Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance and Sustainability of Self-Help Groups in India: A Gender Perspective

The existing literature on self-help group (SHG) bank linkage programs portrays them as an effective tool being used in various countries to approach a range of socioeconomic issues. This paper explores the performance and sustainability of this type of program in India at the group level. Because income-generating activities and other characteristics vary with the gender composition of self-help groups, their performance and sustainability vary. The analysis in this study is based on data from a survey carried out in six states in India. Overall, the performance analysis reveals that all-female SHGs perform best. The female SHGs are doing particularly well in terms of recovery of loans and per capita saving. The econometrics results indicate that only all-female SHGs are sustainable. The factors that determine the sustainability include recovery of loans, per capita savings, and linkage with an SHG federation.
High‐Performance Reversible Data Hiding with Overflow/Underflow Avoidance

This paper proposes reversible data hiding using minimum/maximum preserved overflow/underflow avoidance (MMPOUA). The proposed MMPOUA algorithm consists of three main steps. These steps include the minimum (or maximum) pixel fixing, pixel squeezing, and pixel isolation. The aims of pixel fixing are to keep the minimum (or maximum) pixel of a host block unchanged and prevent the occurrence of overflow/underflow. Both the pixel squeezing and pixel isolation supply hiding storage while keeping the amount of distortion low. The proposed method can avoid (or significantly reduce) the overhead bits used to overcome overflow/underflow issues. At an embedding rate of 0.15 bpp, the proposed algorithm can achieve a PSNR value of 48.52 dB, which outperforms several existing reversible data hiding schemes. Furthermore, the algorithm performed well in a variety of images, including those in which other algorithms had difficulty obtaining good hiding storage with high perceived quality.
Associations between Psychosocial Functioning and Academic Achievement: The Peruvian Case

This study investigated (a) how specific aspects of psychosocial functioning (behavioral problems and global self-worth) are associated with academic achievement in spelling, arithmetic and reading; and (b) what is the effect of type of school (private vs. public) on this association. The sample for this study consisted of 901 regular school children attending 6th grade of primary education, living in the urban zones of Metropolitan Lima, Peru. Our research hypotheses were partially corroborated. The results showed a strong relationship between academic achievement and psychosocial functioning, with an important role of gender and school failure at the student level. Nevertheless, we could not confirm our multilevel assumption. There is no evidence that this relationship differs among schools. Practical implications are discussed.
Diet and Prey Selectivity by Age-0 Brown Trout (Salmo Trutta L.) in Different Lowland Streams of Lithuania

In Lithuania brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) is the dominant species in fish communities of cold-water streams. We documented a variation in food consumption and prey selection by age-0 brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in different lowland streams in the western part of Lithuania. The research was done in 9 streams in August–September 2004. The diet of 82 brown trout individuals was described for the purpose of registering the number and frequency of prey objects per fish, and their selection of invertebrate fauna. Samples of invertebrate fauna were also gathered. Mayflies (Baetis) (Ephemeroptera) frequency 70% dominated the diet of brown trout. Secondary dietary items included larvae of midges (Chironomidae) – 43%, caddisflies (Trichoptera, except Hydropsyche genus) – 33%, and bugs (Elmidae) – 30%. The share of terrestrial invertebrates in the diet of this fish was not considerable. Generally, the quantity of aquatic invertebrates consumed by brown trout is greater than that of terrestrial invertebrates. Stat.
Factors Influencing Customer's Decision To Buy Green Product Design In Malaysia

Customers' acceptance of green products is still low, particularly in Malaysia. This conclusion can be drawn from the fact that the number of environmentally friendly products offered in the market is relatively low compared to their non-green counterparts. One way to overcome this problem is by designing products that meet customers' expectation. Consequently, firms should understand how customers think about green products. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors which influence customers' decision in buying green product in the context of developing countries. In this paper, green products are defined as products or recycled products which can prevent or minimize their negative impacts on the environment. The key factors which may influence customers' intention to buy green products, which have benefit-to-self, benefit to environment, comparative cost and attainable cost. Then, an examination of those factors is conducted through a survey on 360 customers and potential customers of green products in Melaka, Malaysia. A statistical data analysis is then performed using a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). From this investigation, it is revealed that the benefit-to-self factor is not a significant factor which influences customers' intention to buy green products. Research design provides basic guidance and direction to carrying out the research project. The design of this study is a case study. Regarding on this research questions, this study will consist of several steps. At the beginning, a literature review is conducted to find out characteristics of the customers of green products, as well as factors which are usually considered by customers in the green buying decision. Data will be collected through a survey on customers and potential customers of green products in Malaysia. This research will use a different perspective. It will try to investigate factors which are valued the most by customers of green products instead of setting them a priori. In addition, customers' decision about their preferences and choices are based on the value of the product. The implication of this research to the design of green products is then discussed.
Director Connectedness, Career Concerns, and Monitoring Efficacy

We examine the effect of social connectedness of independent, non-co-opted audit committee directors, focusing on their ability to prevent corporate misconduct. We posit that directors with greater connectedness in the social network are better shielded from career concerns, suggesting that they have greater incentives to monitor. We find that 1) conditional on detected misconduct, well-connected directors have greater protection from labor market repercussions than less-connected directors; 2) audit committee connectedness has a positive effect on the quality of financial reporting; and 3) market reactions to the sudden loss of a highly connected director is significantly more negative than for less connected directors. Our results are robust to multiple approaches to mitigate endogeneity. Overall, well-connected boards appear to be effective in promoting shareholders’ interests.
PARTICIPATION IN LITERACY PROGRAMMES OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION IN THE WA MUNICIPALITY: THE ROLE OF INDUCEMENT FACTORS

Literacy is a panacea to a nation’s development, however, literacy rates in many developing countries including Ghana are low and this has led to the implementation of Non-Formal Educational Programmes to reverse the situation. Despite the establishment of these programmes, little is known on the factors that induce participation. This study therefore focused on the role of inducement factors in influencing participation in Non-Formal Education (NFE) in the Wa Municipality. The sample size of the study was 69 constituting 65 participants selected through simple random and 4 staff of NFE selected using purposive sampling. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire and interview guide while analysis was done using cross tabulations, frequencies, percentages, descriptions and narrations. The results showed that learning new skills (i.e., reading and writing), availability of properly trained facilitators, becoming a good role model for children, improving one’s self image and enjoying social interaction are the major inducement factors influencing participation in NFE. It is recommended that to ensure more people are motivated to enroll and stay in the programme until the cycle ends regular orientation programmes should be organized for the participants and accompanied by adequate publicity on the major inducement factors to the target population.
Isolation and characterization of endometrial luminal epithelial and stromal cells in vitro

In this study, we have described a simple method of isolating endometrial luminal epithelial (LE) and stromal (ST) cells using ovine uteri samples obtained from the abattoir. Endometrial lining were digested in trypsin, collagenase and bovine serum albumin dissolved in Hanks balanced solution. The cells were seeded into a 24-well plate at a concentration of 5 × 10 5 per well, while some were snap frozen and kept at -800C for RNA extraction at a later date to determine the presence of leucocytes in the cell culture system. Some cells were also cultured into a 4-well chamber slide for standard immunocytochemistry. At 100% confluence, the media were removed and cells were processed for RNA extraction. The extracted RNA was used in a conventional PCR to detect the presence of progesterone and oestrogen receptors. The cell population was determined by cell morphology and immunocytochemical staining with cell specific staining of cytokeratin and vimentin. The mean yield was 49 × 10 6 cells per 50 gm of digested endometrial tissue. Separated stromal cells were of higher purity percentage (ST; 90 ± 4%; against LE; 10 ± 4%) than epithelial cells which tended to have more stroma (LE; 83 ± 10%, against ST; 17 ± 10%). At 100% confluence (usually day 7-8), the mean percentages LE and ST in the mixed culture were 59% and 41% respectively. The LE expressed cytokeratin protein while, ST expressed vimentin markers. The absence of CD45 marker confirmed the absence of leucocyte in the cell culture system. Progesterone and oestrogen receptor were present in the cell culture. Finally, this study offers a simple method using a single digestion process to isolate mix population of endometrial LE and ST, while comparing favourable with other methods with double digestion system in term of cells yield and characteristic features of the isolated cells. Keywords : Cytokeratin, Luminal epithelia, Oestrogen, Progesterone, Stroma, Vimentin
Use of Sublingual Nitroglycerin in Management of Retained Placenta after Second Trimesteric Abortion

Background: retained placenta is defined as lack of expulsion of the placenta 30 minutes after delivery of the fetus . It occurs in about 2.0 - 3.3% of all mid trimesteric abortions. For management of retained placenta, oxytocin administration combined with controlled umbilical cord traction is usually done. Oxytocin is either administered intravenously or into umbilical vein . After failure of the above procedures, operative manual rem oval under anesthesia is necessary. General anesthesia is preferred as it provides both good analgesia as well as adequate cervico - uterine relaxation. H owever gen eral anesthes ia may have some haza rds. Several reports have indicated that intravenously admin istered nitroglycerin is effective for successful delivery of retained placenta . Nitroglycerin is a well known nitric oxide donor . Nitric oxide donors including nitroglycerin induce rapid relaxation of the pregnant myometrium as well as the uterine cervix . Aim of the work: to investigate the efficacy and safety of sublingual nitroglycerin in the management of midtrimesteric abortion retained placenta. Patients and methods: prospective double - blind randomi zed controlled clinical trial. 40 women with retained placentae after mid - trimesteric abortion were recruited for the study randomized into 2 groups: First group received nitroglycerine1 mg sublingual and the second group received placebo . Results: 19 women (95%) in the group of patients received nitroglycer in had successful delivery of placenta within 10 min of gentle controlled cord traction and only one woman (5%) required operative manual removal of placenta under general anesthesia . In the group of patients received placebo, out of 20 women, only 4 women (20%) had successful delivery of placenta. For the other 16 women (80%) in this group operative manual removal of placenta under general anesthesia was necessary. time elapse till pla cental delivery was longer in the control group. Neither the patients received nitroglycerin nor the patients received placebo develop post abortive bleeding affecting the general condition. Conclusion: Sublingual nitroglycerin in association with oxytocin is a safe and effective drug in management of mid - trimesteric abortion retained placenta. (Hosam M. Hemeda, Magdy M. Kamal and Hanan M. Eldeeb . Use of Sublingual Nitroglycerin in Management of Retained Placenta after Second Trimesteric Abortion . Life Sci J 20 13; 10( 4 ): 3447 - 3451 ) (ISSN: 1097 - 8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com . 515
Optimizing expressibility and performance of kleene operators on binary tree-based directed graph in complex event processing

This study presents a novel method to develop kleene operators on a Binary Tree-Based Directed Graph (BTDG) to improve expressibility and performance of our developed complex event processing system. Complex Event Processing (CEP) systems are widely employed to notify opportunities and threats, which many of these situations are discovered through detection of multiple occurrences of the similar set of events. Many of CEP systems proposed kleene operators to detect these situations. The high expressibility of our implemented CEP system achieved by developing algorithms on kleene operator. These algorithms are designed on a BTDG as a unified basis to arrange input data and joining this input according to a given query. The performance is improved through directing events instantly to join with other events, dynamically switching to an optimal plan and late applying combination for kleene with specified size. The experiments shows kleene operator on BTDG brings rather high degree of expressiblity and performance in compare to its counterparts.
Resonance forever in a rotational system: the infinite VIV lock-in regime for pivoted cylinders

The aim of the present investigation was to examine the critical vortex-induced vibration (VIV) point for cylinders in a rotational system. For translational systems, the existence of a critical mass ratio for cylinders undergoing vortex-induced vibration has been well established. At mass ratios below this critical point, the reduced velocity at VIV lock-out tends to infinity, resulting in the resonance forever condition as described by the authors first reporting this phenomenon. The approach adopted in the present investigation involved measuring the VIV response of a positively buoyant pivoted cylinder being towed at very high reduced velocity. High reduced velocity was attained by establishing a very low system natural frequency. The key finding of this study is the presence of a critical point with a value similar to that of the critical mass ratio in translational systems. This critical point appears to be governed by the force moment ratio rather than the mass moment of inertia ratio. In the present study, a critical force moment ratio of 0.512 ± 0.002 was determined as the onset point for the infinite VIV lock-in regime.
Refinement of the crystal structure of a synthetic non-stoichiometric Rb-feldspar

The crystal structure of hydrothermally synthesized Rb-feldspar (monoclinic, space group C2/m, a = 8.839(2) AÊ , b = 13.035(2) AÊ , c = 7.175(2) AÊ , b = 116.11(1)8, V = 742.3(3) AÊ , Z = 4) has been refined to a final R of 0.0574 for 692 independent X-ray reflections. Microprobe analyses of the Rb-feldspar suggest deviation from stoichiometry, with excess Si and Al, resulting in a unit formula of Rb0.811&0.127Al1. 059Si3.003O8. Infrared (IR) spectra indicate the structural occupancy of large H2O content, which implies that the &Si4O8 substitution favours the structural incorporation of the H2O molecule at the M-site. The mean T O distances are 1.632 AÊ for T1 and 1.645 AÊ for T2, revealing highly disordered (Al,Si) distribution with Al/Si = 0.245/0.755 (T1 site) and 0.255/0.745 (T2 site). There are two geochemical implications from this refinement: (1) identification of both rubicline triclinic with (Al,Si) ordered distribution and synthetic monoclinic RbAlSi3O8 with (Al,Si) disordered distribution implies that Rb cannot be one of factors disrupting the (Al,Si) ordered and disordered distributions in feldspars; and (2) natural and synthetic feldspars capable of accommodating the large cations tend to incorporate &Si4O8, excess Al and H2O components in their crystal structures.
Analysis of Traceability Optimization and Shareholder’s Profit for Efficient Supply Chain Operation under Product Recall Crisis

Product recall gains considerable importance in recent times; the reason may be the huge losses faced by manufacturers because of product recall issues. Furthermore, the revenue of the firm is immensely affected as a result of product recall, which may lead to serious outcomes. Huge recall cost (such as repairing or destroying the recalled products and cost of notification) occurs as a result of large recall. Therefore, in order to minimize the quantity and probability of recalls the traceability systems are widely used and considered as a necessary part of product safety strategies. However, from literature it is clear that manufacturers are still struggling to obtain the significant results. This study helps the managers to understand the importance of recall cost by analysing its impact on shareholders profit. Keeping in view the importance of problem, the paper proposed an integrated optimization model to minimize the expected loss to shareholders in recall crisis using batch dispersion methodology. The analysed results show that reduction in traceability level increases the expected shareholders losses while decreasing the operational costs. This will help managers to optimally set the production batch sizes in order to reduce the product recall impact.
Detection of ionospheric perturbations associated with Japanese earthquakes on the basis of reception of LF transmitter signals on the satellite DEMETER

Abstract. There have been recently reported a lot of electromagnetic phenomena associated with earthquakes (EQs). Among these, the ground-based reception of subionospheric waves from VLF/LF transmitters, is recognized as a promising tool to investigate the ionospheric perturbations associated with EQs. This paper deals with the corresponding whistler-mode signals in the upper ionosphere from those VLF/LF transmitters, which is the counterpart of subionospheric signals. The whistler-mode VLF/LF transmitter signals are detected on board the French satellite, DEMETER launched on 29 June 2004. We have chosen several large Japanese EQs including the Miyagi-oki EQ (16 August 2005; M=7.2, depth=36 km), and the target transmitter is a Japanese LF transmitter (JJY) whose transmitter frequency is 40 kHz. Due to large longitudinal separation of each satellite orbit (2500 km), we have to adopt a statistical analysis over a rather long period (such as 3 weeks or one month) to have reliable data set. By analyzing the spatial distribution of JJY signal intensity (in the form of signal to noise ratio SNR) during a period of 4 months including the Miyagi-oki EQ, we have found significant changes in the intensity; generally the SNR is significantly depleted before the EQ, which is considered to be a precursory ionospheric signature of the EQ. This abnormal effect is reasonably explained in terms of either (1) enhanced absorption of whistler-mode LF signals in the lower ionosphere due to the lowering of the lower ionosphere, or (2) nonlinear wave-wave scattering. Finally, this analysis suggests an important role of satellite observation in the study of lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling.
Make and match method supported by picture media to improve students' learning activity

This research aims to describe the increase of students’ activity through the application of make and match method supported by picture media. This research is a Classroom Action Research with descriptive quantitative approach. Observation and documentation were used in collecting the data. The data obtained were then analyzed and described in descriptive quantitative form. The research was conducted in 2 cycles. After applying make and match method supported by the picture media, the researcher got the result according to the success indicator. The observation result of students’ learning activity increased from 76, 3% in cycle I to 92% in cycle II which belonged to very good category. It can be concluded that applying make and match method supported by picture media can improve students’ learning activity. Keywords—make and match method; learning activuty; classroom action research
Competitive Action Video Games’ Effect on Cognitive Abilities : The Case of Overwatch

Research into the effects of video game play on performance in psychophysical tasks has seen a surge in the last decade. The type of players studied however might not have been the optimal population. This study focuses on the effects of playing one particular, competitive, multiplayer, action video game. The game examined is Overwatch, a highly popular action video game. Participants playing Overwatch are compared with a non-action video game playing control group. Additionally was the possibility of Overwatch player’s in-game rank having an influence on their performance examined. Participants were measured using a spatial Stroop task, the attentional blink task, change detection task and a useful field of view task. Significance analysis revealed no effects of playing Overwatch or Overwatch rank on the performance on any of the psychophysical tests. A Bayesian information criterion analysis did reveal an effect of Overwatch rank on visual working memory capacity. Shortcomings of the study, reasons for the lack of finding the hypothesized results and implications for future research are discussed.
Student as producer: an institution of the common? [or how to recover communist/revolutionary science]

Abstract This paper presents the further development of the concept of student as producer from a project that seeks to radicalise the idea of the university by connecting research and teaching, to a vision of higher learning and revolutionary science based on the reconnection of the natural and the social sciences. The argument is sustained and developed by a critical engagement with classical texts in management studies as well as Marxist writing that has emerged out of the recent wave of student protests against the increasing privatisation and financialisation of higher education. The paper provides a case study where the natural and the social sciences are being brought together in a postgraduate research education programme at the University of Lincoln. The case study includes a debate about the essence of revolutionary science through an exposition of the work of two major revolutionary scientists, Robert Grosseteste (1170–1253) and Karl Marx (1811–1883).