Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative assessment of forest revenue redistribution mechanisms in Cameroon: Lessons for REDD+ benefit sharing

Cameroon has long established legal mechanisms for the redistribution of forest and wildlife revenues from economic operations in logging and wildlife extraction to forest communities. This paper draws on a legal review and field data to assess the distribution of these revenues, with an emphasis on the socio-distributional aspects, to draw lessons for the future design and implementation of REDD+ benefit sharing in the country. Central to our analysis are four benefit sharing mechanisms - Annual Forest Fees, Council Forest Revenues, Wildlife Royalties, and Community Forest Revenues - created by the Cameroon government for supporting poverty reduction and local development in the communities living near and around forests. This study focuses on the implementation and outcomes of these mechanisms in four council areas, and assessed them using a 3E (effectiveness, efficiency and equity) lens.Our findings indicate that the benefit-sharing mechanisms in Cameroon do not entirely fulfill the 3E criteria, and that the trade-offs between them are not always clear or transparent. Despite the well-intentioned objectives behind these mechanisms, weak governance at both national and local levels and poor institutional processes have meant that they do not manage to adequately achieve their goals. There is potential to address these shortcomings through institutional reform of forest finance committees and financial flows, improvement of governance practices through participative financial monitoring, reporting and verification systems, and distribution of benefits in more productive forms that can contribute effectively to sustained local development. In addition, the national REDD+ program could begin to prepare and adopt, through a participatory multi-stakeholder process, a series of safeguards to support implementation of effective, efficient and equitable REDD+ benefit sharing mechanisms in Cameroon.
Estimates of crossbreeding parameters in a multibreed beef cattle crossbreeding project

Data from purebred and crossbred cattle, consisting of the Afrikaner (A), Simmentaler (S) and Hereford (H) breeds managed in a relatively intensive but high stocking rate environment, were analysed to estimate breed direct effects, individual heterotic effects, breed maternal and maternal heterotic effects for birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW). Simmentaler breed direct effects, expressed as deviation from the general mean, were positive (P 0.05) for WW. Individual heterotic effects for BW were significant (P 0.05) for both BW and WW. (South African Journal of Animal Science, 2000, 30(3): 193-203)
Performance Evaluation of Small Sized Powdered Ferric Hydroxide as Arsenic Adsorbent

The small sized powdered ferric oxy-hydroxide, termed Dust Ferric Hydroxide (DFH), was applied in batch adsorption experiments to remove arsenic species from water. The DFH was characterized in terms of zero point charge, zeta potential, surface charge density, particle size and moisture content. Batch adsorption isotherm experiments indicated that the Freundlich model described the isothermal adsorption behavior of arsenic species notably well. The results indicated that the adsorption capacity of DFH in deionized ultrapure water, applying a residual equilibrium concentration of 10 µg/L at the equilibrium pH value of 7.9 ± 0.1, with a contact time of 96 h (i.e., Q10), was 6.9 and 3.5 µg/mg for As(V) and As(III), respectively, whereas the measured adsorption capacity of the conventionally used Granular Ferric Hydroxide (GFH), under similar conditions, was found to be 2.1 and 1.4 µg/mg for As(V) and As(III), respectively. Furthermore, the adsorption of arsenic species onto DFH in a Hamburg tap water matrix, as well as in an NSF challenge water matrix, was found to be significantly lower. The lowest recorded adsorption capacity at the same equilibrium concentration was 3.2 µg As(V)/mg and 1.1 µg As(III)/mg for the NSF water. Batch adsorption kinetics experiments were also conducted to study the impact of a water matrix on the behavior of removal kinetics for As(V) and As(III) species by DFH, and the respective data were best fitted to the second order kinetic model. The outcomes of this study confirm that the small sized iron oxide-based material, being a by-product of the production process of GFH adsorbent, has significant potential to be used for the adsorptive removal of arsenic species from water, especially when this material can be combined with the subsequent application of low-pressure membrane filtration/separation in a hybrid water treatment process.
Running Head: VALUES AND WELL-BEING IN COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGISTS 1 UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE. Values and Well-being in Community Psychologists: A Qualitative Analysis of ‘Letters from the Future’ Author:

Community psychologists face an increased risk of developing (mental) health problems, which is why this study examines personal values that contribute to their well-being. Values play a major role in a person’s life as guidelines and determinants for actions. Methods: The narrative approach ‘Letters from the future’ is chosen, in which community psychologists describe a desirable future scenario. The positive aspects of this scenario indicate what the participants value and what is important to them regarding well-being. In total, 53 letters were coded and analyzed in terms of values, their importance and their relationship to well-being. Results: First and foremost, community psychologists described a strong focus on socially oriented values such as supportive communities, tolerance and consideration. Also, being able to act according to one’s personal interests and passions, being in a safe environment, and not having to worry too much played a crucial role. Discussion: The results show that community psychologists do value what they are working for (i.e. value congruent) which is likely to have a positive effect on their well-being. It might also increase their job satisfaction and motivation. The letters further seem to hint at what community psychologists are currently missing, such as opportunities for selfdirected actions and pleasurable experiences, which might be potential causes or amplifiers for current problems. Future research should focus on how these findings can be used in interventions to promote well-being in community psychologists.
Choice and performance of governance mechanisms: matching alliance governance to asset type

Formal and relational governance mechanisms are used in strategic alliances to coordinate resources and mitigate the risk of opportunistic behavior. While recent work has shown that these approaches are not mutually exclusive, we understand little about when one approach is superior to the other. Using data on the governance choices and subsequent performance of alliances in the German telecommunications industry, we find that the optimal configuration of formal and relational governance mechanisms depends on the assets involved in an alliance, with formal mechanisms best suited to property‐based assets and relational governance best suited to knowledge‐based assets. Furthermore, a mismatch between governance mechanisms and asset type can harm the performance of the alliance. Our findings contribute to transaction cost economics, the literature on relational governance, and recent work studying their interaction. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Annealing Effect on the Growth of Nanostructured TiO2 Thin Films by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD)

In this work, Nanostructured TiO2 thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on glass substrates at 300 °C. TiO 2 thin films were then annealed at 400-600 °C in air for a period of 2 hours. Effect of annealing on the structure, morphology and optical properties were studied. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements confirmed that the films grown by this technique have good crystalline tetragonal mixed anatase and rutile phase structure and homogeneous surface. The study also reveals that the RMS value of thin films roughness increased with increasing annealing temperature . The optical properties of the films were studied by UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The optical transmission results shows that the transmission over than ~65% which decrease with the increasing of annealing temperatures. The allowed indirect optical band gap of the films was estimated to be in the range from 3.49 to 3.1 eV. The allowed direct band gap was found to decrease from 3.74 to 3.55 eV with the increase of annealing temperature. The refractive index of the films was found from 2.27 -2.98 at 550nm. The extinction coefficient increase with annealing temperature.
The Prognostic Significance of the Expression Change of EGFR during Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Patients with Rectal Carcinoma

Aim of the study : the aim of this retrospective study was to determine the prognostic impact of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression changes during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Material and methods: fifty patients with locally advanced rectal cancer were evaluated. All the patients were administered the total dose of 44 Gy. Capecitabine was concomitantly administered in the dose 825 mg/m 2 in two daily oral administrations. Surgery was indicated 4 – 8 weeks from the chemoradiotherapy completion. EGFR expression in the pretreatment biopsies and in the resected specimens was assessed with immunohistochemistry. Results : all 50 patients received radiotherapy without interruption up to the total planned dose. The median disease-free survival was 64.9 months, and median overall survival was 76.4 months. Increased EGFR expression was found in 12 patients (26.1%). A statistically significant shorter overall survival (p < 0.0001) and disease-free survival (p < 0.0001) were found in patients with increased expression of EGFR compared with patients where no increase in the expression of EGFR during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy was observed. Conclusions: the overexpression of EGFR during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma is associated with significant shorter overall survival and disease-free survival.
Onset of nondiffusive phonon transport in transient thermal grating decay

The relaxation of a spatially sinusoidal temperature perturbation in a dielectric crystal at a temperature comparable to or higher than the Debye temperature is investigated theoretically. We assume that most phonons contributing to the specific heat have mean free path (MFP) much shorter than the thermal transport distance and can be described by the thermal diffusion model. Low-frequency phonons that may have MFP comparable to or longer than the grating period are described by the Boltzmann transport equation. These low-frequency phonons are assumed to interact with the thermal reservoir of high frequency phonons but not with each other. Within the single mode relaxation time approximation, an analytical expression for the thermal grating relaxation rate is obtained. We show that the contribution of "ballistic" phonons with long MFP to the effective thermal conductivity governing the grating decay is suppressed compared to their contribution to thermal transport at long distances. The reduction in the effective thermal conductivity in Si at room temperature is found to be significant at grating periods as large as 10 microns.
Moderating Effects of Sales Promotion Types

This paper aims to analyze the influence sales promotion types have on the relationship between perception of financial risk and perception of utilitarian and hedonic value on consumer purchase intentions. To this end, an experiment was conducted involving 589 participants divided into two groups defined by distinct scenarios in which the sales promotion type (monetary vs. non-monetary) was manipulated. The working hypotheses predicted a direct and positive relationship between the perception of (hedonic and utilitarian) consumption value and purchase intention for a promoted product and a negative relationship between the perception of consumption value and the perception of financial risk. In addition, it was supposed that the sales promotion type would moderate these direct relationships and that a monetary promotion would have a stronger effect on the relationship between purchase intention and perceived product utility, whereas a non-monetary promotion would have a stronger effect on the other relationships (hedonic value and financial risk perceptions). Analysis of the outcomes supported the proposed hypotheses.
An implicit bias to generalize to categories: evidence from memory errors

We propose that humans have an implicit bias to generalize information about the members of a category to the category itself, when appropriate. This proposal complements recent arguments that categoryor kind-based reasoning is particularly low-effort and may thus be privileged in human cognition (e.g., Hampton, 2012; Leslie & Gelman, 2012). To test our proposal, we asked participants to remember two types of novel facts: kind-wide (generic) facts (e.g., facts about zorbs) and universally quantified facts (e.g., facts about all stups). Half of the facts concerned properties that are typically generalizable to an animal kind (e.g., eating fruits and vegetables), and half concerned properties that are typically more idiosyncratic (e.g., getting mud in their hair). We predicted that, due to the hypothesized bias, participants would spontaneously generalize the quantified facts about generalizable properties to the corresponding kinds, and would do so more frequently than for the facts about idiosyncratic properties. In turn, these implicit generalizations would lead to a higher rate of quantified-to-generic memory conversions for the generalizable properties. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 were consistent with this prediction. Moreover, the same generalizable versus idiosyncratic difference occurred under cognitive load (Experiment 1), suggesting that the hypothesized bias requires few cognitive resources, and when controlling for potential differences across these two types of properties in the similarity/confusability of quantified and generic statements (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 ruled out the possibility that these results were an artifact of the memory clues provided to participants. These studies provide evidence for our proposal of an implicit bias to draw generalizations about kinds.
Tactical decisions of concentrate level, slaughter age and carcass weight of bulls of five beef breeds under Norwegian conditions

Beef production based on suckler cow breeds is a relatively new production system in Norway as in most Nordic countries. To ensure the continuation of this production, profitable management practices designed for Norwegian conditions have to be established. Thus a simulation model was developed that integrates the daily feed intake, the daily live weight (LW) gain, silage net energy concentration for beef production (feed units beef (FUb) kg? 1 dry matter) and price, concentrate level and price, and carcass price for bulls of the country's five most common beef breeds. In this work the model was combined with production statistics to find general recommendations in the finishing of beef bulls under Norwegian conditions. Among all the five breeds the Limousin bulls had the highest estimated mean daily return and the Hereford bulls the lowest estimated mean daily return from 20 g concentrate kg? 1 LW0.75 for the 940 FUb kg? 1 silage dry matter, and from 40 g concentrate kg? 1 LW0.75 for the 800 FUb kg? 1 silage dry matter. Our estimated optimal slaughter ages and carcass weights shows that it pays to more intensively feed during the finishing period for all five breeds. Current farming practice in Norway for the five major breeds studied is that slaughter age is at least two months later with lighter carcass weights than the results expected from following our model estimated recommendations.
Spin structures on 3–manifolds via arbitrary triangulations

Let M be an oriented compact 3‐manifold and let T be a (loose) triangulation of M with ideal vertices at the components of @M and possibly internal vertices. We show that any spin structure s on M can be encoded by extra combinatorial structures on T . We then analyze how to change these extra structures on T , and T itself, without changing s , thereby getting a combinatorial realization, in the usual “objects/moves” sense, of the set of all pairs . M;s/. Our moves have a local nature, except one, that has a global flavour but is explicitly described anyway. We also provide an alternative approach where the global move is replaced by simultaneous local ones. 57R15; 57N10, 57M20
Exploring Microbes for their Cellulolytic and Lignolytic Enzyme Activity for Manure Preparation

The lignocellulosic material of plants consists of the three main components, namely cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. After cellulose, lignin is the second most abundant renewable biopolymer in nature. Lignin surrounds cellulose in the plant cell wall forming a matrix, which itself is resistant to degradation. Hence, degradation of plant materials which is ligno-cellulosic in nature is time consuming. The composting of agricultural residues rich in lignocellulose like paddy straw, sugarcane trash, banana pseudostem generally takes 180 days or more to obtain good and mature compost (Singh and Nain, 2014). The period of decomposition can be reduced by the use of efficient lignocellulolytic microorganisms. Bioaugmentation of cellulose and lignin degrading microorganisms reduce time and efficiently degrade crop residues such as straw, leaves, trash etc. (Gaur, 1999). However, the capacity of the microorganisms to assimilate organic matter depends on their ability to produce the enzymes needed for the degradation of substrate components i. e. cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Through the International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 12 (2017) pp. 3808-3816 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Consequences of Mycorrhizal Colonization for Piriqueta Morphotypes under Drought Stress

Field and greenhouse studies have shown that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can improve plant growth in environments with restricted water availability. The benefits of AMF symbiosis vary among plant species, but the extent to which AMF-mediated drought tolerance varies among subspecific taxa remains poorly understood. In this study, we examine differences in AMF response among three recently diverged, ecologically heterogeneous plant taxa (morphotypes) within the Piriqueta cistoides spp. caroliniana complex. We performed a greenhouse experiment using cuttings of each morphotype inoculated in field-collected soil to test for inoculum source effects of AMF on plant growth under drought. Correlation between AMF colonization and plant performance under drought was significant for all three morphotypes but was strongest for viridis morphotype; this group is associated with mesic, low-phosphorous soils of south Florida slash pine flatwoods. Compared to inocula obtained from other morphotypes’ regions, the AMF obtained from one of the most arid habitats (caroliniana) promoted an equal or greater amount of growth in host plants despite relatively low levels of root colonization. These findings suggest that both genetic divergence among morphotypes and the source of AMF inoculum affect plant growth under drought in P. c. ssp. caroliniana complex.
Effects of the combined swimming, corrective and aqua gymnastics programme on body posture of preschool age children

Introduction: This research paper is aimed at identifying the possible effects that the implementation of the combined kinesiological programs of swimming and hydro-kinesiological therapy may have on the body posture in preschool children. Methods: The survey was conducted on a sample of 50 boys selected from a number of Sarajevo kindergartens, in the age group of 5.2±0.6 yrs. ; mean height=114±7 cm; mean weight= 21.8±4.7 kg. In order to evaluate the postural status, we used a reduced Napoleon Wolanski method. The activities were carried out within the period of 16 weeks, twice a week for 60 minutes. Results: The analysis of the initial and fi nal series of testing with t-test indicates a high level of statistical signifi cance in the variables of shoulder posture assessment, shoulder blade posture assessment, spinal cord posture assessment, leg posture assessment, feet posture assessment, overall body posture assessment according to Wolanski, whereas somewhat lower level of statistical signifi cance was found in the variables of abdominal posture assessment and chest posture assessment. A relatively low level of statistical signifi cance is observed only in the variable of head posture assessment. Conclusion: It can be concluded that a combined program of corrective gymnastics with games and exercises in water had signifi cant effects on improving the muscle tone in the respondents, which in turn had a direct impact on improving their body posture, both in terms of all of the individually surveyed body parts and in overall terms.
Exploring Students' Reading Profiles to Guide a Reading Intervention Programme.

There have been a number of studies on reading interventions to improve students’ reading proficiency, yet the majority of these interventions are undertaken with the assumption that students’ reading challenges are obvious and generic in nature. The interventions do not take into consideration the diversity in students’ reading backgrounds and the specific nature of the challenges. Thus interventions may not address students’ specific reading needs. This paper reports on a study that explored students’ reading profiles as a needs analysis for an intervention programme to improve the reading proficiency of first-year Sociology students. The aim was to investigate the students’ reading backgrounds to determine their specific reading needs. A Likert scale questionnaire with an open-ended section was used to explore the students’ reading profiles. The Likert scale questions were analysed quantitatively, while the open-ended questions were analysed qualitatively. In addition, a regression analysis was conducted to determine the correlation between students’ use of strategies and their self-efficacy levels. The findings show that a number of students have little reading experience, use inappropriate reading strategies, and have low self-efficacy and poor reading habits. In addition, students identified comprehension, language, vocabulary, length and density of Sociology texts as factors compounding their reading challenges. This paper discusses the implications of these findings in designing an appropriate reading intervention programme for this cohort.
Private Equity Firms’ Reputational Concerns and the Costs of Debt Financing

A popular view is that private equity (PE) firms tend to expropriate other stakeholders of their portfolio companies. Bonds offered during 1992-2011 by companies after their initial public offerings (IPOs) do not reflect this view. We find that yield spreads on bonds offered by PE-backed companies are on average 70 basis points lower, holding other things constant. We also find that PE-backed companies have more conservative investment and dividend policies after bond offerings compared to non-PE-backed companies. These results suggest that PE firms’ reputational concerns dominate their wealth expropriation incentives and help their portfolio companies reduce the costs of debt.