Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leaf-litter breakdown in 3 streams in temperate, Mediterranean, and tropical Cerrado climates

Abstract The objectives of our study were to assess leaf-litter breakdown in 3 streams in 3 climates and to determine the contributions of associated microbial and invertebrate communities to the process. We incubated leaves of Alnus glutinosa in 1 stream in each of 3 climate zones: temperate (mountains of Central Portugal), Mediterranean (South Portugal), and tropical Cerrado (Minas Gerais, Brazil). Leaf-litter breakdown rates (/d) were faster in temperate (k = 0.023–0.017) than in tropical (k = 0.014) or Mediterranean (k = 0.014–0.009) streams. Leaf-litter breakdown rates (/degree day) also were higher in the temperate stream (k = 0.0018–0.0032) and similar between the other 2 streams (k = 0.008–0.0012). Colonization of leaves by aquatic hyphomycetes was faster in the temperate stream (maximum = 421 μg ergosterol/g of leaf by day 24) than in the tropical Cerrado or Mediterranean streams. However, peak ergosterol content was highest in the tropical Cerrado stream (573 μg/g on day 75). Ergosterol content was lowest in the Mediterranean stream (maximum = 341 μg/g on day 7). Total microbial biomass (as ATP) was higher in the tropical Cerrado stream (maximum = 531 nmoles/g on day 75) than in the Mediterranean (maximum = 108 nmoles/g on day 92) and temperate (maximum = 93 nmoles/g on day 7) streams. These results suggest either that not all microorganisms associated with leaves were involved in leaf-litter breakdown or that other less efficient microorganisms than fungi were involved in leaf-litter breakdown in the tropical stream. Leaves exposed to invertebrates (coarse-mesh bags) decomposed significantly faster than leaves protected from invertebrate feeding (fine-mesh bags) only in the temperate stream. This result suggests that invertebrates were important mediators of leaf-litter breakdown only in the temperate stream. A larger proportion of invertebrates recovered from decomposing leaves were shredders in the temperate stream (nearly 5%) than in the Mediterranean (1%) and tropical Cerrado (0%) streams. Leaf-litter processing rates increased with discharge and NO3 concentration in the water. Our results suggest that the positive effect of temperature on breakdown rates of allochthonous organic matter in streams can be overridden by nutrient content in the water and the presence of invertebrate shredders.
Design, concepts, and applications of electromagnetic metasurfaces

Abstract The paper overviews our recent work on the synthesis of metasurfaces and related concepts and applications. The synthesis is based on generalized sheet transition conditions (GSTCs) with a bianisotropic surface susceptibility tensor model of the metasurface structure. We first place metasurfaces in a proper historical context and describe the GSTC technique with some fundamental susceptibility tensor considerations. On this basis, we next provide an in-depth development of our susceptibility-GSTC synthesis technique. Finally, we present five recent metasurface concepts and applications, which cover the topics of birefringent transformations, bianisotropic refraction, light emission enhancement, remote spatial processing, and nonlinear second-harmonic generation.
Consumer wealth effects in stock and housing markets

In many countries around the world, stock and real estate are the two most important asset classes in household portfolios. This is particularly the case in Australia where fund assets (very heavily weighted toward equity) in superannuation (Australia’s system of compulsory private pensions) now account for some $1.3 trillion and are now third-ranked in the OECD in terms of the percentage of GDP (90.9%) after the Netherlands and Iceland and well above the OECD average of 71.6%. Of course, this excludes direct equity holdings and additional indirect equity holdings in the form of trusts. As shown in Table 1, we could conservatively argue that 82% of the Australian population hold equity holdings indirectly in the form of superannuation and 34% directly, with possibly another 3% in the form of equity trusts, potentially representing up to 65% of household financial assets and 13% of all household assets. A similar situation exists with real estate, especially given that Australians have among the world’s highest rates of homeownership, with 67% of households owning or purchasing their own home and 20%
What EFL Student Teachers Think about their Professional Preparation: Evaluation of an English Language Teacher Education Programme in Spain

Given the importance of programme evaluation in the EFL teacher education, this research paper of exploratory-interpretive nature mainly focuses on both strengths and weaknesses identified through the analysis and/or critical evaluation of an EFL teacher education programme carried out in Spain. Both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were used in the study. The current TEFL programme has several strengths, but also certain significant shortcomings in light of the high percentage of undecided responses. The TEFL programme was evaluated positively by participant student teachers in general, in terms of pedagogic competence and promotion of reflection, although more input on English proficiency is actually needed and the amount of practice teaching should also be increased. Additionally, the findings of this study also offer some helpful suggestions and/or recommendations for improving the current EFL teacher education programme at least in the Spanish evaluation context.
Market power in the expanding Nordic power market

We examine if the Nordic power market, Nord Pool, has been competitive or if electricity suppliers have had market power. Specifically, since the evolution from national markets to a multi-national and largely deregulated power market has taken place stepwise, we also examine how the degree of market power has evolved during this integration process. The Bresnahan–Lau method together with weekly data during 1996–2004 are used in the analysis, which shows that electricity suppliers have had small, but statistically significant, market power, but that the market power has been reduced as the Nord Pool area has expanded.
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? Ostracism-Induced Physical Pain Sensitization in Real-Life Relationships

In humans, social and physical pain are believed to arise from common neural networks, an evolutionarily advantageous system for motivating prosocial behavior. As such, the hypothesis that social insult can sensitize physical pain perception was investigated in the context of reallife relationships. The social value ascribed to the source of virtual ostracism, the closeness of the relationship, and individual personality characteristics were expected to modulate the impact of social rejection upon physical pain reports. Romantic partners, friends, and strangers were all led to believe that their partners were excluding them from an online ball-tossing game, and pain sensitivity changes from baseline were assessed following this manipulation. Results indicated that ostracism by a relationship partner leads to an increase in cold pain tolerance, that romantic partners report more cold pain unpleasantness than friends following social rejection, and that trait sensitivity to social insult predicts physical pain sensitivity in general. The findings suggest that within the context of real-life relationships, the social rejection as an agent of influence upon pain behavior may not operate as cleanly as previously believed, and that further research in this area is definitely warranted. Results are interpreted with respect to several theories of social and physical pain behaviors, and suggestions for future studies are highlighted. Ostracism and Pain Sensitivity 3
Is it worth identifying service employment (sub)centres when modelling apartment prices?

The use of the attributes of the central business district and several subcentres instead of the characteristics of all the land parcels or zones can be seen as a higher level of analysis in real estate valuation. However, old technological limitations on considering smaller territorial units are being successfully overcome. The question is whether or not we still need generalisation, i.e. to identify urban centres when modelling real estate prices, or whether it is preferable to operate at a lower spatial level. The application of the traditional approach of identifying centres is compared with an ‘objective’ centrality index and a ‘subjective’ accessibility index calculated for each zone. The purpose is to find out which of the three concepts best fits a regression model of apartment prices and provides the best prediction. Both global and geographically weighted ordinary least squares regressions are used as well as spatial lag and spatial error models. We conclude that if a model is spatially weighted or the spatial effects are controlled, it is not that important which of the concepts is applied. Nevertheless, in most cases the highest predictive capacity is obtained with duocentric models.
Fatty acid analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds transformed with class 2 non-symbiotic hemoglobins

Biodiesel is a renewable resource that can help reduce the use of fossil fuels and climate change. The main thing holding biodiesel back is the vast quantities of plant oils needed for its production. Increasing the amount of oil produced could greatly increase the economical viability of biodiesel. One way of increasing the amount of oil produced is to increase the yield from the crops themselves. This research tries to investigate the possibility of using non-symbiotic hemoglobins to increase the oxygen transportation in the developing seeds, improving energy state and oil production. This research uses Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism but the results gathered here should be adoptable to other oil-crops.
Targeted vs universal provision of support in high-risk communities: comparison of characteristics in two populations recruited to parenting interventions

Purpose – To compare the characteristics of parents and children recruited for two randomised-controlled trials (RCTs) of parenting support in disadvantaged communities in Wales in order to explore the effects of community-based vs individual-based targeting in early prevention. Design/methodology/approach – Parents from high-risk disadvantaged communities in Wales, where additional early intervention services were targeted as part of a Welsh Government early intervention strategy, were recruited to two RCTs of parenting interventions. In the first study parents of targeted three- and four-year-old children, who were screened, and deemed at risk of long-term problems, were recruited from Sure Start (SS) areas in Wales. In the second study parents of one- and two-year-old children living in disadvantaged Flying Start (FS) areas were recruited, with residence within the FS area being the only recruitment criterion. Findings – FS areas are more strategically targeted as communities with a greater percentage of families with high levels of socio-economic disadvantage and associated risk than SS areas. Families in the toddler parenting trial based in FS areas, recruited without any additional screening, were experiencing higher levels of socio-economic deprivation, mental health problems and parenting stress as well as other known risks to child outcomes than the general population. However, when compared with the individually targeted population recruited for the SS study, they were shown to be experiencing significantly lower levels of these and other risks factors for poor child outcomes than the sample recruited for the SS trial where recruitment was based on known child risk factors. The paper discusses these findings and explores the implications of targeting by geographical area (community level targeting) alone vs targeting individual families by known risk factors. The findings suggest that screening measures would identify children at greatest risk of poor outcomes and whose families might benefit from additional targeted services. Suggestions for possible screening measures are also made. Originality/value – This paper contributes to discussion about effective ways of allocating limited resources to best effect.
Optimal Monetary Policy, Gains from Commitment, and Inflation Persistence

Using a New Keynesian framework, this paper compares the effects on the welfare of optimal monetary policies under commitment and discretion, and examines the consequences of the presence of inflation persistence. A policy under commitment generates a better-weighted average of the variances of output and inflation ("dynamic gains"), and eliminates the inflationary bias. Commitment usually delivers a lower variance of inflation and a higher variance of output than those under discretion. The effect of the presence of inflation persistence on the dynamic gains from commitment is somehow surprising: the benefits are increasing in the degree of inflation persistence for moderate levels of persistence. On the other hand, inflation persistence reduces the inflationary bias. Furthermore, under "restricted commitment", were the solution is restricted to be within the same family of rules of the discretionary case, the gains are substantially inferior to those from commitment.
The cyclicality of cash flow and investment in U.S. manufacturing

It is well-known that investment is the most cyclical component of GNP. In addition, the procyclicality of investment is extremely important in accounting for the "shortfalls" of GNP during downturns in the economy. ' What is not well-understood is why investment is so cyclical. A number of theories have been proposed to explain the cyclicality of investment, and in this study, we bring some empirical evidence to bear on one in particular, the "cash flow" theory. The cash flow theory maintains that, because capital markets are not perfect, many firms rely heavily on internal finance for investment purposes; since cash flow tends to be very procyclical, investment also is procyclical. While the theory has been around for years, it recently has garnered renewed attention in both the financial pages of the newspaper and in academic journals. Business forecasters and analysts are particularly interested because of the current sharp decline in corporate profits and the problems in credit availability. ' In the academic world, theoretical work on the imperfections in capital markets— especially asymmetric information between firms and suppliers of finance—provides support for why credit rationing may occur and why external finance may be considerably more expensive than internal finance. In addition, there has been considerable recent effort in macroeconomics to link business cycle fluctuations to fluctuations in the available internal finance of firms in the economy. ' The primary aim of this study is to examine the relation between short-run fluctuations in investment and cash flow at the industry level. We build on our earlier study, Petersen and Strauss (1989), which focused on investment in the 20, two-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) manufacturing industries. We found that a great deal of difference in the degree of cyclicality exists within manufacturing. In particular, we found that industries producing durable goods tended to exhibit much more cyclical investment behavior than industries producing nondurable goods. To investigate the pattern of cyclicality of cash flow and investment in manufacturing, we use data from a panel of 261 industries covering the time period 1959 to 1986. Very little attention has been given to examining investment at this level. The lack of information about industry behavior is probably due to the fact that investment studies employing firm data typically do not have enough data points to produce estimates of cyclicality across a wide range of industries. We find that cash flow is indeed more procyclical in the durable goods sector than in the nondurable goods sector. We estimate that the cash flow elasticity with respect to GNP is, on average, more than twice as great for durable goods industries as for nondurable goods industries. While we do not explore the
Enrichment of Organic Carbon in Sediment Transport by Interrill and Rill Erosion Processes

Erosion and loss of organic carbon (OC) result in degradation of the soil surface. Rill and interrill erosion processes on a silt loam soil were examined in laboratory rainfall and flume experiments. These experiments showed that rill and interrill erosion processes have contrasting impacts on enrichment of OC in transported sediment. Rill erosion was found to be nonselective, while for interrill erosion the enrichment ratio of OC, ER OC , varied between 0.9 and 2.6 and was inversely related to the unit sediment discharge. At unit sediment discharge values >0.0017 kg s -1 m -1 , the ER OC remained equal to 1. The enrichment process was not influenced by raindrop impact. Enrichment of OC by "aggregate stripping" was found to be unimportant in our study. This was attributed to the low aggregate stability of the soil and the equal distribution of OC within the different soil aggregate classes.
Modelling of Nanoscale Friction using Network SimulationMethod

The field of nanotribology in the last decades was established through the introduction of Atomic Force/Friction Force Microscopes. However, our theoretical understanding of the individual processes involved in friction force microscopy is limited. This work designs a reliable and efficient model for the stickslip phenomenon, following the rules of network simulation. The model is able to manage different types of potential between the tip and the sample surface, allowing different kinds of sample material and microscope tip properties to be simulated with only minor changes in the code. The most analysed tribological materials in technical literature are simulated to test the proposed model, while the results are close to experimentally obtained results.
Microbial population assessment during IMO-composting production

Aims: In this study, we investigate the used of IMO produce from cooked rice in rice straw composting. The objective of this study is to identify the effect of composting using IMO and different combination of biowaste on composting of rice straw. Methodology and results: Different types of treatment were used involving rice straw and goat manure with addition or non-addition of IMO. Composting was done for 30 days in a plastic barrel and was manually turned. Temperature was measured daily while samples were analysed for moisture content, pH value and electrical conductivity (EC). Temperatures in rice straw compost contains goat manure have higher values up to 43 ° C. Rice straw compost with treatment of IMO contain pro-long thermophilic phase compared to treatment without IMO. pH recorded 7.0-8.7 during the process with slight fluctuation due to the microbial activities present. EC showed higher value in rice straw compost with goat manure due to the present of soluble salt in manure. Throughout the composting time, we observed the reduction of moisture value ranging from 43% to 34%. Microbial succession in compost treated with IMO showed high population with 3.16×10 9 CFU/g for mesophilic microorganism during the initial phase and 7.9×10 8 CFU/g for thermophilic microorganism. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Hence, it can be concluded that the IMO introduce during composting provide higher diversity of microorganisms and could pro-long the thermophilic phase, thus accelerating the process of degradation.
Regression modelling of risk impacts on construction cost flow forecast

Purpose – Significant risk factors inherent in construction cost flow forecast were identified in this study. The aim of this paper is to develop regression models to assess the impacts of the identified risks on the baseline forecast at the in‐progress stage of construction.Design/methodology/approach – Two stages were involved in data collection. The first was a structured questionnaire survey administered on 370 UK contractors to identify significant risk factors inherent in cost flow forecast. The second stage was the collection of forecast and actual cost flow data from 55 case study projects. Variations between these pair of data sets were measured at 30 per cent, 50 per cent, 70 per cent and 100 per cent completion periods. Respondents were then requested to score on a Likert type scale, the extent of occurrence of the significant risk factors in the case study projects. This pair of data sets were used in regression modelling.Findings – Significant risk factors were identified from the questionnai.
Protozoan parasites in a wastewater treatment plant of Bangladesh

Parasitic infection is a global health problem especially in developing countries. Municipal wastewaters always contain cysts of parasitic protozoans at some level. The present study was conducted to detect protozoan parasites in different stages of the treatment plant to check its efficacy. Wastewaters were collected from 3 points of the Pagla Sewage Treatent Plant (PSTP) of Dhaka, Bangladesh, throughout the year, 2007-08 at fortnight intervals. Giardia spp. , Entamoeba spp. , Entamoeba coli , Endolimax nana, Idoamoeba butschlii and Balantidium coli were detected at different times in different stages of the treatment plant. Among these Giardia and Entamoeba spp. were found most frequently than others . Both the prevalence and dominance of protozoan parasites were reduced gradually with the sampling point of the treatment plant which means that the treatment plant was effective in reducing protozoan parasites but not too effective to eliminate them completely. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/ujzru.v31i0. 15372 Univ. j. zool. Rajshahi Univ. Vol. 31, 2012 pp. 05-08
Sediment-biota interactions: mysid feeding activity enhances water turbidity and sediment erodability

Ecological investigations are increasingly focusing on the activities by which biota structure their ecosystems. Understanding the effects of hyperbenthic organisms on sediment dy- namics is expected to provide new insights into estuarine processes. The estuarine mysid Neomysis integer (Leach) occurs in large numbers at the turbidity maximum in the upper reaches of European estuaries, where it feeds from surface sediments. This study assesses the impact of mysid feeding behaviour on sediment stability, and the potential role of N. integer as an 'ecosystem engineer'. Cores of natural, undisturbed sediment were taken from the upper intertidal area of the Tamar Estuary (UK) and placed in a laboratory-based annular flume. Mysids were placed in the flume and left overnight to feed and to interact with the sediment. The following day, the sediment was subjected to increas- ing water current velocities (0.05 to 0.45 m s -1 ), and suspended particulate matter (SPM) was mea- sured via an optical back-scatter probe. Overnight feeding by mysids increased the amount of SPM: 3000 mysids in the flume (18 000 ind. m -2 ) caused nearly 150 g sediment m -2 to be suspended, while 180 ind. m -2 resuspended 2 g m -2 ; on an individual basis, resuspension of sediment was most inten- sive at a mysid density of 600 ind. m -2 . In control sediments without mysids, resuspension was negli- gible. Mysid feeding behaviour de-stabilised the surface sediment, enhancing erosion rates. Thresh- old shear-stress for erosion (τe) decreased from 0.15 N m -2 at 600 mysids m -2 to 0.05 N m -2 at 18 000 mysids m -2 . These τe values are equivalent to current velocities of 0.29 and 0.15 m s -1 , respec- tively. It seems likely that, besides feeding in the turbidity maximum of estuaries, N. integer actually contributes to the turbidity maximum itself. Furthermore, because N. integer occurs at high densities (90 000 mysids m -3 in the present study), it is predicted to play an important role in sediment dynamics and should be considered in models of sediment transport in upper estuaries.