Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Business Networks and Inward FDI Policy

I outline the effect of business networks on trade, FDI and welfare in a two-country, two-firm duopoly. The network effect, following Greaney (2002), is modelled as a marginal cost disadvantage facing arm from Foreign in selling to Home. Unlike traditional trade costs, this cost cannot be avoided by investing in Home. My main addition is a Nash game between governments in which they subsidise the fixed costs of inward FDI. While the network effect is shown to lead to favourable outcomes for the Home firm, I show that once government subsidies to the fixed costs of FDI are included and welfare functions analysed, the network effect leads to asymmetric outcomes unfavourable to Home. This result can help inform the debate on countries' (in particular Japan's) international trade and investment relations.
DUAL-LABELING TECHNIQUES FOR TRACE METAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN AQUATIC PLANKTON COMMUNITIES

Recent work demonstrating the ecological importance of trace metals in aquatic plankton communities has stimulated interest in biological metal cycling and transfer in natural waters. Like major nutrients, sources of metals to phytoplankton can include both exogenous (new) and endogenous (recycled) supplies. lndirect evidence suggests that the subcellular location of metals in plankton cells-surface-adsorbed versus intracellular-is a primary factor controlling their biogeochemical fate after processing by zooplankton grazers. However, there are no methods presently available to directly measure the turnover of intraand extracellular metal pools, or the uptake of new and regenerated metal sources by phytoplankton. We present here new techniques that use dual radioisotopes of the same trace element to make the first direct measurements of these biogeochen~ically important processes in marine and freshwater plankton communities. Since our methods depend on quantitative removal of surface-bound isotopes from plankton cells, we first compared the efficiency with which a variety of published surface-wash techniques remove adsorbed trace metals from phytoplankton cells. A widely used Fe surface-wash method that employs a Ti(III)/citrate/EDTA reagent was the most effective technique examined for removing a variety of extracellular trace metals, including CO, Cd, Zn and Mn. We then demonstrated the use of the dual radiolabels "Fe and " ~ e to compare new and regenerated Fe uptake by marine phytoplankton in laboratory and field experiments. Results indicated that new (dissolved) Fe was utilized more readily by phytoplankton than Fe regenerated from the intracellular pools of other plankton, but transfer of intracellular Fe was substantial. This dual isotope pair was also used to examine the fate of diatom intracellular "Fe and surface-adsorbed "Fe after grazing by copepods. Similar freshwater experiments examined the cycling of diatom intracellular "CO and extracellular 5'Co after grazing by cladocerans. Both grazing experiments showed that intracellular metals are most efficiently assimilated by zooplankton, while extracellular Fe and CO are preferentially regenerated to dissolved forms during grazing. Dual-labeling techniques promise to allow direct, unambiguous characterization of difficult-to-resolve portions of the biogeochemical cycles of many biologically important trace elements, including Fe, Co. Mn, Ni, Ag, Cd and Se.
Heavy Metals Biosorption in Liquid Solid Fluidized Bed by Immobilized Consortia in Alginate Beads

The adsorptive removal chromium, nickel, copper and cadmium by alginate beads containing a mixed consortium of Yeast, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli in batch and fluidized bed column reactor was investigated. Under optimized conditions (pH 4.5; contact time 3hrs; initial metal concentration of 150mg/L) batch experiments showed that the immobilized mixed culture was successfully used for the removal of these metal ions in waste water. Fluidized bed studies were carried out in with an adsorbent dosage of 1g/L, a flow rate of 132 LPH, a bed height of length of the reactor. Efficiency of biosorption for copper, cadmium, chromium and nickel was found to be 84.62%, 67.17%, 49.25% and 61.02%. Desorption of the exhausted beads was found to be successful, however with a reduced biosorption capacity.
Effects of genotype and egg weight on hatchability traits and hatching weight in Japanese quail

The effects of genotype and egg weight on hatching weight, fertility, hatchability of fertile eggs and incubated eggs were investigated in Japanese quail. The birds were obtained at an age of 20 weeks from four genetic lines selected for 11 generations for either a high (HL) or a low body weight (LL) at five weeks of age, a randomly bred control line (C) and a layer line (L) selected for egg production over 120 days. Eggs were allocated according to their weight to 13.1 g groups. There was a significant difference between groups in terms of hatching weight, fertility, hatchability of fertile eggs and hatchability of incubated eggs. The highest hatching weights were recorded in the > 13.1 g egg weight group. Genotype affected egg weight significantly, with the highest egg weights recorded in the HL genotype and lowest in the LL genotype. There was a significant positive phenotypic correlation (r = 0.72) between egg weight and hatching weight, and hatching weight increased with an increase in egg weight.
A Suite of Distributed Methodologies to Solve the Sparse Analytic Hierarchy Process Problem

In this paper we aim at finding effective distributed algorithms to solve the Sparse Analytic Hierarchy Process (SAHP) problem, where a set of networked agents (e.g., wireless sensors, mobile robots or IoT devices) need to be ranked based on their utility/importance. However, instead of knowing their absolute importance, the agents know their relative utility/importance with respect to their neighbors. Moreover, such a relative information is perturbed due to errors, subjective biases or incorrect information. Recently, the Sparse Eigenvector Method proved its effectiveness in tackling this problem. However, such a method has several drawbacks, such as demanding computation/communication requirements and lack of control on the magnitude of the computed estimate. With the aim to mitigate such issues, in this paper we inspect the possibility to resort to a suite of different methodologies, each inspired to well known algorithms in the literature, i.e., Metropolis-Hastings Markov chains, Heat-Bath Markov chains and formation control. The proposed methodologies are less demanding in terms of memory and communication capabilities; however, each approach has its own strength points and drawbacks. The aim of this paper is thus to provide a numerical comparison of their performances over networks with different characteristics.
Hospitalization Analysis for Children and the Elderly Under New Rural Cooperative Medical Insurance System

Children and the elderly are vulnerable in body conditions and financial situations. They are special groups under the new rural cooperative medical insurance system. This article aimed at providing suggestions for policy making by analyzing hospitalization expenses and reimbursement of children and the elderly. The children concerned in this article are focused on the age of 14 years and under, while the elderly is for the age of 60 years and above. SAS software was used to analyze the hospitalization costs and reimbursements for these two populations using the datasets of one county in 2011. The results show that, the average hospitalization rate of children was 14.09%, while the highest was for children aged under 2 years due to some unnecessary hospitalization. The majority of hospitalization expenses of children were within 3000 Yuan. However, some hospitalization costs were still over 10000 Yuan. For the newborns, most hospitalization stays were within 14 days, and more than half of which were under 7 days. When they are growing up, newborns and children are getting stronger in physiques and resistances, and have lower rate in hospitalization. For the elderly inpatients, the average reimbursement rate for the hospitalization expenses was 55.52%. The minority of the aged people were hospitalized outside their residential area. This resulted in that the average hospitalization expenditure was 4.45 times the county level hospitalization, and 11 times the township level hospitalization. The article concluded that, the government needs to take actions to reduce unnecessary hospitalization percentage. More importantly, age-related diseases should be prevented effectively. Maternal and child’s protection needs to be strengthened urgently. The government should also encourage healthy lifestyles and prevent the senile diseases. After all, more attention should be given to children and newborns for their medical security.
New Privacy Threat on 3G, 4G, and Upcoming 5G AKA Protocols

Abstract Mobile communications are used by more than two-thirds of the world population who expect security and privacy guarantees. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) responsible for the worldwide standardization of mobile communication has designed and mandated the use of the AKA protocol to protect the subscribers’ mobile services. Even though privacy was a requirement, numerous subscriber location attacks have been demonstrated against AKA, some of which have been fixed or mitigated in the enhanced AKA protocol designed for 5G. In this paper, we reveal a new privacy attack against all variants of the AKA protocol, including 5G AKA, that breaches subscriber privacy more severely than known location privacy attacks do. Our attack exploits a new logical vulnerability we uncovered that would require dedicated fixes. We demonstrate the practical feasibility of our attack using low cost and widely available setups. Finally we conduct a security analysis of the vulnerability and discuss countermeasures to remedy our attack.
Pearl Millet and Cowpea Intercrop Response to Applied Nutrients in West Africa

2333 Pearl millet-based cropping systems, including intercropping with cowpea (Reddy et al., 1992), dominates crop production in Sahel. Pearl millet is also grown as a sole crop, or intercropped with groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), or maize (Zea mays L.). In Niger 65% of the cereal production area is under pearl millet and 55% of this is intercropped with cowpea (INS, 2016). The traditional practice of pearl millet– cowpea intercropping efficiently uses crop growth resources and labor to increase the production per unit area and labor (Lithourgidis et al., 2011). The common pearl millet cultivars are tall growing with fibrous root systems and are planted with wide spacing. The common cowpea cultivars have taproots and are indeterminate with a trailing growth habit that gives soil cover and good interception of radiation. Both crops are important for food and forage, and both the grain and fodder have good market potential. The compatibility of the crops in the field adds to productivity and reduces risk compared with sole crop production. Pearl millet–cowpea intercropping has been studied by others (Ghosh, 2004; Ajeigbe et al., 2008; Saidou et al., 2010). Intercropping by alternating four rows of cowpea with four rows of pearl millet did not reduce pearl millet biomass yield while cowpea biomass was more with increased plant density in the Sahel of Niger (Saidou et al., 2010). Kouyaté et al. (2012) reported increased colonization of cowpea root rates by mycorrhizae and increased pearl millet grain yield with 1:1 alternative row intercropping compared with rotation of pearl millet and cowpea in Mali. Inadequate soil fertility constrains crop productivity but mean yield increases due to nutrient application are small because of soil water deficits. Much nutrient response research has been done for PMSC production in the Sahel. The estimated mean response of PMSC across numerous trials to application of 25 kg N ha–1 was 0.06 and 0.25 Mg ha–1 with and without a uniform application of P, respectively, demonstrating that low availability of P compared with N is most constraining (Singh and Thakare, 1986; Bationo et al., 1990; Christianson et al., 1990; Bationo et al., 1991; Bationo Pearl Millet and Cowpea Intercrop Response to Applied Nutrients in West Africa
Valuation through EVA and Traditional Measures an Empirical Study

Profit maximization as a concept is age-old, wealth maximization is matured and value maximization is today's wisdom. Economic Value Added (EVA) is one such innovation. Unlike traditional accounting measures of performance, EVA attempts to measure the value that firms create or destroy by subtracting a capital charge from the cash returns they generate on invested capital. Besides the measures like Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Net worth (RONW), Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) and Earnings per Share (EPS), EVA is a new measure available to the corporate managers. It combines factors such as economy, accounting and market information in its assessment. This paper describes and compares the EVA with other measures. Apart from this, taking the real financial data of a company, the paper shows how EVA calculations can be done to demonstrate whether the company is adding to shareholder value by generating profits over and above the capital charge. From the analysis it was found that EVA is the best appropriate measure for measuring the value of shareholders.
Binary Classification of Defective Solar PV Modules Using Thermography

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are subject to various internal or external stresses due to their operation in solar PV based power systems. Therefore, monitoring and maintenance are critical issues to ensure reliability of PV modules which in turn would affect the reliability of any PV system. In this paper, we categorize operational solar panels into two categories (Defective and Non-Defective panels) using a machine learning technique i.e. texture features through thermography assessment. Further, the panels are also categorized for diagnostic perspective using nBayes classifier. Results from an investigation for a 42.24 kWp PV system showed a mean recognition rate of 98.4% for a set of 260 test samples.
A Review of Voltage Source Converters for Energy Applications

The purpose of the research is to present a brief review of voltage source converter (VSC) topologies with their operating principles for energy applications, such as high voltage dc transmission (HVDC) and flexible ac transmission system (FACTS), which can be employed in the field of electric power generation, transmission and distribution systems. In this paper, several commonly used VSC-based high-power energy consumer topologies are presented and discussed, including the neutral-point-clamped (NPC), flying-capacitor (FC), cascaded H-bridge (CHB) and modular multilevel converters (MMC). A list of available industrial VSC-based high-power energy consumers is included. The most common and relevant energy applications of these converters are provided. At last, the directions of their future development are addressed. Each selection of converter topology and control method is closely related to each specific application, so that there are many options for different energy applications, depending on their own special technical specifications like system stability, dynamic performance, and total expenditure.
Neurology in the Light of Genomics: Application of NGS and GWAS in Understanding Complex Neurological Disorders

Understanding structure and function of human brain remains the most intriguing region of advanced research. Neurological disorders also constitute a major proportion of ongoing brain associated research as several disorders are still not known in a comprehensive manner from a molecular, causative and functional perspective. Earlier linkage studies were considered the most reliable means to answer certain neurogenetics related questions in relevance to heredity and disease inheritance. Technical limitations and ethical issues always hindered the path of deriving more useful insight and understanding neurological diseases such as Schizophrenia, Epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, ALS and other neurological issues. Improvement in the interdisciplinary approaches including genomics based analyses such as NGS, GWAS, GCTA enabled us to explore and understand the causes and factors responsible for onset of neurological conditions and effect of such neurological conditions on human wellbeing. This review summarizes the recent and on-going research carried out globally to unravel the mysteries of various neurological disorders employing latest genomics based technologies. The technological background and disease specific implementations are described in detail.
Evaluation of Factors Affecting Patient Delay in the Diagnosis and Treatment of TB among TB Patients Attending in Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital, Harar, Eastern Ethiopia

Background: Most tuberculosis (TB) patients are not visiting heath facilities and hence transmit disease to healthy individuals in the community for a longer time in Ethiopia. This study was, therefore, aimed at estimating the duration of delay for initiation of anti-TB treatment in Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital (HFSUH) and assessing its determinants factors associated with unacceptable delay for medication. Methods: Facility based cross sectional study was conducted in HFSUH from March 1-May 30, 2016. Convenient sampling was employed to select eligible patients who avail on time of data collection. Data was collected prospectively from 280 TB patients aged 15 years and above and who attended to the hospital using a face to face interview with a predetermined set of questions. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16. Finally, cross tabulation and Pearson chi-square test were employed for comparison of categorical variables. Results: A large number of extra pulmonary and smear negative pulmonary TB patients delayed more than the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended periods before taking medications. Amongst all TB patients interviewed, half (50%) of them sought treatment after WHO recommended periods (21 days). Fortunately, the median patient delay was found to be the same with WHO cut off point in this study. According to the study, the major reasons for patient delay were related to assuming symptoms are not severe (58%) followed by lack of money (32%) and health facility too far (6%). Moreover, educational status, occupation and residence were among major predictors of patient delay (p<0.05). Conclusion: Poor knowledge of TB signs and symptoms and patients' beliefs about curses as the origin of diseases lead to delaying care-seeking at the hospital level in an area of eastern Ethiopia. These infectious TB cases are transmitting the disease to their families and in the wider community making prevention and control difficult. Those living in the rural area, illiterate and distant from health care settings suffer from TB long time and at the same time transmit the disease in the community.
Prevalence of Vulvovaginal Candidiasis amongst pregnant women in Maroua (Cameroon) and the sensitivity of Candida albicans to extracts of six locally used antifungal plants

This investigation was carried out at two referral hospitals of Maroua (Far-North, Cameroon), involving 211 (112 pregnant and 99 non pregnant) women of age interval 16-45, to estimate the prevalence of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) amongst pregnant women and to determine the sensitivity of Candida albicans culture to extracts of six locally used antifungal plants. Prevalence and various potential risk factors for VVC were assessed during a survey. Women provided vaginal swabs. Isolation of Candida albicans from swabs was done using Sabouraud Chloramphenicol Agar (SCA) (manufactured by Bio- Rad). The sensitivity of Candida albicans cultures was determined on SCA and Muller Hinton agar to the six plants extracts. The results indicated that the prevalence of VVC was higher amongst pregnant (55.4%) than non-pregnant women (35.4%). Associated risk factors such as douching habits, use of antibiotics and poor toilet facilities and sanitary conditions favor this prevalence. Candida albicans does not appear to be transmitted sexually, and episodes of VVC do not appear to be related to the number of sexual partners. Amongst the plants studied Allium sativum, Sena alata and Ocimum gratissimum had the greatest inhibitory activity against Candida albicans. Because of their antifungal effects, clinical trial should be performed to determine the usefulness of the extracts of these plants for the treatment of VVC.
Taxes, Financing Decisions, and Firm Value

We use cross-sectional regressions to study how a firm's value is related to dividends and debt. With a good control for profitability, the regressions can measure how the taxation of dividends and debt affects firm value. Simple tax hypotheses say that value is negatively related to dividends and positively related to debt. We find the opposite. We infer that dividends and debt convey information about profitability (expected net cash flows) missed by a wide range of control variables. This information about profitability obscures any tax effects of financing decisions. Copyright The American Finance Association 1998.
Antistreptokinase antibodies influence Adenosin diphosphate-inducible platelet aggregation

The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of streptokinase/antistreptokinase antibodies on Adenosine 5 -diphosphate (ADP)-inducible platelet aggregation under steptokinase treatment. ADP-inducible platelet aggregation was determined using light transmission aggregometry (LTA). Baseline rabbits (7) and subjects after intravenous infusion of streptokinase (7) were observed. The presence of antistreptokinase antibodies and plasminogen activators inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) were determined using ELISA. 7 days after intravenous infusion of streptokinase (Sk) ADP-inducible platelet aggregation in platelet rich plasma (PRP) did not increase baseline level, and was inhibited by Sk in a dose-dependent manner. Sk in a concentration of 16 mkg/ml was associated with significantly reduced ADP-inducible platelet aggregation. Concentration of PAI-1 was significantly elevated in platelet fraction. ADP-inducible platelet aggregation peaked at 7 weeks after intravenous infusion of Sk; Sk-inducible inhibition was not observed. 7 days after administration of Sk ADP-inducible platelet aggregation was normal, although PAI-1 level was elevated in platelet fraction. Platelet aggregation in response to ADP was significantly increased at 7 weeks after Sk administration when compared to baseline level. Inhibition effect of streptokinase on ADP-inducible platelet aggregation was not observed.