Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Household saving rates in the EU: Why do they differ so much?

This paper investigates what can contribute to explaining why household saving rate levels are persistently so dispersed across EU countries, ranging from –10% of household income in Romania to +16% in Germany in 2013. Factors explaining changes over time or forecasting of household savings fall out of the scope of this paper. Â First, we argue that caution is needed when comparing household saving rates across countries. Institutional differences and data reliability are likely to hinder the international comparability of saving rates. Â Second, we discuss various determinants of household saving behaviour. We find that traditional explanatory variables like income levels, age dependency and uncertainty can explain more than half of the cross section variance in saving rates. However, large unobserved country fixed effects (e.g. because of institutional differences and measurement error) appear to be present.
An empirical analysis of the cumulative nature of deforestation

Deforestation is one of the major environmental issues in developping countries and agricultural expansion is its first cause. Uqing the Forest Transition hypothesis, the aim of this paper is to improve the knowledge of the cumulative nature of deforestation. To do this, the macroeconomic factors which promote the end of the deforestation in a given country are highlighted. Then the total amount of deforestation during the development is explained.
High efficiency and high concentration in photovoltaics

In this paper, we present the state-of-the-art of multijunction solar cells and the future prospects of this technology. Their use in terrestrial applications will likely be for concentrators operating at very high concentrations. Some trends are also discussed and we present a cost calculation showing that highly efficient cells under very high concentration would be able to produce electricity at costs competitive with electricity generation costs for some utilities.
Anaerobic Degradation of Sulfated Polysaccharides by Two Novel Kiritimatiellales Strains Isolated From Black Sea Sediment

The marine environment contains a large diversity of sulfated polysaccharides and other glycopolymers. Saccharolytic microorganisms degrade these compounds through hydrolysis, which includes the hydrolysis of sulfate groups from sugars by sulfatases. Various marine bacteria of the Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydia (PVC) superphylum have exceptionally high numbers of sulfatase genes associated with the degradation of sulfated polysaccharides. However, thus far no sulfatase-rich marine anaerobes are known. In this study, we aimed to isolate marine anaerobes using sulfated polysaccharides as substrate. Anoxic enrichment cultures were set up with a mineral brackish marine medium, inoculated with anoxic Black Sea sediment sampled at 2,100 m water depth water and incubated at 15°C (in situ T = 8°C) for several weeks. Community analysis by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed the enrichment of Kiritimatiellaeota clade R76-B128 bacteria in the enrichments with the sulfated polysaccharides fucoidan and iota-carrageenan as substrate. We isolated two strains, F1 and F21, which represent a novel family within the order of the Kiritimatiellales. They were capable of growth on various mono-, di-, and polysaccharides, including fucoidan. The desulfation of iota-carrageenan by strain F21 was confirmed quantitatively by an increase in free sulfate concentration. Strains F1 and F21 represent the first marine sulfatase-rich anaerobes, encoding more sulfatases (521 and 480, 8.0 and 8.4% of all coding sequences, respectively) than any other microorganism currently known. Specific encoded sulfatase subfamilies could be involved in desulfating fucoidan (S1_15, S1_17 and S1_25) and iota-carrageenan (S1_19). Strains F1 and F21 had a sulfatase gene classification profile more similar to aerobic than anaerobic sulfatase-rich PVC bacteria, including Kiritimatiella glycovorans, the only other cultured representative within the Kiritimatiellaeota. Both strains encoded a single anaerobic sulfatase-maturating enzyme which could be responsible for post-translational modification of formylglycine-dependent sulfatases. Strains F1 and F21 are potential anaerobic platforms for future studies on sulfatases and their maturation enzymes.
Use of 3D Scanning Technologies to Extract Body Measurements for Customised Size Charts for Predominant African and Caucasian Body Shapes in South Africa

The South African sizing system was adapted from an out-dated British sizing system. This contributes to the fit problems currently experienced by female apparel consumers in South Africa. To improve ready-to-wear apparel fit, body measurements and body shapes prevalent within a target population need to be identified and subsequently form a basis for a sizing system. The South African apparel industry bases apparel design and manufacturing on standard figures yet research shows that female consumer populations consist of women of different body shapes and body proportions. Diverse ethnic groups within populations further aggravate the variations. Differently shaped consumers experience different fit problems from standard apparel and size charts and therefore require differently shaped apparel. In an attempt to address ready-to-wear apparel fit problems among the ethnically diverse South African female population, this paper sought to compile customised size charts of body shape classes predominant among African and Caucasian women. This paper utilised scan data of 233 African (n1 = 109) and Caucasian (n 2 = 125) women aged 18-25 years that were selected using the purposive and snow-balling techniques. Body shape descriptors from literature guided body shape classification formulae that were computed from circumferential drop values of the samples and mean ± standard deviation. These were used to classify participants’ bodies into different body shape categories. A print-out of virtual body images showing participants’ front and side view images were subjected to visual analysis by a panel of experts to confirm body shapes assigned from measurements. The body shape defining parameters adopted in this study were. triangle: Mean to Maximum (in cm) i.e. 12.6 ≤ hip – bust ≤ 29.8, hourglass: Mean ≤ bust – waist ≤ Maximum i.e. 18 ≤ bust – waist ≤ 26.6 and rectangle: Mean (18 cm) – 3 x SD (12.3 cm) < bust – waist < mean i.e. 5.6 < bust – waist < 18. Findings show that there were 64 African triangle, 42 Caucasian triangle, 30 African hourglass, 51 Caucasian hourglass, 14 African rectangle and 32 Caucasian rectangle. The significant differences between the Caucasian hourglass figure assumed to be similar to the Western hourglass used as a standard figure by ready-to-wear apparel manufacturing, confirmed need for customised size charts for the predominant body shapes among South African women. This paper resulted in the computation of customised size charts for the different predominant African and Caucasian body shapes. While there are a number of Western studies that classify body shape using drop values, there has not been such study in South Africa.
β-Thalassemia Mutations among Thalassemia Major Patients in Basrah Province – Iraq

ßthalassemia is one of the important health problems in Basrah, Southern Iraq were the frequency of carriers for ßthalassemia gene reaches 4.6%. The study aimed to define the types of mutation among patients with ßthalassemia major (ßTM) registered at the Center for Hereditary Blood Diseases (CHBD) and geographical distribution of these mutations in different districts of Basrah. Blood samples were collected from 100 known patients with β-TM (53 males and 47 females), their ages ranged from 1-31 year. The amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) technique was used for molecular diagnosis of seven types of β-thalassemia mutations codon15 (G-A), IVS1nt -5(GC), codon 8/9(+G), codon 30(G-C), -88(C-T), codon41/42(-TCTT) and codon 8(AA). The most frequent βthalassemia mutations are codon-15(G-A) and IVS 1nt5(G-C) in 31 (37.3%) and 18(21.7%) of patients respectively, followed by codon 8/9 in 14(16.9%) and codon 30 in 8 (9.6%). In addition -88 (C-T) and Codon 41/42(-TCTT) were reported in 10(12.1%) and 2(2.4%) of patients respectively. Codon 8(-AA) was not reported in this study. The frequencies of these mutant genes differ from that of other parts of Iraq and neighboring countries. The study confirms a heterogeneity of diagnosed mutations within different districts of Basrah which have been studied for the first time in this province and signifies the need for further future studies to detect mutations that were not identified in this study. K ey wo rd s
Electromagnetic Scattering from Generalized Impedance Cylinder by Moment Method

Electromagnetic scattering from generalized inhomogeneous impedance cylinder of arbitrary shape is presented for both TM and TE polarized incident field. The scattered TE and TM fields are expressed as single layer potentials. Using the boundary condition and jump relations of single layer potential on the boundary, boundary integral equation is obtained and solved via moment method. The obtained results are compared with those obtained by analytical method for inhomogeneous anisotropic impedance cylinder and good agreements are observed.
The Effect of Epoch and Cut-point on the Assessment of Physical Activity Levels in Kenyan School Children Hannah Budd Matriculation Number 0303538 Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for an MSc from the Graduate School of Biomedical and Life

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using different accelerometer cut-points and epoch on reports of sedentary behavior and physical activity (PA) levels in a group of Kenyan school children. The PA levels of 26 children from the Nandi region of Kenya aged 4-16 years, was assessed for 3 consecutive days using uniaxial accelerometry combined with a PA diary. No significant differences were found in counts per minute (CPM) (753±214, 753±212, 724±220, 723±229, 721±220, 733±212 CPM; P>0.05) or total monitoring time (689±109, 693±110, 693±108, 693±109, 695±108, 693±110 min; P=1.00) across all six epochs. Time spent engaging in sedentary behavior was not effected by epoch or cut-point (Sirard cutpoint, 590±87, 592±87, 594±88, 596±89, 598±90, 598±94 min; Reilly cut-point, 573±86, 567±87, 554±85, 554±88, 550±86, 547± 89min; P>0.05), while the amount of light (Sirard cut-point, 38±11, 43±12, 76±22, 79±23, 81±24, 81±23 min; Puyau, 70±20, 87±27, 104±35, 111±38, 120±34, 123±42 min; Pate, 596±87, 595±87, 595±87, 597±88, 601±90, 604±94 min; P<0.05) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (Sirard, 73±25, 71±26, 37±23, 35±24, 32±24, 28±24; Puyau, 59±22, 52±23, 45±24, 41±25, 38±26, 36±28; Pate, 108±29, 107±40, 110±31, 109±32, 106±33, 102±34 min; P<0.05) were influenced by choice of cut-points and epoch. Shorter epochs, such as 1 and 5 s, resulted in significantly less reported minutes of light PA (Sirard, 1 s 38±11 and 5 s 43±12 min vs. 76±22, 79±23, 81±24 and 81±23 min; Puyau, 1 s 70±20 and 5 s 87±27 vs. 104±35, 111±38, 120±43 and 123±42 min; P<0.05) and significantly more minutes of moderate and vigorous activity (Sirard 1 s 73±25 and 5 s 71±26 vs. 37±23, 35±24, 32±24 and 28±24 min; Puyau 1 s 59±22 vs. 60 s 36±28 min P<0.05). Lower cut-points led to significantly more minutes of light,
The Effectiveness of a Training Program Based on Meta-Cognitive Strategies on Developing Vocabulary Acquisition for Secondary Stage Saudi Students

The aim of the present research is to pinpoint the importance of a training program in meta-cognitive strategies on developing vocabulary acquisition of Saudi secondary school students. To achieve these objectives, the researcher developed the following tools: a suggested training program in Meta-cognitive strategies for secondary stage students, and a pre/post test in vocabulary acquisition for secondary stage students. Subjects of the study were randomly selected from among a larger population of 2 year high school students. Two randomly classes were chosen from one government school; one was assigned as control group and the other as an experimental one. The control group and the experimental group were both be pre/post-tested using the developed vocabulary test. The experimental group underwent a five-week strategy training program. The results of the test of the hypothesis showed that there is great impact for the use of training program in Meat-cognitive strategies in linguistic vocabulary (English language vocabulary in this study for second year high school Saudi students). The study recommended that teachers should undergo on the job training courses especially English teachers in general education levels so that they can be trained on how to use Meta-cognitive strategies in educational/learning process. It was also recommended that students in the faculties of education in Saudi universities should be trained on how to use and employ Meta-cognitive strategies in planning and implementation of English language lessons and that in the methods of teaching English language or micro teaching or field practical education.
Clinical and Experimental Factors Influencing the Efficacy of Neurofeedback in ADHD: A Meta-Analysis

Meta-analyses have been extensively used to evaluate the efficacy of neurofeedback (NFB) treatment for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. However, each meta-analysis published in the past decade has contradicted the methods and results from the previous one, thus making it difficult to determine a consensus of opinion on the effectiveness of NFB. This works brings continuity to the field by extending and discussing the last and much controversial meta-analysis by Cortese et al. (1). The extension comprises an update of that work including the latest control trials, which have since been published and, most importantly, offers a novel methodology. Specifically, NFB literature is characterized by a high technical and methodological heterogeneity, which partly explains the current lack of consensus on the efficacy of NFB. This work takes advantage of this by performing a Systematic Analysis of Biases (SAOB) in studies included in the previous meta-analysis. Our extended meta-analysis (k = 16 studies) confirmed the previously obtained results of effect sizes in favor of NFB efficacy as being significant when clinical scales of ADHD are rated by parents (non-blind, p-value = 0.0014), but not when they are rated by teachers (probably blind, p-value = 0.27). The effect size is significant according to both raters for the subset of studies meeting the definition of “standard NFB protocols” (parents' p-value = 0.0054; teachers' p-value = 0.043, k = 4). Following this, the SAOB performed on k = 33 trials identified three main factors that have an impact on NFB efficacy: first, a more intensive treatment, but not treatment duration, is associated with higher efficacy; second, teachers report a lower improvement compared to parents; third, using high-quality EEG equipment improves the effectiveness of the NFB treatment. The identification of biases relating to an appropriate technical implementation of NFB certainly supports the efficacy of NFB as an intervention. The data presented also suggest that the probably blind assessment of teachers may not be considered a good proxy for blind assessments, therefore stressing the need for studies with placebo-controlled intervention as well as carefully reported neuromarker changes in relation to clinical response.
YOUR NEIGHBORS DEFINE YOUR VALUE : SPATIAL BIAS IN NUMBER COMPARISON

Several chronometric biases in numerical cognition have informed our understanding of a mental number line (MNL). Complementing this approach, we investigated spatial performance in a magnitude comparison task. Participants located the larger or smaller number of a pair on a horizontal line representing the interval from 0 to 10. Experiments 1 and 2 used only number pairs one unit apart and found that digits were localized farther to the right with “select larger” instructions than with “select smaller” instructions. However, when numerical distance was varied (Experiment 3), digits were localized away from numerically near neighbors and towards numerically far neighbors. This neighborhood effect reveals context-specific distortions in number representation not previously noticed with chronometric measures. When the individual first learns to identify single digits, two-digit numbers are treated in an analytical fashion, so the numbers 19 or 91 have the same values of its two components. Later on, the place value of multi-digits is learned, and the specific location of each digit has its own value and even name (nine or ninety). With increasing experience, people are encouraged to integrate the separate digits into holistic magnitudes. Are single digits of a two-digit number indeed perceptually blended into an inseparable internal magnitude code? Or alternatively, perhaps people are always aware of the constituent values of two-digit numbers. Three competing theoretical models are suggested to account for the nature of two-digit representations: a holistic, a decomposed, and a hybrid model (Dehaene, Dupoux & Mehler, 1990; Moeller, Huber, Nuerk & Willmes, 2010; Verguts & De Moor, 2005). In its basic form, the holistic model posits that numbers are processed holistically and that people encode two-digit number as an integrated representation before (or along with) executing any comparison task. The decomposed model suggests that the magnitude representations of decade and unit digit are activated separately, either sequentially or in parallel. Finally, the hybrid model suggests that both decomposed as well as holistic representations of number magnitude are activated. Surprisingly, the multi-dimensional aspect of two-digit numbers has almost never been tested with the traditional methodologies of selective attention. A single study by Fitusi and Algom (2006) explicitly required participants to respond selectively to one of the digits while ignoring the other one. In a Garner paradigm (Garner, 1974), they found that participants could focus their attention on the decade digit only, without suffering interference from an incompatible unit digit. However, participants could not ignore the decade digit when explicitly being asked to do so, demonstrating an asymmetry between both digits of two-digit numbers. Similar
Effect of light and dark shift on post natal development of ovary in rabbit (Oryctolagus Cuniculus)

Female rabbits from the age of 9 weeks till age of maturity were reared in two separate groups under long (16L: 8D) and short (12L: 12D) photoperiods. Does reared under long photoperiod showed increased body weight and ovary weight body weight ratio as compared to does reared under short photoperiod. At 15 weeks of age Graafian follicles appeared for the first time in long photoperiod group while the same appeared in the short photoperiod group at 19 weeks of age. At pre-pubertal and pubertal age the serum concentration of FSH and LH were more in long photoperiod animals as compared to those of short photoperiod animals.
Chemical variation within fragments of Australasian tektites

Abstract— In previous studies, intersample variation between compositions of different tektites from one particular group were studied and, in a few cases, major element variations within single tektites. No data for intra‐sample trace element variations existed. Thus, we sectioned a Muong Nong‐type tektite fragment from Vietnam and a splash‐form tektite fragment from the Philippines into eleven and six pieces, respectively, and analyzed the individual fragments for major and trace element contents.
Inequality of Opportunity Business among Ethnic Potentially Social Conflict Study in: Traditional Market in Kota Ternate-North Maluku Province

This research aimed to determine differences in individual capacity and social capacity, as well as performance differences Ternate ethnic traders as native and non Ternate traders. There are three variables are categorized as the capacity of individual traders are : experience, scale of business, and marketing strategies. While the variables are categorized as social capacity traders include : variable access to credit traders, suppliers of goods, and access to market information vendors . The population was 1,367 merchant stall owners consisting of : 708 Ternate ethnic traders and 659 non Ternate traders. The number of randomly selected sample of 200 traders consisting of 103 Ternate ethnic traders and 97 non Ternate traders. Data collection method used is survey and interview , and use factor analysis method and the average difference test or t test as an instrument of data analysis. The findings of this research indicate that the average value of the capacity of the individual and social capacity Ternate ethnic traders is negative and positive for non Ternate traders and t-test results showed significant differences in capacity between Ternate ethnic traders and non Ternate traders , except variable experience shows there is no difference significantly between the two groups of traders . The t-test results prove the facts on the ground that the non Ternate traders seemingly more dominant and controlling facilities Ternate traditional markets . This fact also indicates that the jealousy that comes from Ternate ethnic traders as native predicted potential conflict of interest between Ternate ethnic traders and non. Because it is recommended that local government municipalities of Ternate establish mediation agency and information center as a place that bridges the interests of all traders regardless of their ethnic background and religion.
Are Earnings More Informative than Residual Income in Valuation Models

The efforts to derive a theoretically correct valuation model based on accounting data has lead to the development of the Feltham and Ohlson (1995) model, which employs book values (BV) and residual income (RI) as valuation attributes. However, in empirical settings RI is often replaced by net income (NI). The present paper shows that replacing RI with NI in valuation models potentially reduces information content and significance. The results also indicate that RI has a stronger association with Market values in conjunction with Research and Development expenditures (RD) and Book value. RD is shown to enhance the explanatory power of NI and RI for market values (MV). Its inclusion in valuation models, is thus, supported by the present paper.