Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Revisiting Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction within the Context of an Emerging Economy: Theoretical Representation and Developing the Model

The world’s economic attention is rapidly shifting towards the direction of emerging economies. In order to facilitate and accelerate this process, it is important that designated economic hubs are well positioned in terms of infrastructural and social development. This can only be achieved through an integrated human resource practices that recognises the importance of human beings (employees) as the most important factor for the success or failure of any social or economic project. This imperative therefore places employee motivation and job satisfaction in the forefront. It was against this background that this research was conducted to determine the level at which municipal employees of one of the world-class socio-economic cities in South Africa enjoyed job satisfaction using selected motivational variables. The study adopted a survey research method using quantitative research design. A measuring instrument with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of above 0.70 was developed and used to collect primary data from 300 employees of the municipal council. Main hypotheses were formulated and tested using both regression and correlation statistical analyses. Results show that intrinsic and extrinsic motivational variables impacted significantly on the level at which employees derived job satisfaction. Management can therefore develop a job satisfaction practice around identified motivational variables in order to maximise employee productivity and enhance quality service delivery. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n9p267
T-ACE and predictors of self-reported alcohol use during pregnancy in a large, population-based urban cohort

Hicks, M. , Tough, S. , Johnston, D. , Siever, J., Clarke, M. , Sauve, R. , Brant, R. , & Lyon, A. (2014). T-ACE and predictors of self-reported alcohol use during pregnancy in a large, population-based urban cohort. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 3(1), 51-61 . doi:10.7895/ijadr.v3i1. 117 Aims: To determine 1) the relationship between T-ACE score and maternal self-reported alcohol use prior to and during pregnancy, and 2) the relationship between T-ACE score and maternal demographics, mental health and life circumstances. Design: Prospective, population-based cohort study. Setting: Three urban maternity clinics in Calgary, Canada. Participants: 1,929 pregnant women attended by family physicians at low-risk maternity clinics. Measures: Women completed three standardized questionnaires over the telephone in the first and third trimesters and eight weeks post-delivery, including the T-ACE and questions about drug and alcohol use, demographics, mental health and life circumstances. Findings: 43.6% of subjects had a positive T-ACE score at intake (score 2 or greater). A positive T-ACE score was predictive of alcohol use throughout pregnancy, although most women reported no alcohol after the first trimester (93.1%). Multivariate analysis indicated that a positive T-ACE score was significantly associated with being less than 30 years of age; being Caucasian; smoking during pregnancy; having an income of less than $80,000 per annum; having a history of depression; having a history of alcohol use and binge drinking during a previous pregnancy; lower social support; and poor network orientation. Conclusions: There was a positive association between the T-ACE score and maternal self-report of alcohol use, poor mental health and poor social support. Routine use of the T-ACE to assess for risk of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy may also help identify women with complex needs who could benefit from additional prenatal support.
Sustaining the cultural vitality of urban public market

The development of a public market in city planning is pivotal in supporting the growth of the local economy. Markets become assets to the city not only as a platform for informal vendors to conduct businesses but also as a place where the culture of the locals evolves daily. This paper examines Pasar Payang in Terengganu, Malaysia as one of the well-known markets among locals and tourists. The market is located in the city centre, and it will soon go through a redevelopment process. The aim of this paper is to examine the tangible and intangible qualities of the markets that can guide its sustainability in the future. The methods adopted for this study comprises of conducting survey questionnaire among 497 visitors and semi-structured interviews among 19 market vendors. The analysis reveals that the cultural vitality of the market is contributed by its local products and local culture. These two components are dependent on the market vendors, as they are the local people who sell goods at the markets, based on the available local resources and local demands. These findings can contribute to the repositioning of the market as a cultural attraction in sustaining its operation alongside other urban developments.
Classifying Latin American Economies: A Degree of Informalisation Approach

Given the commonality of employment in the informal economy, this paper moves beyond classifying economies by the composition of their formal economies and instead classifies economies by their degree of informalisation. Analysing International Labour Organisation data on the varying level of employment in the informal economy across 16 Latin American economies, the outcome is to reveal a significant correlation between cross-national variations in the degree of informalisation and cross-national variations in GNP per capita, poverty and social contribution levels. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for theory and policy.
Preference of Retailers - A Comparison of Rural and Urban Households

India is one of the prominent markets now days. Besides urban and semi-urban areas, rural India has a huge potential. Marketers need to understand the rural India in contrast to urban India. The study has been carried out with a view to understand differences between rural and urban households in terms of their preference for retail outlets, and preference for local vis-a-vis out-of-town retailers. Three durable goods from three different product categories; Television (entertainment product), Refrigerator (home appliance), and an Automobile (two-wheeler, motorcycle and car/jeep) have been selected for study. A sample of 411 (204 from urban and 207 from rural areas) households across the Punjab state (India) have been selected on the basis of non-probability convenience sampling. No significant differences could be observed between the habitant groups for their preference of retailers. However there had been significant differences between these groups for their preferences for local vis-a-vis out-of-town retailers.
Urban immunization: a story of meticulous policy implementation

India‟s Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) caters second most populous country in world with largest number of immunization sessions organized, quantities of vaccine used, number of beneficiaries. Immunization is still the most cost-effective interventions to prevent the suffering from vaccine preventable diseases. India has the largest number of births in the world – more than 26 million a year – and also accounts for more than 20 per cent of child mortality worldwide. Nine million immunization sessions are organized each year to target these infants and 30 million pregnant women for routine immunization (RI). The benefits of immunization are not only improve health and life expectancy but also have the social and economic impact at both individual and community levels.
Strategic Governance: How to Assess Board Effectiveness in Guiding Strategy Execution

Subsequent to a host of corporate corruption scandals, boards of directors are facing amplified pressure from investors, creditors and shareholders in a bid to ensure effective corporate governance of their investments. In previous research and public debate, the effectiveness of corporate governance structures has come under close scrutiny. However, boards’ effectiveness in fulfilling their strategic role by guiding strategy execution mostly has been left unaddressed. Due to the high degree of secrecy and sensitivity of strategy issues, boards’ effectiveness in guiding strategy execution is much more difficult to assess externally compared to structural governance issues. Against the backdrop of these difficulties and based upon insights from strategy process research, we suggest taking “strategy consistency” between a firm's resource allocation and its announced strategy as a proxy for boards’ effectiveness in guiding strategy execution. In doing so, the paper contributes to extant research by going beyond structural governance issues and paying direct attention to strategic governance issues. Specifically, the paper develops a new approach and set of standard measures to assess boards’ effectiveness in strategy execution.
Temporary Employment in Advanced Economies: Drawing Lessons from Spain

This study analyses the determinants of the rate of temporary employment in various OECD countries using both macro-level data drawn from the OECD and EUROSTAT databases, as well as micro-level data drawn from the 8th wave of the European Household Panel. Comparative analysis is set out to test different explanations originally formulated for the Spanish case. The evidence suggests that the overall distribution of temporary employment in advanced economies does not seem to be explicable by the characteristics of national productive structures. This evidence seems at odds with previous interpretations based on segmentation theories. As an alternative explanation, two types of supply-side factors are tested: crowding-out effects and educational gaps in the workforce. The former seems non significant, whilst the effects of the latter disappear after controlling for the levels of institutional protection in standard employment during the 1980s. Multivariate analysis shows that only this latter institutional variable, together with the degree of coordinated centralisation of the collective bargaining system, seem to have a significant impact on the distribution of temporary employment in the countries examined. On the basis of this observation, an explanation of the very high levels of temporary employment observed in Spain is proposed. This explanation is consistent with both country-specific and comparative evidence.
Impacts of Climate Change on Forest Ecosystems in Northeast China

Abstract This paper reviews the studies and research on climate change impacts on the forest ecosystems in Northeast China. The results show that in the context of global and regional warming, the growing season of coniferous forests has been increasing at an average rate of 3.9 d per decade. Regional warming favors the growth of temperate broad-leaved forests and has a detrimental effect on the growth of boreal coniferous forests. Over the past hundred years, the forest edge of the cool temperate zone in the southern Daxing’anling region has retreated 140 km northward. From 1896 to 1986, the northern boundary of broad-leaved forests in Heilongjiang province has extended northwestward about 290 km. Future climatic changes (until 2060) may lead to the northern deciduous needle forests moving out of China’s territory altogether. The occurrence cycles of pests and diseases have shortened; their distribution ranges have expanded. The life cycle of tent caterpillars ( Malacosoma neustria testacea Motschulsky) has shortened from 14–15 years in the past to 8–10 years now. The pine caterpillar ( Dendrolimus tabulaeformis Tsai et Liu), which has spread within western Liaoning province and the nearby areas, can now be found in the north and west. Lightning fires in the Daxing’anling region have significantly increased since 1987, and August has become the month when lightning fires occur most frequently. Overall, the net primary productivity (NPP) of forest in Northeast China has increased. The NPP in 1981 was around 0.27 Pg C, and increased to approximately 0.40 Pg C in 2002. With the current climate, the broad-leaved Korean pine forest ecosystem acts as a carbon sink, with a carbon sink capacity of 2.7 Mg C hm –2 . Although the carbon sink capacity of the forest ecosystems in Northeast China has been weakened since 2003, the total carbon absorption will still increase. The forest ecosystems in Northeast China are likely to remain a significant carbon sink, and will play a positive role in the mitigation of climate change. Citation Wang, X. -Y. , C. -Y. Zhao, and Q. -Y. Jia, 2013: Impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems in Northeast China. Adv . Clim . Change Res . , 4 (4), doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1248.2013. 230.
Patterns of Adequate Household Emergency Fund Holdings: A Comparison of Households in 1983 and 1986

The 1983 and 1986 Surveys of Consumer Finance were used to analyze patterns of meeting a guideline of holding enough liquid assets to cover three months of income (emergency fund adequacy). In both years, only 32% of households met the guideline. Only 21% of households met the guideline in both years. Logistic regression analyses show a consistent pattern. The probability of having adequate emergency funds increased with education, home equity, and age and decreased with household size. Households with a Black head had significantly lower probabilities of having adequate emergency fund holdings than similar households headed by a White.
Reaction of Different Rice Lines Against Leaf and Neck Blast under Field Condition Of Chitwan Valley

The severity of the rice blast disease ( Pyricularia grisea ) of both leaf and neck varies with different environment and it becomes destructive under favorable condition. The leaf and neck blast resistance and susceptible interaction of 30 different tropical rice lines were evaluated under low-, mid- and up-land conditions of Chitwan district and classified on the basis of disease severity with respect to susceptible check, Masuli. Of them, 5, 10, 12 and 3 rice lines were resistant to leaf blast, moderately resistant, moderately susceptible susceptible, respectively. Similarly, for the neck blast nine lines were resistant, thirteen moderately resistant, seven moderately susceptible and one was susceptible. The progenies from Masuli/MT4 had the highest leaf and neck blast susceptible reaction, while the most of progenies from IPB (Irradiated Pusa Basmati), KalinghaIII_IR64, Radha 32_ KIII and Masuli_IR64 were resistant, and the most promising sources against leaf and neck blast resistance. Therefore, the progenies from these parents can be used in breeding the resistant variety. Key words: Pyricularia grisea , resistance, rice lines J. Inst. Agric. Anim. Sci. 27:37-44 (2006)
Atmospheric Δ17O(NO3−) reveals nocturnal chemistry dominates nitrate production in Beijing haze

Abstract. The rapid mass increase of atmospheric nitrate is a critical driving force for the occurrence of fine-particle pollution (referred to as haze hereafter) in Beijing. However, the exact mechanisms for this rapid increase of nitrate mass have not been well constrained from field observations. Here we present the first observations of the oxygen-17 excess of atmospheric nitrate (Δ17O(NO3-)) collected in Beijing haze to reveal the relative importance of different nitrate formation pathways, and we also present the simultaneously observed δ15N(NO3-). During our sampling period, 12 h averaged mass concentrations of PM2.5 varied from 16 to 323 µg m−3 with a mean of (141±88(1SD)) µg m−3, with nitrate ranging from 0.3 to 106.7 µg m−3. The observed Δ17O(NO3-) ranged from 27.5 ‰ to 33.9 ‰ with a mean of (30.6±1.8) ‰, while δ15N(NO3-) ranged from −2.5 ‰ to 19.2 ‰ with a mean of (7.4±6.8) ‰. Δ17O(NO3-)-constrained calculations suggest nocturnal pathways (N2O5+H2O/Cl- and NO3+HC) dominated nitrate production during polluted days (PM2.5≥75 µg m−3), with a mean possible fraction of 56–97 %. Our results illustrate the potentiality of Δ17O in tracing nitrate formation pathways; future modeling work with the constraint of isotope data reported here may further improve our understanding of the nitrogen cycle during haze.
LARGE-SCALE BIOLOGICAL EVENTS IN THE CALIFORNIA CURRENT

JNTRODUCTION In addition to the seasonal signal, which can be statistically resolved for both physical and biological variables, the California Current system undergoes largescale non-periodical fluctuations. Based on the record of varved sediments of biological origin preserved in anzerobic basins, these fluctuations seem to have been the rule rather than the exception in the past (Soutar 1967, 197 1 ; Soutar and Isaacs 1969, 1974). For example, the combined biomass of the Pacific sardine, Sardinops caerulea, the northern anchovy, Engraulis mordax, the Pacific hake, Merluccius productus, and the Pacific saury, Colalabis saira, have experienced fluctuations of at least one order of magnitude during the last 150 years (Soutar and Isaacs 1974). Thecosomatous pteropods and heteropod molluscs, members of the planktonic assemblage of the California Current, also showed large departures from their long-term density in the sediments, with maxima up to four times the mean (A. Soutar, personal communication). Since 1949 the CalCOFI project has been collecting zooplankton samples on which zooplankton displacement volumes are routinely determined. These volumes represent a readily available estimate of the biomass of zooplankton, and with some caution they can be interpreted as an index of the secondary production of the epipelagic ecosystem in the region. Smith ( 197 1 ) presented detailed monthly charts of displacement volumes for the period 195 1 through 1966, discussing in detail the methods and major trends present in the record. In an effort to identify periods of unusually high or low secondary production in the epipelagic ecosystem, this report reexamines the CalCOFI record of zooplankton displacement volumes for the 2 1 -year period extending from 1949 through 1969, using the techniques of timeseries analysis.
The influence of mineral and organic long-term fertilization upon the floristic composition of Festuca rubra L.-Agrostis capillaris L. grassland in Apuseni mountains, Romania

The semi-natural grasslands in Apuseni Mountains are particularly important for the sustainable development of this region. The future development strategies must take into consideration the conservation of grassland plant diversity. In Apuseni Mountains there are numerous caves and a traditional landscape, these forming the area’s wealth. Their joining with agro-tourism and performing a sustainable agriculture would significantly level up the wellbeing of the local population, who are in need of new income sources considering that the wood resources are more and more reduced. In Gârda de Sus there are considerable areas of semi-natural grasslands which lately have been traditionally used. Nowadays, some of them have been abandoned and others irrationally intensified. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to evaluate the effects of mineral and organic fertilization upon the sward in order to recommend certain versions which have minor repercussions upon the plant diversity. The research was carried out in Apuseni Mountains, in an experimental field with two experiences: one with mineral fertilizers (T 1 control, T 2 50N25P25K, T 3 100N50P50K, T 4 150N75P75K) and the other with organic fertilizers (T 1 control, T 2 10 t ha -1 manure, T 3 20 t ha -1 manure, T 4 30 t ha -1 manure). Administrating mineral fertilizers on the Festuca rubra L. - Agrostis capillaris L. grassland induced the installation of Festuca rubra L. and Trisetum flavescens L. at 50N25P25K treatment, whereas 100N50P50K and 150N75P75K treatments induced the installation of Agrostis capillaris L. and Trisetum flavescens L. grassland subtype. The plant diversity decreased as the system was intensified, especially at the treatment with 100N50P50K and 150N75P75K. Administrating 50N25P25K did not induce any significant changes in plant diversity. Giving organic fertilizers caused installation of Festuca rubra L. and Trisetum flavescens L. at the treatment using 10 t ha -1 manure and Trisetum flavescens L. at using 20 and 30 t ha -1 manure. The treatment with 10 t ha -1 manure induced a growth of the plant diversity and by raising the manure quantity did not cause important changes with respect to the species’ number. For future management actions that are meant to maintain the plant diversity in Apuseni Mountains, the organic fertilization with 10 t ha -1 manure quantities annually administrated or once in two years is recommended first of all, and, secondly, the fertilization with 50N25P25K performed annually or once in two years.
Health Literacy of a Sample of Portuguese Elderly

Abstract This article presents the results of a study developed within the scope of the Project Health Literacy: a challenge in and for the elderly, funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. It tried to evaluate the metric qualities of the Newest Vital Sign Test (NVS, Copyright © Pfizer Inc.) applied to elderly; evaluate the degree of health literacy of a sample of elderly Portuguese people; get to know the association between the degree of health literacy and some sociodemographic features, the general health state, and quality of life. It was conducted a quantitative study with 433 adults over 65 years of age, mostly female, and with heterogeneous levels of education. The instrument used was a battery of tests in order to assess the degree of health literacy (Newest Vital Sign), and the quality of life (WHOQOL). The NVS proved to be a reliable and sensitive to changes due to various demographic characteristics instrument. The results indicate that the majority of the participants (80%) showed a level of low health literacy, meaning that only 20% of respondents will be able to interpret and use effectively information related with health. Gender, educational attainment, age and marital status, as well as the perception of the elderly on their general health state and quality of life, proved to be variables that affect significantly the level of health literacy of participants. These results point to the urgent need to enhance health literacy in the elderly population, in general, and among the most vulnerable groups, in particular.
Demographic and Clinical Features of Patients with Dengue in Northeastern Region of India: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study during 2009-2011

The incidence of fever cases of unknown origin has increased in Northeastern Region of India in recent years. We conducted passive surveillance and performed laboratory testing on suspected cases for the presence of dengue infection during 2009–2011. We estimated the incidence by applying age, sex and season adjusted dengue positivity. We identified 430 suspected cases of which 143 (33.3%) were found to be laboratory-confirmed dengue cases. Dengue transmission was found to occur in post-monsoon season (September-December). We evaluated the differences of clinical features and hematologic abnormalities that occurred in laboratory dengue positive and negative cases. Significantly higher percentage of dengue patients had headache, eye pain and vomiting ( P 0.05). Thrombocytopenia was observed in significantly higher percentage of positive patients (P < 0.001) with significantly lower platelets counts (P < 0.001). The elevated level of Aspartate transaminase (P < 0.001) and Alanine transaminase (P = 0.002) was also significantly higher side in positive patients. This study provides some important information in clinical and laboratory data that can be used for early diagnosis and subsequently for appropriate treatment of dengue infections. Thus, the passive surveillance and laboratory confirmation provides a better estimate of the actual dengue disease burden and a scope to further refine dengue prevention strategies.