Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Convergence of Market Concentration: Evidence from Czech Food Processing Sectors

The aim of the paper is to evaluate the market concentration in the Czech food and beverages industry over the period of 2003-2014, to quantify disparities among particular sectors and to investigate the trend of market concentration. The concept of convergence is applied when investigating the trend in the long term. The market concentration in the Czech food and beverages industry has increased on average. In sectors with relatively low market concentration in 2003, the values of concentration increased more rapidly after 2003. On the contrary, the most concentrated sectors tend to change slowly over time and the concentration in some sectors even declined. On the basis of the absolute β-convergence model estimation, it was concluded that there is a trend for convergence of the market concentration in the long run to one and the same point for all sectors of the industry.
Coke Formation Reduction in the Steam Cracking of Naphtha on Industrial Alloy Steels Using Sulfur-Based Inhibitors

Coke formation reduction during naphtha pyrolysis was investigated using dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) and carbon disulfide (CS2) as inhibitors with different feed stocks. Different industrial nickel alloy steels such as stainless steel 304 and 316 (SS304, SS316), HP-modified (HP-mod) and HP-micro (HP-mic) were used as coupons in a quartz cylindrical reactor for coke formation studies. Coke formation significantly reduced in the presence of the additives or using feeds with more sulfur compounds. It was revealed that HP-mic alloy has the least coke deposition rate between other alloys. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDAX) were used for morphological and elemental surface analyses, respectively. It was found that cokes formed in presence of sulfurous inhibitors are softer and have less metal concentrations.
Propolis, royal jelly and pollen from beehive have antibacterial effect on aquatic pathogenic bacterial isolates

Article history: New approaches for treatment of infectious diseases in aquatic animals have important roles in aquaculture technology progress. In the present study, In vitro effects of different extracts of propolis, royal jelly and pollen obtained from beehives have been investigated on aquatic pathogenic bacterial isolates. The isolated bacteria identified on the basis of their biochemical properties and sequence alignment of the amplified genome fragments. Antimicrobial activities of ethanol extracts of royal jelly, propolis and pollen, and acetone extract of propolis were determined through well diffusion and microdilution methods. The isolated bacteria identified as Aeromonas and Vibrio spp. , based on biochemical characterization. Alignments of the amplified sequences showed most similarites to Vibrio cholerae and Aeromonas hydrophila. The results obtained from antibacterial effects of extracts showed that the acetone extract of propolis as well as the ethanol extract of royal jelly, had the greatest effect on Aeromonas hydrophila (MIC=25 mg ml -1 ); and the ethanol extracts of pollen and royal jelly as well as the acetone extract of propolis, showed the greatest effect on Vibrio cholerae (MIC=50 mg ml -1 ). The results of present in vitro study propose the beehive compounds (royal jelly, propolis and pollen) as powerful natural products to control pathogenic bacteria in aquaculture systems.
Epidemiology and Molecular Characterization of Causative Agents of Bovine Tuberculosis in Ruminants

A cross sectional study was conducted on 110 cattle and 397 small ruminants to determine the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis and possible risk factors, and to characterize the species of Mycobacteria circulating in Chifra district. Bacterial isolation and multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) were performed on milk and nasal swab samples of reactor animals. In tuberculin test, 13.64% cattle and 5.29% small ruminants were positive, and 31.58% and 25.00% were positive cultures on Lowenstein-Jensen media from milk and nasal swab samples, respectively. Based on PCR products, 12 were positive for genus Mycobacterium and none were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex or Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex group. The reactor rates observed for cattle under different body condition scores were poor (17.24%), medium (6.25%) and good (50.00%) Body Condition Scores (BCS) (P=0.025). The stepwise logistic regression analysis using independent variable medium BCS as a reference category indicated that good BCS (adjusted OR=4.29, 95% CI for OR=0.49-37.89) significantly affected tuberculin reactivity. This study showed that the prevalence of Single Comparative Intra-dermal Tuberculin (SCIDT) test positives and risk of acquiring the disease, increased with good BCS. Thus, more sensitive diagnostic techniques and control strategies should be considered on this risk group.
A novel antioxidant and antimicrobial compound produced by Bacillus firmicutes

In this study, antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds were produced from a dates seeds powder containing medium by B. firmicutes, a bacterial strain isolated from Al-Ain Alhara hot springs located in Gazan area in Saudi Arabia. The Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) of culture supernatant of B. firmicutes by the phosphomolybdenum was 2.5 mg/ml of culture medium, the total phenolic compounds is 5.3 mg/ml of culture medium and radical scavenging activity was done by DPPH. The greatest scavenging rate of antioxidants was 60%. In addition, its antibacterial activity was performed after treatment the culture medium with methanol or ethyl acetate. As antimicrobial ethyl acetate, extract is more effective than methanol. In both ethyl acetate and methanol extract the highest antibacterial activity was observed against E. faecalis with a maximum diameter inhibition zone of 25 mm, 15 mm respectively while, the lowest activity was detected against P. aeruginosa with inhibition diameter zone 14 mm and 10 mm respectively. Analysis by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) for ethyl acetate and methanol extracts revealed the presence one spot in the front in ethyl acetate while the spot of methanol come latter and maybe have another spot. The molecular mass of ethyl acetate extract was 304.53 m/z and methanol extract was 701.57 m/z as determined by MS.
Influence of plasma gas on surface composition of low-temperature plasma-treated wool fibre

Wool fibres have been treated with low-temperature plasma (LTP) with oxygen, nitrogen and gas mi xture (25:75 hydrogen/nitrogen). It is observed th at the chemical composition of wool fibre surface varies differently with the different pl as ma gases used. The surface chemical composition of the different LTP-treated woo l fibres has also been evaluated with FffR-ATR, XPS and saturated adsorption value. The results reveal that the surface chemi cal and phys ical compositions of wool fibre change on LTP treatment. The change in compositions might affect the wool dyeing and fini shing processes such as shrinkproofing treatments.
MALARIA MORBIDITY IN SINDH AND THE PLASMODIUM SPECIES DISTRIBUTION

Objective: To determine the prevalence of Malarial parasites and species responsible in Sindh Province of Pakistan. Methodology: It is a cross sectional descriptive study conducted in all Districts of Sindh during January 2002 to December 2006. It was based on surveillance data of Malaria control program Sindh in which blood smears from febrile cases in all age group of male and female were seen by facility microscopist in all districts. Senior microscopist rechecked all positive slides. All slides data of different districts of Sindh was reported on monthly basis to provisional centre at Hyderabad for compiling and analysis. Results: During 2002-2006, out of 5.84 million slides, those with positive malarial parasites were approx. 0.16 million giving an average blood examination rate (BER) 4.46, slide positivity rate (SPR) 2.94, Falciparum ratio(FR) was 41%, annual parasite incidences (API) was 1.36. More cases were seen in post monsoon season. Conclusion: All basic indicators of Malaria disease are higher than optimum level. Estimated burden can be much higher, Roll Back Malaria goals are lagging far behind to reduce the disease burden. As such integrated approach of diagnosis, treatment and prevention is required.
Effect of age of permeable pavements on their infiltration function

This study describes field investigations designed to compare the infiltration capacities of 55 permeable pavement systems installed in the Netherlands and in Australia. The ages of the pavements varied from 1 to 12 years. Using infiltrometer testing, the performance of the pavements has been compared in terms of their ability to infiltrate a three month average recurrence interval storm event in the case of the Australian pavements or the minimum specification for European infiltration capacities of 97.2 mm/h for the Dutch pavements. Many of the tested pavements broadly follow a hypothetical decay curve of infiltration rate with age of pavement. However, these are clustered into two distinct groups (Dutch and Australian) with the older Australian pavements appearing to maintain higher infiltration rates relative to their age. The study has shown that the performance of the clogged permeable pavement systems was still generally acceptable, even after many years in service.
Inter-Industry Productivity Spillovers from Japanese and US FDI in Mexico's Manufacturing Sector

Foreign Direct Investment can have positive effects on host countries by generating spillovers to domestic firms and contributing to increases in their productivity. These productivity spillovers1 can take place within an industry (intraindustry spillovers) and across industries (inter-industry spillovers) as in the case of technology or knowledge transfer to domestic suppliers (backward productivity spillovers) or customers (forward productivity spillovers). Using unpublished economic census data from Mexico’s manufacturing sector this study differs from others by comparing interindustry productivity spillovers from Japanese and US FDI. Results show that Japanese FDI increases the productivity of upstream sectors; however these gains seem to be shared only among foreign suppliers, while US FDI does not seem to generate backward productivity spillovers. Results show no presence of forward productivity spillovers.
Strategic management in micro, small and medium-sized businesses in relation to financial success of the enterprise

Small and medium sized enterprises play an essential role in the economy of the Czech Republic as a report of development of small and medium-sized enterprises and its support from 2010 announces. They are the source of development of towns, regions and the state itself. Small and medium-sized enterprises represent 99.84 % of the whole business subjects. Statistic data underline this position- they indicate that small and medium-sized enterprises employ 2/3 employees. Therefore, occupying small and medium-sized enterprises are to be taken as priority.Strategic management on the level of small and medium-sized enterprises is, as number of authors write, diverse. Small enterprises including micro have less access to capital, they have no money for employing specialists in the field, and they solve administration primarily. The aim of this follow-up GAJU project contribution concerned on process analysis of small and medium-sized enterprises is to summarize the gained results from the view of comparison of the level of strategic management in small and medium-sized enterprises.Nowadays, numbers of enterprises are thinking about whether they are able to remain in the market as an established company, they explore the possibility of improving its position. There is a question for small and medium-sized enterprises management- can strategic management be used as an instrument for increasing competitiveness? The results show that SMEs with a clearly defined strategy show better results of financial health (IN99 and ROA) than companies without a defined strategy. In terms of business focus, we were able to demonstrate positive relationship between strategy and finance only for companies in the construction industry, on the significance level of 0.05. Compared to manufacturers and service-providing companies where this relation is not statistically significant.
The Burnout Level of Call Center Agents in Metro Manila, Philippines

The aim of this study was to measure the exhaustion, cynicism and professional efficacy that would determine an individual’s level of burnout. A convenient sample of employees (N=747) was obtained from different call centers in Metro Manila. The results indicated a high level of exhaustion for the age group of 18-29 years old and for the female respondents. More than half of the respondents were high in cynicism and those who reported a low professional efficacy were mostly females. Age showed a significant relationship with exhaustion and cynicism while tenure at present job showed a significant relationship with professional efficacy. Results implied that working in a call center may lead to employee burnout especially for females and those who are new in their job.
Regeneration failure and the potential importance of human disturbance in a subtropical forest

A lack of regeneration of shade-intolerant canopy species has been reported in several subtropical South African forests. The subtropical forest of Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, KwaZulu-Natal, was examined in order to determine the ex- tent of regeneration, the forest grain, dynamics and conserva- tion value. Field sampling took the form of recording DBH for all woody species in 29 0.04-ha circular plots, walking 5-m wide transects in mature and marginal forest to record size classes of important species and analysis of 20 gaps. A com- munity analysis was performed using the multivariate pro- gram TWINSPAN. Size-class distributions indicate a lack of regeneration and suggest a prevalence of shade-intolerant species in the canopy. The composition of the canopy and subcanopy are distinct from one another and the forest is coarse-grained. Conservation of the present species composi- tion could be aided by encouraging patch-scale disturbance. It is hypothesized that swidden agriculture may have favoured the formation of the present forest canopy structure.
EFFECTS OF TRAFFIC VOLUMES ON ACCIDENTS: THE CASE OF ROMANIA’S NATIONAL ROADS

Every road accident is important. Investigating the road accidents and their causes is the main action to be conducted in the prevention and the prediction stages. The main aim of the paper is to investigate the state-of-the-art regarding road accidents research in Romania, one of the top country in the EU Road Death Statistics. It came out that there is an inconsistent research conducted in the country, with very few studies which were spread across different fields, along with a major lack in accident prediction methods. The study provides a starting point for the accident prediction by validating an international model which could be employed in Romania. The specific goal of the paper is to investigate the impact of the traffic volumes on the accidents occurrence. The traffic data were provided by the National Road Infrastructure Management Company (CNAIR). The road accident data were provided by the Traffic Department of the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police (GIRPTD) and it consisted in the information collected in the field during 2015 on the main national roads in Romania. The database was simplified in accordance to the aim of the paper to include only the relevant details regarding the accident, the vehicles, and the participants. The preliminary analyses were performed using Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The outcome was employed further in the research to highlight the correlation between accidents and the traffic volumes, by means of power regression. The results have proved the major impact of traffic volumes in accident occurrence up to a certain level of congestion. The importance of the study reaches beyond the stated goals and it shows the necessity of a research strategy at the national level regarding the road safety. In order to overcome the lack of scientific practice in the field, it is mandatory to improve the data, to adopt and develop methods and knowledge according to the local conditions for a future with safer roads in Romania. Key-words: Road safety, Traffic accidents, Traffic volumes, GIS, Romania.
Exploring EFL University Students' Acceptance of E-learning Using TAM

This study looked to measure learner perceptions and acceptance of the utilization of Google Sites (GS) as a Course Management System (CMS) in a blended learning EFL context. Learners were expected to util ­ ize the GS CMS in order to access multiple resources and materials, and to complete activities necessary for meeting course requirements. To in ­ vestigate learner attitudes and tolerance of the GS CMS, an adapted ques ­ tionnaire of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used. TAM has been widely utilized in research studies to examine users’ perceptions of Usefulness, Ease of Use, Attitude, and Behavioral Intensions towards various E-Learning tools and various other technologies. Based on the re ­ sults from 35 Japanese EFL university students, learners displayed moder ­ ately positive responses towards utilizing Google Sites as a CMS. Addi ­ tionally, the results showed positive and significant relationships for each TAM construct validating all research hypotheses.
Influence of angulation and vertical misfit in the evaluation of micro-deformations around implants

Objective : This in vitro study was to evaluate micro-strains around of implant, under the influence of angulations and vertical misfit in three-element implant-supported fixed partial dentures during axial loading by using strain gauge analysis. Materials and Methods : Three external hexagon implants with straight configuration and three external hexagon implants with angled (17°) configuration were inserted into two polyurethane blocks. To measure micro-strain, four strain gauges were bonded onto the surface of each block. Plastic copings were adapted to a standard wax pattern and cast. An axial load of 30 kgf was applied on the center of each implant for 10 seconds, using a load application device. The vertical misfit was measured at six different points by using a stereo microscope with 100-X magnification. Results: The results showed that the values for different implant angulations were significant ( P = 0.0086). The Pearson’s correlation test between micro-strain and vertical misfit revealed no correlation between angled configuration ( P = 0.891) and straight configuration ( P = 0.568). Conclusion : The micro strain was higher for angled implants; no correlation was found between the vertical misfit and the micro strain values.
Who Europeanises parliamentary attention, on which issues and how? A policy agenda perspective

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the literature on the Europeanisation of national parliaments by looking at the behavioural dimension of Europeanisation in the Swiss parliament. The authors examine the differences in parliamentary interventions on EU-related issues over time, between types of instruments (agenda-setting versus control) and across parties. Moreover, the authors measure the attention devoted to various policy issues and the tone of parliamentary interventions. Empirically, they analyse with descriptive statistical tools EU-related parliamentary interventions introduced in the Swiss parliament over 30 years (1984–2014). Results show that parliamentary attention to the EU is strongly influenced by the activism of the Swiss People’s Party, a Eurosceptic member of the Swiss governing ‘coalition’.
Evaluation of the Results of Conservative Management of Women with Tuboovarian Abscess; Single Tertiary Center Experience

OBJECTIVE : To evaluate results of patients with conservative management of tuboovarian abscess (TOA). STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study of women with TOA. Between January 2012 and February 2015, all women that hospitalized with diagnosis of TOA enrolled in this study. Cases were analyzed with respect to age, parity, medical conditions, history of intra-uterine device use, size of TOA, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, white blood cell (WBC) count, CA-125 levels, antibiotic usage, hospitalization period. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients with TOA included in to this study. Mean age was 38.2 ± 11.5 years. Mean size of TOA was 5. 7 ± 2.1 cm. In comparison between patients with abscesses ≤ 6cm or >6cm, TOA size is not associated with important outcomes including duration of antibiotherapy and duration of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Women with TOAs should be admitted to the hospital and immediately started in parenteral antibiotics. Due to high levels of success with antibiotherapy, immediate surgical management should always be performed in cases of rupture.
Survival, Growth, Feed Efficiency and Carcass Composition of Rabbitfish, Siganus Rivulatus, Fed Different Dietary Energy and Feeding Levels

A feeding trial was conducted to study the effects of dietary energy level and feeding level or daily energy density (DED) on growth, feed conversion, nutrient retention efficiencies, carcass composition, apparent nutrient digestibility and cost benefit analysis for fingerling of rabbitfish, Siganous rivulatus. Twelve net cages, each with dimensions of 1x1x0.4m were stocked with 10 fingerlings (10g/fish initial weight). The fish were fed three isonutrogenous diets (25% CP), with varying three oil supplement (0,5 and 10%), and digestible energy levels (3882, 4056 and 4360 kcal/kg diet), at of 2 and 4% body weight/day (BW/d), corresponding six daily energy densities based on calorie per 1g BW of fish per day. Fish were fed the experimental diets three times daily, six days a week for 98 days. Fish were weighed every two week intervals and feed amounts were adjusted on the basis of the new fish weight. Final body weight, gain and specific growth level (SGR) were increased with an increase in dietary energy level at 2% feeding level but no trends were evident at 4% feeding level. Feed conversion (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), productive protein value (PPV%) and energy retention (ER%) were higher when fish were fed at 2% than 4% feeding level. Furthermore, increasing daily energy density resulted in an increase in SGR until level of 162.4cal/g BW of fish. However the differences in SGR above 155.2cal/g BW were not significant (P >0.05). There are a positive effect between energy density and SGR (y= 0.099x+0.5, r 2 = 0.88). Fat content of carcass increased by increasing both energy and feeding levels while protein content did not affected.
Sensation-seeking and impulsivity in young and older adults' decision making

The somatic marker hypothesis asserts that decision-making processes involve emotion. Using a gambling task that models real-life decisions, studies showed that old adults perform less efficiently than younger adults, by adopting a strategy that is disadvantageous on the long term. This study aimed at re-examining the age effect on decision making with the same paradigm, and to explore whether differences are related to sensation-seeking and impulsivity traits of personality. Young and older adults were compared on the gambling task (Bechara, Damasio, & Damasio, 2000a), and on questionnaires of sensation-seeking and impulsivity. Results confirmed an age effect on the gambling task performance. Moreover, performance in both young and older adults on this task was correlated to scores on the sensation-seeking scale, but not to the rating of impulsivity.