Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Profit efficiency of banks in Colombia with undesirable output: A directional distance function approach

This study investigates the sources of bank efficiency in Colombia over the period 2000-2011. To perform this research, the authors propose a score of bank efficiency using the directional distance function, which was estimated using data envelopment analysis. Additionally, they use an ordered probit panel regression to explore the effects of some market-related and bank-specific factors on efficiency. The authors' results show that the non-inclusion of non-performing loans (NPLs) leads to higher bank inefficiency indicators, which are significantly different from those obtained when NPLs are included. Further, the authors find that economic growth, capital risk, foreign and national banks, and account liquidity risk explain, in part, the efficiency of Colombian banks.
Does Gearing Influence on Corporate Performance? Evidence from Kenya

The objective of this paper was to determine the influence of gearing and corporate performance of non-financial firms listed on the NSE. The target population being 42 companies with 35 companies meeting the threshold for a balanced panel regression for the period 2008-2017. The study adopted longitudinal quantitative research design with random-effects GLS models. The corporate performance was assessed by ROCE and Q ratio while gearing was measured using leverage ratio. The findings reveal that the gearing is positively and statistically insignificant related with corporate performance of the listed non-financial firms at the NSE measured using ROCE and positively significantly related to Tobin’s Q. This paper commends the necessity to cultivate a worthy rapport with debt capital providers such as banking companies, and other financial institutions to benefit from easy acquisition of large sums of funds and enjoy the interest tax shields related to interest charged on debt finance.
Determiation of Genetic Diversity and Relationhips among Thai Litchi Accessions by RAPD and AFLP Markers

Genetic diversity and relationships within Thai litchi cultivars were investigated using RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) and AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) markers. Fourteen RAPD primers and seven AFLP primers were chosen, resulting in amplification of 52 and 101 reproducible polymorphic fragment products, respectively. The percentages of polymorphic markers for RAPD and AFLP were 34.6% and 36.3% respectively. Each marker system was able to differentiate all accessions. Even each of the AFLP primers could identify all accessions, while the RAPD markers did not show such efficiency. The polymorphism information content (PIC) scores were calculated for each of 52 RAPD and 101 AFLP polymorphic fragments. It ranged between 0.16 to 0.50 for RAPD markers and 0.22 to 0.50 for AFLP markers. Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) dendrograms using Jaccards coefficients reflected no clear cut grouping based on neither morphology nor climatic adaptation. However, both dendrograms showed that the 47 litchi accessions could be classified into groups between when the similarity coefficients were as low as 0.37 for RAPD marker and 0.25 for AFLP markers. Two accessions (LH80 and LH109) were found to be genetically very far distant from the other accessions using both markers. RAPD and AFLP marker analyses provided a quick and reliable alternative for identification of litchi accessions and determination of genetic diversity among them.
Internal Effects of Customer Contact within Service Organizations

This paper investigates how an organization can become customer oriented in terms of subculture formation originating from customer contact. Although existing market orientation research has assumed cultural homogeneity, this paper views organizational culture as a varying degree of shared cognition among its organizational members and focuses on individual employee's customer orientation. Drawing from the literature on subculture formation, the study proposes that customer contact is a significant source of subculture formation with respect to customer orientation and tests a model that assumes customer contact exerts a positive influence on customer orientation, which subsequently leads to organizational citizenship behavior. The results support the hypotheses and provide implications for developing a customer oriented organizational culture through leveraging customer contact.
Effects of Applying Ground Basalt with or without Organic Fertilizer on the Fertility of an Acid Sulfate Soil and Growth of Rice

Rice yield grown on acid sulfate soils is very low because of Al 3+ and/or Fe 2+ toxicity. A study was conducted to determine the effects of applying ground basalt with or without organic fertilizer on the growth of rice. Results showed clear benefits of ground basalt as an amendment for acid sulfate soil infertility. The ameliorative effects were comparable with that of applying 4 t ground magnesium limestone (GML) ha -1 ; however, basalt had an additional advantage over GML as it contained K and P besides Ca and Mg. But as basalt needs time to disintegrate and dissolve completely in the acid sulfate soil under submerged conditions, the best option is to apply ground basalt in combination with organic fertilizers a few months ahead of transplanting rice in the field. The organic fertilizers would then be able to partly reduce Al and/or Fe in the soil via the chelation process.
Application of Disaggregate Modeling in Aviation Systems Planning in Nigeria : A Case Study

Thi paper deals with the application of disaggregate modeling in airport choice by domestic air travelers in Nigeria. The major factor innuencing passengers' choice of airports in a developing country uch as Nigeria are discussed. Knowledge of these factor wiU greatly assist in the planning of aviation systems on a more reliable basis. A travel survey was conducted in August 1987 In Nigerian airport to collect disaggregate data on air travelers for use in model calibration using the multi· nomial logil modeJ (MNL). The results of the analysis suggest that the travel lime of access is the major determjnanl of air· port choice in Nigeria and that variables such as f1ight frequency and air fare which were found to be significant in previous studies in the United Kingdom at~d the United States, were not signilicanl in the Nigerian context.
The Impact of State Ownership and Investor Protection Level on Corporate Performance : Cross-Country Analysis

In this paper the authors model the impact of state ownership as a component of the corporate financial architecture on corporate performance and conduct a cross-country analysis of this effect in order to identify the geopolitical differences. The cross-country analysis is focused on the level of development of the institutional mechanisms, designed to protect minority shareholders. The major findings of the paper are in line with a number of research papers’ results obtained in the developed and emerging markets. The contribution of this paper is the joint analysis of two different factors: state ownership and investor protection level and the development of the corporate performance model taking into account the joint influence of these factors as well as their interrelation.
POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN A COUNTRY AND HEALTH STATE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY : THE CASE OF CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC ( CAR ) AND CAMEROON USING A MORTALITY MODEL

Since independence (1960s), African countries are regularly animated by crisis (political alternation, ethnic conflicts, tribalism, wars, coup d‘états). These plagues that consume African society have serious impact on the economic growth of these countries, and diversely affect neighbouring countries known for their relative stability. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of political crises in Central African Republic (CAR) on the Cameroon health performances. We used Nafziger crude mortality model based on famine, conflict and population displacement. The econometric analysis of the model shows strong contribution of the critical political situation in CAR on the degradation of the health state of people living in Cameroon. Several reasons justify this argument: the influx of refugees from one country to another and the dissemination of diseases amplified by the precariousness of their living condition on the Cameroon territory. This proofs that political instability in Central African Republic (CAR) negatively affects the health state of the Cameroonian population.
The Galaxy Hosts and Large-Scale Environments of Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Bursts

The rapid succession of discoveries of short-duration hard-spectrum gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has led to unprecedented insights into the energetics of the explosion and nature of the progenitors. Yet short of the detection of a smoking gun, such as a burst of coincident gravitational radiation or a Li-Paczyński minisupernova, it is unlikely that a definitive claim can be made for the progenitors. As was the case with long-duration soft-spectrum GRBs, however, the expectation is that a systematic study of the hosts and locations of short GRBs could begin to yield fundamental clues as to their nature. We present an aggregate study of the host galaxies of short-duration hard-spectrum GRBs. In particular, we present the Gemini-North and Keck discovery spectra of the galaxies that hosted three short GRBs and a moderate-resolution (R ≈ 6000) spectrum of a fourth host. We find that these short-hard GRBs originate in a variety of low-redshift (z < 1) environments that differ substantially from those of long-soft GRBs, both on individual galaxy scales and on galaxy-cluster scales. Specifically, three of the bursts are found to be associated with old and massive galaxies with no current (<0.1 M☉ yr-1) or recent star formation. Two of these galaxies are located within a cluster environment. These observations support an origin from the merger of compact stellar remnants, such as double neutron stars or a neutron star-black hole binary. The fourth event, in contrast, occurred within a dwarf galaxy with a star formation rate exceeding 0.3 M☉ yr-1. Therefore, it appears that like supernovae of Type Ia, the progenitors of short-hard bursts are created in all galaxy types, suggesting a corresponding class with a wide distribution of delay times between formation and explosion.
Studying dynamical models of the core galaxy NGC 1399 with merging remnants

An investigation on the possible dynamical models of the core galaxy NGC 1399 is performed. Because early-type galaxies are likely to be formed through merging events, remnant rings are considered in the modeling process. A numerical survey over three parameters is employed to obtain the best-fit models that are completely consistent with observations. It is found that the inner slope of the dark matter profile is cuspy for this core galaxy. The existence of remnant rings in best-fit models indicates a merging history. The remnant ring explains the flattened surface brightness and thus could be the physical counterpart of the core structure of NGC 1399.
Energy Balance Analysis to Assess Efficiency Improvements with Low Heat Rejection Concepts Applied to Low Temperature Combustion

ABSTRACT Simultaneously decreasing diesel engine emissions while increasing engine efficiency can be a challenge. The results of recent computational and experimental studies, however, have indicated that emissions can be decreased while simultaneously increasing efficiency through the application of low heat rejection (LHR) techniques to low temperature combustion (LTC). One such recent experimental study showed simultaneous decreases in nitrogen oxides and smoke from a light-duty, multi-cylinder diesel engine and serves as motivation to the present study. The major conclusion from that study is that combining LHR with LTC substantially increases LTC brake fuel conversion efficiency through increases in both combustion efficiency (i.e., decreased hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions) and brake thermal efficiency. LTC is realized through high levels of exhaust gas recirculation and retarded injection timings while different degrees of LHR are achieved by means of higher coolant temperatures, which should serve to decrease the temperature gradients across the cylinder walls. It is clear that the increase in brake thermal efficiency is the significant contributor to the increase in brake fuel conversion efficiency; it is not clear, however, what necessarily drove the increase in brake thermal efficiency. Seeking clarity to this issue is the motivation of the current study. This study explores in more detail the increase in brake thermal efficiency in an attempt to understand what influence LHR has on LTC efficiency improvements. This study is satisfied through analysis of the quantification of various efficiencies (i.e., net indicated thermal, net indicated fuel conversion, and brake fuel conversion efficiencies) and the many energy transfer terms (i.e., energy balance analysis). The energy balance analysis specifically reveals insight in how energy transferred through the coolant compares to those changes observed with power and exhaust energy. Specifically, the energy balance confirms important insights offered by the efficiency analysis as related to the operation of LTC at high engine coolant temperature compared to low coolant temperature. It is concluded that the chief reason for efficiency improvement with LTC at high engine coolant temperature (i.e., the LHR condition), compared to low engine coolant temperature, is improved combustion phasing; combustion efficiency is also improved. The results suggest that LTC efficiency improvements can be realized with higher operating engine coolant temperatures under light-load engine conditions.
Structure distribution and turbulence in self-consistently supernova-driven ISM of multiphase magnetized galactic discs

Context. Galaxy evolution and star formation are two multi-scale problems tightly linked to each other. Aims. We aim to describe simultaneously the large-scale evolution widely induced by the feedback processes and the details of the gas dynamics that controls the star formation process through gravitational collapse. This is a necessary step in understanding the interstellar cycle, which triggers galaxy evolution. Methods. We performed a set of three-dimensional high-resolution numerical simulations of a turbulent, self-gravitating and magnetized interstellar medium within a 1 kpc stratified box with supernova feedback correlated with star-forming regions. In particular, we focussed on the role played by the magnetic field and the feedback on the galactic vertical structure, the star formation rate (SFR) and the flow dynamics. For this purpose we have varied their respective intensities. We extracted properties of the dense clouds arising from the turbulent motions and compute power spectra of various quantities. Results. Using a distribution of supernovae sufficiently correlated with the dense gas, we find that supernova explosions can reproduce the observed SFR, particularly if the magnetic field is on the order of a few μ G. The vertical structure, which results from a dynamical and an energy equilibrium is well reproduced by a simple analytical model, which allows us to roughly estimate the efficiency of the supernovae in driving the turbulence in the disc to be rather low, of the order of 1.5%. Strong magnetic fields may help to increase this efficiency by a factor of between two and three. To characterize the flow we compute the power spectra of various quantities in 3D but also in 2D in order to account for the stratification of the galactic disc. We find that within our setup, the compressive modes tend to dominate in the equatorial plane, while at about one scale height above it, solenoidal modes become dominant. We measured the angle between the magnetic and velocity fields and we conclude that they tend to be well aligned particularly at high magnetization and lower feedback. Finally, the dense structures present scaling relations that are reminiscent of the observational ones. The virial parameter is typically larger than 10 and shows a large spread of masses below 1000 M ⊙ . For masses larger than 10 4 M ⊙ , its value tends to a few. Conclusions. Using a relatively simple scheme for the supernova feedback, which is self-consistently proportional to the SFR and spatially correlated to the star formation process, we reproduce a stratified galactic disc that presents reasonable scale height, SFR as well as a cloud distribution with characteristics close to the observed ones.
Friction and Friction Heat of Micronscale Iron

This paper investigates the friction and friction heat of the micronscale iron under the influences such as the velocity of the slider and temperature of the substrate by using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations. It is found that in the velocity range of 10–100 m/s, the sliding velocity–friction coefficient relationship well complies with the fitted exponent or hyperbolic tangent function, and the friction coefficient approaches a stable value of 0.3 at around the velocity of 50 m/s after a rapidly increasing situation. The steady friction coefficient maintains over the temperature range of 200–400 K. The friction heat is detailed analyzed versus the sliding time. The sliding time–system temperature relationship is well fitted by the sigmoidal functions, except the interfacial particle layers. The layer causing friction shows the highest steady temperature and largest temperature rise. The increment between the initial temperatures of the slider and the substrate strongly results in the temperature rise while it does not affect the configuration of the sliding time–system temperature curves.
Determination of proper motions and membership of the open clusters NGC 1750 and NGC 1758

The kinematic state of the open clusters NGC 1750 and NGC 1758 has been studied using newly determined proper motions for 540 stars in a field of 1.degrees 5 x 1.degrees 5 in the Taurus dark cloud region. The proper motions are obtained from the reduction of PDS measurements of 20 plates that span a total time interval of 68 years, resulting in an average proper motion accuracy of 0.67 mas/yr. These proper motions are used to determine the membership probabilities of stars in the region by means of a new, improved method described in this paper. Of the 540 stars analyzed here, 332 are found to be probable members of NGC 1750, and 23 are probable members of NGC 1758. The core radii of NGC 1750 and NGC 1758 are determined to be 17. '2 and 2. '25 respectively.
Southern California megacity CO2, CH4, and CO flux estimates using ground- and space-based remote sensing and a Lagrangian model

Abstract. We estimate the overall CO2, CH4, and CO flux from the South Coast Air Basin using an inversion that couples Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) observations, with the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model and the Open-source Data Inventory for Anthropogenic CO2 (ODIAC). Using TCCON data we estimate the direct net CO2 flux from the SoCAB to be 104 ± 26 Tg CO2 yr−1 for the study period of July 2013–August 2016. We obtain a slightly higher estimate of 120 ± 30 Tg CO2 yr−1 using OCO-2 data. These CO2 emission estimates are on the low end of previous work. Our net CH4 (360 ± 90 Gg CH4 yr−1) flux estimate is in agreement with central values from previous top-down studies going back to 2010 (342–440 Gg CH4 yr−1). CO emissions are estimated at 487 ± 122 Gg CO yr−1, much lower than previous top-down estimates (1440 Gg CO yr−1). Given the decreasing emissions of CO, this finding is not unexpected. We perform sensitivity tests to estimate how much errors in the prior, errors in the covariance, different inversion schemes, or a coarser dynamical model influence the emission estimates. Overall, the uncertainty is estimated to be 25 %, with the largest contribution from the dynamical model. Lessons learned here may help in future inversions of satellite data over urban areas.
Gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the appendix

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare neoplasms that arise from the mesenchymal tissues in the gastrointestinal tract. The appendicial location of such a tumor is more rare, with only a few cases reported in this site to date. Materials and Methods: We hereby report a case of appendiceal GIST incidentally found in a 52-year-old female patient. Result: This patient presented with recurrent lower abdominal pain of 4 years duration. Resection of the appendix and adjacent lymph node was performed based on clinical and radiological diagnosis of sub-acute appendicitis. The histopathological report on the resected specimens revealed a GIST. Conclusion: Multitudes of diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties make the management of appendiceal GIST very challenging in a resource-poor setting such as ours, and follow-up of the patients is suggested given the fact that histologic parameters may not accurately predict the behavior of GIST.
Seroepidemiological Profile and Clinical Pattern of Acute Viral Hepatitis E in Pregnant Women during Water Borne Epidemic at Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra

Objectives: Hepatitis E (HEV) is one of the important causes of jaundice in pregnancy. It has caused large scale epidemics and sporadic cases. The present study was aimed to identify seroepidemiological and clinical pattern along with outcome of Hepatitis E infection especially in pregnant women. Methodology: This study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital at Dr. D. Y. Patil Hospital, Kadamwadi, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. There was a large water borne epidemic outbreak of acute HEV infection at Ichalkaranji, a small town near Kolhapur, between May to July 2012. Out of the 123 pregnant women who were positive for HEV infection, 37 women were admitted to our hospital. Pregnant women who were not willing to participate in the study were excluded from the study. Results: Of the 37 pregnant women, 51.35% were aged between 21 to 25 years and the mean age was 23.73 ± 3.59 years. Majority of the women presented with HEV during the third trimester (75.68%) and 59.46% patient presented with multi-parity. The most common presentation included yellowish discolouration of sclera and itching all over the body (100% each) and the commonest signs at presentation was scleral icterus (100%). Maternal mortality was noted in one case (2.7%) and fetal mortality in four cases (13.51%). Conclusion: HEV infection in pregnancy poses high risk of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.The interdisciplinary approach, specialized care, high-risk support and close monitoring of patients are the pre requisites for successful management of HEV