular solutes is extended to describe colloidal suspensions, where the fluctuations that contribute to dispersion arise from hydrodynamic interactions. The generic scheme is illustrated for a suspension of particles in a pressure-driven pipe flow, with a concentration-dependent diffusivity that captures both the shear-induced and Brownian contributions. The effect of the cross-stream migration via shear-induced diffusion is shown to dramatically reduce the axial dispersion predicted by classical Taylor dispersion for a molecular solute. Analytic and numerical solutions are presented that illustrate the effect of the concentration dependence of this nonlinear hydrodynamic mechanism.
Consumers' purchase intention of green products: an investigation of the drivers and moderating variable

A B ST R A C T This paper aims to examine drivers and its moderating variable that influencing consumers’ purchase intention on green personal care products. Total of 137 completed and usable set of questionnaires was obtained from white collars employees that having knowledge about the availability of green personal care products that working in Penang, Malaysia. Data were analyzed by employing multiple regression analysis on testing on the independent variables (drivers) to dependent variables (purchase intention) and hierarchical regression analysis for moderating relationship between the drivers and purchase intention. The results revealed that environmental attitudes and self efficacy were found to be the factors that drive the purchase intention of consumers on purchasing of green personal care products. In addition, it was found that willingness of consumers to pay more on green personal care products was moderating the relationship between environmental attitudes and purchase intention. The findings created an understanding on what are the factors that influencing consumer purchase intention on green personal care product and serve as the information for marketers to plan for the marketing program that able to enlarge the market size of the said products.
Factors that Affect the Derivatives Usage of Non-Financial Listed Firms of Pakistan to Hedge Foreign Exchange Exposure

This study aims to investigate the factors that affect the derivatives usage of non-financial listed firms of Pakistan to hedge foreign exchange exposure by using data of 51 non-financial firms listed on Pakistan stock exchange from 2010-2013. The dependent variable was derivative usage which was used as dummy since no financial information was disclosed in company annual reports but the decision of usage or not. Non-parametric tests were uses which is univariate analysis to calculate the mean difference between users and non-users of derivative usage for hedging purposes. Further, logistic regression model was used to analyze the impact of financial distress costs, tax convexity, underinvestment problem, profitability, managerial holdings of the company and foreign sales on firm’s decision to whether they use FX derivatives for hedging purposes or not. The result shows that financially distressed firms, having lower managerial holdings and lower interest coverage ration with high foreign sales are using FX derivatives in Pakistan.
Phytochemicals and vitamin compositions of Pleurotus pulmonarius cultivated on barks of some indigenous fruit trees supplemented with agro-wastes

The phytochemical compositions and vitamins contents of the fruit bodies of Pleurotus pulmonarius grown on different barks of fruit trees namely; Treculia africana (TA), Mangifera indica (MI), Dacryodes edulis (DE), Pentaclathra macrophylla (PM) and Elaeise guineensis (EG), supplemented with agro-wastes (Maize cobs, Fluted pumpkin wastes and Yam peels) were determined. Data obtained from these were subjected to ANOVA in a CRD and replicated 3 times with different levels of supplement per replicate. There was significant differences (p<0.05) within vitamin compositions of the fruit-bodies of Pleurotus pulmonarius produced in the various substrates. The values ranged from 0.029% of vitamin B1 in DE and EG (80%) to 0.89% in PM (40%), vitamin B2 (0.16% in DE (80%) to 0.56% in TA (60%), vitamin B3 (0.29% in TA (60%) to 0.95% in PM (40%), vitamin c (5.34% in PM (60%) to 7.82% in MI (80%). The fruit bodies of Pleurotus pulmonarius also contained different levels of phytochemicals which ranged; alkaloids (0.039% in TA (60%) to 0.094% in DE (60%), phenols (0.004% in TA (60%) to 0.06% in PM and EG (80%), Tannins (0.13% in MI(60%) to 0.85% in DE (60%), saponins (0.16% in PM (40%) to 0.43% in EG (40%), flavonoids 0.015 in MI (80%) to 0.53% in TA (40%) and sterols (0.015 in MI (80%) to 0.031 in TA (80%). Tropical mushrooms especially P. pulmonarius are rich in vitamins and phytochemical compositions. Attempts should be made to explore this species of Pleurotus commercially in Nigeria.
Olive Leaf: From Tradition to Clinic

The olive ( Olea europaea from the Oleaceae family) leaves have had a lot of medicinal usages in traditional and modern medicine. In traditional Iranian medicine (TIM), it has special indications for wound healing and skin applications such as antiperspirant applications, and also its ash is used in ophthalmic traditional remedies. Literature survey was performed via electronic search on Pubmed, Scopus and Siencedirect. We found 270 articles related to the topic. Conventional pharmacy texts including Martindale, British pharmacopoeia and Lexi natural products as well as TIM texts were reviewed. Our results showed that Olive leaf has responsible effects such as antioxidant, antitoxic and anticancer properties. Also it has antimicrobial and antiviral effects as well as effects on nervous system, endocrine system, gastrointestinal system and cardiovascular system. It has therapeutic effects on some metabolic disorders and cutaneous complications and some miscellaneous effects such as anti-arthritis and anti-bone loss effects. Despite the large amount of studies on the possible effects of olive leaf has been done, the number of available products and their therapeutic targets are limited. It is expected that more extensive studies done on the olive leaf in clinical trials and according to its dose adjustment and special cautions, it becomes more popular herbal medicine in markets and clinics.
Geodetic data inversion using ABIC to estimate slip history during one earthquake cycle with viscoelastic slip-response functions

SUMMARY We developed a new method of geodetic data inversion to estimate slip history at a plate interface by using Akaike’s Bayesian Information Criterion (ABIC). In this method we considered the effects of viscoelastic stress relaxation in the asthenosphere, which cannot be neglected to estimate slip history at a plate interface during one earthquake cycle. We also introduced a proper formulation to incorporate two sorts of partially dependent prior information into observed data by Bayes’ rule. By applying the new inversion method to levelling data for 1893‐ 1983 in Shikoku, southwestern Japan, we reconstructed the pattern of space‐time variation in slip motion during one earthquake cycle, including the 1946 Nankai earthquake, at the interface between the Eurasian and the Philippine Sea plates. The result shows that a steady slip motion at a plate convergence rate (40 mm yr −1 ) proceeds in the shallow and the deep regions through the entire earthquake cycle. In the intermediate depth range (10‐30 km), on the other hand, an instantaneous slip of approximately 4 m occurs at the time of the Nankai earthquake. After that, this portion keeps in stationary contact until the occurrence of the next Nankai earthquake. If we neglect the effects of viscoelastic stress relaxation, the inversion analysis gives geophysically unrealistic results.
Morphometric variability in populations of Palaemonetes spp. (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palaemonidae) from the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon Basin

Morphometric variability among shrimp populations of the genus Palaemonetes Heller, 1869 from seven lakes (Huanayo and Urcococha, in Peru; Amana, Mamiraua, Camaleao, Cristalino e Irucanga, in Brasil) in the Amazon Basin, presumably belonging to Palaemonetes carteri Gordon, 1935 and Palaemonetes ivonicus Holthuis, 1950, were studied. The morphometric studies were carried out from the ratios obtained from the morphometric characters. Multivariated analysis (Principal Components Analysis-PCA, Discriminant Function Analysis and Cluster Analysis) were applied over the ratios. Intra- and interpopulation variations of the rostrum teeth, and the number of spines in the male appendix, were analyzed through descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis (Spearman Rank Correlation test). Results indicated a wide plasticity and overlapping in the studied ratios between populations. The Principal Components Analysis was not able to separate different populations, revealing a large intrapopulation plasticity and strong interpopulation similarity in the studied ratios. Although the Discriminant Functions Analysis was not able to fully discriminate populations, they could be allocated in three subgroups: 1) Cristalino and Irucanga; 2) Huanayo, Urcococha and Camaleao and 3) Mamiraua and Amana. The first two groups were morphometrically separated from each other, whereas the third one presented a strong overlap with the former two. The Cluster Analysis confirmed the first two subgroups separation, and indicated that the first and third groups were closely related. Rostrum teeth and number of spines in the appendix masculina showed a large intrapopulation variation and a strong overlapping among the studied populations, regardless of the species.
Approach of a Predictive, Cybernetic Power Distribution Management

In recent years the trend of an increasing electrification was observable in automotive engineering. That yields an increase in both the total power and the short-term power peaks. Because of the high currents, it is becoming difficult to guarantee voltage stability in the 12 V power net and the danger of voltage instability increases. This paper deals with the development of a holistic system approach in order to actively balance the power distribution in the vehicles power net. In contrast to other solutions, the system is doing without additional components and topological modifications. However, the mobile environment makes some demands to the power distribution management system like the short resources, lack of fast real-time communication, or the complex power distribution topology of the wiring harness. Within this work it is pointed out that a cybernetic approach is well-suited to the application in vehicles. Transferring the ideas of other cybernetic management systems, for instance in business administration, to a vehicle’s energy and power management results in principles as the detachment of object and steering layer, the introduction of a hierarchy, the principle of subsidiarity, and the development of an interaction interface between the system and its environment. By using these principles, the complex power distribution management task can be managed by lean and efficient systemswell-suited for the application in vehicles.
A FUTURISTICS COURSE: TOWARDS INSTILLING A FUTURE-ORIENTATION IN MARKETING STUDENTS

In this article, the authors offer a detailed description of a course designed specifically to instill a future-orientation in its participants. This is especially important due to the unprecedented rate of change experienced by the recent business environment. In the course, students have the opportunity to develop skills related to identifying key trends and uncertainties in the business environment. This course is unique in that all topics in it are examined from a future-orientation.
NAFTA Impacts on the U.S. Competitiveness and Trade: Beef, Pork, and Poultry

The restricted source differentiated almost ideal demand system (RSDAIDS) is used to estimate source differentiated meat demand for U.S. NAFTA partners. In the Canadian meat market, the estimated price and expenditure elasticities indicate that Canadian beef has a competitive advantage compared to U.S. beef, while U.S. pork has a competitive advantage compared to Canadian pork. In the Mexican meat market, the estimated expenditure elasticities indicate that an increase in Mexican meat expenditures would lead to an increase in the demand for meats from all sources. Seasonality and Canadian and U.S. BSE outbreaks had small impacts on Canadian and Mexican meat demand.
Impact of biofuel utilization in engine fuel: an ecofriendly product

Biofuel initiative has been backed by government policies in the quest for energy security through partially replacing the limited fossil fuels and reducing threat to the environment from exhaust emissions and global warming. The main fuel found to be an increasingly important alternative to petroleum is bio-fuel. It is biodegradable, and produces significantly less air pollution than fossil fuel. In a large excess Biofuels (Bioethanol, Biodisel) are produced by agroresidues and from algal biomass. Agro residues are the main source of lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulosic materials composed of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, are the world's most widely available low-cost renewable resources to be considered for ethanol production. Sugarcane bagasse, rice hulls, wheat straw, rape straw, wheat bran, barley straw and cassava stalks are agricultural and agro-industrial residues that could be considered for bioconversion. Bioethanol is an attractive, sustainable energy source to fuel transportation, which is prepared by these agro residues in different steps. Pretreatment is the first step to degrade the biomass component. There are different types of methods of pretreatment one of which dilute acid pretreatment. After pretreatment enzymatic hydrolysis is used to ferment pre-treated biomass either by using simultaneous saccharification or by further acid treatment. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process is favoured for producing ethanol from the major fraction of lignocellulosic biomass, cellulose, because of its low cost potential. An attempt has been made in this paper to use alternative fuel in four stroke Gasoline engine. As a gaseous fuel, gains from LPG have already been established in terms of low emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon. Ethanol is one of the fuel additive has some advantages such as better antiknock characteristics and the reduction of CO and HC emissions. It can be considered as renewable energy under the environmental consideration. The purpose of this study is to investigate experimentally and compare the engine performance and pollutant emission of a SI engine using ethanol-gasoline blended fuel and pure gasoline. The results showed that when ethanol is added, the heating value of the blended fuel decreases, while the octane number of the blended fuel increases. The results of the engine test indicated that when ethanol-gasoline blended fuel is used, the engine power and specific fuel consumption of the engine slightly increase; CO emission decreases dramatically as a result of the leaning effect caused by the ethanol addition; HC emission decreases in some engine working conditions; and CO 2 emission increases because of the improved combustion.
Microwave Properties of Ferromagnetic Nanowires and Applications to Tunable Devices

Microwave devices as circulators or tunable filters demand nowadays small size and broad bandwidth. Ferromagnetic nanowired membranes are ideal candidates for this purpose. This paper focuses on the dielectric properties of such substrates, as influenced by the ferromagnetic nature of nanowires and their filling factor. Two particular cases are considered: a membrane filled up to its top with nanowires, forming a one-layer substrate, and a membrane filled up to a certain percentage of its height with nanowires, forming a two-layer substrate. The models proposed in this paper for each case take the inductive and gyromagnetic effects in the wires into account. They predict for the one-layer case a magnetodielectric behavior which is tunable by applying an external magnetic field. The effect is no longer visible for the two-layer topology corresponding to microwave circuit applications.