Search results for: morphometric traits

Authors: Lican Guzmán, José Manuel Lattus, Mariana Cervetto, Mauricio Calderón

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Today the estimation of effects produced by climate change in high Andean wetland environments is confronted by big challenges. This study provides a way to an analysis by remote sensing how some Ambiental aspects have evolved on the Maricunga salt flat in the last 30 years, divided into the summer and winter seasons, and if global warming is conditioning these changes. The first step to achieve this goal was the recompilation of geological, hydrological, and morphometric antecedents to ensure an adequate contextualization of its environmental parameters. After this, software processing and analysis of Landsat 5,7 and 8 satellite imagery was required to get the vegetation, water, surface temperature, and soil moisture indexes (NDVI, NDWI, LST, and SMI) in order to see how their spatial-temporal conditions have evolved in the area of study during recent decades. Results show a tendency of regular increase in surface temperature and disponibility of water during both seasons but with slight drought periods during summer. Soil moisture factor behaves as a constant during the dry season and with a tendency to increase during wintertime. Vegetation analysis shows an areal and quality increase of its surface sustained through time that is consistent with the increase of water supply and temperature in the basin mentioned before. Roughly, the effects of climate change can be described as positive for the Maricunga salt flat; however, the lack of exact correlation in dates of the imagery available to remote sensing analysis could be a factor for misleading in the interpretation of results.

Keywords: global warming, geology, SIG, Atacama Desert, Salar de Maricunga, environmental geology, NDVI, SMI, LST, NDWI, Landsat

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Authors: Agostinho Antunes

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The completion of the human genome sequencing in 2003 opened a new perspective into the importance of whole genome sequencing projects, and currently multiple species are having their genomes completed sequenced, from simple organisms, such as bacteria, to more complex taxa, such as mammals. This voluminous sequencing data generated across multiple organisms provides also the framework to better understand the genetic makeup of such species and related ones, allowing to explore the genetic changes underlining the evolution of diverse phenotypic traits. Here, recent results from our group retrieved from comparative evolutionary genomic analyses of selected marine animal species will be considered to exemplify how gene novelty and gene enhancement by positive selection might have been determinant in the success of adaptive radiations into diverse habitats and lifestyles.

Keywords: marine genomics, evolutionary bioinformatics, human genome sequencing, genomic analyses

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Aazami Mavaloo, Mohammad Bagher Hassanpouraghdam

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Intact leaves, leaf segments and petiole sections derived from nodal explants in vitro were employed for the optimization of Pelargonium odoratissimum micropropagation. MS and ½ MS media enriched with BAP (1, 1.5, 2 and 4.5 mg/l) and NAA (0.1, 1 and 1.5 mg/l) were the treatment combinations used for. With leaf segments, the lowest browning incidence, the greatest callogenesis and the highest number of shoots were obtained with the media containing 1.5 mg/L BAP and 1 mg/L NAA. Two mg/L BAP + 0.1 mg/L NAA hold the same results for petiole explants. Intact leaves showed the best results for the three before-mentioned traits with 1 mg/L BAP + 1 mg/L NAA. 0.2 mg/L NAA caused the highest rooting percentage and the greatest mean data for the number and length of the roots. Rooted plantlets were transferred to the pots containing 1:1 peat-moss and perlite. Acclimatization of the plantlets was followed by 90 percent of survival rate in the greenhouse.

Keywords: Pelargonium odoratissimum, micropropagation, BAP, NAA

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Authors: Maryam Jaberi, Siavosh Shayan, Mojtaba Yamani

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Habble-Rud River basin (HR), up to 100 km length, one of the largest watersheds which drain into deserts to the north of Central Iran (Dasht-e Kavir). This stream is oblique with the NE-SW trending, flow in the southern range of central Alborz Mountains and the northern border of Central Iran. The end of the ~17 km suddenly change direction and with the southern trending to have a morphology which meanders passes through the Alborz Mountain ridge and flows into the Garmsar plain where it forms one of the largest alluvial fans in Iran, i.e. the vast Garmsar alluvial fan with an area of 476 km2. This study was carried out through morphometric analyses, longitudinal river profiles, and study of geomorpholic evidence such as fluvial terraces, gypsum-salt domes, seismic data, and satellite images. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the pattern of rivers in the southern part of the HR river basin. The southern part of HR river basin located at the southern foothills of the Central Alborz is characterized the thrust faults (Sorkheh-Kalut and Garmsar faults), folds,diapirs and arid climate. The activity of more than 10 salt domes that belong to the Oligocene-Miocene period has considerably influenced the pattern of streams in this region. Dissolution of these domes has not only reduced the quality of water and soil resources, but also has led to the formation of badlands and gullies.Our results indicated that the pattern of rivers in the southern part of HR river basin was influenced by discharge of the HR river in Quaternary, geological structure, subsidence of Central Iran and vertical uplift of Alborz mountain. These agents caused the formation meanders in the southern part of the HR River and evaluation of the seasonal rivers like Shoor-Darre and Garmabsar.

Keywords: geomorphologic evaluation, rivers pattern, Habble-Rud River basin, seasonal rivers

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Authors: Kepeng Li

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This paper examines the phenomenon of recidivism in the Chinese stock market, emphasizing the significance of mitigating repeat offences within the corporate domain. Using a contingency model and data from Chinese publicly listed companies (1999-2018), the study investigates the impact of underperformance, governance factors, and managerial traits on unethical conduct. The research suggests that persistently unmet economic objectives can foster problem-focused exploration, potentially leading to misconduct. Furthermore, the study considers the unique cultural context of China, where “guanxi” and corruption may influence corporate behavior. It concludes that governance mechanisms play a pivotal role in regulating corporate behavior, underscoring the necessity for enhanced oversight and enforcement of corporate governance standards.

Keywords: recidivism, corporate misbehavior, BTOF, aspiration level, corporate governance, individual characteristics

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Authors: Prema Basargekar

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Facilitating the subject ‘Entrepreneurship Education’ in higher education, such as management studies, can be exhilarating as well as challenging. It is a multi-disciplinary and ever-evolving subject. Capturing entrepreneurship as a phenomenon in a holistic manner is a daunting task as it requires covering various dimensions such as new ideas generation, entrepreneurial traits, business opportunities scanning, the role of policymakers, value creation, etc., to name a few. Implicit entrepreneurship theory and effectuation are two different theories that focus on engaging the participants to create content by using their own experiences, perceptions, and belief systems. It helps in understanding the phenomenon holistically. The assumption here is that all of us are part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and effective learning can come through active engagement and peer learning by all the participants together. The present study is an attempt to use these theories in the class assignment given to the students at the beginning of the course to build the course content and understand entrepreneurship as a phenomenon in a better way through peer learning. The assignment was given to three batches of MBA post-graduate students doing the program in one of the private business schools in India. The subject of ‘Entrepreneurship Management’ is facilitated in the third trimester of the first year. At the beginning of the course, the students were given the assignment to submit a brief write-up/ collage/picture/poem or in any other format about “What entrepreneurship means to you?” They were asked to give their candid opinions about entrepreneurship as a phenomenon as they perceive it. Nearly 156 students doing post-graduate MBA submitted the assignment. These assignments were further used to find answers to two research questions. – 1) Are students able to use divergent and innovative forms to express their opinions, such as poetry, illustrations, videos, etc.? 2) What are various dimensions of entrepreneurship which are emerging to understand the phenomenon in a better way? The study uses the Brawn and Clark framework of reflective thematic analysis for qualitative analysis. The study finds that students responded to this assignment enthusiastically and expressed their thoughts in multiple ways, such as poetry, illustration, personal narrative, videos, etc. The content analysis revealed that there could be seven dimensions to looking at entrepreneurship as a phenomenon. They are 1) entrepreneurial traits, 2) entrepreneurship as a journey, 3) value creation by entrepreneurs in terms of economic and social value, 4) entrepreneurial role models, 5) new business ideas and innovations, 6) personal entrepreneurial experiences and aspirations, and 7) entrepreneurial ecosystem. The study concludes that an implicit approach to facilitate entrepreneurship education helps in understanding it as a live phenomenon. It also encourages students to apply divergent and convergent thinking. It also helps in triggering new business ideas or stimulating the entrepreneurial aspirations of the students. The significance of the study lies in the application of implicit theories in the classroom to make higher education more engaging and effective.

Keywords: co-creation of content, divergent thinking, entrepreneurship education, implicit theory

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Authors: Saadia Khalid

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This paper discusses the various leadership styles of project manager which lead to the success of a project since it is important for a project manager to understand and adopt the skills required to cope up with the modern challenges of any project. A project manager must be able to handle a project effectively and efficiently and be ready to assess the factors effecting success or failure of the project. A project manager must be capable of handling a project by managing, directing and leading the projects with requisite knowledge and skills. In this paper a project manager’s characteristics linkage to project success have been developed and analyzed for three different projects/industries. A web-based survey has also been carried out which revealed that specific leadership styles/traits can lead to better performance and success of organizations. Some basic factors like project complexity, the age, gender and nationality of the project manager and type of project also play a vital role in success of a project.

Keywords: leadership style, project success, project management, project manager

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Authors: Shankaran Sitarama

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New Product Development involves team members coming together and working in teams to come up with innovative solutions to problems, resulting in new products. Thus, a core attribute of a successful NPD team is their creativity and innovation. They need to be creative as a group, generating a breadth of ideas and innovative solutions that solve or address the problem they are targeting and meet the user’s needs. They also need to be very efficient in their teamwork as they work through the various stages of the development of these ideas, resulting in a POC (proof-of-concept) implementation or a prototype of the product. There are two distinctive traits that the teams need to have, one is ideational creativity, and the other is effective and efficient teamworking. There are multiple types of tensions that each of these traits cause in the teams, and these tensions reflect in the team dynamics. Ideational conflicts arising out of debates and deliberations increase the collective knowledge and affect the team creativity positively. However, the same trait of challenging each other’s viewpoints might lead the team members to be disruptive, resulting in interpersonal tensions, which in turn lead to less than efficient teamwork. Teams that foster and effectively manage these creative tensions are successful, and teams that are not able to manage these tensions show poor team performance. In this paper, it explore these tensions as they result in the team communication social network and propose a Creative Tension Balance index along the lines of Degree of Balance in social networks that has the potential to highlight the successful (and unsuccessful) NPD teams. Team communication reflects the team dynamics among team members and is the data set for analysis. The emails between the members of the NPD teams are processed through a semantic analysis algorithm (LSA) to analyze the content of communication and a semantic similarity analysis to arrive at a social network graph that depicts the communication amongst team members based on the content of communication. This social network is subjected to traditional social network analysis methods to arrive at some established metrics and structural balance analysis metrics. Traditional structural balance is extended to include team interaction pattern metrics to arrive at a creative tension balance metric that effectively captures the creative tensions and tension balance in teams. This CTB (Creative Tension Balance) metric truly captures the signatures of successful and unsuccessful (dissonant) NPD teams. The dataset for this research study includes 23 NPD teams spread out over multiple semesters and computes this CTB metric and uses it to identify the most successful and unsuccessful teams by classifying these teams into low, high and medium performing teams. The results are correlated to the team reflections (for team dynamics and interaction patterns), the team self-evaluation feedback surveys (for teamwork metrics) and team performance through a comprehensive team grade (for high and low performing team signatures).

Keywords: team dynamics, social network analysis, new product development teamwork, structural balance, NPD teams

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Authors: Ioanna Skoura

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Past research shows that personal space has been investigated since the 1950s. Also, personality traits have been found to have a significant relationship with personal space. However, some of these studies have been criticized for being ethically inappropriate. In an attempt to avoid ethical issues, a new scale measuring desire for personal space has been created. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the impact of ethnicity on desire for personal space. Additionally, extraversion and neuroticism are expected to predict significantly desire for personal space. Furthermore, the study is looking for any impact of religiosity on desire for personal space. In order to test the previous hypotheses, 115 participants from three cultural groups (English, Greeks in Greece and Greeks in the UK) are recruited online. Results indicate that only extraversion and religiosity are significant predictors of desire for personal space. Implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.

Keywords: ethnicity, religiosity, personality, personal space

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Authors: Murray David Schane

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Though years of clinical encounters with patients with autism spectrum disorders and those with a schizoid personality the many defining diagnostic features shared between these conditions have been explored and current neurobiological differences have been reviewed; and, critical and different treatment strategies for each have been devised. The paper compares and contrasts the apparent similarities between autism spectrum disorders and the schizoid personality are found in these DSM descriptive categories: restricted range of social-emotional reciprocity; poor non-verbal communicative behavior in social interactions; difficulty developing and maintaining relationships; detachment from social relationships; lack of the desire for or enjoyment of close relationships; and preference for solitary activities. In this paper autism, fundamentally a communicative disorder, is revealed to present clinically as a pervasive aversive response to efforts to engage with or be engaged by others. Autists with the Asperger presentation typically have language but have difficulty understanding humor, irony, sarcasm, metaphoric speech, and even narratives about social relationships. They also tend to seek sameness, possibly to avoid problems of social interpretation. Repetitive behaviors engage many autists as a screen against ambient noise, social activity, and challenging interactions. Also in this paper, the schizoid personality is revealed as a pattern of social avoidance, self-sufficiency and apparent indifference to others as a complex psychological defense against a deep, long-abiding fear of appropriation and perverse manipulation. Neither genetic nor MRI studies have yet located the explanatory data that identifies the cause or the neurobiology of autism. Similarly, studies of the schizoid have yet to group that condition with those found in schizophrenia. Through presentations of clinical examples, the treatment of autists of the Asperger type is revealed to address the autist’s extreme social aversion which also precludes the experience of empathy. Autists will be revealed as forming social attachments but without the capacity to interact with mutual concern. Empathy will be shown be teachable and, as social avoidance relents, understanding of the meaning and signs of empathic needs that autists can recognize and acknowledge. Treatment of schizoids will be shown to revolve around joining empathically with the schizoid’s apprehensions about interpersonal, interactive proximity. Models of both autism and schizoid personality traits have yet to be replicated in animals, thereby eliminating the role of translational research in providing the kind of clues to behavioral patterns that can be related to genetic, epigenetic and neurobiological measures. But as these clinical examples will attest, treatment strategies have significant impact.

Keywords: autism spectrum, schizoid personality traits, neurobiological implications, critical diagnostic distinctions

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Authors: Tripti Singhal, C. Tara Satyavathi, S. P. Singh, Aruna Kumar, Mukesh Sankar S., C. Bhardwaj, Mallik M., Jayant Bhat, N. Anuradha, Nirupma Singh

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Pearl millet is a climate-resilient nutritious crop. We report iron and zinc content QTLs from 3 divergent locations. The content of grain Fe in the RILs ranged between 36 and 114 mg/kg, and that of Zn from 20 to 106 mg/kg across the three years at over 3 locations (Delhi, Dharwad, and Jodhpur). We used SSRs to generate a linkage map using 210 F₆ RIL derived from the (PPMI 683 × PPMI 627) cross. The linkage map of 151 loci was 3403.6 cM in length. QTL analysis revealed a total of 22 QTLs for both traits at all locations. Inside QTLs, candidate genes were identified using bioinformatics approaches.

Keywords: yield, pearl millet, QTL mapping, multi-environment, RILs

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Authors: Yichen Liu, Gexing Ding

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Past research seeking to understand our ability to update social impressions in light of behavioral inconsistencies has shown that morality is more dominant in impression formation and updating than ability (e.g. friendly vs. efficient). In this study, we aim to test whether this pattern holds among the teenage population in an eastern society. Our findings revealed that competency and moral judgments go beyond impression formation in social cognition by influencing physical attractiveness evaluation. Moreover, our results confirmed that moral description has a leading role over the other basic dimensions of human social cognition (i.e., competency) in driving the impression formation process in an eastern society. However, competency information was generally perceived as more favorable than moral information, regardless of valence. Further investigation is needed to understand the mechanism of such effects.

Keywords: impression formation, social cognition, moral judgment, cross-cultural

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Authors: Adel M. Mahmoud

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This Investigation was conducted to determine the productivity and water use efficiency for new sunflower genotypes. Ten sunflower genotypes were evaluated under drip irrigation using two treatments of. Results indicate that decreasing the amount of irrigation water from 1500 to 1130 mm/hectar significantly reduced all studied traits. Mutation (M1-63) surpassed all the other one genotypes in seed yield and WUE. Lines which gave the highest yield of the seed have water use efficiency under drought conditions higher than water use efficiency under normal irrigation. The lowest depression in seed yield due to drought conditions has been registered for Line 20, Line M1-63 and Sakha 53 genotypes (11 , 18 and 16 %, respectively). Genotypes (Line 20 , Line M1-63 and Sakha 53) are more tolerant to drought than others and we can used its in breeding program to develop sunflower hybrids suitable for cultivation under drought condition.

Keywords: sunflower genotypes, water use efficiency, mutation, inbred lines

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Authors: Parham Bakhtiari

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George Crumb's Makrokosmos Volumes are considered significant pieces in twentieth-century piano music and showcase the extensive use of different tones and extended techniques on the piano. Crumb's works are known for making references, particularly to music from previous eras which the visual, aural, and numerical characteristics are symbolic in nature. Crumb created a list of symbols and shortened letters to clarify his unique directions to those who performed his compositions. The pianists who prepare to play Makrokosmos must dedicate time to study and analyze Crumb's markings diligently to accurately capture the composer's wishes. The aim of this paper is to provide a collection for pianists looking to perform George Crumb's compositions known as Makrokosmos Volumes. The research traits of unconventional playing techniques and discussions on the music explored by the composer are being described.

Keywords: music, piano, Crumb, Makrokosmos, performance

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Authors: Abir S. AL-Harrasi, Eyad B. AL-Zadjali, Zahran S. AL-Salti

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Entrepreneurship has captured the attention of policy-makers, educators and researchers in the last few decades. It has been regarded as a main driver for economic growth, development and employment generation in many countries worldwide. However, scholars have not agreed on the key factors that impact entrepreneurial intention. This study attempts, through an extensive literature review, to provide a holistic view and a more comprehensive understanding of the key factors that lead university undergraduate students to become entrepreneurs. A systematic literature review is conducted and several scientific articles and reports have been examined. The results of this study indicate that there are four main sets of factors: the personality-traits factors, contextual factors, motivational factors, and personal background factors. This research will serve as a base for future studies and will have valuable implications for policy makers and educators.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intention, literature review, economic growth

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Authors: Loai Abdallah, Malik Yousef

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A domain space for the data should reflect the actual similarity between objects. Since objects belonging to the same cluster usually share some common traits even though their geometric distance might be relatively large. In general, the Euclidean distance of data points that represented by large number of features is not capturing the actual relation between those points. In this study, we propose a new method to construct a different space that is based on clustering to form a new distance metric. The new distance space is based on ensemble clustering (EC). The EC distance space is defined by tracking the membership of the points over multiple runs of clustering algorithm metric. Over this distance, we train the decision trees classifier (DT-EC). The results obtained by applying DT-EC on 10 datasets confirm our hypotheses that embedding the EC space as a distance metric would improve the performance.

Keywords: ensemble clustering, decision trees, classification, K nearest neighbors

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Authors: Alexander Cramer, Kenneth Cramer

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Since the inauguration of President George Washington in 1789, the United States of America has seen the governance of some 44 individual presidents. Although such presidents share a variety of attributes, they still differ from one another on many others. Significantly, these traits may be used to construct distinct sets of 'families' of presidents throughout American history. By comparatively analyzing data from experts on the U.S. presidency – in this case, the C-SPAN Presidential Historians Surveys from 2000, 2009, and 2017 – this article identifies a consistent set of six presidential families: the All Stars; the Conservative Visionaries; the Postwar Progressives; the Average Joes; the Forgettables; and the Regrettables. In situating these categories in history, this article argues that U.S. presidents can be accurately organized into cohesive, like-performing families whose constituents share a common set of criteria.

Keywords: C-SPAN, POTUS presidential performance, presidential ranking, presidential studies, presidential surveys, United States

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Authors: Irianes C. Gozali, Betty J.L. Laglbauer, Muhammad G. Salim, Sila K. Sari, Fahmi Fahmi, Selvia Oktaviyani

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Muncar, located off the eastern coast of Java, is an important fishing port for small-scale fleets which land mobulid rays as retained bycatch, primarily in drift gillnets. Due to overlap with fishing grounds in the Bali Strait, three devil ray species are landed in Muncar, the spinetail devil ray Mobula mobular, the bentfin devil ray Mobula thurstoni, and the Chilean devil ray Mobula tarapacana, which are all listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. However, despite the importance of life-history data to better manage stocks, such information is still rare or unavailable for Indonesian mobulid ray populations. Using morphometric data, reproductive assessments, and samples collected from dead specimens at fish markets from 2015-2019, we provide information on the maturity stage, reproductive periodicity, gestation, and size at parturition. A majority of immature individuals of all three devil ray species were recorded (<10% individuals in Mobula mobular to <30% individuals in Mobula thurstoni). Pregnant females of two species, Mobula mobular and Mobula thurstoni were recorded containing embryos of various developmental stages (each with a single embryo in the left functional uterus), while for Mobula tarapacana, no fetuses were found. The largest embryo recorded in M. mobular was within the range of that previously reported for neonates of the species in Indonesia (957 cm, for a 920-994 range), and represents a near-term embryo reflecting size at parturition. Low reproductive output was confirmed for the study-species. Based on this study, we infer that the Bali Straight is likely an important location for devil ray reproduction, which raises concern for the sustainability of mobulid ray populations in the face of bycatch in drift gillnets. Potential management approaches to tackle this issue are discussed.

Keywords: devil ray, mobulid, reproduction, Indonesia

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Authors: Delia Gabriela Moisa, Demos Parapanos, Tim Heap

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The tourism sector is mainly comprised of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMEs), representing approximately 80% of global businesses in this field. These entities require focused attention and support to address challenges, ensuring their competitiveness and relevance in a dynamic industry characterized by continuously changing customer preferences. To address these challenges, it becomes imperative to consider not only socio-demographic factors but also delve into the intricate interplay of psychological elements influencing consumer behavior. This study investigates the impact of personality traits and travel motivations on visitor activities in Cumbria, United Kingdom, an iconic region marked by UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including The Lake District National Park and Hadrian's Wall. With a £4.1 billion tourism industry primarily driven by SMEs, Cumbria serves as an ideal setting for examining the relationship between tourist psychology and activities. Employing the Big Five personality model and the Travel Career Pattern motivation theory, this study aims to explain the relationship between psychological factors and tourist activities. The study further explores SME perspectives on personality-based market segmentation, providing strategic insights into addressing evolving tourist preferences.This pioneering mixed-methods study integrates quantitative data from 330 visitor surveys, subsequently complemented by qualitative insights from tourism SME representatives. The findings unveil that socio-demographic factors do not exhibit statistically significant variations in the activities pursued by visitors in Cumbria. However, significant correlations emerge between personality traits and motivations with preferred visitor activities. Open-minded tourists gravitate towards events and cultural activities, while Conscientious individuals favor cultural pursuits. Extraverted tourists lean towards adventurous, recreational, and wellness activities, while Agreeable personalities opt for lake cruises. Interestingly, a contrasting trend emerges as Extraversion increases, leading to a decrease in interest in cultural activities. Similarly, heightened Agreeableness corresponds to a decrease in interest in adventurous activities. Furthermore, travel motivations, including nostalgia and building relationships, drive event participation, while self-improvement and novelty-seeking lead to adventurous activities. Additionally, qualitative insights from tourism SME representatives underscore the value of targeted messaging aligned with visitor personalities for enhancing loyalty and experiences. This study contributes significantly to scholarship through its novel framework, integrating tourist psychology with activities and industry perspectives. The proposed conceptual model holds substantial practical implications for SMEs to formulate personalized offerings, optimize marketing, and strategically allocate resources tailored to tourist personalities. While the focus is on Cumbria, the methodology's universal applicability offers valuable insights for destinations globally seeking a competitive advantage. Future research addressing scale reliability and geographic specificity limitations can further advance knowledge on this critical relationship between visitor psychology, individual preferences, and industry imperatives. Moreover, by extending the investigation to other districts, future studies could draw comparisons and contrasts in the results, providing a more nuanced understanding of the factors influencing visitor psychology and preferences.

Keywords: personality trait, SME, tourist behaviour, tourist motivation, visitor activity

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Authors: Valentina Colonnello, Paolo Maria Russo

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Studies indicate a link between individual differences in affective disposition and depression, as well as between emotion dysregulation and depression. However, the specific role of emotion dysregulation domains in mediating the relationship between affective disposition and depression remains largely unexplored. In three cross-sectional quantitative studies (total n = 1350), we explored the extent to which specific emotion regulation difficulties mediate the relationship between personal distress disposition (Study 1), separation distress as a primary emotional trait (Study 2), and an insecure, anxious attachment style (Study 3) and depression. Across all studies, we found that the relationship between affective disposition and depression was mediated by difficulties in accessing adaptive emotion regulation strategies. These findings underscore the potential for modifiable abilities that could be targeted through preventive interventions.

Keywords: emotions, mental health, individual traits, personality

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Authors: Petra Hurbišová, Monika Davidová

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The article deals with the personality of military professionals (commanders) and their way of leading and commanding today and in historical context. The first part focuses on the leadership skills of Alexander the Great, who introduced strategic innovations and even from today's perspective he excelled in efficient work with people. This paper focuses on the way which he achieved his goals. Further attention is paid to approaches to commander´s personality by other great generals. The paper is also focused on personality traits of military professionals necessary for successful management and leadership in today's variable and challenging environment. Finally, attention is paid to the effective and ineffective ways of behavior of commanders and determined what styles of leadership is appropriate for a given situation, whether in peacetime or when commander is deployed in overseas operations or the state of war.

Keywords: authority, commander, leader, leadership, military professional, personality

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Authors: M. Yusuf

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The recent discovery of the phenomenon of RNA interference has led to its application in various aspects of plant improvement. Crops can be modified by engineering novel RNA interference pathways that create small RNA molecules to alter gene expression in crops or plant pests. RNA interference can generate new crop quality traits or provide protection against insects, nematodes and pathogens without introducing new proteins into food and feed products. This is an advantage in contrast with conventional procedures of gene transfer. RNA interference has been used to develop crop varieties resistant to diseases, pathogens and insects. Male sterility has been engineered in plants using RNA interference. Better quality crops have been developed through the application of RNA interference etc. The objective of this paper is to highlight the application of RNA interference in crop improvement and to project its potential future use to solve problems of agricultural production in relation to plant breeding.

Keywords: RNA interference, application, crop Improvement, agricultural production

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Authors: Mythri Kukkaje

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Information about the social and psychological contexts that operate as a breeding ground for perpetrators of violence against women in India is scarce. To understand the social and psychological contexts that form the bases of violent behaviour in male-perpetrators against women, interviews were conducted with 13 men above the age of 18 years, who were convicted for their crimes against women. Using thematic analysis, the nurturance and the social background of the perpetrators, determined by their social relationships, the socio-economic status, the extent of substance abuse, the history of experiencing and witnessing violence and their cultural context, were found to define the social context. The nature and the psychological background of the perpetrators determined by the thoughts and beliefs regarding gender and violence, the motivation behind their violent behaviour and a few specific personality traits were found to define the psychological context. These factors on their own, as well as an interaction between them, could be responsible for varying degrees of violence against women.

Keywords: perpetrator, psychological, social, violence against women

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Authors: Oyatayo Kehinde Taofik, Ndabula Christopher

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Drainage basins are a central theme in the green economy. The rising challenges in flooding, erosion or sediment transport and sedimentation threaten the green economy. This has led to increasing emphasis on quantitative analysis of drainage basin parameters for better understanding, estimation and prediction of fluvial responses and, thus associated hazards or disasters. This can be achieved through direct measurement, characterization, parameterization, or modeling. This study applied the Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System approach of parameterization and characterization of the morphometric variables of Katsina – Ala basin using a 30 m resolution Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM). This was complemented with topographic and hydrological maps of Katsina-Ala on a scale of 1:50,000. Linear, areal and relief parameters were characterized. The result of the study shows that Ala and Udene sub-watersheds are 4th and 5th order basins, respectively. The stream network shows a dendritic pattern, indicating homogeneity in texture and a lack of structural control in the study area. Ala and Udene sub-watersheds have the following values for elongation ratio, circularity ratio, form factor and relief ratio: 0.48 / 0.39 / 0.35/ 9.97 and 0.40 / 0.35 / 0.32 / 6.0. They also have the following values for drainage texture and ruggedness index of 0.86 / 0.011 and 1.57 / 0.016. The study concludes that the two sub-watersheds are elongated, suggesting that they are susceptible to erosion and, thus higher sediment load in the river channels, which will dispose the watersheds to higher flood peaks. The study also concludes that the sub-watersheds have a very coarse texture, with good permeability of subsurface materials and infiltration capacity, which significantly recharge the groundwater. The study recommends that efforts should be put in place by the Local and State Governments to reduce the size of paved surfaces in these sub-watersheds by implementing a robust agroforestry program at the grass root level.

Keywords: erosion, flood, mitigation, morphometry, watershed

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Authors: Theopoula Karanikolaou

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During recent decades an increasing number of studies indicate the negative impact of gender stereotypes in various aspects of society as well as in everyday life. At the same time, children’s literature is considered an important factor of gender-role socialization as it provides young readers with socially accepted gender behavioral models. Using a content analysis approach, this research examines the female representations in Greek children’s literature published from 2009 to 2019. Results indicate that female characters are depicted as sensitive and tender both in texts and illustrations, traits that are almost absent in the male characters of the sample. Highlighting the emotional aspect of female characters in contrast with the restrained male attitude reproduces gender biases. Stereotypical gender representation in children’s literature cultivates further discrimination among men and women.

Keywords: children's literature, female representation, gender socialization, gender studies

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Authors: Tamer Koburtay, Radi Haloub

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Person-Organization fit theory concerns how people flourish in a workplace that is congruence with their values and other traits. This paper seeks to highlight the theoretical relevance that workplace spirituality may add to the existing theory development of the P-O fit. In specific, it aims to empirically test the emerged framework that encompasses how workplace and self-spirituality match may enhance the perceived P-O fit, and how such a fit can enhance both employees’ ethical behaviors (i.e., humanism and honesty) and spiritual leadership behaviors. Drawing on a survey of the private and public sectors in Jordan, the results reveal that increasing the match in workplace and employees’ spirituality positively enhances the perceived P-O fit. Further, ethical and spiritual behaviors were found to be positively linked with a higher P-O fit. The importance of this paper is by generating a concept (i.e., P-O spirituality fit) beyond the already vast literature on P-O fit.

Keywords: ethical behavior, leadership, P-O fit, spirituality, leadership

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Authors: Man Guo

Abstract:

This paper delves into the intricate interplay between spatial morphology and spatial cognition in Lidukou Village, utilizing a combined approach of spatial syntax and field data. Through a comparative analysis of the gathered data, it emerges that the spatial integration level of Lidukou Village exhibits a direct positive correlation with the spatial cognitive preferences of its inhabitants. Specifically, the areas within the village that exhibit a higher degree of spatial cognition are predominantly distributed along the axis primarily defined by Shuxiang Road. However, the accessibility to historical relics remains limited, lacking a coherent systemic relationship. To address the morphological challenges faced by Lidukou Village, this study proposes optimization strategies that encompass diverse perspectives, including the refinement of spatial mechanisms and the shaping of strategic spatial nodes.

Keywords: traditional villages, spatial syntax, spatial integration degree, morphological problem

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Authors: Zahra Khodabandeh, Leila Rezaeian, Mohammad Amin Edalatmanesh, Asghar Mogheiseh, Nader Tanideh, Mehdi Dianatpour, Shahrokh Zare, Hossein Bordbar, Neda Baghban, Amin Tamadon

Abstract:

Background: In-utero xenotransplantation of stem cells in abnormal fetuses effectively treats several genetic illnesses. Objective: The current research aimed to evaluate structural and morphological alterations in the liver of rabbit fetuses following xenotransplantation of human Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hWJ-MSCs) using a stereological technique. Methods: hWJ-MSCs were isolated from the human umbilical cord, and their authenticity was established by flow cytometry and differentiation. At gestational day 14, the rabbits were anesthetized, and hWJ-MSCs were injected into the uteri of 24 fetuses. Twenty-two fetuses were born successfully. Ten rabbit liver specimens were prepared from injected fetuses, including eight rabbits on day three following birth and two rabbits on the 21st post-natal day. The non-injected fetuses were considered positive controls. The livers of the control and hWJ-MSCs-treated rabbits were fixed, processed, stained, and examined through stereological approaches. Results: In the hWJ-MSCs-treated group, the mean liver weight and volume increased by 42% and 78% compared to the control group. The total volume of the hepatocytes increased by 63% and that of sinusoids by threefold in the treated rabbits. The total volume of the central veins increased by 70%. The total number corresponding to hepatocytes in the experimental group increased by 112% compared to the rabbits in the control. The total volume of the hepatocyte nuclei in the experimental group increased by 117% compared to the rabbits in the control. Conclusion: After xenotransplantation of human MSCs, host tissue microenvironments (here, the rabbit liver) were altered, and these included quantitative factors corresponding to the liver tissue and hepatocyte morphometric indices.

Keywords: xenotransplantation, mesenchymal stromal, stem cell, Wharton ‘s jelly, liver

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Authors: Shatha A. Yousif, Hatem Jasim, Ali R. Abas, Dheya P. Yousef

Abstract:

To study the effect of the cross direction in bead wheat, three hybrid combinations (Babyle 113 , Iratome), (Sawa , Tamose2) and (Al Hashymya Al Iraq) were tested for plant height, number of tillers/m, number of grains per spike, weight of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight and grain yield. The results revealed that the direction of the cross had significant effect the number of grain/spike, tillers/m and grain yields. Grain yield was positively and significantly correlated with 1000-grain weight, number of grains per spike and tillers. Depend on the result of heritability and genetic advance it was suggested that 1000-grain weight number of grains per spike and tillers should be given emphasis for future wheat yield improvement programs.

Keywords: correlation, genetic advance, heritability, wheat, yield traits

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Authors: Maryam Radan, Fereshteh Nejad Dehbashi, Vahid Bayati, Mahin Dianat, Seyyed Ali Mard, Zahra Mansouri

Abstract:

Pulmonary emphysema is a pathological respiratory condition identified by alveolar destruction which leads to limitation of airflow and diminished lung function. A substantial body of evidence suggests that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability to induce tissue repair primarily through a paracrine effect. In this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy of Intratracheal adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) therapy in comparison to this approach with that of Intravenous (Systemic) therapy. Fifty adult male Sprague–Dawley rats weighing between 180 and 200 g were used in this experiment. The animals were randomized to Control groups (Intratracheal or Intravenous vehicle), Elastase group (intratracheal administration of porcine pancreatic elastase; 25 U/kg on day 0 and day 10th), Elastase+Intratracheal ADSCs therapy (1x107 Cells, on day 28) and Elastase+Systemic ADSCs therapy (1x107 Cells, on day 28). The rats which not subjected to any treatment, considered as the control. All rats were sacrificed 3 weeks later. Morphometric findings in lung tissues (Mean linear intercept) confirmed the establishment of the emphysema model via alveolar disruption. Contrarily, ADSCs administration partially restored alveolar architecture. These results were associated with improving arterial oxygenation, reducing lung edema, and decreasing lung inflammation with higher significant effects in the Intratracheal therapy route. These results documented that the efficacy of intratracheal ADSCs was comparable with intravenous ADSCs therapy. Accordingly, the obtained data suggested that intratracheal delivery of ADSCs would enhance lung repair in pulmonary emphysema. Moreover, this method provides benefits over a systemic administration, such as the reduction of cell number and the low risk to engraft other organs.

Keywords: mesenchymal stem cell, emphysema, Intratracheal, systemic

Procedia PDF Downloads 194