Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trading firms in the Spanish service sector

In this study, I analyze the characteristics of trading firms in the Spanish service sector. I reveal that half of the service firms in Spain operate only in their local markets, whereas one-third of them trade with non-local areas of Spain, and fewer than 20% trade with other nations. As in the manufacturing sector, trading firms in the service sector exhibit premia relative to non-traders with respect to size, labor productivity and average wages. Larger premia are observed for firms that trade with more distant markets and for firms that participate in bidirectional trade. Service firms that trade with non-local areas of Spain also exhibit similar premia relative to firms that trade only in their regional markets. I demonstrate that compared with non-trading firms, firms that engage in trade with foreign countries are more productive even before they have commenced their trading activities. However, I do not find that the initiation of trade with foreign nations by trading firms is followed by improvements in the productivity of these firms relative to non-trading firms.
A preliminary study of the transport of air from Africa and Australia to New Zealand

Kinematic trajectory modelling is used in a preliminary examination of inter-regiona l transport of air within the Southern Hemisphere In particular, the westerly zonal transport of air in the lower troposphere from southern Africa and Australia to New Zealand is determined for January and July, using both forward and backward trajectories originating or ending up in the 850-800 hPa layer respectively Mean transport plumes are derived from swarms of individual trajectories, and the results show that in winter around 22% of air originating over the central interior of South Africa reaches the central Tasman Sea south of New Zealand In summer the amount is insignificant owing to seasonal changes in the position of major circulation features In contrast, both summer and winter low-level air transport from southeastern and southwestern Australia and adjacent oceans to New Zealand is substantial, with 83% of all low-level air parcels from the Sydney area in summer passing over central New Zealand 5 days later In winter the transport plume passes over the northern part of the North Island within 3 days Back trajectories show that in some seasons two distinct paths are followed by air arriving at Christchurch and Auckland, from the west-northwest and southwest Analysis of the vertical structure of the transport plumes arriving in New Zealand shows that the westerly air reaching Auckland in the 850-800 hPa layer does so in a subsiding airstream throughout the year, whereas that arriving in the same layer over Christchurch experiences only minor subsidence en route from Australia and the ocean to the south This descending motion is related to the dominance of anticyclomc circulation, particularly over the northern section of the New Zealand region
Codimension-one foliations calibrated by nondegenerate closed 2-forms

A class of codimension-one foliations has been recently introduced by imposing a natural compatibility condition with a closed maximally nondegenerate 2-form. In this paper we study for such foliations the information captured by a Donaldson-type submanifold. In particular we deduce that their leaf spaces are homeomorphic to leaf spaces of 3-dimensional taut foliations. We also introduce surgery constructions to show that this class of foliations is broad enough. Our techniques come mainly from symplectic geometry.
Isolation and Identification of Common Bacterial Contaminants in Mobile Phones Owned by Veterinary Undergraduate Students

The ability of the microbes to survive on the touch-pads of the smart phone makes it as one of the important fomites in the spread of microorganisms between users. The objectives of this study were to identify the microorganisms present on the touch screens of smart phones, to determine the possible factors that could influence the bacterial contamination of mobile phone surfaces and to study the usage pattern of mobile phones by veterinary undergraduates. The sample of this study included 40 mobile phones owned by veterinary undergraduates representing all four batches (n=10 per batch) with equal proportion of male and female students.The bacteria from touch screens were isolated and identified using conventional bacteriological techniques.At least one or more species of bacteria were found in all 40 mobile phones sampled. Eleven species of bacteria, such as Coagulase negative Staphylococcus spp. (87.5%), Bacillus spp. (60%), Pseudomonas (50%), Coagulase positive Staphylococcus spp. (22.5%), Klebsiella (22.5%), Acinetobacter (15%), Proteus (12.5%), Staphylococcus aureus (5%), Flavobacterium (5%), Enterobacter (2.5%), Citrobacter (2.5%) and Escherichia coli (2.5%) were identified from the phones sampled.There were no difference in the occurrence of bacterial species in phones obtained from different batches of students (Chi Square Test: P >0.05). The occurrence of Pseudomonas (28.6%) and Bacillus (28.6%) was significantly low (Chi Square Test: P <0.05) in the touch pads that were said to be cleaned regularly . Further, it is evident from this study that the veterinary undergraduates are using modern technology for educational purposes and they are aware of the adverse effects of mobile-phone addiction. It appears the contamination of smart phones with Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria owned by veterinary undergraduate students is widely prevalent and regular cleaning of mobile phones and frequent hand washing might reduce the microbial load on the touch pads of the smart phones.
Private Transfers and the Crowding Out Hypothesis: Semiparametric and Threshold Regression Evidence from Four Developing Countries

This paper investigates whether there is a non-linear relationship between income and the private transfers received by households in developing countries. If private transfers are unresponsive to household income, expansion of public social security is unlikely to crowd out private transfers, contrary to concerns first raised by Barro and Becker. There is little existing evidence for crowding out effects, but this may be because they have been obscured by methods that ignore non-linearities. If donors switch from altruistic motivations to exchange motivations as recipient income increases, a sharp non-linear relationship between private transfers and income may result. In fact, threshold regression techniques find such non-linearity in the Philippines, where 30-80% of private transfers might be crowded out for low-income households [Cox, D. , Hansen, B. , and Jimenez, E. , 2003, How responsive are private transfers to income? Evidence from a laissez-faire economy, Journal of Public Economics. ]. To see if these non-linear effects occur more widely, semiparametric and threshold regression methods are used to model private transfers in four developing countries â€“ Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. The results suggest that non-linear crowding-out effects are not important features of transfer behaviour in most of these countries, so expansions of public social security to cover the poorest households need not be stymied by offsetting private responses
Parents’ Engagement in Mathematics Learning Among Deaf Child

Mathematics across most of the school’s subjects. The cross-sectional survey of mix method sequential explanatory was held to aim in collecting parents’ engagement in mathematics learning among deaf child from eleven constructs namely mathematical media resources support, encouragement, involvement in child’s mathematical activity, learning of mathematics experience, reading mathematical materials with child, conducive learning environment, recognition and reward, affection, expectation of child’s mathematics achievement, child acceptance and sign language mastery through questionnaires and interview protocol. The respondents were 33 parents from two Special Education National Schools deaf programs in Malaysia. Data have been analyzed through descriptive and theme analysis. The results showed that only three constructs were at the highest level of the mean, namely encouragement, affection and expectation of child’s mathematics achievement whereas others at moderate level. Therefore, parents should take some actions to help child’s mathematics learning such as increase the frequency of encouragement, emphasize the importance of mathematics, provided opportunity to apply basic mathematical facts in daily activities, visual reading materials, apply information technology, acceptance of the deaf child and strengthen the mastery of sign language. Subsequently, education ministry should pursue mathematics textbooks attached with sign language and produce mathematics exercise books in accordance with the format of examination moderation papers.
Effects of the QMS ISO 9000 Certification on Russian Manufacturing Companies

Here is an analysis of the effect of the ISO 9000 certification on the economical results of Russian companies through the use of the propensity score matching (PSM) method, a method which had proven itself reliable at dealing with the selection problems that were highly likely to arise in this research. Informational dataset is built on the basis of a sample of the Industrial companies competitiveness monitoring project, conducted in 2009 by the Institute for Industrial and Market Studies at HSE. The empirical study methodology is given: hypothesis, informational dataset and model of effects evaluation. The main finding of the paper is that holding the ISO 9001 certificate by a Russian manufacturing company stimulates its profitability and reduces costs, but does not lead to sales and asset turnover rises
The effect of using digital mind mapping on cognitive achievement and performance level of some basic skills in handball

This study aims to identify the effect of using digital mind maps to on the cognitive achievement and the performance level of some basic skills in handball. Research population includes the first-year students at the Faculty of Physical Education in Port Said consisting of 200 students. Research Sample both researchers randomly selected the sample of first year students. The total sample size reaches 180 students with a 90.00%, after excluding failed students, re-registered students, the students of other levels of curriculum, practitioners to previous experiences and irregular students. The total number was 20 students with a percentage of (10.00%). They were divided into: Basic Sample: includes 80 students with a 44.44%. They were divided into two equal groups of 40 students. First Exploratory Sample: includes 60 students from the same research population and from outside the basic sample in order to find Tests Validity of the tests with a 33.33%. Second Exploratory Sample: includes 40 students from the same research population and from outside the basic sample in order to find Tests Reliability of the tests and identify the extent of pilot program appropriateness for the sample under discussion with a 22.22%. The first-year students were selected, according to the study plan, which contains a handball curriculum for the students of this educational level. Statistical Treatments: Both researchers conducted data statistically processes, using a statistical package for Social Sciences, SPSS ver. 20.0, in order to identify: arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, skewness coefficient, correlation coefficient, discriminant validity coefficient, "t" test per one group, "t" test per two groups. The use of mind maps has a positive effect better than (explanation and model) method on the cognitive achievement and the performance level of some basic skills in handball. Active learning techniques, such as the method of digital mind maps in teaching handball curriculum for the students of Faculty of Physical Education should be used.
Using SAS functions and high‐resolution isotope data to unravel travel time distributions in headwater catchments

We use high‐resolution tracer data from an experimental site to test theoretical approaches that integrate catchment‐scale flow and transport processes in a unified framework centered on selective age sampling by streamflow and evapotranspiration fluxes. Transport processes operating at the catchment scale are reflected in the evolving residence time distribution of the catchment water storage and in the age selection operated by out‐fluxes. Such processes are described here through StorAge Selection (SAS) functions parameterized as power laws of the normalized rank storage. Such functions are computed through appropriate solution of the master equation defining formally the evolution of residence and travel times. By representing the way in which catchment storage generates outflows composed by water of different ages, the main mechanism regulating the tracer composition of runoff is clearly identified and detailed comparison with empirical data sets are possible. Properly calibrated numerical tools provide simulations that convincingly reproduce complex measured signals of daily deuterium content in stream waters during wet and dry periods. Results for the catchment under consideration are consistent with other recent studies indicating a tendency for natural catchments to preferentially release younger available water. The study shows that power law SAS functions prove a powerful tool to explain catchment‐scale transport processes that also has potential in less intensively monitored sites.
Partial Identification in Monotone Binary Models: Discrete Regressors and Interval Data

We investigate identification in semi-parametric binary regression models, y = 1(xβ+υ+e > 0) when υ is either discrete or measured within intervals. The error term e is assumed to be uncorrelated with a set of instruments z, e is independent of υ conditionally on x and z, and the support of −(xβ + e) is finite. We provide a sharp characterization of the set of observationally equivalent parameters β. When there are as many instruments z as variables x, the bounds of the identified intervals of the different scalar components β k of parameter β can be expressed as simple moments of the data. Also, in the case of interval data, we show that additional information on the distribution of υ within intervals shrinks the identified set. Specifically, the closer the conditional distribution of υ given z is to uniformity, the smaller is the identified set. Point identified is achieved if and only if υ is uniform within intervals. Copyright 2008, Wiley-Blackwell.
Dependency of the Distribution of Salmonella-Specific Antibodies SP-Ratios on Weight and Sampling Time

Salmonella is one of the major sources of toxin-infection in humans worldwide and is due to transmission of pathogens via pork. This paper aims at investigating the effect of season and animal weight on SP-ratio. Pigs were sampled from different herds and SP-ratios were measured and categorized into two different groups. Depending on the categorization of the response and whether or not clustering is taken into account, different binary logistic and multicategory logit models were considered. Without taking clustering into account, ordinary logistic regression, adjacent logit, continuation-ratio logit and proportional odds model were fitted. GEE and GLMM were considered to correct for the herd-effect. Among the multicategory logit models, the proportional odds model is preferred, since it did not reject the assumption of common slopes. However, regarding the goodness-of-fit test, this model did not adequately fit the data. Both GEE and GLMM have their advantages, depending on the specific focus and question of interest. In all models, the interaction between weight and season was not significant. Weight was found significant, while season was insignificant in all models. As it was expected, weight as indicator for age was found to have a significant effect on SP-ratios.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Holistic Multidimensional Treatment Model (Hojjati Model) on Receptive and Expressive Language Skills in Autistic Children

Background: Autism as part of the category called Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is caused by disorders in brain and nervous network and characterized by defect in social behavior, language and cognition. This study aimed to investigate receptive and expressive language performance and the severity of the disorder in 30 children with autism aged 2-8 years who speak in Persian language. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study 30 children with autism were selected using random sampling method. The study tools included "The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS)", and "Newsha Developmental Scale (NDS)" for assessing the receptive - expressive language skills. In order to assess the level of language impairment in subjects, the participants were divided into 5 groups with 6 people (considering the speaking ability including sign language and speech), with equal number of boys and girls (3 girls and 3 boys) in each group. All of these children were evaluated by pediatric psychiatry, pediatric neurologist and pediatrician and were assessed according to the criteria for autism based on the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Eventually, the data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS version 16.0 software. Results The results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean (standard deviation) and scores of receptive – expressive language skills in autistic subjects in each of the groups (P<0.05). In other words, there is a substantial difference in the mean scores of subscales of Newsha developmental scale with the scores of the subjects. Results also revealed that the processes of language development in subjects improved gradually during the treatment period. Conclusion Altogether, it can be said that the HMTM treatment method (Hojjati Model) which is derived from Iranian traditional medicine and holistic philosophy, can be effective in the treatment of language disorder in children with autism.
A Unified Model of Investment Under Uncertainty

This paper extends the theory of investment under uncertainty to incorporate fixed costs of investment, a wedge between the purchase price and sale price of capital, and potential irreversibility of investment. In this extended framework, investment is a non-decreasing function of q, the shadow price of installed capital. There are potentially three investment regimes, which depend on the value of q relative to two critical values. For values of q above the upper critical value, investment is positive and is an increasing function of q, as is standard in the theory branch of the adjustment cost literature. For intermediate values of q, between two critical values, investment is zero. Although this regime features prominently in the irreversibility literature, it is largely ignored in the adjustment cost literature. Finally, if q is below the lower critical value, gross investment is negative, a possibility that is ruled out by assumption in the irreversibility of literature. In general, however, the shadow price q is not directly observable, so we present two examples relating q to observable varieties.
Live and Processing Performance Responses of Broilers Fed Low and Extra-Low Nutrient Density Withdrawal Diets Supplemented with Virginiamycin

SUMMARY Two experiments were conducted to demonstrate the nutrient-sparing effects and cost-effectiveness of virginiamycin (VM) when fed to broiler chickens in extended withdrawal diets. In experiment 1, broiler chickens (Ross × Cobb) were fed the same starter and grower diets. On d 30, the chickens were switched to the withdrawal diets, and these were fed until 49 d when the experiment ended. Treatments were as follows: 1) standard broiler withdrawal diet (17.1% CP), 2) a broiler withdrawal diet with low nutrient density (16% CP), and 3) the same broiler withdrawal diet as treatment 2 but supplemented with 15 ppm VM. In experiment 2, broiler chickens (Ross × Cobb) were fed the same starter and grower diets to d 35 when they were switched to the withdrawal diets, and these were fed until the experiment ended (d 49). Birds on treatment 1 received a standard broiler withdrawal diet similar to the one used in experiment 1, birds on treatment 2 received a broiler withdrawal diet with extra-low nutrient density (15% CP), and birds on treatment 3 received the same broiler withdrawal diet as in treatment 2 but supplemented with 15 ppm VM. In both experiments, the chickens fed the withdrawal diet containing VM had the heaviest BW, and the unadjusted feed conversions were comparable for the standard withdrawal diet (without reduced nutrient density) and the reduced nutrient density diets with VM. In both experiments, the chickens fed the withdrawal diets with VM had the lowest mortality. An analysis of the breast meat yield results showed that in both experiments, the birds fed the extended withdrawal diets with VM produced more total pounds of breast meat than the other 2 treatments.
Specificity and Differential Object Marking in Spanish

The use of the preposition a with direct objects in Spanish is a well known instance of the general phenomenon of Differential Object Marking (DOM). In Spanish grammars the insertion of a is usually presented as dependent on two basic factors: animacy and referentiality/specificity. The correlation between the object marker and specificity is not systematic, basically because animacy —and not specificity— is the dominant trigger for DOM in Spanish, but a number of facts still indicate that the presence of a tends to be associated with specific readings. In order to account for these facts without positing any [+specific] feature in the linguistic meaning of a, I try to show that it contributes to utterance interpretation as an internal topic marker. This seems to be the simplest way to derive «specificity effects», and to account for the crosslinguistic similarities between DOM and other grammatical phenomena (topicalization, clitic doubling, scrambling).
A preliminary study of the incorparation of NPK fertilizer into chitosan nanoparticles

The use of slow release fertilizer has become a new trend to save fertilizer consumption and to minimize envi- ronmental pollution. Due to its polymeric cationic, biodegradable, bioabsorbable, and bactericidal characteristics, chitosan (CS) nanoparticle is an interesting material for use in controlled release systems. However, there are no attempts to explore the potential of chitosan nanoparticles as controlled release for NPK fertilizers. In this work chitosan nanoparticles were obtained by polymerizing methacrylic acid for the incorporation of NPK fertilizers. The interaction and stability of chitosan nanoparticle suspensions containing nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) were evaluated by FTIR spectroscopy, particle size analysis and zeta-potential. The FTIR results indicated the existence of electrostatic interactions between chi- tosan nanoparticles and the elements N, P and K. The stability of the CS-PMAA colloidal suspension was higher with the addition of nitrogen and potassium than with the addition of phosphorus, due to the higher anion charge from the calcium phosphate than the anion charges from the potassium chloride and urea. The mean diameter increase of the CS-PMAA nanoparticles in suspension with the addition of different compounds indicated that the elements are being aggregated on the surface of the chitosan nanoparticles.