Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumption in the Shadow of Unemployment

By how much do employed households reduce their consumption when the aggregate unemployment rate rises? In Spain during the Great Recession a 1 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate was related to a strong drop in household consumption of more than 0.7% per equivalent adult. This reduction is the response of forward-looking agents to downward revisions of their expectations on future income growth rates: the shadow of unemployment. Using consumption panel data that include information on physical quantities, we show that the drop in consumption expenditure was indeed a reduction in quantities, and not a switch to cheaper alternatives.
Probiotic attributes of a yeast-like fungus, Geotrichum klebahnii

Geotrichum klebahnii, a filamentous yeast-like fungus, was isolated from a cheese sample. Several in vitro tests were carried out for its probiotic characterization. This isolate showed high survival rate of 100 ± 1.8% at low pH (pH 2) and 100 ± 0.9% at high oxbile concentration (1%) and also grew well at 37°C. It showed an auto-aggregation ability of 100.00 ± 1.5% after 20 h of incubation at 37°C, as well as 36.43 ± 0.70% and 52.13 ± 1.50% cell surface hydrophobicity with xylene and n-hexadecane, respectively. It had inhibitory activity against food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella sp. , Vibrio sp. and Staphylococcus aureus. G. klebahnii produced the enzymes phytase and inulinase. It was a producer of vitamin B12 and exoploysaccharides. It assimilated up to 29.42 ± 2.1% cholesterol after 48 h of incubation at 37°C. The organism did not produce gelatinase and DNase assay, indicating its safety as a probiotic microorganism. This is the first report of the probiotic potential of yeast like fungus, G. klebahnii. Key words: Probiotics, yeast, antimicrobial, phytase, inulinase.
Determinants of Inter-port Competition: A Case of Coastal Ports in West Africa

Ports operating in the same geographical range face significant competition among them. In such setting, less competitive ports may continually lose patronage of shippers (indigenous to them) to adjacent ones with better attributes. The extent of and determinants of inter-port competition in the West Africa’s coast are of interest to port administrators/operators who risk losing significant portion of their domestic generated cargo traffic to competing neighbouring ports. In this paper, we explore the question of what port specific attributes serve as competitive basis for West Africa’s coastal ports operating in proximity to the other. Through a survey, users of these ports were asked to identify port specific attributes which they consider when deciding which port to use for shipments making. To enrich our empirical model, data collected from the survey were augmented with secondary data (on the identified attributes) obtained from the respective ports. Statistical evidence from data analysis suggests that ports operating in proximity in the West Africa’s coast compete on the basis of attributes that minimise costs for port users, viz: ships’ pre-berthing time, ship turnround time, crane efficiency and availability of cargo spaces (proxied by frequency of ship calls). Policy implications of the findings were discussed.
Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on the abundance and cell size of planktonic nanoflagellate communities

AIM: We experimentally investigated the effects of nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosphorus) enrichment on the density, biomass, and cell size of pigmented and heterotrophic plankton nanoflagellates communities. METHODS: The experiment was done in mesocosms in a tropical reservoir during a 19-day period. Four different treatments were carried out: Control (non-nutrient addition - C), phosphorus additions (P), nitrogen addition (N) and phosphorus + nitrogen addition (N + P). Each treatment was performed in triplicate, sorted randomly, thus giving a total of 12 experimental carboys, which were placed transversely in the middle of the reservoir. RESULTS: In general, pigmented and heterotrophic nanoflagellates fractions responded to nutrient addition, increasing densities and biomass values at the fertilized treatments. Opposed to expected, enriched treatments resulted in a slight decrease in mean cell size of the pigmented fraction. Moreover, in nutrient-rich treatments, pigmented nanoflagellates had higher relative abundance than in the control. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that: i) the density and biomass of nanoflagellates responded to the nutrient enrichment, mainly when N and P were added together; ii) the pigmented and heterotrophic fractions showed distinct time responses to fertilization; iii) the growth of nanoflagellate community seems to be co-limited by N and P; iv) the nutrient enrichment led to a greater pigmented than heterotrophic fraction contribution; and v) among the analyzed variables, nanoflagellate densities seem to be more sensitive to changes in nutrient availability than biomass or mean cell size.
Backward Ricci flow on locally homogeneous 3-manifolds

In [6], Isenberg and Jackson studied the Ricci flow on homogeneous 3-manifolds. As homogeneous 3-manifolds are the models and building blocks of the geometrization of 3-manifolds, it is natural and important to study the behavior of various geometric flows in this basic case. See [2, Chapter 1]. Further studies are in [5, 7, 8]. For obvious reasons, works have focused on the forward behavior of the Ricci flow although, in the homogeneous case, the flow reduces to a system of ordinary differential equations and there is no obstruction to the study of the backward flow. In [3, 4], the authors studied the forward and backward limits of the cross curvature flow on homogeneous 3-manifolds. Indeed, in the case of the cross curvature flow it is not entirely clear which direction is more natural. The results obtained in [4] suggest that the backward behavior of the Ricci flow should be studied as well and this is the subject of this paper. Recall that the Ricci flow on a manifold is a flow of Riemannian metric g(t) satisfying the equation
Cooperative CEO Identity and Efficient Governance: Member or Outside CEO?

A principal-agent model is formulated to capture the efficiency of cooperatives with a member CEO and cooperatives with an employed outsider as CEO. Results of the model show that the incentive strength regarding the member CEO is stronger compared to that of the outside CEO in order to shift some effort of the member CEO from individual farming into the task of adding value to the cooperative enterprise. A cooperative with a member CEO is uniquely efficient when upstream and downstream tasks are substitutes to a certain extent, or complements. When the tasks are substitutes, the efficient CEO identity depends on the strength of the substitution effect and the difference of the marginal productivities between the two tasks. The scope of cooperatives with a member CEO being efficient becomes smaller when the substitution effect is at an intermediate level or the productivity difference between the two tasks is limited.
Modeling and analysis of lattice towers with more accurate models

In traditional design, transmission towers are assumed to be trusses in the calculation of member axial forces, and secondary braces are usually neglected. However, this assumption does not accurately reflect the structural characteristics of transmission towers. This paper proposes a finite element model (FEM) in which member continuity, the asymmetrical sectional properties of members, the eccentricity of connections, and geometrical and material nonlinearities are considered. The proposed FEM is first verified using experimental results, and is then employed in the analysis of several lattice towers to investigate some of their practical aspects. Recommendations on the design of transmission tower systems are made according to the results of the analysis and given in the conclusion.
Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase production among ampicillin-resistant Escherichia coli strains from chicken in Enugu State, Nigeria

Cento e setenta e duas cepas de Escherichia coli resistentes a ampicilina isoladas de frangos em Enugu State, Nigeria, foram avaliadas quanto a producao de beta-lactamase atraves do uso de metodo em caldo com nitrocefin® como indicador cromogenico da producao da enzima. Em seguida, as cepas produtoras de beta-lactamase foram examinadas quanto a producao de beta-lactamase de espectro expandido (ESBL) atraves do metodo de discos combinados Oxoid. Entre as cepas de Escherichia coli resistentes a ampicilina, cento e setenta (98,8%) produziram beta-lactamase. Testes fenotipicos indicaram que dezesseis (9,4%) das cepas produtoras de beta-lactamase produziram ESBL. Seis cepas produtoras de ESBL foram detectadas apenas com a combinacao ceftazidima versus cefotaxime/clavulanato, enquanto dez cepas produtoras de ESBL foram detectadas com a combinacao cefotaxime versus cefotaxime/clavulanato. Frangos podem ser reservatorio de cepas de E.coli produtoras de ESBL, que podem ser transferidos para o homem e outros animais.
Larval settlement: chemical markers for tracing production, transport, and distribution of a waterborne cue

Dissolved chemical signals mediate many ecological interactions in the marine environ- ment, but little is known about how rates of production and distribution of waterborne cues affect life- history processes in the field. Larvae of the specialist marine herbivore Alderia modesta settle and metamorphose in response to complex carbohydrates produced exclusively by the adult host alga Vaucheria longicaulis, but the natural cue cannot be detected in sea water by current methods of ana- lytical chemistry. The simple carbohydrates mannitol and glucose, which are highly concentrated in V. longicaulis tissue, were tested as possible markers for the settlement cue in laboratory and field experiments. In production experiments, both mannitol and glucose were released by patches of the algae and accumulated in the surrounding water over time, as did bioactivity due to the settlement cue. Pore water trapped within patches of V. longicaulis during low tides contained high concentra- tions of mannitol and glucose, and induced a high level of larval metamorphosis even at a 1:5 dilu- tion. The bioactive pore water was released from algal patches into overlying water following immer- sion by a flood tide; water collected above the surface of V. longicaulis induced significant metamorphosis and changes in larval swimming behavior. Glucose content was significantly corre- lated with bioactivity in water collected above algal mats throughout the first 30 min of a flood tide, and also 2 h later, during the peak of a high tide. Mannitol and glucose concentrations were high in sea water above the center of an algal patch, but diminished rapidly at the edges and outside of the patch. Pore water collected from mats of the co-occurring alga Enteromorpha clathrata did not induce metamorphosis or changes in larval swimming behavior, and contained only background levels of the markers. The combined results show that mannitol and glucose are indeed released and transported along with complex carbohydrates from V. longicaulis, and can be used to define patterns of distrib- ution of the dissolved settlement cue on both spatial and temporal scales. Ecologically, the data sug- gest that settlement rates of larvae of A. modesta may vary widely during a tidal cycle, as a function of the release and subsequent hydrodynamic transport of waterborne cues from the host alga.
Evaluation of Streptomyces-biofungicide to control chili anthracnose in pot experiment

of 0.5-2.0 g.L -1 and gave significantly lowest in the infected fruit per plant. Moreover, application of biofungicides exhibited the increased in plant growth parameters at harvesting by means of increased in plant height, plant stem fresh/dry weight, root fresh/dry weight, root length and fruit yield.
Heterogeneous response of two bedding plants to peat substitution by two green composts 

The promotion, at local level, of resource recycling chains, with low environmental impact and costs, appears of great interest for the production of green composts to replace peat in ornamental crops. In this work, two green composts, differing for the criterion of raw material selection for composting, were tested for the cultivation of two bedding plants in comparison with 100% peat based substrate. Leaf chlorophyll (SPAD index), biometric and growth parameters, and tissue mineral composition were measured to assess growing media-plant system performances. Both growing media and plants gave heterogeneous responses depending on substrate characteristics and plant requirements and/or tolerance to abiotic stress. Plant biomass was reduced by 63% (on average) in the most sensitive species due to the high Cl concentration detected in one of the two green composts; a similar trend was observed for SPAD index. The results support the shared idea that the selection of raw material is a strategy of primary importance in the composting process to obtain high quality green compost.
An Empirical Analysis of Predictor Influence Mechanisms of HRM Practices and Corporate Sustainability on Employee Engagement: A mediation Analysis

The unquestionable benefits of employee engagement and the ill-effects of disengagement (EE) have necessitated further investigation within the field of human resource management and the wider organizational studies domain. This study sought to measure the perception of employees at a Commercial Bank in Jamaica, on how various practices in the organization, such as human resource management practices (HRMPs), the ethical climate (OEC), and corporate sustainability (CS) affected their engagement. Based on the responses of 130 employees who responded to a self-administered questionnaire hosted online, it was shown quantitatively that employee tenure in an organization affects their engagement, as employees with less than one year, and more than ten years of service with the organization were more engaged. Also, the results indicated that both HRMPs and initiatives and strategies on CS had influence on employees’ behaviour and subsequently their engagement and the predictor effects were enhanced by the mediation effect of OEC. These findings are relevant to practice as well as provide elucidation on the specific mechanisms that influence the relationship between HRMPs and EE, as well as contributing to sparse literature on EE in a Caribbean context.
A Highly Uncommon Variation of "Top of the Basilar"

Stroke is a leading cause of death and acquired disability worldwide. Top of the Basilar Syndrome (TOBS), is a relatively uncommon subtype of stroke, and it has a wide spectrum of clinical presentations (abnormalities of alertness, inversion of the sleep–wake cycle, and abnormal oculomotor or pupillomotor functions) due to anatomic variations of posterior circulation, raising diagnostic challenges. In this case study, A 78-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with sudden-onset hemi paralysis and stupor followed by central facial palsy, dysphasia and dysarthria. He also revealed a blepharoptosis of the right eyelid, impairment of abduction on left side. He appeared hypersomnic, exhibited a reversed sleep–wake cycle, and was disoriented in space and time. It was also noticed that, he also had a personality change. Cerebral Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) showed a bilateral thalamic stroke with extension to the right midbrain, temporal and occipital lobes. This unique case represents a highly uncommon variant of the “top of the basilar” syndrome because of a special anatomic arterial variation named Artery of Percheron (AOP).
WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER USAGE IN HARRAN PLAIN-GAP REGION, TURKEY

The purpose of this study is to evaluate factors affecting farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable water usage in terms of efficient irrigation training in the Harran Plain-Turkey and determine the coefficients, and affecting factors that contribute to it. The data used in this study come from a sample of 22,167 farmers in the Harran Plain, 675 of them were chosen via simple random sampling method and interviewed face to face by given questionnaires. Sampling was conducted in all water user associations’ areas in 2014. The logistic regression and probit model were used for analysis. The results indicate that the average WTP was $170.6 and yearly amount was $3,781,690 for irrigation training in Harran plain. Farmers believe in the necessity of irrigation training for sustainable usage and accept for payment by 59% and WTP of the farmers’ may further increase with good practices. Explanatory affecting factors, such as age, education level, land amount, ownership type, modern irrigation method and offered amount for training were significantly explained WTP and coefficients were determined. So, the probability of payment acceptance for irrigation training could be written for any farmers in Harran plain. This study is first of its type in GAP Region-Turkey.
Effect of Carbohydrate Rich Diet on Experimental Pathology of Necrotic Enteritis in Broilers

The present research work was designed to know the effect of carbohydrate rich diet on the experimental pathology of necrotic enteritis in broilers. For experimental purpose, 15 birds of 14 days of age were grouped into 3 (A, B and C). Birds of group A were fed with 400gm maize/kg (40% increase) and group B were fed with 200gm maize/kg (20% increase) of normal feed from day 14 to day 27 and challenged from day 21 to 25 days with 1x10 8 CFU/3ml of inoculums of Cl. perfringens consecutive 5 days. Group C was kept in control without additional maize. Birds of all groups were observed up to 27 days of age. The clinical signs diarrhea, ruffled feather were common in both group A and B, and less feed intake in group A than group B. There was no mortality in any groups. Birds of all groups were sacrificed at the day 28. Necrosis and hemorrhage in intestine, enlarged liver, and hemorrhage in the base of heart were found in group A (+++). In impression smear of intestines, the average 10-12 bacteria were found in group A and 8-10 bacteria were found in group B in higher magnification (100X). In histopathology, severe infiltration of inflammatory cells including heterophils and lymphocytes and sloughing off mucosal epithelium that changed by pink color cytoplasm with pyknotic nuclei were observed in group A (+++) while group B showed infiltration of inflammatory cells and sloughing off mucosal epithelium (++). The birds of group C were normal in all respects. Anaerobic bacteria counted from intestinal content of group A was 2.8x10 7 CFU/ml, group B was 2.2x10 7 CFU/ml and group C was 1.0x10 7 CFU/ml. From the findings, it may be said that carbohydrate rich diet is a predisposing factor for necrotic enteritis in broilers. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/bjvm.v12i1. 20459 Bangl. J. Vet. Med . (2014). 12 (1): 17-26
Use of measurement tools for screening of postoperative delirium in nursing practice

Aim: The aim of the literary overview was to search quantitative research studies focusing on screening for postoperative patient delirium by nurses with the aid of measurement tools; and, afterwards, to compare the tools used with respect to their psychometric characteristics and use in clinical nursing practice. Design: Overview study - literary review. Methods: Electronic databases were searched for relevant documents (i.e., Web of Science, SCOPUS, Science Direct, and Summon Discovery Tool), from the period 1990-2017. Key words used for databases were: postoperative delirium, screening, tool, validity, reliability, psychometric characteristic, and nursing, combined with Boolean operators. Results: A total of 253 documents were identified. Based on the chosen selection criteria, eight studies dealing with screening of postoperative delirium were included in the analysis and overview. The following measurement tools were used in the studies: the Confusion Assessment Method for Intensive Care Units - CAM-ICU, the Nursing Delirium Screening Scale - Nu-DESC, the NEECHAM Confusion Scale, the Delirium Observation Screening Scale - DOSS, and the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist - ICDSC. The tool with the optimum psychometric characteristics for detection of postoperative delirium is the CAM-ICU tool. Conclusion: The results of the studies analysed indicate the importance of the implementation of a relevant tool for screening of postoperative delirium. It is essential to examine the psychometric characteristics and usability of screening tools in Slovak clinical practice.
Predicting Financial Distress among SMEs in Malaysia

Predicting financial distress among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can have a significant impact on the economy as it serves as an effective early warning signal. The study develops distress prediction models combining financial, non-financial and governance variables which were used to analyze the influence of major corporate governance characteristics, like ownership and board structures, on the likelihood of financial distress. Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) model as one of the extensively documented approaches was used. The final sample for the estimation model consists of 172 companies with 50 percent non-failed cases and 50 percent failed cases for the period between 2000 to 2012. The prediction models perform relatively well especially in MDA model that incorporate governance, financial and non-financial variables, with an overall accuracy rate of 90.7 percent in the estimated sample. The accuracy rate in the holdout sample was 91.2 percent for the MDA model. This evidence shows that the models serve as efficient earlywarning signals and can thus be beneficial for monitoring and evaluation. Controlling shareholder, number of directors, and gender of managing director are found to be significant predictors of financially distressed SMEs.
THE ACTUATION OF COLLEGE PLANS: EXPLAINING WHY SOME SENIORS MAKE IT AND OTHERS DON'T*

The transition from high school to college has become increasingly important for economic success and mobility in the United States. Most students form definite plans regarding post-secondary schooling by their senior years. Yet, not all seniors who plan to attend college immediately after graduation are successful in achieving that goal. We use information from a longitudinal study of high school seniors to determine the factors that influence their ability to actuate their college plans. Special attention is devoted to racial and ethnic variation in the realization of college plans, and in the possible explanations for such variation. Multivariate binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses reveal an enrollment advantage for Asian students and an enrollment disadvantage for African American students. In addition, Asian students are more likely than whites or blacks to attend two-year schools, while African American students are less likely than whites or Asians to attend four-year schools. Encouragement for a college attendance from parents, teachers, and friends is responsible for the greater likelihood of enrollment among Asians. Weaker high school academic performance appears to explain the disadvantage for African American students. The possibility of a cultural explanation is acknowledged for the greater encouragement enjoyed by Asian students, while alternative mechanisms are suggested for the role of academic performance in the lower likelihood of college actuation for black students.