Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychosocial Factors Associated with Erectile Dysfunction in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Introduction: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a major psychosocial problem resulting in profound distress in men. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence as well as psychosocial factors associated with erectile dysfunction in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Method: A cross-sectional study involving 400 respondents attending the general outpatient clinic of University Of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) between January and March 2009 were randomly assessed for ED as well as psychosocial factors associated with it, using abridged version of international index of erectile function (IIEF-5) and the twelve-item version of general health questionnaire (GHQ-12). Results: The prevalence of erectile dysfunction in this study was 41.5%, the prevalence was higher among respondents aged 50 and 70 years of age (38.3%). Respondents who reside in the rural areas had higher prevalence of ED (22.0%) compared to those in the urban areas (19.5%). Respondents with ED scored high on GHQ-12 indicating significant psychopathology. Thirty seven (9.2%) respondents believed ED can be caused by stress, excessive thinking or hard work; 7.3% believed that ED can be caused by demonic attack, stepping on charms or sexual infidelity; 12.2% believed that ED can result from such medical conditions as hypertension, diabetes mellitus; 19.5% thought that ED can be treated with orthodox medicine while 22.0% believed that ED can be treated using a combination of orthodox and spiritual care; 15.0% respondents believed that ED can result in reduced work ability, income, social life and sex; while 12.5% respondents believed that ED can result in permanent incapacitation for the sufferer. Conclusion: Findings from this study show that ED affects men both physically and psychosocially.Health care providers must realize and be sensitive to the fact that sexuality is an essential part of our lives.
A techno-economic evaluation of friction stir welding of DH36 steel

Friction stir welding of steel presents an array of advantages across many industrial sectors such as shipbuilding when compared to conventional fusion welding techniques. However, there seems to be very limited techno-economic assessment studies on its potential introduction in industry, and particularly in shipbuilding. A microstructure and property evaluation of friction stir welded low alloy steel grade DH36 plate, commonly used in ship and marine applications has been undertaken. In this comprehensive study, steel plates were butt welded together at increasing traverse speeds in order to improve the technical competitiveness of the process. Samples were examined microscopically and by traverse tensile testing, Charpy impact testing and micro-hardness testing in various regions of the weld. The study has examined a wide range of traverse speeds; from this, initial process parameter data have been established that are able to produce commercially attractive excellent quality welds through a substantial increase in the conventionally recognised welding traverse speed. In parallel, a comparative economic evaluation between friction stir welding and submerged arc welding has revealed a number of areas where the former is superior. However, the cost of the friction stir welding tool for steel has been exposed as the dominant obstacle for the wider commerical acceptance of the process on steel.
Flatten-T Swish: a thresholded ReLU-Swish-like activation function for deep learning

Activation functions are essential for deep learning methods to learn and perform complex tasks such as image classification. Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) has been widely used and become the default activation function across the deep learning community since 2012. Although ReLU has been popular, however, the hard zero property of the ReLU has heavily hindering the negative values from propagating through the network. Consequently, the deep neural network has not been benefited from the negative representations. In this work, an activation function called Flatten-T Swish (FTS) that leverage the benefit of the negative values is proposed. To verify its performance, this study evaluates FTS with ReLU and several recent activation functions. Each activation function is trained using MNIST dataset on five different deep fully connected neural networks (DFNNs) with depth vary from five to eight layers. For a fair evaluation, all DFNNs are using the same configuration settings. Based on the experimental results, FTS with a threshold value, T=-0.20 has the best overall performance. As compared with ReLU, FTS (T=-0.20) improves MNIST classification accuracy by 0.13%, 0.70%, 0.67%, 1.07% and 1.15% on wider 5 layers, slimmer 5 layers, 6 layers, 7 layers and 8 layers DFNNs respectively. Apart from this, the study also noticed that FTS converges twice as fast as ReLU. Although there are other existing activation functions are also evaluated, this study elects ReLU as the baseline activation function.
SIMULATION OF THREE-DIMESIONAL OF COASTAL EROSION USING DIFFERENTIAL INTERFEROMETRIC SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR

This study aims at modelling three-dimensional shoreline change rates using differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) techinuqe. Neverthless, decorrelation plays significant role to control the accuracy of three dimensional object reconstruction using DInSAR. To solve this problem, multichannel MAP height estimator algorithm is implemented with in ENVISAT ASAR data. Therefore, the proposed method has been applied to coastaline of Johor, Malaysia. The study shows the critical erosion of -3.5 m y -1 with accuracy (RMSE) of ±0.05 m. In addition, the volume rate of shoreline changes of -2343.42 m 3 y -1 corresponds to the lowest digital elevation model (DEM) of 7.4 m. It can be said that accurate rate of shoreline change can be achieved with root mean square error (RMSE) of ±0.05 m using multichannel MAP height estimator algorithm.
Impact of the macS on elImInatIon of apoptotIc Spermatozoa from rabbIt ejaculateS

The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the MACS technique used for the elimination of apoptotic rabbit spermatozoa from heterospermic pool (Experiment 1) as well as from the ejaculates of individual bucks (Experiment 2). The semen samples from control (untreated) and magnetically separated spermatozoa (in both E1 and E2) were evaluated by fluorescence analysis using Annexin-V-FLUOS Staining Kit (Roche Slovakia, Slovak Republic). Superparamagnetic microbeads conjugated with annexin V eliminated spermatozoa with externalized phosphatidylserine via MACS. MACS separation of spermatozoa yields two fractions: the annexin V-negative (AnV ) and the annexin V-positive (AnV + ). The number of AnV + sperm was significantly lower (P<0.001) in the AnV fractions than in the AnV + fractions (in both E1 and E2). Our observations indicate that MACS technique could be an adequate method for the elimination of apoptotic spermatozoa with externalized phosphatidylserine from the rabbit ejaculates. However, further experiments are required in order to prove this suggestion.
Ramification of crowdfunding on Bangladeshi entrepreneur’s self-efficacy

Article history: Received March 1, 2018 Received in revised format March 11 2018 Accepted April 25 2018 Available online April 25 2018 The novel funding sources turn out to be important for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector all over the world especially after 2007-2008 world financial crisis. Thus, to develop a new business idea and start-ups, SMEs need a sufficient amount of capital. However, after the financial crisis in 2008, SME sector faced the challenges of attracting new capital. Therefore, an innovative method of fundraising for SME was introduced as crowdfunding. Crowdfunding indicates financing a project or an idea via the internet owing the help from the many investors or donors of a society. Since there are limited works about the influence of Crowdfunding on Entrepreneur Self-efficacy (ESE), hence, to minimize the research gap and to achieve the objective of the study, we conduct a quantitative research among 190 entrepreneurs in Bangladesh using crowdfunding based on Social Cognitive theory. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in IBM-SPSS-Amos 25.0 and the stated hypotheses were tested. The study found a direct and positive effect of Crowdfunding on Entrepreneur’s Self-efficacy (β=0.924, P=.001). Overall, the result has landed support for crowdfunding, which indicates that it can influence on self-efficacy of entrepreneur. In order to determine the need of crowdfunding, we have explained and statistically demonstrated how crowdfunding can provide a supplementary channel where firms can gain finance and to create self-efficacy of entrepreneurs through exploiting the potential of internet. © 2017 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada
On Welfare Effects of Horizontal Mergers with Product Differentiation

We use a non-spatial (Chamberlinian) product differentiation model to analyze the welfare effects of horizontal mergers with quantity competition. We argue that (i) mergers can be welfare enhancing if the degree of product differentiation increases after the merger; and, (ii) privately profitable mergers can also increase welfare. Consequently, in this paper we demonstrate that the degree of product differentiation is a crucial factor to assess the welfare effects of a merger.
A Welfare Ranking of Two-Sided Market Regimes

Two-sided network effects in card payment systems are analysed under different market structures, e.g., competition, one-sided monopoly, bilateral monopoly and duopoly; with and without an interchange fee; for the so-called Baxter’s case of non-strategic merchants. A partial ranking of market structures according to their welfare effects is provided. Some support is found for the policy adopted by the EU Commission in the competition law case concerning Visa’s interchange fees.
Analysis Of The Cobb-Douglas Production Function As A Tool To Investigate The Impact Of Fdi Net Inflows On Gross Domestic Product Value In Poland In The Period 1994–2012

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of foreign direct investments net inflows on changes in GDP value in Poland in the period between 1994 and 2012 with the use of the Cobb-Douglas production function. The paper consist of five parts. Parts I and II present some aspects of the FDI influence on economic growth from the theoretical and empirical point of view. Part III defines conditions indispensable for the positive FDI impact on the economy of the host country. Part IV outlines changes of FDI flows in Poland in the period of 1994-2012. Part V includes the main assumptions of the Cobb-Douglas production function and an estimate of changes in GDP value for Poland in the period 1994–2012 with the use of the VECM. The factors significant for economic growth are also identified, including the significance of the net FDI inflows. Eventually, the effect of gross fixed capital formation, employment, FDI net inflows, exports and R&D on changes in the GDP value are determined.
A non-parameter global method of interpreting star count data

Galactic structure studies involve the manipulation of star catalogues and their global comparison with sophisticated synthesis models. In this paper, we present a detailed multivariate star count analysis algorithm. By combining the photometric and kinematic information, it performs a global analysis of the multivariate star counts including magnitude, colours, and proper motions. The method allows us to constrain galactic structure parameters and derive the relative densities of different components and populations in the Galaxy. Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out to demonstrate the viability of the method. A simple example of application to real star count data is given. We found the asymmetric drift of the thick disk to be 80 f 10 km s-l at a 3 sigma level. Detailed investigations from a complete survey of several galactic directions are in preparation.
Countering violent extremism via de-securitisation on Twitter

The case of a civil society actor on Twitter entering a securitized discourse on terrorism illustrates the transformative theoretical potential that emerges from new forms of communication online. Through a qualitative analysis of tweets from the Average Mohamed profile, the potential to change a negative narrative of violent extremism operating within a securitised discourse of Islamic terrorism, is discussed in an online context. The arguments forming from this analysis offers a new approach to studying online counter narratives by linking a theoretical framework of securitisation and de-securitisation to recent political efforts Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). Through the inclusion of a civil society Twitter account as an illustrative case, this paper explores how social media can challenge existing assumptions of who can be a de-securitising actor within security theory by blurring the lines between political and societal sectors in a securitised threat from Islamic terrorism. If and how a civil society actor can loosen the dichotomous discursive relationship between Self/Other relations within a contemporary discourse on terrorism becomes relevant for a theoretical discussion by presenting an argument suggesting that online CVE polices are more effective within the sphere of ‘normal’ politics rather than within the realm of securitization. This theoretical perspective offers an analytical framework including a wide range of actors involved in counter narratives policies which is useful for further CVE research.
Migration Background and School Tracking : Is there a Double Disadvantage for Second-Generation Immigrants ?

Research on educational disadvantages of second-generation immigrants largely focuses on differences in student achievement tests. Exploiting data from the German PIRLS Extension, we provide evidence that second-generation immigrants face an additional disadvantage when tracked into different types of secondary school. We find that second-generation immigrants are less likely to receive a teacher recommendation for a higher school track. This difference cannot be attributed to differences in test scores or general intelligence alone. Based on these results, we argue that migrant-native test score gaps likely underestimate educational inequalities in tracked school systems. JEL-Code: I21, J15, I28
Steroids for treatment of Retinal Vein Occlusion

Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second most common retinal vascular disease in adults. In both types of RVO, macular edema (ME) is a major cause of visual impairment. Treatment modalities have improved substantially in recent years, from laser photocoagulation to intravitreal pharmacotherapy. The breakdown of blood-retinal barrier due to VEGF and inflammatory mediator plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ME. These pathways lead to the treatment by using anti-VEGF and corticosteroid. The outcomes of anti-VEGF therapy are unprecedented, but responses to treatment may vary and frequent injections are required. Corticosteroids have been used as a treatment strategy for ME secondary to RVO based on evidence revealing that inflammation plays a crucial role in RVO. This article will focus on a brief review on the use of corticosteroid on treatment of ME 2 nd to RVO. Evidence available from prospective, multicenter clinical studies and from a selective literature search is reported.
Physiological characterization of rice under salinity stress during vegetative and reproductive stages

Salinity is one of the major environmental factors limiting crop productivity. For this reason, a greenhouse experiment was conducted in Rasht, North of Iran during 2010 growing season to evaluate the salinity levels of irrigation water at different growth stages on the some physiological characterization of rice. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with two factors and three replications. Factor one included four levels of saline water (2, 4, 6, and 8 dS m -1 ); factor two consisted of four growth stages (tillering, panicle initiation, panicle emergence and ripening). The results of this work showed that effect of different salinity levels on the all yield components except percentage of filled grains per panicle was not significant. Increase in salinity levels decreased this component. Effect of different growth stages on total number of empty grains per panicles, percentage of filled grains per panicle, number of unfilled panicles and percentage of ratio of number of unfilled panicles to tillers was significant but effect of different saline water on length of unfilled panicle and number of spikelets per unfilled panicle was insignificant. Resistance of final growth stages, i.e. panicle emergence and ripening stages against salinity was more than primary growth stages, i.e. tillering and panicle initiation. Therefore, in irrigation with saline water the final growth stages were important and irrigation with saline water should be applied at final growth stages.
Mechanized Energy Wood Harvesting from Early Thinnings

Abstract The felling and bunching of small diameter trees in Finland is still largely carried out manually using a chain saw and clearing saw. The felling of small diameter trees has been developed and mechanized. In addition to the high felling costs of small trees, the move towards mechanized harvesting is also caused by a shortage of professional lumberjacks, the possibility of all-year-round mechanized energy wood harvesting, and an increasing demand for energy wood. The research investigated the productivity, costs and silvicultural result of the guillotine blade equipped, multi-tree-processing Naarva-Grip 1600–40, for small diameter energy wood harvesting. Work-studies were carried out in six young stands at the first thinning stage. In mechanized energy wood harvesting with the Naarva-Grip 1600–40, an average of 73% of the trees felled were multi-tree-processed. The multi-tree-processed proportion increased to 96% in dense Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sites with small trees. One bunch consisted of approximately 3.2 trees. The average density and volume of removal had the greatest effect on the productivity of the felling-bunching work. Felling-bunching was carried out on the sites at a rate of 106–422 trees per effective hour (E0, excluding delay times). Productivity on the different sites varied from 3.0 to 7.2 m3/E0, giving an average of 4.7 m3/E0 (weighted by felling volume) with an average tree size on the site of 32 dm3. When the size of the felled trees was under 20 dm3, the felling-bunching costs were over 20 US$/m3. When the average tree size on the site increased to 50–70 dm3, the felling-bunching costs approached the 10 US$/m3 level. During the research, the Naarva-Grip 1600–40 proved to be competitive compared to the other multi-tree-processing, energy wood felling heads on the market. In order to keep the felling-bunching costs at a reasonable level, mechanized harvesting should be targeted at sites where the average size of the trees removed is over 30 dm3, and the energy wood volume at felling over 30 m3/ha.
Rainwater chemistry at a high‐altitude station, Mt. Lulin, Taiwan: Comparison with a background station, Mt. Fuji

was 5.12, approaching that of typical natural water. Non-sea-salt (nss) SO4 and NH4 were the most abundant anion and cation, respectively, both existing mostly in the form of (NH4)2SO4. Chloride was excessive in most of the samples. The signature of biomass burning in south and Southeast Asia was evident in the Mt. Lulin samples. Concentrations of chemical species were found to be elevated in the spring months, owing to the emissions from south/Southeast Asia and peak biomass burning activities and frequent dust storms (in the Indian Thar Desert). In the summer and fall seasons our samples are mainly influenced by marine air masses. The episodic species concentrations measured at the summit of Mt. Fuji during the spring were due to the influence of volcanic emissions from Miyake-Jima. Tropical cyclones (TC) over the western Pacific region and deep convections play important roles in the transport of boundary layer pollutants to the free troposphere, although their influence is not frequently detected at Mt. Lulin and Mt. Fuji. The rainwater chemistry at Mt. Lulin and Mt. Fuji were examined together with the aerosol chemistry obtained from the TRACE-P and ACE-Asia campaigns. The analysis of the Mt. Lulin data set demonstrates its background characteristics of the rainwater chemistry in east Asia.
REPROCESSING OF MEDICAL DEVICES : SANITARY QUALITY ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS

1Associate Professor at Universidade do Estado da Bahia. Technician of the Health and Environmental Surveillance Office of Bahia. E-mail: costaeliana2003@hotmail.com Rua Piauí, 269/902. Pituba. CEP 41830-270. Salvador, BA, Brasil. Telephone: (71) 9935-8094. 2Technician of the Health and Environmental Surveillance Office of Bahia. E-mails: zenedorea@hotmail.com; fatimaneryfernandes@gmail.com; marilenebelmont@gmail.com; valdivamarias@gmail.com; gracimarajs@hotmail.com Received: 26 Aug. 2014 – Approved: 21 Feb. 2015 DOI: 10.5327/Z1414-4425201500010003 ABSTRACT: Objective: To analyze the technical conditions for reprocessing of medical products, in the light of service quality and sanitary safety among the users of reprocessed items. Methods: The study presents an evaluation based on multiple case studies collected in the reprocessing facilities of ten public hospitals in the State of Bahia, Brazil. The analysis is referred to five independent variables that influence conditions for reprocessing of medical products. Each of these five variables was considered in three rating levels of quality. Results: Considerable inadequacies were observed for all variables, so that none of the ten observed cases showed adequate technical conditions for reprocessing medical products. Conclusions: We conclude, therefore, that the hospitals considered in this study adopt inadequate practices for reprocessing, which is a problem for hospital care and the regulatory agencies.
Spatial Variation in Physico-Chemical Parameters of Eastern Obolo Estuary, Niger Delta, Nigeria

Aspects of the physicochemical parameters of Eastern Obolo estuary, Eastern Obolo, were investigated for three months at five locations: Okorombokho, Iko, Amadaka, Emereoke and Obianga. Mean concentrations of some of the measured parameters at the five sampling locations showed significant statistical differences: Nickel (F = 18.48, df 2,8; P<0.001), Potassium (F = 4.47, df 2,8; P<0.05), Total dissolved solids (F = 32.26, df 4,8; P<0.001), pH (F = 21.55, df 4,9; P<0.001), Salinity (F = 73.15; df 4,8; P<0.001), Dissolved Oxygen (F = 5.06, df 2,8; P<0.05), Temperature (F = 10.96, df 2.8; P<0.01), and Conductivity (F = 71.94, df 4,8; P<0.01). Mean differences of other parameters were not statistically significant. The variability of the concentrations of the parameters during the period of study was lowest for dissolved oxygen (2.2%) and highest for hardness (68.4%). The availability of nickel in these waters indicated crude oil pollution. The mean values of nickel, potassium, total dissolved solids, sodium, copper, zinc, total hydrocarbons and biochemical oxygen demand from all stations exceeded the recommended limits for aquatic life or potable water. Hence, the Eastern Obolo estuary may not be an efficient source of drinking water for the community but it definitely helps flush out anthropogenic pollutants into the sea. Keywords: estuarine flushing, nickel, potassium, total dissolved solids, sodium, copper, zinc, total hydrocarbons