Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COMBINEDANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF GREEN MANURE AND DIFFERENT NITROGEN LEVELS ON THE NITROGEN AGRONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN WHEAT

This research was carried out under the temperate climate condition of Ilam province, Iran, during 20122014 growing seasons to determine the suitable crop rotation for enhancing nitrogen agronomic efficiency of wheat.The experiment was performed in a split plot arrangement based on randomized complete block design with 4 replications. The main plots consisted of 6 Green manure plant treatments (Control, Perko PVH, Buko, Berssem Clover, Oilseed radish and combination of three plants Ramtil, Phasilia, Clover), and sub-plots were allocated to four levels of nitrogen fertilizer (Zero, fertilizer recommendation, 50% lower and 50% higher than the recommended fertilizer). The results showed that there were significant differences among the green manure treatments for the grain yield. The highest and lowest grain yield, with 7020, and 4969 kgha -1 were obtained for Perko green manure and Control, respectively. The highest and lowest nitrogen uptake efficiency was obtained for Oilseed radish green manure and Fallow rotation, respectively. The difference between the various green manure was significant for nitrogen use efficiency. The green manure of Oilseed radish increased nitrogen economic performance up to 30.65 kg kg-1. The Nitrogen Uptake Efficiency in Oilseed radish green manure was the highest with 0.86 kg per kg of nitrogen. Finally among the cultivated varieties, Perko and Oilseed radish was superior compared to the other four cultivars.
Does IFRS Adoption Influence Quality of Reporting?: An Empirical Evidence from Large Canadian Banks

This study is a comparative study between the Canadian GAAP and IFRS, to understand the extent and nature of impact on financial reporting in the nine largest Canadian banks. The quantitative research method is adopted for this empirical study. The research question of this research study is: Does IFRS adoption in the Canadian financial institutions improve financial reporting quality? This research finds that under IFRS, increase in earnings quality due to increase in value relevance (earnings influence to market price); increase in persistency and predictability in earnings and cash flows; and increase in earnings to shareholder value. However, it also finds that, decrease in accruals and timeliness loss of recognition (reduce in income smoothing), and decrease in the accounting valuation usefulness (earnings to book value per share).
Serum ß 2 -microglobulin levels at diagnosis and during antitumour treatment in children with malignant neoplasms

O b j e c t i v e. To assess whether serum β 2 -Microglobulin (β 2 -M) levels might serve as a marker for both diagnostics and treatment monitoring in children with cancer. Materials a nd m ethod s. Serum β 2 -M levels and rates of β 2 -M elevated values were estimated by ELISA in 100 children with acute leukaemia and lymphomas (n=64) and with malignant solid tumours (n=36). The study was performed prospectively, the analyses were performed before treatment, in partial and complete remission, after therapy and during relapse or progression of cancer. The control group consisted of 30 healthy children. Results . Median pre-treatment β 2 -M levels in children with lymphoproliferative disorders were significantly elevated as compared to controls. This was not observed in the case of malignant solid tumours. β 2 -M elevated rates were 66.7% in patients with leukaemias and lymphomas and only 33.7% in solid tumours. The good response to antitumour therapy in the entire oncological group parallelled a significant decrease of pre-treatment β2-M levels towards normal range (p<0.001). Conclusions . β 2 -M may serve as a useful diagnostic marker in paediatric lymphoproliferative disorders, but not in the case of malignant solid tumours. Monitoring of serum concentrations of β 2 -M during oncological treatment may be of value, especially in children with lymphoproliferative neoplasms, however further studies are necessary in more homogenous and numerous group of patients.
Large representation Polyakov loop in hot Yang-Mills theory

We review the argument that there is a quantum phase transition in the expectation value of the Polyakov loop operator in a large representation of the gauge group. The transition occurs as the size of the representation is increased. Our analysis applies to the ’t Hooft limit of four dimensional Yang-Mills theory with adjoint or other center neutral matter fields, including the case of N = 4 Yang-Mills theory on a spatial S3. We speculate that this transition is reflected in the D-branes which are the string theory duals of giant loops.
How Facebook Connects Students’ Group Work Collaboration: A Relationship between Personal Facebook Usage and Group Engagement

This study examined the relationship between the personal value of social networking technology, the frequency of Facebook use, the frequency of Facebook activities, and group engagement. The samples were 205 pre-service teachers who participated in the six-week online group project. Questionnaires were collected after the pre-service teachers submitted the project. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis to identify relations among variables. The results showed that 98% of pre-service teachers expanded their network by adding group members to their Facebook friends during the project assignment. The study found no relationship between personal purposive values of social networking technology and group engagement. Although 58.4% of the students used Facebook many times a day, the frequency of usage was largely related to personal interests rather than being relevant to group communication and engagement with the project assignment. However, there were significant but slight correlations between the Facebook activity “view others’ status to update social events” and group engagement; between “private messages” and group engagement; between “set up and share events” and group engagement; between “commenting” and group engagement; and between “clicking like” and group engagement. Therefore, educators should integrate their instructional strategy with the virtual learning environment to promote students’ group engagement via social networking sites.
Biomimetic Cationic Nanoparticles Based on Silica: Optimizing Bilayer Deposition from Lipid Films

The optimization of bilayer coverage on particles is important for a variety of biomedical applications, such as drug, vaccine, and genetic material delivery. This work aims at optimizing the deposition of cationic bilayers on silica over a range of experimental conditions for the intervening medium and two different assemblies for the cationic lipid, namely, lipid films or pre-formed lipid bilayer fragments. The lipid adsorption on silica in situ over a range of added lipid concentrations was determined from elemental analysis of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen and related to the colloidal stability, sizing, zeta potential, and polydispersity of the silica/lipid nanoparticles. Superior bilayer deposition took place from lipid films, whereas adsorption from pre-formed bilayer fragments yielded limiting adsorption below the levels expected for bilayer adsorption.
Scholastic Achievement and Computer Attitudes Among Moroccan University Students

In Morocco, like any other parts of the world, the government has enormously been an enthusiastic supporter of technology to uplift the education quality. However, without students' positive computer attitudes, students will not be successful nor will be prepared to acquire new knowledge to achieve good results. To this end, the present study: (1) identifies the potential relationship between computer enjoyment (CE) and students' English achievement (EA), (2) explores the type of relationship between computer anxiety (CA) and achievement in English, (3) examines the nature of relationship between computer utility (CU) and English achievement (EA), and finally investigates the type of relationship between computer familiarity (CF) and English achievement among Moroccan university students. Therefore, the main instruments, questionnaires and achievement tests, are analyzed and interpreted quantitatively; whereas the semi-structured interviews are treated qualitatively. The statistical tools used in order to help analyze and interpret data make use of percentages, frequencies, and Correlation tests. Following what has been hypothesized, the quantitative findings reveal that there is no statistically significant correlation between CE, CA, CU, CF and EA. Likewise, the qualitative data results confirm the quantitative findings.
Examining the Effects of Microfinance Services on Incomes and Business Capital in Ghana: The Case of Sinapi Aba Trust Beneficiaries

Microfinance institutions operate with the underlying philosophy that providing easier access to financial services for low income earners can result in increased incomes and business capital of beneficiaries to assist in reducing income inequality. This paper sets out to examine financial intermediation theory, through microfinance services, to expound its effects on incomes of beneficiaries of Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT) microfinance institution and provides empirical evidence on how microfinance services affect the incomes and business capital of beneficiaries in Ghana. The cross sectional approach was used to collect data from 361 beneficiaries. Both quantitative and qualitative tools were used, and the findings indicate that SAT services led to improvements in beneficiaries incomes. Even though most of the SAT beneficiaries were classified under the lower middle income group, they were earning incomes higher than the national average for the lower middle income group. Beneficiaries in the manufacturing sector earned higher incomes while those from the agricultural, and food sub-sector earned the lowest. Individual loan beneficiaries had the highest incomes compared to those who obtained group loans. It was further identified that larger loan sizes led to increased incomes. The conclusion, for practitioners, is that microfinance has the potential of increasing the incomes of beneficiaries. Keywords: Beneficiaries, business capital, incomes, microfinance, Sinapi Aba Trust.
Technological Forecasting & Social Change Dynamics of the North – South welfare gap and global sustainability

Article history: Received 14 August 2008 Received in revised form 21 October 2009 Accepted 18 November 2009 The vast heterogeneity among nations in terms of economic and demographic characteristics is evident, despite being overlooked in some global studies. In this heterogeneity, it is possible to identify some distinct aggregate classes differing at some very fundamental level: developing (South) nations and developed (North) nations may have very different, asymmetric problems, goals and structures. This study investigates these two distinct groups of socio-economic systems, as they interact in a context of global sustainability. We identify population, economic growth, welfare gap, energy supply and pollution as key issues and analyze them using a systems perspective. A dynamic feedback model, which discriminates the two groups of nations, is constructed to study the dynamics of variables related to the above key issues. The model is tested using extensive data between the years 1980–2005. According to the reference behavior covering the period 1980–2050, it is not viable to close the welfare gap between North and South, given the current prevailing non-renewable-resource-based growth system. A nonrenewable-resource-based system adopted by the economic system of growing South would take the global system even closer to its limits. It is observed that indicators like reserve-todemand ratio fail to provide reliable signals for a timely transition to alternative resources, and a very serious economic recession due to resource scarcity is likely to develop in the next couple of decades. By coupling the demographic and economic dynamics, it is shown that an economic slowdown due to a resource scarcity may have a dramatic widening effect on the already existing welfare gap. Scenario and policy experiments verify the widely accepted importance of stabilizing the population growth in South, transition to alternative energy resources, and investment support to the South in this transition simultaneously in order to reduce the welfare gap between the two blocks. It is observed that enthusiastic targets for an energy transition may have a serious negative impact on the welfare level experienced in South, whereas an energy transition in South supported by North seems to have the most desirable outcome regarding the welfare gap. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Predominance of Giardia intestinalis assemblage B in diarrhoeic children in Sharkia, Egypt

Background: Giardia intestinalis (G. intestinalis) is one of the most common human enteric protozoa that infect Egyptian children, causing most of the diarrhoeic outbreaks worldwide. Identification of G. intestinalis assemblage is important because of its role in determining sources of infection, in understanding the ecological and clinical impact of giardiasis, and hence its management and control.Objective: Study of this cross-sectional sample aimed to determine the genotypes of G. intestinalis isolated from the feces of diarrhoeic children attending outpatient clinic of Zagazig University hospital.Subjects and Methods: A single fecal sample was collected from each child (n=126). All samples were subjected to microscopic examination by direct wet mount before and after formal- ethyl acetate concentration. Positive samples were amplified by nested PCR (nPCR) and sequenced for intra and inter assemblage identification targeting tpi gene.Results: Microscopic examination revealed detection of G. intestinalis in 38 samples (30.2%). In 36 (28.6%) samples there was assemblage B predominance in 34 (94.4%) isolates, among which 24 (70.6%) were subgenotype BIV and 10 (29.4%) were sub-genotype BIII. Only 2 (5.6%) samples had assemblage A; all of them were AII subgenotype. All studied patient`s demographic and clinical data showed no significant association with Giardia infection or prevailing Giardia assemblages.Conclusion: G. intestinalis is the prevailing intestinal pathogen in diarrhoeic Egyptian children, with Giardia assemblage B predominance. These findings necessitate physicians’ attention and further genetic studies in Egypt and other endemic areas targeting different genetic loci, with the inclusion of larger population samples. This will lead to a better understanding of the ecological and clinical impact of giardiasis, its management and control.
Methodological quality assessment tools of non-experimental studies: a systematic review

: The evaluation of the methodological quality of primary studies in systematic reviews is of great importance in order to guarantee the validity and reliability of their results, but there is no agreement on which tool should be used. Our aim is to analyze the tools proposed so far for the assessment of cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies in psychology and health sciences. A systematic review was performed using 5 electronic databases and Google ® . In order to analyze the tools’ content, 6 domains of quality were defined based on reporting guidelines, the established bibliography, and previous similar studies. 74 tools were identified and analyzed. Few reported their reliability (20%) or validity (14%). The most frequently addressed content domains were Data collection (71.6%), Selection (67.6%), Statistics and data analysis (67.6%), and Measurement (58.1%); only 35.1% addressed Representativeness, and 6.8% addressed Funding. Despite the strengths we found scattered among the tools, there is no single obvious choice if we had to make any recommendation. Methodological quality assessment tools of non-experimental studies should meet standardized development criteria, but previously it is necessary to reach an agreement on which content domains they should take into account
Mean-field theory for confinement transitions and magnetization plateaux in spin ice

We study phase transitions in classical spin ice at nonzero magnetization, by introducing a mean-field theory designed to capture the interplay between confinement and topological constraints. The method is applied to a model of spin ice in an applied magnetic field along the [1 0 0] crystallographic direction and yields a phase diagram containing the Coulomb phase as well as a set of magnetization plateaux. We argue that the lobe structure of the phase diagram, strongly reminiscent of the Bose–Hubbard model, is generic to Coulomb spin liquids.
Antecedents and consequences of market orientation in universities: Literature review and conceptual framework

Recent developments in marketing theory have resulted in the conceptualisation of the market orientation construct in different cultural and industrial settings. However, there is little research investigating the applicability of market orientation in the higher education context. Building on the existing literature on market orientation and higher education marketing, the authors propose a theoretical framework of market orientation from a higher education management perspective. The framework analysis leads to propositions relating to the antecedents and consequences of market oriented universities. On the basis of the formulated propositions, the authors conclude with a discussion of the implications both for academia and practice and further research. Introduction Research in the field of market orientation has been developed in different national and industrial contexts, following a variety of methodological approaches. However, market orientation in the higher education context has not received a great deal of attention. This is in line with some previous studies asserting the lack of both the conceptualisation and application of some important strategic issues in the educational setting (Maringe 2005), such as: market orientation (Conway et al. 1994; Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka 2006). Only few prior attempts (Lindsay & Rodgers 1998; Siu & Wilson 1998; Caruana & al. 1998) have been made in order to apply market orientation into higher education. Nonetheless, these attempts entail a large part of practicality rather than examining the conceptualisation of market orientation in the context of higher education taking into account the specificities associated with the marketing of higher education. Since the role of market orientation in higher education does not appear to have been adequately considered, a conceptual framework examining the conceptualisation of market orientation in higher education has been designed. This will form the bulk of the issues to be discussed in the section that follows. Applicability of market orientation in the higher education context: Investigating the applicability of market orientation in the higher education context suggests essentially the identification of both the core business and the customer of higher education institutions. Nature of universities offerings (the core business): The core business of universities still remains ambiguous, due to some discrepancies existing in the literature of higher education marketing. While some authors approached the marketing of higher education with a product-marketing perspective (e.g. Kotler & Fox 1985; Conway, et al. 1994), others advocated the service nature of the educational offerings (e.g. Winston 1999; Umashankar 2001; Nguyen & LeBlanc 2001; Russell 2005; Melewar & Akel 2005). Nonetheless, in referring to the history of higher education marketing, it can be contended that initial studies adopted a product-marketing approach in perceiving the educational programmes/courses as the “product” to deliver to students (perceived here as the
Evaluating information sources for computer programming learning and problem solving

In this paper we analyze the usage model and preferences of students who may choose from several types of information resources that are designed to help teach programming skills. Each type of resource is available for improving knowledge of software programming and programming languages or for solving specific problems by using those languages. We provide data that illustrates students' use of and preference for each type of information resource. Our findings can help teachers and writers of technical communication plan for and understand the value of different information types for computer programming.
Comparative case studies between Germany and Finland with insights for Sweden Master’s thesis within the Industrial Ecology program

The transport sector accounts for a large share of released CO2 emissions to the atmosphere and employment of renewable alternatives are at this point highly demanded to combat climate change. One of the considered options to address the climate change issue is to use biofuels. However, transition towards sustainable transport using alternative technology such as biofuels might encounter multi-faceted challenges in the innovation and di usion processes, which calls for implementation of innovation policy instruments. This thesis investigates the implications of innovation policy instruments on the di usion of biofuels using cross-national comparative based case studies between Germany and Finland. Currently, Germany applies greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction quota as well as tax exemption and biofuels quota in the preceding years, while Finland implements biofuels obligation, taxation system and subsidy for new investments. Comparison between these di erent policy instruments may generate insights for mutual policy learning for other country, such as Sweden. Assessment of policy instruments in the case studies is based on the policy characteristics and their influences on the establishment of technological innovation functions/processes, which is reflected on the di usion outcome in form of production and consumption levels of biofuels. The assessed characteristics comprise of stringency, flexibility, predictability, depth, di erentiation, consistency, coherence, credibility and comprehensiveness; whereas the innovation processes consist of market formation, legitimation, resource mobilization, and reduced support for fossil fuels. Findings show that in Finland, production and consumption of biofuels have been growing progressively as a result of strong characteristics in the existing policy instrument mix that are able to settle the innovation functions/processes impeccably. On the contrary, di usion of biofuels in Germany is not optimized due to the weak policy instrument characteristics that all policy instruments have been having, and thus innovation functions/process have not been able to be established firmly. From the comparative analysis, several lessons can be taken for Sweden if it aims to di use biofuels, for example an instrument mix giving long term assurance for investments and good collaboration between actors like in Finland, as well as competition between biofuels suppliers and recurring legitimation issue in Germany that Sweden should avoid.
A conservative Fourier‐finite‐element method for solving partial differential equations on the whole sphere

Solving transport equations on the whole sphere using an explicit time stepping and an Eulerian formulation on a latitude–longitude grid is relatively straightforward but suffers from the pole problem: due to the increased zonal resolution near the pole, numerical stability requires unacceptably small time steps. Commonly used workarounds such as near‐pole zonal filters affect the qualitative properties of the numerical method. Rigorous solutions based on spherical harmonics have a high computational cost.