Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum Among New Intakes in the Isaac Jasper Boro College of Education, Sagbama, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

This study investigated the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum among new intake of the Isaac Jasper Boro College of Education, Sagbama during January-March, 2017. Blood samples were collected through venal puncture. A 2.5ml part of blood was collected from each student and transferred into an anti- coagulant bottle. Malaria parasites were determined using Pf malaria rapid test kitsanda standard microscopy. The preparation of the test kits and microscopy followed standard procedures. Determination of positive slides followed standard techniques. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Malaria was positive slides were 15.49% of the total slides. Plasmodium falciparum accounted for 100% of all the positive cases. Male (18.75%) were more infected than female (12.82%). The difference was significant (χ2cal = 16.68, p 0.05). Prevalence of P. falciparum varied across departments. The differences were statistically significant (χ2cal = 57.71, p>0.05). The result is a public health concern and call for prompt intervention.
Hyers-Ulam-Rassias stability of non-linear delay differential equations

In this paper, we prove the Hyers-Ulam-Rassias stability and Hyers-Ulam stability of delay differential equation of the form y = F(t, {y(i)(t)}n−1 i=0 , {y (t− λ)}n−1 i=0 ), with Lipschitz condition by using fixed point approach. The results of the paper generalize most of the results concerning the stability of delay differential equations in the existing literature. c ©2017 All rights reserved.
Lost in Translation? The Effect of Cultural Values on Mergers Around the World

We find strong evidence that three key dimensions of national culture (trust, hierarchy, and individualism) affect merger volume and synergy gains. The volume of cross-border mergers is lower when countries are more culturally distant. In addition, greater cultural distance in trust and individualism leads to lower combined announcement returns. These findings are robust to year and country-level fixed effects, time-varying country-pair and deal-level variables, as well as instrumental variables for cultural differences based on genetic and somatic differences. The results are the first large-scale evidence that cultural differences have substantial impacts on multiple aspects of cross-border mergers.
Seismic response of earth dams considering dynamic properties of unsaturated zone

It is conventionally assumed in the analysis and design of earth dams that the soil located above the phreatic line, i.e. the uppermost seepage flow line, is completely dry. However, there is often an unsaturated flow of water through an unsaturated zone above this borderline and variation in moisture content in this zone results in variation of matric suction throughout this region. Variation of matric suction, in turn, results in variation of effective stresses in this zone. In this research, the seismic response of earth dams in terms of the displacement and acceleration at the crown of the dam as well as the stress distribution in the dam body is investigated. Taking into account the effect of unsaturated zone, a comparison is made to investigate the effect of conventional simplification in ignoring the dynamic characteristics of the unsaturated zone above the phreatic line and the more complicated analysis which includes the unsaturated zone. A function for the soil-water retention curve (SWRC) was assigned to the soil in the unsaturated zone to determine the variation of matric suction in this zone and analyses were made using finite difference software (FLAC). Results are then compared to the conventional method for homogeneous dams. In these analyzes the soil shear modulus was assumed to vary with the mean effective stress both for saturated and unsaturated zones. Among various results, it was notable that the history of crest x-displacement, and acceleration show higher values in models accounting for the unsaturated region. It was attributed to the considerably lower values of damping ratio in the crest region in the unsaturated models.
A Multiscale Simulation Method and Its Application to Determine the Mechanical Behavior of Heterogeneous Geomaterials

To study the micro/mesomechanical behaviors of heterogeneous geomaterials, a multiscale simulation method that combines molecular simulation at the microscale, a mesoscale analysis of polished slices, and finite element numerical simulation is proposed. By processing the mesostructure images obtained from analyzing the polished slices of heterogeneous geomaterials and mapping them onto finite element meshes, a numerical model that more accurately reflects the mesostructures of heterogeneous geomaterials was established by combining the results with the microscale mechanical properties of geomaterials obtained from the molecular simulation. This model was then used to analyze the mechanical behaviors of heterogeneous materials. Because kernstone is a typical heterogeneous material that comprises many types of mineral crystals, it was used for the micro/mesoscale mechanical behavior analysis in this paper using the proposed method. The results suggest that the proposed method can be used to accurately and effectively study the mechanical behaviors of heterogeneous geomaterials at the micro/mesoscales.
Protein Yield and Protein Isolate Quality when applying pH-shift Processing on Cod, Haddock and Blue Whiting Fillets- Effects of Replacing Centrifugation with Filtration

A more sustainable fishery and a better utilization of the harvested fish raw material are currently of great importance to prevent overexploitation of our marine resources. Production of protein isolates to use for example as surimi has for many years been an important way of better utilizing low-value fish species and fish rest raw materials. In the pH-shift protein isolation technique, fish muscle proteins are solubilized in water at strong acid or alkaline conditions, which allows for removal of non-soluble materials like bones, skin, cartilage and fat in a first separation step. The purified solubilized proteins are then precipitated at pH 5.5 and are recovered as a protein isolate in a second separation step. Traditionally, the two separation steps are carried out with centrifugation, a method that can be very costly in large scale. Also, several previous studies have reported on the formation of large sediments in the first centrifugation step containing not only non-soluble materials, but also nearly solubilized and solubilized proteins. These sediments are hard to recover, and reduces the final protein yields. The main aim of the present thesis was therefore to evaluate filtration as an alternative to centrifugation in the first and a second separation step of the acid and alkaline versions of the pH-shift process. The responses were total protein yield, basic composition of the protein isolates and quality of surimi gels produced from the isolates. The raw materials tested were fresh cod and haddock as well as fresh and frozen blue whiting. Using filtration instead of centrifugation in the first separation step significantly increased the protein yields; for cod and haddock with 26% and for blue whiting with 38-60%. Changing separation method in the second step did not significantly influence the protein yield. The main compositional difference between isolates produced with filtration instead of centrifugation in the first separation step was a higher lipid content with the former, most likely as filtration separates according to particle size instead of density. Further, surimi gels derived from the filtration based process were in most cases weaker and less elastic than gels derived from the centrifugation based process. Slightly lower protein content in the surimi gels caused by a higher lipid content could be one reason. Another could be the slightly higher levels of very high molecular weight myofibrillar proteins like titin in isolates produced with centrifugation. For both isolates and surimi gels there was a tendency towards higher whiteness values when acid solubilization and centrifugation-based separation in the first step was used. In conclusion, the filtration based pH-shift method is very promising alternative when protein yield is in focus. The impact of the higher lipid content and lower gelation capacity will be linked to the final use of the protein isolates. Many applications do not include a requirement for gelation.
Can Public Spending Boost Private Consumption?

This paper analyses the effects on private consumption from an increase in productive and unproductive public spending. A new Keynesian model incorporating price and wage rigidities, monetary policy and various fiscal rules is developed and estimated, using Bayesian techniques, to capture the key cyclical characteristics of the US economy. We find that price and wage rigidities along with a positive shock to the part of public spending that is productive are sufficient to boost private consumption. Moreover, we show that this initial positive reaction of private consumption is adequate to create a positive present value consumption multiplier for more than five years. Finally, we show that our main results remain robust to changes in the monetary rule and the various methods of deficit financing.
Effects of a Tournament Incentive Plan Incorporating Managerial Discretion in a Geographically Dispersed Organization

Using data from a retail chain, this paper studies the effects of a preferential plan providing incentives only to exemplary employees. Such plans incorporate elements of tournaments (through the selection of employees chosen largely on the basis of past performance but incorporating some managerial discretion) and linear incentives to align employees with company goals and values. We find that, on average, the implementation of the preferential incentive plan was associated with improvements in sales. Also, we find that this plan was associated with greater improvements in sales and gross profits, and reductions in the incidence of bad audits in stores where employees were initially less likely to be aligned with company goals. However, the plan was associated with lower sales and gross profits, and higher incidence of bad audits, absenteeism, and turnover in some situations where employees could have perceived the plan to be unattainable or unfair. Our study sheds light on the impact of preferential incentive plans, and the conditions under which these plans are more or less effective.
Metagenomics Analysis Using Next Generation Sequencing of Vaginal Samples from Community Practices in the US

Molecular-based Phylogenetic analyses, including the newly-completed Human Microbiomes Project and other next-generation sequencing (NGS) studies have revealed the complexity of the vaginal micro biome in health and disease. The healthy vagina tends to be dominated by hydrogen peroxide and lactic acid producing organisms, the most important of which are Lactobacillus species. The loss of these organisms and the rise of non-resident microorganisms can lead to a diseased state such as bacterial vaginosis (BV or vaginal bacteriosis). The new consensus generated by these studies is that BV is not a single disorder or caused by one etiological agent but rather it is a spectrum of symptoms clinically characterized by vaginal discharge, increased pH and malodor caused by an imbalance in the normal vaginal bacterial flora. NGS techniques allow for the capture of the entire vaginal micro biome in a single assay and create the ability not only to obtain a better understanding of the causes of BV but also lead to a viable clinical method for detecting it. In this study, we use next generation sequencing of 16S rRNA genes to obtain the vaginal micro biome from 270 vaginal swabs. Our analysis includes an in-depth characterization of bacterial communities identified, including quantitation and composition of the communities present in normal and BV samples. Our results show vaginal samples can be broken down into three distinct groups that segregate largely based on degree and type of Lactobacillus content and the presence or absence of G. vaginalis.
The Budyko functions under non-steady-state conditions

Abstract. The Budyko functions relate the evaporation ratio E ∕ P (E is evaporation and P precipitation) to the aridity index Φ = Ep ∕ P (Ep is potential evaporation) and are valid on long timescales under steady-state conditions. A new physically based formulation (noted as Moussa–Lhomme, ML) is proposed to extend the Budyko framework under non-steady-state conditions taking into account the change in terrestrial water storage ΔS. The variation in storage amount ΔS is taken as negative when withdrawn from the area at stake and used for evaporation and positive otherwise, when removed from the precipitation and stored in the area. The ML formulation introduces a dimensionless parameter HE = −ΔS ∕ Ep and can be applied with any Budyko function. It represents a generic framework, easy to use at various time steps (year, season or month), with the only data required being Ep, P and ΔS. For the particular case where the Fu–Zhang equation is used, the ML formulation with ΔS ≤ 0 is similar to the analytical solution of Greve et al. (2016) in the standard Budyko space (Ep ∕ P, E ∕ P), a simple relationship existing between their respective parameters. The ML formulation is extended to the space [Ep ∕ (P − ΔS), E ∕ (P − ΔS)] and compared to the formulations of Chen et al. (2013) and Du et al. (2016). The ML (or Greve et al., 2016) feasible domain has a similar upper limit to that of Chen et al. (2013) and Du et al. (2016), but its lower boundary is different. Moreover, the domain of variation of Ep ∕ (P − ΔS) differs: for ΔS ≤ 0, it is bounded by an upper limit 1 ∕ HE in the ML formulation, while it is only bounded by a lower limit in Chen et al.'s (2013) and Du et al.'s (2016) formulations. The ML formulation can also be conducted using the dimensionless parameter HP = −ΔS ∕ P instead of HE, which yields another form of the equations.
The Impact of Cooperation on Firms’ Innovation Propensity in Emerging Economies

The importance of collaboration has been one of the main issues in innovation studies. Despite many different findings on collaboration and its impact on innovation performance, the impact of different types of collaboration on different types of innovation is still inconclusive. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of openness on the performance of the innovation process in a leading emerging economy. Cooperation with partners and their effects on innovation propensity unveil that process, marketing and organisational innovations are determinants of product and service innovation, thus confirming that the various innovation types are intertwined and mutually supporting each other. From a geographical perspective, cooperating with external parties from the same country plays a dominant role in determining the innovation outcome. Cooperating with consultants and private labs on the other hand seems to negatively affect innovation performance. Surprisingly, the role of foreign cooperation remains ambiguous as results were not statistically significant.
Redshift Independence of the Amati and Yonetoku Relations for Gamma-Ray Bursts

The Amati and Yonetoku relations are two of the main energy and luminosity correlations that currently exist for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The Amati relation is a correlation between the intrinsic peak energy, Epeak, in the F spectrum of a burst and its equivalent isotropic energy, Eiso. The Yonetoku relation is a correlation between Epeak and the isotropic peak luminosity, Liso. In this paper, we use a recent data sample of 65 GRBs to investigate whether these two relations evolve with redshift, z. The z-correction and the k-correction are both taken into account. Our method consists of binning the data in redshift, z, then applying (for each bin) a fit of the form:     peak peak log log iso EA B E E  for the Amati relation, and of the form:    peak peak log log iso LA B E E  for the Yonetoku relation, where Epeak is the mean value of the peak energy for the entire sample. The objective is to see whether the two fitting parameters, A and B, evolve systematically with z. Good least-squares fits were obtained with reasonable values for the linear regression coefficient, r. Our results indicate that the normalization, A, and the slope, B, do not evolve with redshift, and hence the Amati and Yonetoku relations seem to be redshift independent.
Differences between Groups of Drivers: Offences Contrasted with Crashes

If an intervention can be shown to affect the number of driving offences, is this also evidence that it has an effect on road crashes? We summarise two recent studies in which we found a difference between groups in respect of driving offences but not in respect of crashes. One study focused on the method of obtaining a driving licence, the other concerned participation in a brief intervention program for young offending drivers. Further, the literature reveals other examples of different effects on offences and crashes. One possible explanation is that there is a closer link between the behaviours targeted by the intervention and being caught offending than between those same behaviours and being involved in a crash. Unfortunately, the question remains open as to w h e t h e r t h e r e i s a n e f f e c t o n c r a s h e s t h a t i s i n the same direction as the effect on offences but smaller, or whether there is no effect on crashes because the behaviours that differ between the groups are not relevant to crashes.
Corporate cash management: A study on retail sector

Cash is the life blood of the organizations and cash management is the important aspect of any organization. Corporate cash management boosts the companies from small to giant in the competitive environment. In this study, we highlighted three factors of a good cash management practices; namely cash conversion cycle, cash holding and credit score. Influence of one factor to other help organizations manage their corporate cash more appropriately. In this study, we collected data from Capitaline corporate data base of Mumbai over the period 2002-2011. In this study we observed that due to higher credit score, companies were forced to minimize their cash conversion cycle and helped them maintain lower levels of working capital.
ADDITION OF SITAGLIPTIN TO REPAGLINIDE IMPROVES PANCREATIC ISLET PROLIFERATION AND INSULIN PRODUCTION IN EXPERIMENTALLY-INDUCED TYPE 2 DIABETES IN RATS

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a complex heterogeneous group of metabolic conditions characterized by increased levels of blood glucose due to impairment in insulin action and/or insulin secretion. Exploring new drug therapies will benefit in preventing morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes as well as the growing health care costs. Sitagliptin is a highly selective DPP-4 inhibitor that has been shown to improve glycemic control and beta cell function. Repaglinide is a short acting insulin sectretagogue stimulating insulin release. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of combining sitagliptin (5 mg/kg) and repaglinide (0.15 mg/kg & 0.3 mg/kg) on improving hyperglycemia and enhancing the pancreatic function in high fat diet/streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus rat model. The current results highlight a significant improvement in glycemic control and pancreatic insulin production upon addition of sitagliptin to repaglinide therapy. Repaglinide either alone or in combination was effective in preserving islet cell integrity. Further, immunohistochemical staining revealed significant higher insulin content in the combination groups compared to corresponding monotherapies. The combination therapy had a positive effect in lowering serum lipids. In conclusion, the present study reinforces the view of using gliptins in combination with repaglinide to enhance the glycemic control and lipid profile in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Role of midwater chaetognaths in Southern Ocean pelagic energy flow

We estimate the energy flow through mesoand bathypelagic chaetognaths in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean from (1) depth-structured chaetognath abundance and body mass data, (2) a general chaetognath respiration model driven by body mass, temperature, water depth and taxon, and (3) published relationships between respiration, production and consumption in chaetognaths. In the 500 to 2000 m depth layer chaetognaths have a mean biomass of 0.109 mg C m–3 in summer and 0.146 mg C m–3 in winter. Chaetognaths respiration and consumption amount to 282 and 563 mg C m–2 yr–1, respectively. Thus, Antarctic midwater chaetognaths consume 0.05% of the copepod standing stock per day or 1% of the daily copepod production in summer. About 2.8% (= 1.9 g C m–2 yr–1) of the net annual primary production is required to fuel the midwater chaetognath community via herbivorous copepods. When assuming a 1:1 diet of herbivorous and carnivorous copepods, this share increases to 6.1% (= 4.1 g C m–2 yr–1) of annual primary production. It is estimated that chaetognath consumption for the whole water column is 1.4 g C m–2 yr–1. This corresponds to 7.1% (= 4.8 g C m–2 yr–1) and 15.5% (= 10.4 g C m–2 yr–1) of the primary production channeled through herbivorous copepods and through herbivorous and carnivorous copepods, respectively. Hence, chaetognaths represent an important link between lower and higher trophic levels. To further unravel their role in the ecosystem, additional studies on the mesoand bathypelagic zooplankton community are needed.
Determinants of Export Participation in East African Manufacturing Firms

The main objective of this study was to analyze the determinants of export participation of manufacturing firms in East Africa. In order for East African manufacturing firms to achieve global competitiveness, they need to have an indication of the factors that influence their export participation. Regression results using probit estimation procedure indicate that capital, foreign ownership, education level of the manager and training in Uganda, capital, training of workers and proportion of unskilled workers in Kenya, and firm size and foreign ownership in Tanzania, positively influences export participation of manufacturing firms. To promote exports, Tanzania should design strategies to grow small firms into large ones using measures such as loan guarantee schemes for small and medium firms, tax holidays for joint ventures and mergers, etc. The Ugandan and Kenyan government should also provide incentives for capital imports such as maintaining the current zero rating of capital imports. Lastly, Ugandan and Tanzanian government should design strategies aimed at attracting foreign direct investment, such as improving economic productivity through the provision of infrastructure and labour force training.
Phytophthora cinnamomi suppressive soils

Phytophthora cinnamomi suppressive soils were first reported in Australia in 1971 and have since been identified in many other locations. Studies of P. cinnamomi suppressive soils frequently aim to identify specific organisms responsible for the phenomenon. The collective outcome has been a modest list of bacterial and fungal suspects with proven antagonism toward P. cinnamomi. However, no single bacterial or fungal isolate within this cohort has been identified as the specific cause of suppression. A great majority of the work in this field has been limited to culture based studies, the limitations of which are well known as is the potential for microbiomic methods to permit much more comprehensive examination of soil microbial communities. To date there are only a few studies that have utilised microbiomic methods to examine the structural characteristics of microbial communities in P. cinnamomi suppressive soils. In this mini-review we summarise more than 35 years of P. cinnamomi suppressive soils research and discuss opportunities to apply recent technologies to further elucidate the microbiological conditions under which P. cinnamomi suppression occurs.