Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Capacity Building: A Phenomenological Study of the African Women Perceptions and Experiences in the Leadership Training Program

The promotion of leadership skills among women leaders in developing nations is essential in order for change and progress to occur in these countries. In this phenomenological study, we examined the perceptions and experiences of nine women religious of Africa who were engaged in a three-year leadership development initiative in three developing nations: Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana. We described how, by subsequently practicing acquired leadership skills, these women brought about change in their educational, health care, social and pastoral ministries. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, observation of the changes in the participants' ministries, and field notes. The findings indicated that leadership development training enhanced participants' capacity for effective service delivery and allowed for the expansion of their ministries, thus improving life for their people. Participants engaged their communities constructively and positively transformed their projects
Physiochemical Characterization and Oxidative Stability of Encapsulated Nano Lycopene Pigments Extracted By CO2 Fluid Extraction

Supercritical fluid extraction by using CO2 as a solvent, a relatively new separation technique, can be used as a very efficient in course of analysis or preparation of many useful substances from many of the plant materials. The extracts from these materials are a good basis for the new ingredients in functional foods. This paper deals with supercritical CO2 extraction of lycopene which is present in natural plants. Lycopene is one of the most important& useful carotenoid found in vegetable or fruits. In this study lycopene in tomato waste skins was extracted by supercritical extraction and the yield and purity were compared with the conventional methods. Nano particle was achieved with Ultrasonication process and were analyzed for their physiochemical properties. Nano lycopene particles were encapsulated by Niosomes entrapment and their heat stability was also studied.
REMOVAL OF LEAD AND CHROMIUM FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION BY BACILLUS CIRCULANS BIOFILM

The different methods are used for the removal of heavy metals as important contaminants in water and wastewater. Biosorption is an alternative to traditional physicochemical in removing toxic metals from wastewaters and groundwater resources. In this study biosorption of lead and chromium ions from solution was studied using Bacillus circulans isolated from Anzali wetland in batch and biofilter modes and optimum conditions were determined. The experimental results showed 900-950 mg/L and 10501100 mg/L, for minimum bactericidal concentration and minimum inhibitory concenteration for lead and chromium, respectively. Results of metal concentration in solution containing 500 mg/L in batch culture showed a reduction about 65% and 48% in five and four days for lead and chromium, respectively. The highest value of lead and chromium uptake in solution with 500 mg/L was 78% and 40% in biofilter mode, respectively. The biosorption of lead and chromium were increased up to pH=5.5, 6, 5.5 and 7, respectively. In the other hand, maximum sorption occurred at neutral pH. There was a significant decreasing of biosorption levels by lowering pH fewer than 3. Accumulation of lead and chromium was determined by scanning electron microscopy analysis of the biofilm exposed to 500 mg/L metal concentration. Based on this analysis, the highest metal concentrations were observed in regions with including bacteria.
Bandgap Engineering of Organic Semiconductors for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Water Splitting

The bandgap engineering of semiconductors, in particular low‐cost organic/polymeric photocatalysts could directly influence their behavior in visible photon harvesting. However, an effective and rational pathway to stepwise change of the bandgap of an organic/polymeric photocatalyst is still very challenging. An efficient strategy is demonstrated to tailor the bandgap from 2.7 eV to 1.9 eV of organic photocatalysts by carefully manipulating the linker/terminal atoms in the chains via innovatively designed polymerization. These polymers work in a stable and efficient manner for both H2 and O2 evolution at ambient conditions (420 nm < λ < 710 nm), exhibiting up to 18 times higher hydrogen evolution rate (HER) than a reference photocatalyst g‐C3N4 and leading to high apparent quantum yields (AQYs) of 8.6%/2.5% at 420/500 nm, respectively. For the oxygen evolution rate (OER), the optimal polymer shows 19 times higher activity compared to g‐C3N4 with excellent AQYs of 4.3%/1.0% at 420/500 nm. Both theoretical modeling and spectroscopic results indicate that such remarkable enhancement is due to the increased light harvesting and improved charge separation. This strategy thus paves a novel avenue to fabricate highly efficient organic/polymeric photocatalysts with precisely tunable operation windows and enhanced charge separation.
Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy: new data from the Lower Jurassic of the Lusitanian Basin Biostratigrafia de nanofósseis calcários: novos dados do Jurássico Inferior da Bacia Lusitânica

Two sections of the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal), S. Pedro de Moel and Peniche, have been studied in detail for calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy. This study allowed us to detect thirty-six bioevents, both first and last occurrences, in the exceptionally continuous interval comprised between the Late Sinemurian and the Early Toarcian, representing more than 10 Ma time span. Calcareous nannofossil events were compared to the available ammonite zones. The new biostratigraphic data acquired in the Lusitanian Basin permit a re-evaluation of available nannofossil stratigraphy for the time interval considered and the proposal of a new stratigraphic scheme. Nannofossil biostratigraphy permits the effective dating of Lower Jurassic major paleoceanographic events.
Quasigeodesic flows and Möbius-like groups

If M is a hyperbolic 3-manifold with a quasigeodesic flow then we show that \pi_1(M) acts in a natural way on a closed disc by homeomorphisms. Consequently, such a flow either has a closed orbit or the action on the boundary circle is M\"obius-like but not conjugate into PSL(2, R). We conjecture that the latter possibility cannot occur.
Using replication projects in teaching research methods

It is suggested that replication projects may be valuable in teaching research methods, and also address the current need in psychology for more independent verification of published studies. Their use in an undergraduate methods course is described, involving student teams who performed direct replications of four well–known experiments, yielding results which were subsequently published online. Illustrative data are given for the one successful replication and three failures obtained, and practical suggestions are given for incorporating replication projects intoa methods course as an alternative to the usual term project. It is also noted that the published success rates of replication attempts appear to be higher for those studies that were performed as class projects.
Assessment of Community Led Total Sanitation Achievements and Its Associated Factors in Rural Kebeles of Adama Woreda, East Shoa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Ethiopia has made important improvement concerning entire water, sanitation and hygiene access in the past era on the other hand still significant problems present which varies from rural to urban. Due to limited access to safe water, inadequate sanitation and hygiene services, 60-80% preventable communicable diseases attributed in the country.For controlling, community led total sanitation program introduced in 2013. This is aimed to assess community led total sanitation achievements and its associated factors in rural kebeles. A cross-sectional study with cluster, probability proportion and simple random sampling techniques employed to collect data from 604 households. Data were collected through interview and observational checklist. The study revealed that, only 51(8.6%) respondents answered community led total sanitation achieved. Sex (AOR=4.72, 95% CI =1.09-8.48, p=0.01), monthly income (AOR=2.00, 95% CI=1.09-3.69, p=0.03), open dump in the yard (AOR=2.03, 95% CI = 1.11-3.72, p=0.005) and triggering step (AOR=3.54, 95% CI = 1.41-8.89, p=0.003) significantly allied to community led total sanitation achievement. This finding concluded that, community led total sanitation achievement in the study areas were very lower than the areas posted open defecation free. Health workers, community representatives and local authorities must give special emphasis to improve the coverage.
Injury Alcohol-Attributable Fractions: Methodological Issues and Developments

Background: Alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) are routinely used to estimate the burden of injury resulting from alcohol. Recent methodological advances allow AAFs to be estimated using national survey data. However, this requires assuming that the drinking patterns are equivalent to those used by epidemiological studies estimating the relative risk of injury. This study explores the implications of this assumption and presents an improved method of estimating injury AAFs. Methods: Diary survey is used to describe individuals’ drinking occasions and estimate AAFs. Statistical methods and numerical integration are used to combine the evidence on the risk of injury when intoxicated with the diary data. Alternative assumptions are chosen to explore the implications of using national survey data. Results:Overall, an estimated 27% of road traffic accident (RTA) and 23% of non-RTA injuries in Britain are attributable to alcohol. AAF estimates for RTAs range from 54% to 2% and for non-RTAs from 36% to 8% in men aged 16-24 and women aged 55-64 respectively. Two potentially more realistic assumptions relating to the use of national survey data resulted in substantially lower AAF estimates for RTAs. Conclusion: Current methods of estimating injury AAFs using national survey data are flawed for some harms, particularly RTAs, where the data is not consistent with the epidemiological literature. Our findings indicate that the burden of injuries from RTAs in England has been previously overestimated. Further research into the prevalence of risky behaviours when intoxicated is required to refine these methods and produce more robust burden of injury estimates.
Plant Protection as a Consequence of an Ant‐Membracid Mutualism: Interactions on Goldenrod (Solidago Sp.)

In central New York, two chrysomelid beetles, Trirhabda virgata and T. borealis, frequently cause severe defoliation of tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima. This plant is also the primary host of Publilia concava (Membracidae), a sap—feeding treehopper that is tended by ants, especially Formica spp. Staged encounters indicate that Formica ants attack adult Trirhabda beetles on goldenrod stems bearing membracids. Such stems escape defoliation by Trirhabda, and show greater mean height increment and seed production than their nearest neighbors without ants. The degree of plant protection depends on the duration of Formica presence. During Trirhabda outbreaks, only stems bearing Formica ants for most of the season are likely to produce flowers and seeds. While Formica ants do not exclude Trirhabda larvae from goldenrod stems, they do deter feeding; plants with Formica ants experience significantly less defoliation by larvae than neighboring stems without ants. Two smaller, less aggressive an species (Prenolepis imparis and Myrmica sp.) do not affect either larval or adult beetle densities.
How Do Electoral Incentives Affect Legislator Behavior ?

We study how electoral incentives affect how politicians allocate their effort. To do so, we compile a new dataset containing roughly 780,000 bills, combined with more than 16 million roll-call voting records for roughly 6,000 legislators serving in U.S. state legislatures with term limits. Using an individual-level difference-in-differences design, we find that legislators who can no longer seek reelection sponsor fewer bills, are less productive on committees, and are absent for more floor votes, on average. These effects are largest for legislators who never seek office again in the future, and are concentrated in states with high legislative salaries. Studying four states which provide estimates of the budget impact of specific bills, we also find that term-limited legislators are no more fiscally responsible, contrary to theories of myopic electorates and political business cycles. Taken together, the evidence suggests that electoral incentives influence how legislators allocate effort in important ways. ∗Alexander Fouirnaies is an Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy. Andrew B. Hall (andrewbhall@stanford.edu) is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. For helpful discussion, the authors thank Avi Acharya, Scott Ashworth, Chris Berry, Adam Bonica, Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce Cain, Gary Cox, Jim Fearon, Anthony Fowler, Saad Gulzar, Alisa Hall, Will Howell, Navin Kartik, Steve Levitt, Julia Payson, Ken Scheve, Dan Thompson, Stephane Wolton, and participants of the Stanford American Politics Workshop, the Political Economy workshop at the Harris School, the UChicago American Politics Workshop, the LSE PSPE seminar, Rochester’s American Politics Workshop, Warwick’s Political Economics seminar, and the Haas School of Business Political Economy Workshop. “The aim of every political constitution is.first to obtain for rulers [those] who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust. ”
Comparative Research on River Basin Management in the Sagami River Basin (Japan) and the Muda River Basin (Malaysia)

In the world, river basins often interwoven into two or more states or prefectures and because of that, disputes over water are common. Nevertheless, not all shared river basins are associated with water conflicts. Rivers in Japan and Malaysia play a significant role in regional economic development. They also play a significant role as water sources for industrial, domestic, agricultural, aquaculture, hydroelectric power generation, and the environment. The research aim is to determine the similarities and differences between the Sagami and Muda River Basins in order to have a better understanding of the governance needed for effectively implementing the lessons drawn from the Sagami River Basin for improving the management of the Muda River Basin in Malaysia. This research adopts qualitative and quantitative approaches. Semi-structured interviews were held with the key stakeholders from both basins and show that Japan has endeavored to present policy efforts to accommodate the innovative approaches in the management of their water resources, including the establishment of a river basin council. In Malaysia, there is little or no stakeholder involvement in the Muda River Basin, and the water resource management is not holistic and is not integrated as it should be. Besides that, there is little or no Integrated Resources Water Management, a pre-requisite for sustainable water resources. The results from this comparative study concluded that full support and participation from public stakeholders (meaning the non-government and non-private sector stakeholders) is vital for achieving sustainable water use in the Muda River Basin. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approaches such as the introduction of payments for ecosystems services and the development of river basin organization in the Muda River Basin should take place in the spirit of political willingness.
Prevalence of Learning Styles in Educational Psychology and Introduction to Education Textbooks: A Content Analysis

The role of learning styles in the classroom remains a heavily debated topic within education. Notable problems with using learning styles to inform classroom instruction include a lack of empirical support and potential negative effects on student learning and motivation. This content analysis focused on the presence and quantity of learning styles discussion in 20 texts commonly used in educator preparation programs (i.e., introduction to education and educational psychology texts); definitions, models, stances on usage, and recommendations for usage provided; and whether references cited in the texts were empirical studies. Eighty percent of the reviewed textbooks included a discussion of learning styles. Half of the textbooks defined learning style as a preference or approach, whereas the other half defined it as an individual style. Introduction to education texts tended toward a more positive stance on learning style usage whereas introduction to educational psychology texts exhibited a more neutral stance. A quarter of the textbooks recommended matching instructional methods to learning styles. Texts with higher numbers of both empirical and non-empirical references were more likely to describe learning styles in terms of how students prefer to gather information rather than as innate differences in information processing. Given that most textbooks did not recommend matching instructional methods to learning styles, future research should examine the source of the continued prevalence of teachers’ beliefs that student learning improves with the matching of learning styles to teaching approach.
The origins of the anomalous warming in the California coastal ocean and San Francisco Bay during 2014–2016

During 2014 exceptionally warm water temperatures developed across a wide area off the California coast and within San Francisco Bay (SFB) and persisted into 2016. Observations and numerical model output are used to document this warming and determine its origins. The coastal warming was mostly confined to the upper 100 meters of the ocean and was manifested strongly in the two leading modes of upper ocean (0-100 m) temperature variability in the extra-tropical eastern Pacific. Observations suggest that the coastal warming in 2014 propagated into nearshore regions from the west while later indicating a warming influence that propagated from south to north into the region associated with the 2015-16 El Nino event. An analysis of the upper ocean (0-100 m) heat budget in a Regional Ocean Modeling System simulation confirmed this scenario. The results from a set of sensitivity runs with the model in which the lateral boundary conditions varied supported the conclusions drawn from the heat budget analysis. Concerning the warming in the SFB, an examination of the observations and the heat budget in an unstructured-grid numerical model simulation suggested that the warming during the second half of 2014 and early 2016 originated in the adjacent California coastal ocean and propagated through the Golden Gate into the Bay. The finding that the coastal and Bay warming are due to the relatively slow propagation of signals from remote sources raises the possibility that such warming events may be predictable many months or even several seasons in advance.
Extended Bandwidth Microstrip Circular Patch Antenna for Dual Band Applications

This paper presents a new wideband microstrip circular patch antenna (MCPA) fed by proximity-coupled line with double-stub matching to achieve dual-band operation. Bandwidth extension is achieved by exciting higher-order modes in the circular radiating patch, and using two stubs to achieve adequate matching across the obtained two bands. The characteristics of the antenna such as reflection coefficient, impedance bandwidth, gain and radiation pattern are investigated and optimized through parametric studies using the CST Microwave Studio Suite. The antenna achieved a large relative bandwidth of 45.16% at the upper band, while the lower one has 10.3% relative bandwidth. The maximum achieved gain of the dual-band antenna in the 5.8GHz band is 4.62dBi while it is 4.85dBi in the upper band. The antenna has an overall size of 30×30×3.2mm3 corresponding to 0.58λ × 0.58 λ × 0.062 λ at the lower band of 5.8 GHz. The proposed antenna should be useful for WLAN and X-band communication systems.
Gum Arabic DownRegulate Cholesterol Biosynthesis Enzyme Gene mRNA Expression in Mice Muscle

Gum Arabic (GA) is a complex polysaccharide used in the food manufacturing as a thickener and stabilizer. Our previous studies show that GA decreased body weight, visceral adipose tissue and plasma cholesterol level in mice. In addition, GA down regulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and stearoyl-CoA desaturase mRNA expression in mice liver. In the present study, we aimed to reveal the effect of GA on lipid biosynthesis gene mRNA expression in mice. 20 female CD-1 mice at 5 weeks age were divided into two groups, one served as control and the second received 10% of GA in drinking water for 6 weeks. Plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-c and LDL-c were measured. Cholesterol biosynthesis gene mRNA expression of including down-regulated steroid 17-alpha-monooxygenase (CYP17) and 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) were measured by Q-PCR. Moreover, glucose 6-phosphatase and fatty acid synthase mRNA was measured. GA significantly (P < 0.05) reduced plasma glucose total cholesterol, HDL-c and LDL-c but not triglyceride when compared to the control group. GA significantly (P<0.05) down regulated CYP17 and HMGR mRNA expression in mice muscle when compared to the control group. Yet, GA did not affect G6P and FAS mRNA expression. Our data indicate that GA may be of useful in control of obesity.
Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment among Patients in Juaben Hospital Eye Clinic, Ghana

Background: There is limited data on the magnitude of visual impairment (VI) and blindness in Ghana. This information is useful in planning preventive programs and improving on the eye-care services of hospitals to people in the nearby communities. Purpose: To determine the prevalence and causes of VI and blindness among eye clinic patients at the Juaben Hospital. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted among patients attending Juaben Hospital Eye Clinic from January 1st 2015 to June 30th 2015. Information on demographics, presenting visual acuity and diagnosis were obtained from patients’ records. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16, USA was used for descriptive analysis. Chi-squared test was used to derive P values for statistical significance. Results: A total of 1198 patients consisting of 52% females and 48% males were studied. The prevalence of VI and blindness was 28.2% and 3.7% respectively. Cataract, refractive error and glaucoma were the leading causes of VI while glaucoma and cataract caused the most cases of blindness. The age group most affected by VI was the 50-100 years group with 250 out of 338 cases and the same age group had the highest number of blind cases with 41 out of 44 cases. The number of females with VI and blindness was greater than that of the males. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of VI and blindness especially among persons aged 50 years and above. Majority of the patients were visually impaired and blind due to treatable or preventable conditions. The study suggests that education, low-cost cataract surgical, and refractive services will reduce the rates of VI and blindness.