Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining the Monetary Policy Transmission in Jordan: The Bank-Lending Channel

تهدف هذه الدراسة الى التحقق من ملاءمة قنوات الائتمان في الأردن باستخدام الانحدار الخطي، ونماذج الانحدار ذات الأثر الثابت والاثر العشوائي خلال الفترة 2001-2012. تم تقدير الارتباط بين النمو في القروض لجميع البنوك الستة عشر العاملة في الأردن مع القيم الحالية والسابقة لسعر الفائدة السوقية قصيرة الاجل، وحجم محفظة الاستثمارات، والودائع، والناتج المحلي الإجمالي والقيم السابقة للنمو في حجم الائتمان. تم أيضا، تقدير التأثير التفاعلي لخصائص البنوك المتمثلة بالحجم، والسيولة وكفاية رأس المال وحجم مخصص الديون المشكوك في تحصيلها مع أدوات السياسة النقدية وتأثير ذلك على حجم الائتمان وذلك لتجنب مشكلة التحيز الذاتي الذي قد ينتج من استخدام القيم السابقة للمتغيرات المستقلة. بينت النتائج بصورة غير متوقعة أن حجم الائتمان يرتبط إيجابا بالتغيرات التي تحدثها السياسة النقدية، أي أن الزيادة في سعر الفائدة قصيرة الاجل تزيد من حجم القروض الممنوحة من قبل البنوك. هذا السلوك تعزز نتيجة الضغوطات التشريعية المتمثلة بزيادة متطلبات رأس المال المفروضة على البنوك والتي تزامنت مع فترة الدراسة. استنادا الى هذه النتائج يتوجب على ادارات البنوك والسلطة النقدية في الأردن مراقبة التأثيرات التي ترافق أدوات السياسة النقدية وضبط التغيرات الهيكلية المرافقة ذلك ان التوسع المفرط بحجم الائتمان قد يزيد المخاطر التشغيلية للبنوك ويعرضها لأشكال أخرى من المخاطر المرتبطة بذلك.
Public Infrastructure and Private Capital: Examination of the Technology Sector in the Washington DC Metropolitan Region

In this paper, we examine the role of infrastructure in the growth of the technology sector in the Washington DC metropolitan region. The motivation is based on the complementary relationship between infrastructure and private capital that is found in resource based sectors of the economy. As the US economy is moving from a resource based to a technology intensive one, it is pertinent to extend the analysis to the technology intensive sectors of the economy. We also introduce the application of a new methodology -the Getis-Ord spatial screening filter to examine the effect of spatial autocorrelation in regression analysis. Policy implications and extensions for future research are also discussed.
Investigating the effect of emotional and social stimulants of store atmosphere and prices on the customers' satisfaction and loyalty

Article history: Received January 22, 2013 Received in revised format 26 April 2013 Accepted 20 May 2013 Available online May 28 2013 Nowadays, it is impossible for retailers to establish a competitive and successful store in the marketplace through making a distinction in the outer facades of their stores, altering the pricing system, and diversifying the products offered in the store, due to the intense competition emerged in retailing markets. This leads the retailing markets to a new concept of marketplace, which is called “teaser retailing”. In this research, we first explain some related variables such as emotional and social stimulants, emotional-perceptual indicators, price of product, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Then we investigate the impact of emotional and social stimulants and price of products on emotional-perceptual indicators as well as the relationship between emotional-perceptual indicators and customer satisfaction, and finally the relationship between customer satisfaction and his/her loyalty. The first hypothesis was associated with the effect of the store emotional stimulants on emotional-perceptual indicators and it was not confirmed. After investigation of the second hypothesis, it was cleared that the store social stimulants affects the buyer's emotional-perceptual indicators in purchasing point. On the other hand, the third hypothesis indicated that price of products affects the buyer's emotionalperceptual indicators in purchasing point. The fourth hypothesis indicated that emotionalperceptual indicators affect the customer satisfaction, and finally the fifth one indicated that the customer satisfaction leads to his/her loyalty. © 2013 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Replacement of Fishmeal By 60% with Soybean Meal or Peanut Meal in Diets for Juvenile Mangrove Red Snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) (ForsskÃ¥l, 1775)

Recently, FAO [1] reported that about 80% of the world fish stocks of pelagic marine fish are either fully or over-exploited, meaning fishmeal supply is facing shortage of resources. Therefore, many nutritionists are investigating the possibilities of fishmeal replacement by plant protein sources in fish diets along with optimizing diet formulations [2,3]. Based on previous results, it has been observed that various fish species respond differently to dietary plant protein replacement of fishmeal or other seafood by-product feedstuffs [4- 6].
A Survey of Location Management Techniques in Wireless Mobile Networks

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview and classification on a wide range of the existing location management schemes which have been reported for wireless cellular networks and Mobile IP-based networks, respectively. In addition, from the various previous literature, we derive common key conceptual techniques, their main design goals and performance considerations on them, which can provide a useful guidance for understanding location management schemes regardless of network types. The aim of this paper is not to propose a new scheme for location management, but to highlight the various key design features involved in the design of the existing location management schemes, and to enhance an insight into the fundamental principles and techniques for designing more efficient and optimized location management scheme in future wireless mobile networks. We expect that regardless of network types, these underlying fundamental principles and conceptual techniques could be also easily tailored for more efficient mobility/QoS support in future mobile computing environments.
Measuring Firm Size Distribution with Semi-Nonparametric Densities

In this article, we propose a new methodology based on a (log) semi-nonparametric (log- SNP) distribution that nests the lognormal and enables better fits in the upper tail of the distribution through the introduction of new parameters. We test the performance of the lognormal and log-SNP distributions capturing firm size, measured through a sample of US firms in 2004-2015. Taking different levels of aggregation by type of economic activity, our study shows that the log-SNP provides a better fit of the firm size distribution. We also formally introduce the multivariate log-SNP distribution, which encompasses the multivariate lognormal, to analyze the estimation of the joint distribution of the value of the firm’s assets and sales. The results suggest that sales are a better firm size measure, as indicated by other studies in the literature.
New Disease Reports

Figure 2 Figure 3 In January 2012 a sample of tomato (Solanum lycopersicon cv Juanita) was submitted to the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), via a horticultural consultant, from an established crop in the county Rogaland in Southwest Norway. The sample, from an illuminated crop grown under high light intensity, was sent in following the appearance of an unknown disease, which was spreading through the crop. Symptoms included small and narrow leaves, yellowing and bronzing and a stunted, bushy growth (Figs. 1, 2). The sample was analysed using real-time PCR (TaqMan) with primers and probe designed to detect Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) (Boonham, 2004). Validation of this assay has shown reliable detection also of Tomato chlorotic dwarf viroid (TCDVd). The sample tested positive and the result was confirmed by conventional RT-PCR using primers to detect a broad range of pospiviroids (Verhoeven et al., 2004). A product of the expected size (197 bp) was obtained and confirmed to be TCDVd by nucleotide sequence comparison (GenBank Accession No. JQ975098). Following notification to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the finding was confirmed in a new sample that tested positive using the conventional RT-PCR method (Verhoeven et al.,2004), at Bioforsk. The disease spread from three to four plants in December 2011 to several hundred by the end of January 2012. In February and March visual symptoms were detected in all parts of the infected greenhouse. All tomato plants were eradicated and the whole site was disinfected and left empty for eight weeks.
THE CHANGE OF ROOT MORPHOLOGY OF PLANTAGO LANCEOLATA UNDER HYPOXIA CONDITIONS

Many plant species can adapt to flooding and hypoxia by forming a root system with an altered architecture: thicker, shorter and shallower adventitious roots, than under aerated conditions. The internal gas transport is often improved by increased root porosity and aerenchyma, which is tissue with large intercellular spaces. The raised root aeration allows better supply of oxygen to plant tissues and diffusion of oxygen into the rhizosphere (Radial Oxygen Loss, ROL). This phenomenon creates narrow, but well aerated zones in the hypoxic soil, where phytotoxins are oxidised and methanotrophic as well as nitrifying bacteria can live. The aim of the study was to determine the change of root archi- tecture, porosity and ROL from roots of Plantago lanceolata plants originating from The Middle Vistula River Gorge. Selected plant species were subjected to transient flooding during 7 days of culti- vation on aerated and stagnant oxygen-deficient hydroponic medium. We observed the formation of shorter hypoxic, adventitious roots (56-69 mm) than control roots (112-196 mm) with high porosity (stagnant 15-21 %, control 8.5-9.4%), and the diameter of aerated zone (halo) increased from control values of 0-1.5 mm to 2-2.5 mm under hypoxic conditions.
Ownership structure and voluntary disclosure in Malaysian listed firms

This study investigates the impact of ownership structure on the extent of voluntary disclosure by Malaysian listed firms over the volatile time period 1996 to 2006. During this period of time, the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and global corporate scandals resulted in major institutional and environmental changes. The nature of these regulatory reforms clearly impacted on firm management’s incentives to voluntarily disclose more information in annual reports. The results show that the average level of voluntary disclosure is generally low although there is an increase in the extent of voluntary disclosure exhibited by Malaysian firms over the eleven-year time period. Controlling for firm size, leverage and profitability, the empirical results show that ownership concentration is positively associated with voluntary disclosure. The positive association of high ownership concentration may reflect the firms’ choice to disclose more information as a governance initiative to enhance transparency. Institutional and foreign ownership have motivation to disclose in excess of mandatory requirements. The findings imply that the presence of institutional and foreign investors in a firm pushes firms to voluntarily disclose more information in annual reports. Such enhanced disclosure practice should be encouraged in order to attract funds from such investors both locally and abroad.
AUDIT COMMITTEES IN WEST INDIAN STATES

This study describes the regulatory framework governing audit committees (AC) of publicly traded companies in the West Indies and examines the extent to which the provisions of these AC regulations are similar to the International Federation of Accountants guidelines for AC. Also, it examines the actual AC policies of publicly traded West Indian firms and determines whether they vary systematically with industry affiliation or firm size. The sample comprised companies traded on Barbados, Jamaica Stock Exchange, and Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchanges in 2002. Larger companies and those in the financial industry provided better audit committee disclosures than their smaller counterparts and those in non-financial industries.
The Metaphor of the Stranger in the Historical Narrative of Science

The recognition by the sociology of scientific knowledge of the artifactuality and contingent character of scientific knowledge has resulted in considering the canonical narrative forms of history of science as unsustainable (Golinski 1998). However, Kuukkanen (2012) holds that the social turn in the historiography of science has led to the adoption of social research models, which therefore caused the empirization of the field and prevented the appropriation of narrativist contributions to the theory of history. This paper analyzes the way in which the metaphors of the stranger are used as historical distancing devices in Leviathan and the Air-Pump by Shapin and Schaffer. The examination of these devices constitutes a means of entry into historical narrative that allows us to evaluate the acceptance of the figural character in this historiographical production.
The influence of value chain integration on performance: An empirical study of the malt barley value chain in Ethiopia

The study was funded by the Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education (Nuffic) through the NICHE-ETH-019 project, a consortium project of four Ethiopian universities in collaboration with partner universities in the Netherlands and Belgium, to support the commercialization of Ethiopian agriculture. Moreover, the second author acknowledges the financial support of the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA, PD 116226), Supply chain and network performance and relationships in the agribusiness sector.
Oral Manifestations Associated to Paracoccidioidomicosis and Histoplasmosis

Objective: To determine the frequency and clinical forms of oral manifestations associated to Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) and Histoplasmosis. Material and Methods: 481 medical records of outpatients referred to the Medical Mycology Department were reviewed since 2009 to 2016. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. Results: 47 (9.77%) cases had oral manifestations, 29 (61.70%) were associated to PCM and 18 (38.29%) to histoplasmosis. For PCM, male-female ratio was 8:1 and 1:1 for histoplasmosis. The average age for PCM was 48 years old and 53 for histoplasmosis. All the PCM patients had more than 1 oral structure affected: 44.82% were gingival lesions and 27.58% palate. In patients with histoplasmosis, 6 (33.33%) were lesions affecting palate and 6 (33.33%) involving tongue. For both entities, painful ulcers and granulomatous-like lesions were the most prevalent clinical forms; however, we observed a wide range of other oral manifestations. Regarding PCM patient’s comorbidities, 3 (10.34%) cases had HIV/AIDS, 8 (27.58%) histoplasmosis and 2 (6.89%) carcinomas. Whereas the comorbidities of patients with histoplasmosis, 2 (11.11%) had HIV/AIDS and 1 (5.55%) had carcinoma. Conclusion: In endemic countries for both mycoses, dentists must be aware of patients with mouth lesions, take advantage of epidemiologic clues that suggest risk factors and be acquainted with all the current diagnostic tests in order to make a quick diagnosis and treatment in highly suspicious cases.
IN VIVO ASSESSMENT OF EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT FUNGICIDES FOR CONTROL OF EARLY BLIGHT OF TOMATO

In vivo study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different fungicides (i.e. Revus, Cobox, Protocole and Definate) against early blight of tomato caused by Alternaria sonali based on randomized complete block design with three replication. Spray was initiated one month after seedlings transplanting. Disease incidence and severity was assessed one week after spray, while percent disease index (PDI) was recorded after 40, 60 and 80 days after sowing. The result showed that maximum disease incidence (31.50 %) and disease severity (49.16 %) were recorded in control plot and minimum of 8.90% and 5.43% in Cobox followed by 18.43 % and 8.17 % in definite. The maximum percent disease index of 28.60, 32.60, and 35.97% was noted in control after 40, 60 and 80 DAS while, the minimum of 8.10, 10.80 and 11.37 % in Cobox after 40, 60 and 80 DAS. There are no significant differences in PDI at different growth stages but the gradual incremental trend was observed from 40 to 80 DAS with reducing order. Similarly, among the tested fungicides Cobox was observed best in producing higher yield (33.93 t ha-1) with less number of infected fruits (3.33). When compared to control, the Cobox foliar spray increased yield by 64.2% which was highest among other fungicides sprays.
Collaborative and Interactional Processes in an Inquiry-Based, Informal Learning Environment.

This study was conducted on informal aspects of an inquiry-based physics course and reports findings about learning interactions and discourse observed during the first three semesters the course was offered. The course offered an alternative to the large lecture instruction typical in introductory university physics and promoted learning in an informal environment. The course organization attempted to engage students in investigations with only a small fraction of time devoted to lecture/discussion. Students collaborated in groups of three to conduct investigations with the use of computer tools and laboratory apparatus. The instructor and teaching assistants interacted directly with the students with the intent to ask probing questions to guide the students through conceptually meaningful problem solving. Researchers video taped student groups as they worked through investigations. Field notes and students' investigation reports provided additional information about student performance. The study reports detailed accounts of student interaction through discourse during the class investigations and comments on the nature of the student collaborations. The study showed that during collaborative problem solving, the students engaged in informal elaborative and reflective discourse that critically examined the data the students had collected during the investigations. The author comments on possible relationships of these interactions and cognitive processes to knowledge construction in an informal setting.
We Should Drink No Wine Before Its Time

We consider the impact of taxes on the quantity and quality produced of goods whose market values accrue with age. The analysis is motivated by the high and increasing taxation rates in the wine industry across the globe. If society values both quality and quantity as goods, an optimal tax system would never reduce the quality marketed, though it necessarily reduces quantity. Any two-tax system that includes a volumetric sales tax and any one of three other types of tax - an ad valorem sales tax, an ad valorem storage tax, or a volumetric storage tax - spans the quality/revenue space and can support an optimal tax system. Any tax system that reduces quality relative to the market equilibrium with no taxes could increase tax revenues and reduce the quality distortion without increasing the quantity distortion. Given this, the only explanation for taxation schemes that reduce both the quantity and quality of goods like wine must be a Calvinistic social welfare function.
The effect of embryo donor age and parity on the superovulatory response in Boer goat does

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the age and parity of the embryo donor on the superovulatory response and embryo recovery rate in Boer goat does. The oestrous cycles of seven maiden does (young, 1 - 2 years) and nine multiparous does (adult, 3 - 4 years) were synchronised using controlled internal drug release dispensers (CIDR’s) for a period of 17 days, and superovulated with pFSH during the natural breeding season. The superovulation treatment was administered as a total dose of 200 mg pFSH/doe given i.m. in seven dosages (at 12 h intervals) - starting 48 h prior to CIDR removal. Does were observed for oestrous behaviour three times daily, at 8 h intervals following CIDR withdrawal. Cervical inseminations (0.01 mL fresh undiluted semen) were performed 36 h and 48 h following CIDR removal and the embryos surgically flushed six days following the second artificial insemination. All does showed overt signs of oestrus. The time interval from CIDR removal to the onset of oestrus in the adult multiparous does (24.0 ± 4.0 h) was significantly shorter than that recorded in the younger does (32.0 ± 4.6 h). The age and parity of the embryo donors did not have any effect on the duration of the induced oestrous period. The mean number of CL’s, structures and embryos recovered were significantly higher in the adult multiparous does (19.8 ± 4.8, 21.3 ± 3.9 and 20.9 ± 4.5, respectively), compared to the young maiden does (13.7 ± 3.8, 11.7 ± 5.0 and 11.7 ± 5.0, respectively). The fertilisation rate, the mean number of unfertilised ova and degenerate embryos recorded did not differ between the young and adult multiparous does. The mean number of transferable embryos in the adult does (15.8 ± 6.4) was, however, significantly higher than in the young does (9.5 ± 3.7). The longer response time taken to the onset of oestrus had no influence on the fertilisation rate in young does. Although the young does recorded an acceptable fertilisation rate, the number of transferable embryos was, however, lower due to the lower total number of embryos produced by the young donor does and this may favour the use of older multiparous does as embryo donors in a multiple ovulation and embryo transfer programme.
Predictive Validity of GPA, CAT and NTE Science Specialty Tests on Scores of a Performance Based Student Teaching Evaluation Instrument. Teacher Education Research Center Research Report No. 87-1.

The issues of teacher quality expressed by many of the recent national reports on excellence in education have led a number of universities and colleges to increase the admission requirements and/or the exit standards for teacher certification programs. Emphasis has been placed on higher grade point averages and demonstrated academic ability on national standardized tests, among which are the Professional Knowledge, General Knowledge, and discipline specific Specialty Tests of the National Teachers Examination. The purpose of this study was to examine some of the criteria currently used for admission or exit standards and to seek effective predictors for student teaching success. Specifically, this study attempts to determine whether grade point average (GPA), the California Achievement Test of Basic Skills--Total score (CAT-T), and the National Teachers Exams Specialty Tests for Chemistry, Physics and General Science and for Biology and General Science predict student teaching competence as measured by a performance-based assessment instrument. A number of studies have looked at GPA and standardized test scores, specifically those core exams of the National Teachers Examination, and har,re concluded standardized test scores and GPA are not effective predictors for teaching success. This study on HTE Science Specialty Exams confirms these findings, in that the NTE Science Specialty Exams showed little predictive capability of these measures of academic competence. It would seem that academic competence is just one of the important criteria in selecting teachers. (Author) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************