Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sperm DNA Fragmentation and Apoptosis Levels: A Comparison of the Swim up and the Density Gradient Centrifugation Methods for Sperm Preparation

This study investigated the efficiency of two sperm preparation methods, namely, density gradient centrifugation and the swim-up method, in selecting spermatozoa based on the DNA fragmentation index and the apoptosis levels. Fifteen semen samples from infertile couples underwent sperm preparation in this study. The Makler® counting chamber and Eosin Y staining were used to analyse the sperm concentration, motility and viability. The sperm chromatin dispersion assay was used to determine the sperm DNA fragmentation index, while western blotting was used to determine the apoptosis levels. This study showed that Swim Up (SU) and Density Gradient Centrifugation (DGC) methods were able to select sperm with lower DFIs compared to sperm from whole semen. The SU method selected for sperm in both the "moderate" and "severe" DFI categories that have low DFIs better than the DGC method. Western blotting for the expression of caspase 3 in sperm showed a band of ∼35 kDa and this band's intensity was lower in post-SU sperm compared to post-DGC sperm. Both methods selected for sperm with low caspase 3 expression, although the SU method selected for sperm with low activity of caspase 3 better than the DGC method. In addition to selecting for sperm with better progressive motility and viability, the SU and DGC methods also selected for sperm with low sperm DFIs and apoptosis levels.
Proximate Composition, Phenolic Contents and in vitro Antioxidant Properties of Pimpinella stewartii (A Wild Medicinal Food)

Present study was intended to examine proximate nutritional and minerals composition, phenolic contents and in vitro antioxidant properties of Pimpinella stewartii, a commonly utilized species as medicinal and flavoring agent by the inhabitants of Pakistani Himalayas. Ethnomedicinal data were collected by semi structured interviews and questionnaires. Standard analytical methods were applied to determine nutrients, minerals and phenolic contents, where as free radical scavenging activities and total antioxidant properties were estimated by different assays. Results indicated that Pimpinella stewartii is an excellent source of carbohydrates, proteins and dietary fibers. Likewise, this specie also contains significant levels of K (6332 ± 56.1), Ca (3141 ± 47.0), Fe (1512 ± 18.7) and Mg (478.6 ±11.4) mg/kg. Comparatively, water extracts showed higher concentrations of phenolic contents than acetone extracts, showing significant difference (p<0.05). Flavonoid content was maximum in water extract at 98.67 ± 0.14 mg Rt Eq/100 g FW, followed by flavonols, total phenolics and ascorbic acid. Phosphomolibdenium complex assay (PMA) exhibited highly significant total antioxidant capacity at 86.26 ± 0.53 µM AAE/100g FW for acetone extract, followed by % DPPH radical scavenging activity (62.39 ± 0.40), whereas in water extracts measured levels were highest for ferrous ion chelating activity and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Pimpinella stewartii was found rich source of nutrients and phenolic contents, and demonstrated significant in vitro antioxidant properties. Furthermore, in depth investigation of phytochemical profiling, in vivo antioxidant properties and biological activities could be useful to promote consumer health and prevention of degenerative diseases.
Exchange-traded Funds and Financial Stability

Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs) are easy to understand, cost-efficient ways of investing in asset markets that have become very popular for both institutional and retail investors. Investing in an index of assets via an ETF can generate quite complex and sometimes counterintuitive investment behaviors on the level of individual assets. These dynamics depend among others on the kind of market index, the shares of different types of traders in the market, price trends in individual stocks and the overall market, as well as situations of overor undervaluation of individual stocks and the index. Based on a heterogeneous agent model we reproduce several stylized facts concerning ETFs. We find that the the availability of ETFs per se affects financial stability much less than the role of increased trading, for example, caused by lower assumed risk. ∗The work of Michael H. Baumann is supported by a scholarship of “Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung e.V. (HSS),” funded by “Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF). ”
Presenteeism and health over time among Chinese employees: The moderating role of self-efficacy

The aim of this study was two-fold: first, to examine both the immediate and the lasting effects of presenteeism on health; second, to explore the moderating effect of self-efficacy on the presenteeism-health relationship in a Chinese context. We employed a two-wave study design in which presenteeism, health (i.e. physical health, mental health and exhaustion), and self-efficacy were assessed at Time 1; health was measured again at Time 2 three months later. We surveyed a diverse sample of 345 full-time Chinese employees working in Taiwan and mainland China. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that presenteeism over the previous six months was negatively related to employees' physical health, mental health and exhaustion at Time 1. However, we found no association between presenteeism and health at Time 2, after controlling for the baseline level of health, indicating that presenteeism may not have a lasting effect. Self-efficacy was found to moderate the relationships between presenteeism and all three aspects of health at Time 2, suggesting that for some individuals presenteeism may not on balance be a bad thing. The study sheds light on the association between presenteeism and health. The findings on self-efficacy also extend the literature to incorporate individual characteristics in the presenteeism context.
Synthesis of copper/copper oxide nanoparticles by solution plasma

This paper describes the synthesis of copper/copper oxide nanoparticles via a solution plasma, in which the effect of the electrolyte and electrolysis time on the morphology of the products was mainly examined. In the experiments, a copper wire as a cathode was immersed in an electrolysis solution of a K2CO3 with the concentration from 0.001 to 0.50 M or a citrate buffer (pH = 4.8), and was melted by the local-concentration of current. The results demonstrated that by using the K2CO3 solution, we obtained CuO nanoflowers with many sharp nanorods, the size of which decreased with decreasing the concentration of the solution. Spherical particles of copper with/without pores formed when the citrate buffer was used. The pores in the copper nanoparticles appeared when the applied voltage changed from 105 V to 130 V, due to the dissolution of Cu2O.
ROLE OF COMPUTER BASED INFORMATION SYSTEM ON ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE: A CASE OF KENYA AIRWAYS COMPANY

Information and communication technology (ICT) increases productivity and operational efficiency, reduces costs, impacts on intangible assets such as quality improvement in design processes and inventory management. Organizations have embraced computer based information systems (CBIS) in their managerial functions of planning, coordinating, directing, controlling and decision making to improve on their organizational performance. However, several organizations have posted mixed results in their performance following the adoption of CBIS. Globally, the importance of CBIS in organizations can be best demonstrated by the amount of investment organizations put in on these technologies with worldwide spending reaching US$ 3.8 trillion in 2014 in hardware, software, IT services and telecommunications. In Kenya, the importance of CBIS has been experienced in several sectors including Safaricom’s M-Pesa money transfer platform which has been ranked as one of the best in the world. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of computer based information system on organizational performance in the aviation industry in Kenya. This study adopted a descriptive research design. The study population was Kenya Airways employees stationed at the company headquarters in Nairobi County. The study used a census approach to research and the target population was one hundred and forty four (144) employees of Kenya Airways Company. The main instrument of primary data collection was a self-administered, semi structured questionnaire. Secondary data was obtained from published sources such. A pilot study was undertaken and thereafter instruments were administered to selected sample of the population. The instrument was tested for validity and reliability. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used in the analysis of data with the assistance of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The outcomes of the study were presented using charts, tables. The recommendations made would be of benefit to the aviation industry, the Government of Kenya, academic researchers, banking sector. Kenya Airways Company will use the outcome of the study in a variety of ways to improve on their performance. Key Words: Efficiency, Integration, E-Commerce Strategy, Communications, Organizational Performance
Agronomic, Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Expression Analysis of Aroma Gene (badh2) under Different Temperature Regimes in Rice

Aroma of rice is controlled by the badh2 gene and its expression is highly influenced by the environmental factors, genotypic condition and cultivation practice. The effects of environmental factors such as salinity, water, aging, heat, cold and shading on 2AP concentration or badh2 gene expression or agronomic traits were investigated individually but the effects of the optimum temperature (20°C to 30°C) were not studied extensively. Therefore, this study investigated the consequences of three different temperatures (ambient or 28.29 ± 0.91°C, 25°C and 20°C) on agronomic performance, badh2 gene expression, 2AP concentration and phenotypic aroma score of five aromatic and a non-aromatic (control) rice genotype. The agronomic performance such as the flowering days (121.60), days to maturity (151.20), plant height (119.80 cm), panicle length (34.80 cm), fertile grain per panicle (151.40), 1000 grain weight (32.67 g) and grain yield per plant (76.73 g) were higher at 25°C temperature compared to the ambient and 20°C temperature. The maximum down-regulation of badh2 gene (-12.20 ± 0.01 fold), the highest concentration of 2AP (0.14 ± 0.02 ppm) and the excellent phenotypic aroma score (score 4) was also observed at 25°C temperature. Hence, the badh2 gene expression level and 2AP concentration were influenced by the temperature, which also regulated the phenotypic expression of aroma and agronomic performance of aromatic rice. This information will enlighten the consequences of optimum temperature and the possible reasons of variation in aroma quality of rice, which could open the possibility of high quality aromatic rice production around the globe. © 2017 Friends Science
Customer satisfaction in Taipei mobile phone sector

Satisfaction increases sales volume, profit maximization, revenue growth and higher competitive advantage. This study tests the European customer satisfaction index (ECSI) model in the Taiwanese mobile phone sector. Customer satisfaction causality scores are provided for each of the antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction to assess how they relate with the ECSI model. Antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction provided includes perceived value, customer expectations, perceived quality, and image that are discovered to have direct and positive effects on customer satisfaction, while customer satisfaction has significant effects on customer loyalty. Image was also found to have positive and direct effects on customer loyalty. Overall, the study validated the ECSI model. Key words: Customer satisfaction index, customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction theory
The mass of the Milky Way from satellite dynamics

We present and apply a method to infer the mass of the Milky Way (MW) by comparing the dynamics of MW satellites to those of model satellites in the eagle cosmological hydrodynamics simulations. A distribution function (DF) for galactic satellites is constructed from eagle using specific angular momentum and specific energy, which are scaled so as to be independent of host halo mass. In this two-dimensional space, the orbital properties of satellite galaxies vary according to the host halo mass. The halo mass can be inferred by calculating the likelihood that the observed satellite population is drawn from this DF. Our method is robustly calibrated on mock eagle systems. We validate it by applying it to the completely independent suite of 30 auriga high-resolution simulations of MW-like galaxies: the method accurately recovers their true mass and associated uncertainties. We then apply it to 10 classical satellites of the MW with six-dimensional phase-space measurements, including updated proper motions from the Gaia satellite. The mass of the MW is estimated to be $M_{200}^{\rm {MW}}=1. 17_{-0.15}^{+0.21}\times 10^{12}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ (68 per cent confidence limits). We combine our total mass estimate with recent mass estimates in the inner regions of the Galaxy to infer an inner dark matter (DM) mass fraction $M^\rm {DM}(\lt 20~\rm {kpc})/M^\rm {DM}_{200}=0.12$, which is typical of ${\sim }10^{12}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ lambda cold dark matter haloes in hydrodynamical galaxy formation simulations. Assuming a Navarro, Frenk and White (NFW) profile, this is equivalent to a halo concentration of $c_{200}^{\rm {MW}}=10.9^{+2.6}_{-2.0}$.
Title Marketing dynamics : A primer on estimation and control Permalink

This primer provides a gentle introduction to the estimation and control of dynamic marketing models. It introduces dynamic models in discreteand continuous-time, scalar and multivariate settings, with observed outcomes and unobserved states, as well as random and/or time-varying parameters. It exemplifies how various dynamic models can be cast into the unifying state space framework, the benefit of which is to use one common algorithm to estimate all dynamic models. The primer then focuses on the estimation part, which answers questions such as: how much is the sales elasticity of advertising? How much sales lift can managers expect for a certain level of price promotion? What is the best sales forecast for the next quarter? The estimation relies on two principles: Kalman filtering and the likelihood principle. The Kalman filter recursively infers the means and covariances of an unobserved state vector as the observed outcomes arrive over time. This evolution of moments is then embedded in the likelihood function to obtain parameter estimates and their statistical significance. Next, the primer elucidates the control part, which answers questions such as: how much should managers spend on advertising over time and across regions? What is the best promotional timing and depth? How should managers optimally respond to competing brands’ actions and resulting outcomes? The control part relies on the maximum principle and the optimality principle. Pontryagin’s maximum principle allows managers to determine the optimal course of action (for example, the optimal levels and timing of advertising spends or price promotions) to attain a specified goal, such as profit maximization. Bellman’s optimality principle, on the other hand, offers insights into optimal course correction when implementing the best plan as the state of a system varies dynamically and/or stochastically. Finally, the
Potential energy surfaces for unsaturated hydrocarbons from crossed molecular beams

The total difierential scattering cross sections for several important unsaturated hydrocarbon molecules with common atmospheric gases were measured in a crossed molecular beam apparatus. The experiments show quantum interferences which relate to potential energy surface parameters, such as the well depth and radial minimum. The damping of the quantum features, over contributions from experimental resolutions, provides information on the angular and radial anisotropies present in the potential energy surfaces. We have investigated two areas: (1) the role of the probe partner in determining the interaction strength for a given hydrocarbon target, and (2) the efiect of increasing the overall length of the hydrocarbon molecule for a flxed probe. By comparing results for a class of scattering systems, we can identify chemical and physical trends that determine the van der Waals potential energy surfaces of larger molecules. We expect these results to aid in the prediction and interpretation of complementary experimental measurements on the high resolution infrared spectroscopy of weakly bound complexes. High-resolution infrared (IR) spectroscopy and crossed molecular beam scattering methods provide complementary information on van der Waals interactions. When combined in a quantum mechanical analysis, improvements to model potential energy surfaces over the full angular and radial range are usually achieved. High-resolution near and far IR spectroscopy of weakly bound complexes provides direct information concerning the equilibrium structure, and the intra- and intermolecular vibrational dynamics probes the potential in the region of the minimum. IR spectroscopic studies are usually limited to systems with relatively large interaction strengths and where one of the monomeric constituents has a signiflcant infrared absorption strength. These spectra can be complicated by characteristic large amplitude, anharmonic motions and by rotational{vibrational tunneling in the complex. Both these conditions lead to di‐culties in assigning observed transition frequencies with ‘good’ quantum numbers. In many cases the interpretation and assignment of IR spectroscopic transitions is aided by
Explicit Wave-Overtopping Formula for Mound Breakwaters with Crown Walls Using CLASH Neural Network–Derived Data

AbstractBased on the Crest Level Assessment of Coastal Structures (CLASH) Neural Network Overtopping prediction method, a new 16-parameter overtopping estimator (Q6) was developed for conventional mound breakwaters with crown walls, both with and without toe berms. Q6 was built up using the overtopping estimations given by the CLASH Neural Network and checked using the CLASH database. Q6 was compared to other conventional overtopping formulas, and the Q6 obtained the lowest prediction errors. Q6 provides overtopping predictions similar to the CLASH Neural Network for conventional mound breakwaters but using only six explanatory dimensionless variables (Rc/Hm0,Ir,Rc/h,Gc/Hm0,Ac/Rc, and a toe berm variable based on Rc/h) and two reduction factors (γf and γβ). Q6 describes explicit relationships between input variables and overtopping discharge, and hence it facilitates use in engineering design to identify cost-effective solutions and to quantify the influence of variations in wave and structural parameters.
Instability and Change in Collective Bargaining: An Analysis of the Effects of Changing Institutional Structures

Previous studies on collective bargaining structures and macroeconomic performance have largely ignored the role of stable and instable institutional structures and the effects of institutional change itself. In this article we posit that institutional stability of collective bargaining is of major importance for the moderation of unit labour costs growth. This hypothesis is tested on the basis of data which cover the period 1965–2012 and includes 28 countries. The results show that institutional change impairs the capacity to moderate unit labour cost growth significantly in the subsequent years following the change. This effect also holds for changes in both decentralization and centralization of institutions.
Estimation of Exchange Rate Volatility using APARCH-type Models: A Case Study of Indonesia (2010–2015)

Volatiliy measurement and modeling is an important aspect in many areas of finance. The main purpose of this study is to apply seven APARCH-type models with (1,1) lags to investigate the behavior of exchange rate volatility for the EUR, JPY, and USD selling exchange rates to IDR for the duration from January 2010 to December 2015. The competing models include ARCH, GARCH, TARCH, TS-ARCH, GJR-GARCH, NARCH, and APARCH used with Gaussian normal distribution. In order to estimate the model parameters, this study applies the Bayesian inference using the adaptive random walk Metropolis method in the MCMC algorithm. Empirical results based on the deviance information criterion indicate that the GARCH (1,1), APARCH (1,1), and TARCH (1,1) models provide the best fit for the EUR, JPY, and USD data, respectively. In those models, both the JPY and USD data have significant negative leverage effect at the 99% credible level. Moreover, the JPY returns also have significant Taylor effect in return volatility at the 99% credible level. Keywords: APARCH, ARWM, IDR exchange rate, MCMC, volatility JEL Classification: C30, F31
Firm’s Capital Structure Determinants and Financing Choice by Industry in Morocco

The paper employs Panel regression approach to investigate capital structure impact on firm's performance in Morocco, Based on the result of Haussmann test, fixed effect fit the first model better; thus it was utilized to examine the capital structure determinants in Morocco firms. The annual data was collected from Moroccan authority of capital market and Casablanca stock exchange official website; it covers a period of eight years from 2009 to 2016 of 52 Moroccan companies. The results of this research conclude that out of seven variables there are four more significant ones, which are: return on asset, asset tangibility, size and liquidity, all of them have a negative impact, except for size is positively significant. Therefore, the main determinants of capital structure are firms’ specifics factors in Morocco and the choice of leverage is different from industry to another according to the specifics of its activity.
Decay of solutions to the mixed problem for the linearized Boltzmann equation with a potential term in a polyhedral bounded domain

We study decay of solutions to the mixed problem with the perfectly reflective boundary condition for the linearized Boltzmann equation with an external-force potential in a polyhedral bounded domain, i.e., in a bounded domain whose boundary is a 2-dimensional piecewise linear manifold. We do not assume that the domain is convex. The purpose of this paper is to prove that the solutions of the mixed problem decay exponentially in time.