Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS AND JOB PERFORMANCE OF LIBRARIANS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NORTH-EAST NIGERIA

Librarians’ performance is getting tasks and duties assigned completed at the expected time, through an effective and efficient manner. Librarians’ performance seems to be low in the libraries located in North-East Nigeria where they work. Motivational factors stimulate individuals to put in their best to see to the completion of an assigned duty/task. Literature has not being fully established on how motivational factors influence job performance of librarians in North-East Nigeria Federal University libraries. It is on this premise that this study aimed to find out the influence of motivational factors on job performance of librarians in Federal University libraries in North-East Nigeria. Survey research design was used in this research. The population of the study was 275 librarians from the six Federal University libraries in North-East Nigeria. Total enumeration technique was employed. A validated self-constructed structured questionnaire was used for data collection. A response rate of 61% was achieved. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive The findings revealed descriptively that librarians’ job performance was moderate at an overall mean score of 2.80 on a five point Likert scale with quantity of work output being the least score of 2.69. The extent to which librarians were motivated had an overall mean score of 2.00 which showed a low extent of motivation on a five Likert type scale. The most prevalent motivational factor is compensation (Mean = 2.07) while recognition of librarians was X=1.87, which indicates that librarians in these institutions were not recognized. The study concluded that motivational factors in these federal university libraries in north-east Nigeria were low, therefore recommending that there should be an increase in the extent of motivation management of the library. Also, there be encouragement to improve performance of librarians in the libraries by the management of the libraries and the institution at large
Drainage , soil fertility and fire frequency determine composition and structure of gumland heaths in northern New Zealand

Vegetation and soils were sampled at remaining gumland heath ecosystems in northern New Zealand to determine vegetation patterns, environmental controls and major threats to long-term persistence. Classification and ordination techniques identified six vegetation types reflecting differences in drainage, rainfall, altitude, nutrients, and time since fire. Two modal types reflected opposite ends of the main environmental spectra. Leptospermum scoparium (Myrtaceae) shrubland occurred on relatively better drained sites with lower rainfall, altitude, and soil nutrient levels, whereas Gleichenia dicarpa (Gleicheniaceae) fernland typically occurred on more poorly drained sites with higher rainfall, altitude, and nutrient levels. Another widespread vegetation type dominated by both Leptospermum scoparium and Gleichenia dicarpa occupied plots of intermediate drainage, rainfall, altitude and nutrients. The three remaining types were of limited distribution and reflected uncommon combinations of environmental conditions or recent fire. Low soil nutrients in gumlands (mean total N = 0.182%, total P = 0.004%, oven-dry weight) are reflected in low Leptospermum scoparium foliage nutrients (mean total N = 0.858%, total P = 0.034%, δ15N = −6.06‰, oven-dry weight) and slow growth rates (mean annual height growth rate = 11.90 cm year–1), as in heathlands in Australia and South Africa. Gumlands are threatened by non-native plant species invasion, especially Hakea sericea (Proteaceae); habitat destruction for agricultural, industrial, and suburban development; and nutrient enrichment from adjacent agricultural land. Currently, fire is much less common in gumlands (mean time since fire = 18.4 years) than during early European settlement and some communities are apparently reverting to forest. Research to investigate the use of fire as a management tool is recommended for long-term conservation of New Zealand gumlands.
Technical report for a finite buffer queue with QBD structure

We are concerned with a queue with a finite buffer and arrival and service processes that are generated by a continuous time Markov chain with finitely many states. This model includes a many server queue, and is described by a truncated QBD, where QBD stands for a quasi-birth-and-death process. It is shown that the loss probability of this queue geometrically decays with a constant prefactor as the buffer size goes to infinity if the corresponding queue with an unlimited buffer is stable. For this, we firstly consider asymptotic behaviors of the truncated QBD. We then specialize this result for a many server queue with a finite buffer and Markovian arrival and service processes.
THE INFLUENCE OF HEAT TREATMENT ON GRANULARITY OF SAND WOOD DUST

The paper deals with the granular analysis of the sand dust of heat-treated wood from red meranti, depending on the treatment temperature of 160 °C, 180 °C, 200 °C and 220 °C. The proportion of dust fractions with a particle size ≤ 0.08 mm was determined by sieving. The percentage shares of these fractions are similar for natural wood 84.17 % and temperature of treatment at 160 °C (87.18 %), 180 °C (86.23 %) and 200 °C (80.79 %). A significantly lower proportion of dust fractions with a particle size ≤ 0.08 mm occurred at a temperature of 220 °C, only 74.48 %. We assume that the main factor that caused the decrease of the dust fraction with a particle size ≤ 0.08 mm at 220 °C is the reduction of wood density.
Cash Flow Shocks and Corporate Liquidity

Theory has recently shown that corporate policies should respond differently to permanent or transitory cash flow shocks. We devise a novel filter to decompose cash flow shocks into permanent and transitory components. The policy choices of large publicly traded U.S. firms, such as cash holdings, credit line usage, and equity issuance, are related to the characteristics of the shocks estimated by our filter, i.e., volatilities, correlation and drift rates of the permanent and transitory shocks, as predicted by theory. Moreover, the interaction between the permanent and transitory cash flow shocks is strongly related to a firm’s leadership status within its industry.
Comments on ASTM F 2508 – 13

In 2013 the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) F13 committee on Pedestrian/Walkway Safety and Footwear, adapted a new standard F2508-13 “Standard Practice for Validation, Calibration, and Certification of Walkway Tribometers Using Reference Surfaces”. The purpose of the standard is to provide a procedure for validation and calibration of tribmeters so that that their readings of the Coefficient of Friction (COF) in wet conditions will be more reliable and consistent. The drive behind for this standard is a well-known problem where there are large deviations between the readings obtained by different tribometers when measuring the COF between the same surfaces under wet conditions. The standard is based on a study in which four different reference surfaces were ranked according to their slipperiness measured by the number of slips detected while subjects were walking across them. A validated tribometwr, according to this standard, is required to correctly rank the slipperiness of reference tiles with statistically significant differentiation between the COF readings. It is should be emphasize that the standard does not dictate any particular COFs’ values for these reference surfaces. The purpose of this paper is to point out some of the difficulties in applying this standard: 1) Different validated tribometers produce different values for the Coefficient of Friction (COF) of the same ranked surface. Or, vice versa, for the same value of the COF different tribometers will rank the surface’s slipperiness differently; 2) Reference surfaces are not the same; and 3) The COF of the higher friction surfaces depends on the direction of the test which is not necessarily in the direction that a person slipped during the accident. These issues will present confusion in case of litigation and the test results are subjected to subjective interpretations.
On the role of contrastivity in the development of the / e ∼ E / merger in Korean

This paper seeks to assess the role of functional factors in the development of the /e ∼ E / unconditioned merger that has taken place in Seoul Korean. We explore several alternative measures of functional load, one measure of phonetic distance evaluated on a perceptual scale, and a simple integrative measure, which combines functional load and phonetic distance into a single ‘contrastivity index. ’ Our results show that, while both functional load and perceptual distance hint at the fact that /e ∼ E / was a weak contrast, this effect is clearest when these two factors are integrated together, especially when functional load is measured as phone-level entropy loss. The proposed metric thus offers a fruitful way of modeling the interaction between functional factors in the development of mergers.
Professionalism in South African education : the challenges of developing teacher professional knowledge , practice , identity and voice

To change and improve teacher knowledge, practice, behaviour and mindset remains a difficult challenge in South African school education. This article investigates how macro and meso influences beyond the level of the school have shaped teacher professionalisation and professionalism as both are outcomes of complex contradictory forces and factors. The post-1994 period has seen education departments and teacher unions dominate and shape the construction of teacher professionalisation and professionalism. As a result, serious problems continue to exist in the level and quality of teachers’ work and attitudes. This article argues that a crucial space exists in which a positive impact can be made by independent professional associations to improve teacher knowledge, practice, identityformation and mindset. These associations have great potential for working collaboratively with and for teachers to strengthen the voice of the profession and make professional inputs in the teacher-related policy-making process.
INFLUENCE OF GAMMA RADIATION ON THE PHYSIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF IN VITRO TRIPLOID AND TETRAPLOID BANANA SPECIES

Resistance to different stresses of banana are much needed, therefore, introductions of new and healthy clones are required. Applications of in vitro mutagenesis are considered as the reliable tool to create variations. For that purpose, in vitro cultured multiple shoots of three Musa clones: Giant Cavendish Tissue Culture variant (GCTCV215), Yangambi KM-5 and FHIA-23 were exposed to different gamma doses (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 Gy). Radiosensitivity of in vitro shoots was assessed by counting data on survival % after 40 days of culture, a rate of shoot multiplication, average shoot, fresh weight (g), root number and root length (cm). Different level of radiation sensitivity was viewed in all Musa varieties. Lower dosage 10 Gy produced raising effect compared to control. The present study may be helpful to introduce new Musa germplasm in our region.
Cilia drive developmental plasticity and are essential for efficient prey detection in predatory nematodes

Cilia are complex organelles involved in a broad array of functions in eukaryotic organisms. Nematodes employ cilia for environmental sensing, which shapes developmental decisions and influences morphologically plastic traits and adaptive behaviours. Here, we assess the role of cilia in the nematode Pristionchus pacificus, and determine their importance in regulating the developmentally plastic mouth-form decision in addition to predatory feeding and self-recognition behaviours, all of which are not present in Caenorhabditis elegans. An analysis of a multitude of cilia-related mutants including representatives of the six protein subcomplexes required in intraflagellar transport (IFT) plus the regulatory factor X transcription factor daf-19 revealed that cilia are essential for processing the external cues influencing the mouth-form decision and for the efficient detection of prey. Surprisingly, we observed that loss-of-function mutations in the different IFT components resulted in contrasting mouth-form phenotypes and different degrees of predation deficiencies. This observation supports the idea that perturbing different IFT subcomplexes has different effects on signalling downstream of the cilium. Finally, self-recognition was maintained in the cilia deficient mutants tested, indicating that the mechanisms triggering self-recognition in P. pacificus may not require the presence of fully functional cilia.
The effect of using winglets to enhance the performance of swept blades of a horizontal axis wind turbine

One of the recent methods to improve the performance of horizontal axis wind turbine is to attach a winglet at the tip of the blade of these turbines. Winglets reduce the effect of vortex flow at the blade tip and thus improve the performance of the blade. This article presents a parametric study using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to investigate the capability of a winglet to increase the turbine power of swept blades as well as straight blades of a horizontal axis wind turbine. The effects of winglet direction, cant angle, and twist angle are studied for two winglet orientations: upstream and downstream directions. The numerical simulation was performed using ANSYS Fluent computational fluid dynamics code. A three-dimensional computational domain, cylindrical rotationally periodic, was used in the computations. The k-ω shear-stress transport turbulence model was adopted to demonstrate turbulence in the flow. Results show that horizontal axis wind turbine with winglet and sweep could enhance more power compared to their equivalent straight or swept blade. The best improvement in the coefficient of power is 4.39% at design tip speed ratio. This is achieved for downstream swept blades with winglets pointing in the upstream direction and having cant and twist angles of 40° and 10°, respectively.
Metabolic Perspectives for Non-classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia With Relation to the Classical Form of the Disease

Non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NC-CAH) represents mild form of CAH with the prevalence of 0. 6 to 9% in women with androgen excess. Clinical and hormonal findings in females with NC-CAH are overlapping with other hyperandrogenic entities such as polycystic ovary syndrome hence causing difficulties in diagnostic approach. Metabolic consequences in subjects with NC-CAH are relatively unknown. We are lacking longitudinal follow of these patients regarding natural course of the disease or the therapeutic effects of the different drug regiments. Patients with NC-CAH similarly to those with classical form are characterized with deteriorated cardiovascular risk factors that are probably translated into cardiometabolic diseases and events. An increased preponderance of obesity and insulin resistance in patients with NC-CAH begin at young age could result in increased rates of metabolic sequelae and cardiovascular disease later during adulthood in both sexes. On the other hand, growth disorder was not proven in patients with NC-CAH in comparison to CAH patients of both gender characterized with reduced final adult height. Similarly, decreased bone mineral density and osteoporosis are not constant findings in patients with NC-CAH and could depend on the sex, and type or dose of corticosteroids applied. It could be concluded that NC-CAH represent a particular form of CAH that is characterized with specificities in clinical presentation, diagnosis, therapeutic approach and metabolic outcomes.
Long-Lived Plasma Cells Secrete High-Affinity Antibodies Responding to a T-Dependent Immunization in a Teleost Fish

The recent discovery of long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs) in mammals, which provide a constant expression of specific high-affinity antibodies that mediate humoral memory, has caused a dramatic paradigm shift in the study of immunity and vaccine development. In teleost fish, there are few studies regarding the association between LLPCs and antibody production, and the affinity of the antibodies secreted by the LLPCs is poorly understood. In the present study, channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were immunized with trinitrophenylated-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (TNP-KLH) to examine TNP-specific antibody titers, affinities, antibody-secreting cell (ASC) dynamic changes, and especially the affinity of secreted antibodies by LLPCs post-immunization. We demonstrated that TNP-specific LLPCs were generated starting at week 4 post-immunization, achieved a maximal number at week 8, and maintained a comparable level throughout the 18-week post-immunization period, which was correlated with the dynamics of serum antibody titers and affinity maturation in the response. The LLPCs appeared to mostly reside within, or migrate to, the anterior kidney (bone marrow-like tissue in mammals), but a small portion was also located in the spleen and peripheral blood. The antibodies produced by the LLPCs possessed high affinities, indicating that the generation and development of LLPCs were driven by affinity selection in teleosts. Collectively, the results of this study provide insights toward the evolutionary understanding of the affinity-dependent mechanism of LLPC generation and development.
Dimethylaminomicheliolide (DMAMCL) Suppresses the Proliferation of Glioblastoma Cells via Targeting Pyruvate Kinase 2 (PKM2) and Rewiring Aerobic Glycolysis

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most prevalent malignant tumor in the central nervous system. Aerobic glycolysis, featured with elevated glucose consumption and lactate production, confers selective advantages on GBM by utilizing nutrients to support rapid cell proliferation and tumor growth. Pyruvate kinase 2 (PKM2), the last rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis, is known to regulate aerobic glycolysis, and considered as a novel cancer therapeutic target. Herein, we aim to describe the cellular functions and mechanisms of a small molecular compound dimethylaminomicheliolide (DMAMCL), which has been used in clinical trials for recurrent GBM in Australia. Our results demonstrate that DMAMCL is effective on the inhibition of GBM cell proliferation and colony formation. MCL, the active metabolic form of DMAMCL, selectively binding to monomeric PKM2 and promoting its tetramerization, was also found to improve the pyruvate kinase activity of PKM2 in GBM cells. In addition, non-targeting metabolomics analysis reveals multiple metabolites involved in glycolysis, including lactate and glucose-6-phosphate, are decreased with DMAMCL treatment. The inhibitory effects of DMAMCL are observed to decrease in GBM cells upon PKM2 depletion, further confirming the importance of PKM2 in DMAMCL sensitivity. In conclusion, the activation of PKM2 by DMAMCL results in the rewiring aerobic glycolysis, which consequently suppresses the proliferation of GBM cells. Hence, DMAMCL represents a potential PKM2-targeted therapeutic agent against GBM.
Application of Stable Carbon Isotopes in a Subtropical North Atlantic MesocosmStudy: A New Approach to Assess CO2 Effects on the Marine Carbon Cycle

Stable isotope ratio analysis offers a unique opportunity to obtain information on ecosystem processes. The increase in atmospheric CO2 as a consequence of fossil fuel combustion and land-use change is altering the stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of the atmosphere and ocean. This work investigates the application of using δ13C measurements of seawater samples to explore the biogeochemical responses of marine ecosystems to anthropogenic CO2 perturbations. The combination of isotopic and non-isotopic measurements from a subtropical North-Atlantic mesocosm experiment provided a holistic view of the biogeochemical mechanisms that affect carbon dynamics under a gradient of pCO2 ranging from ~350 up to ~1,000 μatm during a phytoplankton succession. A clear CO2 response was detected in the isotopic datasets with 13C shifts of up to ~5%0, but increased CO2 levels only had a subtle effect on the concentrations of the dissolved and particulate organic carbon pools. Distinctive δ13C signatures of the particulate organic carbon pools in the water column and sediment traps were detectable for the different CO2 treatments after a nutrient stimulated phytoplankton bloom. These signatures were strongly correlated (p 13C signatures of the inorganic carbon but not with the δ13C of the dissolved organic carbon pools (p > 0.05). Fractionation of carbon isotopes in phytoplankton was positively affected (9.6 2 levels either because of the higher CO2 availability or because of a shift in phytoplankton community composition. Nevertheless, phytoplankton bloom intensity and development was independent of CO2 concentrations, and higher CO2 levels had no significant effect on inorganic nutrient uptake. Results from this mesocosm experiment showed that variations in the carbon isotopic signature of the carbon pools depend on both physical (air-sea exchange) and biological (community composition) drivers opening the door to new approaches for investigations of carbon cycling in marine ecosystems.
Critical Evaluation of Metaheuristic Algorithms for Weight Minimization of Truss Structures

This study critically compares variants of Genetic Algorithms, Particle Swarm Optimization, Artificial Bee Colony, Differential Evolution and Simulated Annealing used in truss sizing optimization problems including displacement and stress constraints. The comparison is based on several benchmark problems of varying complexity number of design variables. i.e. the number of design variables, and the degree of static indeterminacy. Most of these problems have been studied by numerous researchers using a large variety of methods; this allows for absolute rather than relative comparison. Rigorous statistical analysis based on large sample size, as well as monitoring of the success rate throughout the optimization process, reveal and explain the convergence behavior observed for each method. The results indicate that, for the problem at hand, Differential Evolution is the best algorithm in terms of robustness, performance, and scalability.