Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Free Trade Policy and the Market Prices of the Nigerian Cash Crops

Abstract Development in the Nigerian agricultural sub-sector has been constrained by inconsistencies in the trade polices. Tariffs paid on cash crops were raised to between 70% and 100%. Frequent import regime changes and uneven duty collection make importing difficult and expensive. Thus, many businessmen resort to under-invoicing and smuggling to avoid tariffs or bans. This paper therefore investigated the free trade policy of the Federal Government, particularly as it affects the average market prices of the three traditional cash crop exports; cocoa, groundnut and palm kernels. Sectional data were obtained on the average producer prices of the crops, the production and export level of these crops before and during free trade policy era. Trend and regression analytical tools were employed to handle the collected data. Result showed that time variation, was a significant determinant (P<0.1) of the aggregate level of export (tonnes) before and during the implementation of the free trade policy. The quantity of exported cocoa, (P<0.1) and that of palm kernels (P<0.5) were significant during the implementation of the policy. The three cash crops however accounted for 58%-71% of the total quantity of cash crop exports. Value of exported cocoa (P<0.1) was a significant determinant of the total value of exported agricultural cash crops before and during the implementation of the trade policy. With reduced and stable exchange rate and duties or tariffs on exported cash crops the Nigerian agricultural sub-sector will improve. High level of consistency in export trade policy will help ensure a sustainable economy in Nigeria.
Hapalochlaena maculosa ( Cephalopoda : Octopodidae )

The southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa (Hoyle, 1883) is a nocturnal species that exhibits a mating system in which females hold sperm from multiple males over a one to two month breeding window before laying a single egg clutch. Contrary to most studied animal mating systems where anisogamy exists, gamete package production is limited for both males and females of this species (~50 spermatophores/eggs). This presents an animal model for studying aspects of sperm competition and dynamic mate choice behaviours. The present study reports on the mating behaviour of H. maculosa observed under laboratory conditions using infrared closed-circuit television video footage. Rates of male copulation attempts increased with male size, while female receptivity to mating attempts increased with female size, resulting in larger animals of both sexes gaining more copulations and spending more time per day in copulation. There was some evidence of female preference of larger males, but no male preference of females based on measured morphological traits. Both sexes terminated copulations in equal frequencies but male-terminated copulations were significantly shorter in duration. Males were more likely to terminate copulation early with females they had previously mated with, however were less likely to do so if the female had recently mated with a different male. Among male-terminated copulations, males mated for longer with females that had previously mated with other males in the trial. Male-male mounts were as common as male-female mounts, suggesting that male H. maculosa are not able to discriminate the sex of conspecifics. These findings suggest male strategic allocation of spermatophores based female mating history is an important factor influencing mating behaviours of this species. ADDITIONAL
Globalization and social exclusion in cities: framing the debate with lessons from Africa and Asia

This paper considers the contradictory roles demanded of city governments as they seek to keep their cities competitive in an increasingly globalized world economy while also having increasing responsibilities for addressing social problems, and making local economic development less exclusionary. After reviewing debates on globalization, social exclusion and their interconnections, the paper discusses the impact of globalization on the sweepers in Faisalabad (Pakistan) and on livelihoods in Johannesburg. In Johannesburg, the new socially excluded are those who are superfluous to the requirements of the global economy and Johannesburg’s position within it. Exclusionary processes associated with globalization (including changes in the international division of labour) graft themselves onto local dynamics of social exclusion. The scope for government action at national and city level is also reduced by the downsizing of governments, and liberalization, privatization and deregulation.
Plant biomass and nutrient dynamics: modelling blooming phenomenon

There is an increasing public awareness of the very strong pressures that aquatic ecosystems are experiencing because of direct and indirect influences from rapid population growth. The signs that there are problems in such ecosystems are already obvious: changes in biodiversity, decreased water availability, increased salinity and general deterioration in the catchment environment. In addition, such areas already experience instances of poor water quality caused by changes in chemical nutrients from the redeployment of land for urban, industrial and agricultural uses. Aquatic ecosystems such as catchments are essential for the health, wellbeing and diversity of the coastal and marine environment. Variations in the conditions in these environments from increased pollution, changing weather and long term climatic trends has altered the biodiversity and abundance of species found. Selner et al. (2003) documented the shift in climatic and pollution trends which are favourable for algae blooming. The National Land and Water Resources Audit also confirms this link in the Australian Catchment, River and Estuary Assessment. Catchments comprise dynamic estuaries which currently suffer under eutrophication due to excessive nutrients from run-off and storm water input. An increase in primary production through excessive or- ganism growth is the general outcome of an increased nutrient flux of either Phosphorus (P) or Nitrogen (N). The addition of excess nutrients to high nutrient ecosystems creates a negative response in benthic species such as seagrass because of secondary light limitation from shading due to algae blooms. In this paper, the consequences of blooming experienced in aquatic ecosystems due to changes in temperature and chemical nutrient dynamics is modelled by a Lotka-Volterra type system. The aim of this paper is to use this system to address aspects of competition between seagrass and filamentous algae. Accounting for the dynamics of species in estuaries proves to be an effective measure of the overall risk from increased nutrient and changing temperature fluxes. Integrating this component into a whole catchment model could potentially provide a useful tool in reducing the uncertainty around optimal man- agement practices for controlling excess nutrient loads from storm water and run-off.
Outcome measures used to assess disability post stroke within the framework of the ICF: A Literature Review

Background: The use of outcome measures has been associated with good practice among clinicians and as a research instrument. These measures can be utilized to assess- and manage patients, observe progress, determine the effects of certain intervention and for research purposes. This scholarly paper investigates the most commonly used outcome measures along the continuum of care, and further provides additional information that will assist researchers and clinicians to decide on the most appropriate outcome measure in a South African Healthcare.Methods: Literature of the past 10 years dealing with outcome measures was reviewed for this study. The types of papers in this review were systematic reviews, narrative reviews, scholarly papers, longitudinal and cross sectional.Results and Discussion: Included in this review are four impairment, five activity/disability, two participation restriction and four quality of life outcome measures. Although a number of these measures have been used in the South African setting, it is not clear whether they have been validated for the local context. Few translated versions relevant to South Africa are available and not all measures are freely available, which could limit the use thereof.Conclusion: This paper successfully describes the commonly used outcome measures and aspects that should be taken into account when deciding on the appropriate measure.
Influence of calcium and non-phytate phosphorus deficient diets with phytase on the performance of broilers, serum concentrations of minerals and the activity of alanin transaminase, aspartate transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of microbial phytase (phyzyme XP5000G) supplementation in broiler chicks' diets on the performance, serum total protein (TP), minerals (Ca, Mg and P) and the serum enzyme activities (AST, ALT, LDH). A reference diet adequate in calcium and non-phytate phosphorus (10.0 gkg -1 Ca and 5 gkg -1 nPP) and two deficient diets in Ca and nPP (8.5 gkg -1 Ca and 3.5 gkg -1 nPP, and 7.5 gkg -1 Ca and 2.5 gkg -1 nPP) with or without phytase (0 and 100mgkg -1 ) were offered to broiler chicks from 1 to 21 days of age. Although the low-nPP diets had no significant effect on body weight gain (BWG) of chicks (p>0.05) They increased (p 0.05). Phytase supplementation reduced serum ALT (p 0.05). Serum LDH activity further increased (p<0.01) by phytase supplementation. These results demonstrated that the performance of the chicks received low levels of Ca and nPP with phytase was improved and the serum parameters were comparable to those chicks fed with normal Ca-nPP diet.
Weak Form Efficiency In Indian Stock Markets

Hypothesis of Market Efficiency is an important concept for the investors who wish to hold internationally diversified portfolios. With increased movement of investments across international boundaries owing to the integration of world economies, the understanding of efficiency of the emerging markets is also gaining greater importance. In this paper we test the weak form efficiency in the framework of random walk hypothesis for the two major equity markets in India for the period 1991 to 2006. The evidence suggests that the series do not follow random walk model and there is an evidence of autocorrelation in both markets rejecting the weak form efficiency hypothesis.
Integration of vegetation indices into a water balance model to estimate evapotranspiration of wheat and corn

Abstract. Vegetation indices (VIs) have been traditionally used for quantitative monitoring of vegetation. Remotely sensed radiometric measurements of visible and infrared solar energy, which is reflected or emitted by plant canopies, can be used to obtain rapid, non-destructive estimates of certain canopy attributes and parameters. One parameter of special interest for water management applications, is the crop coefficient employed by the FAO-56 model to derive actual crop evapotranspiration (ET). The aim of this study was to evaluate a methodology that combines the basal crop coefficient derived from VIs with a daily soil water balance in the root zone to estimate daily evapotranspiration rates for corn and wheat crops at field scale. The ability of the model to trace water stress in these crops was also assessed. Vegetation indices were first retrieved from field hand-held radiometer measurements and then from Landsat 5 and 7 satellite images. The results of the model were validated using two independent measurement systems for ET and regular soil moisture monitoring, in order to evaluate the behavior of the soil and atmosphere components of the model. ET estimates were compared with latent heat flux measured by an eddy covariance system and with weighing lysimeter measurements. Average overestimates of daily ET of 8 and 11% were obtained for corn and wheat, respectively, with good agreement between the estimated and measured root-zone water deficit for both crops when field radiometry was employed. When the satellite sensor data replaced the field radiometry data the overestimation figures slightly changed to 9 and 6% for the same two crops. The model was also used to monitor the water stress during the 2009 growing season, detecting several periods of water stress in both crops. Some of these stresses occurred during stages like grain filling, when the water stress is know to have a negative effect on yield. This fact could explain the lower yield reached compared to local yield statistics for wheat and corn. The results showed that the model can be used to calculate the water requirements of these crops in irrigated areas and that its ability to monitor water stress deserves further research.
Predator-induced plasticity and morphological trade-offs in latitudinally separated populations of Littorina obtusata

Predation by shell-crushing predators is thought to be a principal force driving the evolution of gastropod shell form. However, recent evidence suggests that phenotypic plasticity in response to risk stimuli associated with predators may also be important. Thus, morphological coevolution between predators and their gastropod prey may be driven by natural selection on reaction norms rather than genetically fixed phenotypes. In this study, I examined whether geographic variation in morphology and its plasticity in the intertidal snail (Littorina obtusata) were associated with both historical and present-day differences in the abundance of one its principal crab predators (Carcinus maenas). C. maenas has been well established in the southern Gulf of Maine for about 100 years, but has been present in the northern Gulf of Maine for at most 50 years. The shells of snails from the northern Gulf were thinner, weighed less and were weaker in compression than those of southern Gulf conspecifics. These geographic patterns in shell form may reflect, in part, either selection on genetically fixed phenotypes or environmentally induced phenotypes in response to geographic differences in C. maenas effluent concentrations. A laboratory experiment raising snails from the same field populations in the presence and absence of C. maenas effluent was conducted to test whether differences in the duration of contact with C. maenas influences plasticity in shell form. When raised in the presence of crabs, snails from all populations produced significantly thicker and heavier shells than conspecifics raised without crabs. These results support the hypothesis that geographic differences in shell form may partly reflect geographic differences in the abundance of C. maenas and, thus, the concentration of effluent indicating a risk of predation. In other words, the thinner shells of northern snails may reflect non-induced phenotypes, whereas the thicker shells of southern snails are an induced defence in response to C. maenas. Interestingly, despite their different periods of contact with C. maenas, both northern and southern snails showed similar shell thickness plasticity in the laboratory, suggesting that reaction norms in each region have evolved similar slopes. However, laboratory data coupled with comparisons of field populations suggest that there has been an evolutionary shift in reaction norm intercept; southern snails, regardless of treatment, consistently produced thicker shells and showed less plasticity relative to their counterparts in the field. Predator-induced increases in shell thickness were accompanied by significant reductions in body mass (defined by soft tissue mass) and body growth. * Adddress all correspondence to Geoffrey C. Trussell, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Box G-W, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. e-mail: geoffrey_trussell@brown.edu Consult the copyright statement on the inside front cover for non-commercial copying policies
A Policy Model to Analyze Macroprudential Regulations and Monetary Policy

We construct a small-open-economy, New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium model with real-financial linkages to analyze the effects of financial shocks and macroprudential policies on the Canadian economy. Our model has four key features. First, it allows for non-trivial interactions between the balance sheets of households, firms and banks within a unified framework. Second, it incorporates a risk-taking channel by allowing the risk appetite of investors to depend on aggregate economic activity and funding conditions. Third, it incorporates long-term debt by allowing households and businesses to pay back their stock of debt over multiple periods. Fourth, it incorporates targeted and broader macroprudential instruments to analyze the interaction between macroprudential and monetary policy. The model also features nominal and real rigidities, and is calibrated to match dynamics in Canadian macroeconomic and financial data. We study the transmission of monetary policy and financial shocks in the model economy, and analyze the effectiveness of various policies in simultaneously achieving macroeconomic and financial stability. We find that, in terms of reducing household debt, more targeted tools such as loan-to-value regulations are the most effective and least costly, followed by bank capital regulations and monetary policy, respectively.
The correlation between knowledge and intention with self-efficacy of pregnant women to attend antenatal care at healthcare

In Indonesia, the utilization of antenatal care at healthcare professionals was only 66%, and this figure dropped during a delivery. As much as 46% of pregnant women who attend antenatal care at healthcare professionals did not carry birth in healthcare facility. This study aims to explain the correlation between knowledge and intention with self-efficacy of pregnant women to get antenatal care. This was a quasi-experimental research with pre and post one group study. The samples included pregnant women in Balikpapan city, who had entered the second trimester of pregnancy. Sampling was carried out using simple random sampling technique by using a random number generator program is research randomizer to determine the group. Total sample was 20 pregnant women. The results showed that: 1) There was a significant correlation between knowledge and self-efficacy ( p = .001); 2) There was a significant correlation between intentions and self-efficacy ( p = .017). This study concluded that self-efficacy of pregnant women was high, the majority of pregnant women were not in the age of risk, pregnant women with high and average level of parity had a high knowledge. There were pregnant women who had high knowledge but did not get antenatal care from healthcare professionals. Most pregnant women had intention to attend antenatal care at healthcare professionals, but there were still pregnant women who attended antenatal care less than the prescribed standards that is at least four times during pregnancy.
THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC PROCESSES ON STABILITY OF LOCOMOTIVES TRACTION DRIVE IN THE SLIPPING MODE

Summary. On the model of a locomotive traction drive in a slipping mode, it is demonstrated how the electromagnetic transient processes in the traction motor may be accounted for using the energy balance method for assessing the stability of the system with respect to frictional self-oscillations. The regions of existence of frictional selfoscillations in the parameter space of the drive are built. The proposed method differs from the prior art in that it can be used to analyze the stability of a wide class of dynamical systems with small damping, containing both oscillatory and inertial units. ВЛИЯНИЕ ЭЛЕКТРОМАГНИТНЫХ ПРОЦЕССОВ НА УСТОЙЧИВОСТЬ ТЯГОВОГО ПРИВОДА ЛОКОМОТИВА В РЕЖИМЕ БОКСОВАНИЯ Аннотация. На примере модели тягового привода локомотива в режиме боксования показано, каким образом могут быть учтены электромагнитные переходные процессы в тяговом двигателе при использовании метода энергетического баланса для оценки устойчивости системы по отношению к фрикционным автоколебаниям. Построены области существования фрикционных автоколебаний в пространстве параметров привода. Предлагаемый метод может быть использован для анализа устойчивости широкого класса динамических систем с малой диссипацией, содержащих как колебательные, так и инерционные звенья.
The Supply Side of Household Finance

We propose a new, data-based test for the presence of biased financial advice when households choose between fixed and adjustable rate mortgages. If households are wary, the relative cost of the two types should be a sufficient statistic for a household contract choice: the attributes of the bank that makes the loan should play no role. If households rely on banks' advice to guide their choice, banks may be tempted to bias their counsel to their own advantage. In this case bank-specific supply characteristics will play a role in the household's choice above any role they play through relative prices. Testing this hypothesis on a sample of 1.6 million mortgages originated in Italy between 2004 and 2010, we find that the choice between adjustable and fixed rates is significantly affected by change in banks' supply factors, especially in periods during which banks do not change the relative price of the two mortgage types. This supports the view that banks are able to affect customers' mortgage choices not only by pricing but also through an advice channel.
Exploring Physics English Prep Students' Approach to Foreign Language Learning

The present study explores Physics English Prep students’ language beliefs and approaches to different aspects of language learning in an attempt to account for plausible reasons for their relatively failure in mastering English as a university requirement prior to their subject education. Given the fact the Physics students were observed to be relatively unsuccessful at the end of a-six month intensive English preparation program as evidenced by the department’s yearly academic report (only 11% passed the English prep program), learners’ beliefs systems were chosen to be an important factor as they were assumed to affect language behavior and language learning in general in many ways. One specific outcome of the overall findings is that learners appear to hold a range of beliefs with varying degrees and these beliefs can influence the student’s language learning strategies and ultimate success. The findings also yield certain pedagogic implications that making students’ belief systems explicit may also sensitize us to the variety of notions students hold and to the possible consequences of specific beliefs for learning or not learning a foreign language.
EXPERIMENTAL TOXOPLASMOSIS : EVALUATION OF THE HEPATIC DAMAGE IN MURINES

Toxoplasma gondii is the most common protozoan found in animals and humans and has been found in several of the host’s organs, including the liver. This study aimed to evaluate hepatic injury in experimental toxoplasmosis caused by two strains of T. gondii (RH and Me-49 strains). Biochemical and histopathological analyses were performed. It was possible to detect significant increases in serum levels of AST, ALT and LDH in both infections. The histopathological analysis showed inflammatory infiltration in the Me-49 strain infection and hyperemia and vasodilation in the RH strain infection. The acute infection (RH strain) induced hepatic failure and the death of the host. The chronic infection (ME-49 strain) caused liver damage but not enough to kill the host. Therefore this study validates the importance of biochemical concentrations for the evaluation of the infection, showing the importance of rigorous clinical assessment of T. gondii infected individuals.