Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Openness and Economic Growth in Pakistan

Trade and growth theories generally predict a positive relationship between openness to international trade and economic growth. There are a number of channels through which openness is thought to influence economic growth. First, a liberal trade regime enhances efficiency through greater competition and improved resource allocation. Second, greater access to world markets allows economies to overcome size limitations and benefit from economies of scale. Third, imports of capital and intermediate goods can contribute to the growth process by enlarging the productive capacity of the economy. Fourth, trade can lead to productivity gains through international diffusion and adoption of new technologies. Empirical studies on the relationship between openness and economic growth have largely supported the view that openness has a favourable impact on economic growth. It is not surprising, then, that the proposition that more open economies tend to grow faster has gained wide acceptance in academic as well as policy circles. The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between openness and economic growth in the context of Pakistan’s economy. Section 2 reviews the literature on openness and economic growth. Section 3 provides an overview of trade liberalisation in Pakistan. Data and methodology are described in Section 4, while Section 5 presents the empirical results. Section 6 concludes the discussion.
Sphaeralcea Angustifolia as a Substitute for Alfalfa for Growing Goats

Abstract Narrowleaf globemallow (Sphaeralcea angustifolia [Cav.] G. Don) occurs on millions of hectares of rangeland in the United States and Mexico, and it constitutes an important forage for herbivores. Forty 2-mo-old crossbred female goats (native×dairy goats; 9.4 ± 2.2 kg) were randomly allotted to five dietary groups (two] goats per pen, four replications per ration) to evaluate the effects of feeding different levels of S. angustifolia in a complete ration on growth performance and diet digestibility. The rations were a total mixed control ration containing 0% S. angustifolia (T0) and four rations in which S. angustifolia progressively replaced alfalfa (25% [T25], 50% [T50], 75% [T75], and 100% [T100]). Grains and forage made up 70% and 30% of the dietary dry matter (DM) in all rations. Differences (P < 0.05) were observed between treatments in average daily gain (ADG; range 88–124 g·d−1) and DM intake (DMI; range 3.3–4.0% body weight). Feed conversion ratio (DMI/ADG; range 4.0–4.8) was similar (P>0.20) among treatments. Goats fed diets with any of the S. angustifolia levels had similar apparent nitrogen (N) digestion (range 67.6–69.8%) as those fed only alfalfa, but N retention was greater (P < 0.05) in goats on T25 and T50 diets compared to other diets. The apparent digestibilities of DM, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were greater (P < 0.05) for T25 and T50 than for other diets. Results indicate that S. angustifolia at the flowering stage was a savory and nutritious roughage, which could fully replace alfalfa hay in diets of growing goats. Considering that S. angustifolia is readily consumed by foraging animals, it is abundant enough that it is a significant source of forage, and has a sufficient quality to nutritionally satisfy herbivores, this forb is a potentially useful forage for pen-fed goats.
Investigation of the Effects of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), A Study in Zabol University of Medical Sciences

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of human resources management (HRM) practices on corporate social responsibility in Zabol University of Medical Sciences. The independent variable in this study is the practices of human resources management. Human resources management focuses on policies, procedures and systems that affect the behaviour, thoughts and actions of employees. Dependent variable of this study is the organizational performance. The organizational performance is defined as the manner of performing tasks and activities and the results of them. The social responsibility is the mediator variable of this study. Social responsibility is defined as tasks and obligations that the organization must do to protect and help the society in which it works. The hypotheses of this research are based on the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variable with respect to the role of mediator variable. The statistical population of this study is the headquarters of Zabol University of Medical Sciences. The minimum sample size according to Cochran’s formula is estimated to be 102 people that have been selected by simple random sampling. The findings of this study have approved all primary and secondary hypotheses of research and show that the human resources management practices has a significant impact on the organizational performance through social responsibility. Keywords : Human resources management (HRM) practices, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Organizational performance
Analysis of the type of Achnanthes exigua GRUNOW (Bacillariophyta) with the description of a new Antarctic diatom species

A study was made of the type material of Achnanthidium exiguum (Grunow) CzarneCKi. This often encountered and apparently ubiquitous species was originally described as Stauroneis exilis by KuTzinG from the island of Trinidad and later re-named as Achnanthes exigua by Grunow. The type material for this taxon (KuTzinG sample 397), housed in the Van heurCK collection at the National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Meise was investigated and the ultrastructure of this taxon was documented using both LM and SEM observations. A new Antarctic taxon, formerly identified as A. exigua, was described as a new species, Achnanthidium austra- lexiguum sp. nov. The position of both taxa within the genus Achnanthidium is briefly discussed.
Determinants of the Financial Literacy among College Students in Malaysia

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the financial literacy among university students in Malaysia.Methods: Data for this study was collected through self-administered questionnaire and distributed through convenient sampling method. A total of 105 completed and usable questionnaires have been collected. Pearson Correlation analysis and multiple regression tables were used to determine the interrelation of different variables in financial literacy.Results: Empirical results show that there is a significant relationship between independent variables of education, and money attitude towards the dependent variable of financial literacy, while there found no relationship between financial socialization agents and financial literacy.Conclusions: This study is important so as to understand how these independent variables affect the literacy rate of young adults. Efforts may be put to strengthen those variables in order increase the literacy rates of those university students.
Frost hardening and risk of a second flush in Norway spruce seedlings after an early-season short-day treatment.

Luoranen, J., Konttinen, K. & Rikala, R. 2009. Frost hardening and risk of a second flush in Norway spruce seedlings after an early-season short-day treatment. Silva Fennica 43(2): 235–247. There have been years in Finland when container seedlings of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karsten) planted in the summer have been damaged by early-autumn frosts. For August and September plantings, the seedlings can be hardened by means of short-day (SD) treatment, but little information is available about its usability for earlier plantings. We studied the effects of early-season SD treatment on the frost hardiness and risk of a second flush of Norway spruce seedlings. In three successive years, second-year seedlings were grown in a greenhouse or outdoors in the spring and early summer and then subjected to two or three-week SD treatment beginning on the second, third, or fourth week of June. We monitored the height growth cessation, bud formation, and frost hardiness of the seedlings in the nursery. All SD treatments made the height growth cease, but the risk of a second flush increased if the temperature sum was less than 300 d.d. before the beginning of the SD treatment or more than 450 d.d. between the end of the treatment and mid-August. Clearly, then, SD treatment reduced the risk of a second flush in seedlings that had been grown in a greenhouse in the spring. Earlyseason SD treatment increased the frost hardiness of both needles and stems for late July to early September in comparison with untreated seedlings. Later in the autumn, however, the differences disappeared. Before recommending the use of early-season SD-treated seedlings for summer planting, the method has to be tested in practical field conditions.
Community Cohesion and Village Pubs in Northern England: An Econometric Study

Mount M. and Cabras I. Community cohesion and village pubs in Northern England: an econometric study, Regional Studies. Pubs in England represent an important locus for regional development and rejuvenation, particularly in rural areas where they act as hubs for social aggregation and economic activity. Generally, village pubs are regarded as complementarities to other local services and amenities that exist within the area, such as sporting events, volunteering and charity initiatives, as well as business activities. This paper provides empirical support for this proposition by estimating the impact of pubs on an index measure of community cohesion. Using data from 715 rural parishes located across Northern England, the paper demonstrates the importance of pubs for maintaining rural areas in these regions.
Elastic-plastic analysis of pressure vessels and rotating disks made of functionally graded materials using the isogeometric approach

An NURBS-based isogeometric analysis for elastic-plastic stress in a cylindrical pressure vessel is presented. The vessel is made of a ceramic/metal functionally graded material, i.e. a particle-reinforced composite. It is assumed that the material plastic deformation follows an isotropic strain-hardening rule based on the von Mises yield criterion. The mechanical properties of the graded material are modelled by the modified rule of mixtures. Selected finite element results are also presented to establish the supporting evidence for validation of the isogeometric analysis. Similar analyses are performed and solutions for spherical pressure vessel and rotating disk made of FGMs are also provided.
Clinical profile and Outcome of patients who had Cardiopulmonary arrest in Non ICU settings – A Retrospective Analysis in a Tertiary care hospital

Background: The study was undertaken in view of alarming morbidity and mortality in the patients who suffered cardiopulmonary arrest in Non ICU settings. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical profile and outcome of the patients who suffered cardiopulmonary arrest in Non ICU settings like wards, dialysis units, endoscopy rooms etc. Methodology: The study was done Apollo hospital, Hyderabada JCI accredited tertiary care centre which contained Code blue emergency response system. It’s a retrospective observational study, period being 1 year from Nov 2016 to Nov 2017. The patients age, sex, diagnosis, place of arrest, response time to resuscitation and code blue team arrival; percentage of survivors and non survivors. Conclusions: Most of the cardiopulmonary arrest was during the 8AM to 2PM. Patients who had Cardiac, renal disease and sepsis as a primary diagnosis had more mortality. Majority of the patients had non shockable peri arrest rhythm which has poor prognosis. Up to 48% of patients had successful initial resuscitation which shows the importance of code blue team and short response time. Out of 25(48%) patients who achieved successful ROSC, only 10(19.23%) could be discharged alive from ICU which shows the importance of good intensive care of post cardiac arrest patients.
The effect of nanosilica (SiO2) and nanoalumina (Al2O3) reinforced polyester nanocomposites on aerosol nanoparticle emissions into the environment during automated drilling

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to investigate the effect nanosilica and nanoalumina has on nanoparticle release from industrial nanocomposites due to drilling for hazard reduction whilst simultaneously obtaining the necessary mechanical performance. This study is therefore specifically designed such that all background noise is eliminated in the measurements range of 0.01 particles/cm3 and ±10% at 106 particles/cm3. The impact nano-sized SiO2 and Al2O3 reinforced polyester has on nanoparticle aerosols generated due to drilling is investigated. Real-time measurement was conducted within a specially designed controlled test chamber using a condensation particle counter (CPC) and a scanning mobility particle sizer spectrometer (SMPS). The results show that the polyester nanocomposite samples displayed statistically significant differences and an increase in nanoparticle number concentration by up to 228% compared to virgin polyester. It is shown that the nanofillers adhered to the polyester matrix showing a higher concentration of larger particles released (between 20 – 100 nm). The increase in nanoparticle reinforcement weight concentration and resulting nanoparticle release vary considerably between the nanosilica and nanoalumina samples due to the nanofillers presence. This study indicates a future opportunity to safer by design strategy that reduces number of particles released concentration and sizes without compromising desired mechanical properties for engineered polymers and composites. © 2017 American Association for Aerosol Research
CONTRIBUTION OF THE RUN-UP AND ARMS ACTION IN THE VERTICAL-JUMP

The main objective of this study is to analyse the effect that the segmental contribution and the previous run-up exert on the biomechanics of the double-leg vertical jump. 16 athletes took part in this study with experience in the vertical jump. A force platform synchronized to a high-speed camera were used to gather kinematics and kinetics data. Two types of jumps were made: the drop jump (DJ), where the subjects drop from a height, and the hop-style jump (HSJ), where the subjects run before jumping. The HSJ resulted in a 14% increase in the height Rev.int.med.cienc. act. fís. deporte vol. 14 número 54 ISSN: 1577-0354 214 reached by the centre of mass (CM). The height of the CM in the takeoff contributes 24%, whereas the vertical velocity of the CM contributes 76% to the height of the jump. The HSJ allows a positive vertical velocity of the CM at the beginning of the impulse of acceleration.
Intra-organizational Routine Alignment and Collaboration Performance : The Role of Task Conflict and Relationship Conflict by

Intra-organizational collaboration has become an increasingly important element of today’s business environment. However, failure rates of strategic alliances are alarmingly high. As a result, understanding, the causes for failure and devising solutions has been the concern of numerous studies. More recently, intra-organizational routines alignment has been shown to play a role in influencing collaboration performance. To understand this relationship in more detail, employing an experimental design, this study examines the role which the process variable of conflict plays in the relationship between intra-organizational routines alignment and collaboration performance. It is proposed that different types of conflict (relationship conflict vs. task conflict) will have different influencing effects. However, the results show no support for the proposed assumptions and it becomes apparent that a more sophisticated experimental design is required to allow for a more accurate representation and measurement of the variables under investigation. Supervisors: Dr. Ariane von Raesfeld and Raymond Loohuis External Supervisor: Manon Spin
Background information on the current status of South African HIV/AIDS hospices in the context of hygiene and quality of life: A review

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the resulting acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) continues to be a major epidemic that is ravaging the South African population at large. Hospices are non-governmental organisations that provide care to terminally ill patients, including those suffering from HIV/AIDS and cancer. This paper aims to describe the role of South African hospices in the context of the provision of palliative care, safe cooked meal and quality of life to the immune compromised patients. The role of facility design and the influence thereof on bio-aerosol level and proper hygienic practices are also elucidated. A domestic environment like a kitchen setting is known to be a source of microbial cross contamination. This article is a review on hospice kitchen layout, food borne pathogens, cross contamination and bio-aerosol prevalence. Key words: Hospices, kitchen hygiene, HIV, food safety.
An experimental investigation on slicing of potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystal

Because of its unique properties, potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals are widely used for electro-optical applications. Slicing is needed to make potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystal lens with desired shapes. However, reported studies on slicing of potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystal are scarce. This article presents an experimental investigation on slicing of potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals. Output parameters studied include surface roughness, flatness error, parallelism error, and subsurface damage. Effects of wire sawing input variables (feed rate and diamond grit size) on output parameters are investigated. Comparisons of wire sawing and band sawing are also made.
In vitro skin whitening and lightening properties of Sri Lankan low grown orthodox Orange Pekoe grade black tea

Presently, there is a demand for development of cheap, safe and effective skin whitening and lightening herbal cosmeceutical formulations. In this connection, this study, was performed to assess the skin whitening and lightening properties of Sri Lankan low grown orthodox Orange Pekoe (O.P) grade of black tea (made from buds and upper most tender leaves of Camellia sinensis L. plant), by determining its inhibiting potential of the activity of mushroom tyrosinase enzyme in vitro. The concentrations tested were 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 µg/ml and reference drug used was quercetin. The results showed that Sri Lankan O.P. grade black tea has mild but dose-dependent antityrosinase activity in vitro. This is a new finding for any grade of Sri Lankan black tea. It is concluded that Sri Lankan O.P. grade black tea has the potential to be developed as a cheap, safe and effective multipurpose (antioxidant, sun screening or antiaging) skin whitening and lightening herbal cosmeceutical (considering its other bioactivities reported).
Effects of airline service quality on airline image and passengers' loyalty: findings from Arik Air Nigeria passengers.

This paper investigates how individual service quality attributes under specified dimension rendered by Arik Airline determine the image of the airline and passengers’ loyalty to the airline. To achieve this, a well-structured questionnaire was designed in line with SERVQUAL dimension scale to capture the airline opinion of the passengers about the service rendered to them, their opinion on whether the quality of service has any effect on the image of the airline and finally if the nature of the airline image has any effect on repeat patronage. A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed to a randomly selected sample out of the average weekly passenger volume of 2465 passengers that utilize the Arik air carrier. Data collected were analyzed first using Factor analysis in order to factor out the three major service quality dimensions and Pearson correlation coefficient was determined to ascertain the significant relationship between the factored service quality dimensions and the airline image. Finally, a relationship was further determined between the airline image and the passengers’ loyalty to the airline. Result from the analysis proved that there existed a strong statistically significant relationship between the service quality variables and the airline image, indicating that the quality of the service the airline offers has a positive relationship with the airline image and the airline image also has a positive relationship with the passengers repeat patronage. The study thus recommended that airline managers should improve on the quality of service rendered to passengers since it is one of the determinants of the airline image and the airline image also determines the passengers’ choice of repeat patronage. Key words: Loyalty, SERVQUAL, modelling, image dimension, patronage
The effect of remittances on household income inequality in South Africa

Household incomes in developing countries often rely on a variety of sources. Analyzing the effects on income inequality of these different sources can help understand developments underlying overall inequality. South Africa’s levels of inequality have been characterized as remaining “stubbornly high”(Leibbrandt and Finn, 2012). Studies show that in the past 20 years, Gini coefficients of per capita income have increased from 0.66 in 1993 to 0.70 in 2008. Lerman and Yitzhaki (1985) derived a method to decompose inequality of income by source followed by a derivation of the Gini Coefficient by Stark et al. (1986). It therefore becomes possible to assess the impact of changes in different components on inequality of total household income. This paper utilizes these techniques to focus on the effect of remittances on inequality in South Africa. Applying the decomposition of income sources to the South African National Income and Dynamics Survey (NIDS), the paper will take the analysis one step further by constructing a counterfactual that allows to compare current inequality levels to levels that would have prevailed had migration not taken place. For the construction of this counterfactual, conditional difference in difference matching will be employed and data on matched non-remittance households will be used to predict household incomes excluding remittances for migration households. The findings of this paper show that levels of inequality are still stagnating. While inequality measured by the Gini coefficient is lacking significant improvement, the counterfactual analysis shows that without remittances, inequality would be slightly worse than current levels. The counterfactual estimation thus supports the result of the decomposition of the Gini coefficient that also finds a minor inequality reducing effect of remittances.
Capacity Planning for Elderly Care in Ireland Using Simluation Modeling

Global population aging is creating an immense pressure on healthcare facilities making them unable to cope with the growing demand for elderly healthcare services. Current demand-supply gaps result in prolonged waiting times for patients and substantial cost burdens for healthcare systems due to delayed discharges. This paper describes a project aimed at presenting modeling and simulation to address elderly care pathways within the Irish healthcare sector. The management of frail patients admitted to acute hospitals and the introduction of the new intermediate care beds are alternative interventions that healthcare executives are interested in simulating to examine their impact on the performance of the elderly care system. The developed simulation model, along with the statistical analysis, have enabled the management to assess the current system under the critical financial and performance issues. It also highlights the decision variables that significantly improve the flow of elderly patients.