Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why Customers Intend to Use Express Delivery Services?

The aim of this research was to better understand the effects of products quality, price reasonableness, brand image, and attitude towards customer’s intention. This research was guided by four research questions: What product quality has a positive influence on express delivery services a positive attitude? What price reasonableness positive influence on attitude to use express delivery services? What positive effect on brand image expresses delivery services? What positive attitude influence on intention to use express delivery services? The methodology employed was survey of 100 customers plus in-depth interviews with courier service operators. Interviews and survey were conducted from August to October 2015. This research was used SEM techniques for data analyze. The results confirmed there was no relationship between products quality, price reasonableness and attitude. Furthermore, brand image has influence attitude. The mediating role effects of costumer’s attitude for product quality, price reasonableness and brand image towards customer’s intention offer new insight into antecedents on costumer’s intention in a high influence. This study presents an original contribution to understanding brand image effect and its attributes either directly or through attitude towards customer’s intention is determine.
Multiband optical–NIR variability of blazars on diverse time-scales

Tosearchforopticalvariabilityonawiderangeoftime-scales,wehavecarriedoutphotometric monitoring of two flat spectrum radio quasars, 3C 454.3 and 3C 279, plus one BL Lac, S5 0716+714, all of which have been exhibiting remarkably high activity and pronounced variability at all wavelengths. CCD magnitudes in B, V, R, and I passbands were determined for ∼7000 new optical observations from 114 nights made during 2011–2014, with an average length of ∼4 h each, at seven optical telescopes: four in Bulgaria, one in Greece, and two in India. We measured multiband optical flux and colour variations on diverse time-scales. Discrete correlation functions were computed among B, V, R, and I observations, to search for any time delays. We found weak correlations in some cases with no significant time lags. The structure function method was used to estimate any characteristic time-scales of variability. We also investigated the spectral energy distribution of the three blazars using B, V, R, I, J, and K passband data. We found that the sources almost always follow a bluer-when-brighter trend. We discuss possible physical causes of the observed spectral variability.
International Evidence on the Link between Quality of Governance and Stock Market Performance

Abstract This paper examines the link between country-level governance and global stock market returns. We find a negative relation between governance quality and equity return. Countries with low governance scores, on average, have higher equity returns than those with high governance scores after controlling for global risk factors known to influence international equity returns. This implies that investors associate low governance quality with increased risk and thus demand higher risk premium. We find that the quality of governance as measured by Political Stability and Absence of Violence is key governance dimension affecting international equity returns, suggesting that heightened investor concerns over political risks have profound impact on equity markets. Interestingly, we find no evidence that variation in equity returns is affected by the governance indicator representing Voice and Accountability. The findings of this study provide important policy implications.
Study of Electrocardiographic Changes in Acute Stroke

Aims and Objectives: The present study was undertaken to find out ECG abnormalities associated with acute stroke and relationship of these abnormalities in cerebrovascular accident with mortality and prognosis. Method: The study consisted of total 100 cases with history and clinical manifestations suggestive of acute stroke and confirmed by CT head and admitted in medicine wards of hospital. ECG changes in various types of stroke were observed in all the cases and results were analyzed statistically. Results: The ECG changes observed in patients with acute stroke were T Wave inversion in 28 (28%), LVH (12%), ST depression (10%), prolonged QTc in 10(10%) and U wave 2(2%) cases. Rhythm abnormalities commonly noticed were sinus tachycardia in 5 (5%) cases, sinus bradycardia in 4(4%), ventricular premature complexes in 3 (3%) and supraventricular tachycardia in 2 (2%) cases. T-wave inversion (27.58%) and ST segment depression (10.34%) were common ECG abnormalities in ischemic stroke whereas QTc prolongation (28.57%), LVH (16.66%) and T inversion (16.66%) in hemorrhagic stroke. The overall mortality rate was 40% with higher in stroke group with abnormal ECG than those with normal ECG. QTc prolongation had prognostic significance in predicting mortality in stroke patients. No correlation was found with ECG abnormalities with location of brain lesion Conclusion: Different ECG changes are observed in acute stroke patients even in absence of primary cardiac disease and these ECG changes can be predictor of prognosis.
Collective intelligence or groupthink? Group decision making under the Japanese Companies Act

The organizational form of a corporation is an innovation of the modern era. Dating back to the Dutch East India Company in 1602, it enables funding from a diverse source of external investors supported by limited liability, achieving a form of continuous business execution not possible with organizations created for each oceanic journey. Japanese corporate law – the “Companies Act” in its formal name – has been researched from multiple viewpoints, but the economic analysis of Japanese corporate law, spearheaded by Miwa, Kanda and Yanagawa (Eds.) (1998), has been particularly extensive. This paper’s goal is to explore the behavioural aspects of corporate law by drawing on recent developments in the field, and so to deepen our understanding of the corporate organization. As discussed in the next section in more detail, there is a gap in the existing literature on the behavioural foundations of decision making and the legal foundations of corporate governance. While corporate decisions are made by individuals or groups, with associated behavioural aspects, existing research on the design of Japanese corporate law is scarce from this perspective and will profit from further exploration. By combining the two foundations, we should be able to gain greater insight into the design of corporate governance. In particular, this paper analyses a clause in the Companies Act which deals with group decision making. Japanese society has many institutions and organizations in which group decision making is ingrained. The Japanese Cabinet and Diet, for example, consist of multiple ministers and policymakers. Cases in Japan’s courts of law, especially important ones, are deliberated by groups of judges. In the Japanese Supreme Court, cases must be deliberated by groups of five or fifteen judges, and in the High Court by groups of three, without exception. Such group decisions seem to fit the Japanese corporate culture of nemawashi, the internal consensus-building which takes place before formal decision making. However, Koike (2009) argues that group decision making, while thought of as a Japanese tradition, was in fact not a national tradition at all. As evidence, he cites cases from as far back as the Japanese government’s imperial poetry anthology (the “New Collection of Poems Abstract
The use of the Rotoscope as an online, real-time, non-destructive biofilm monitor

Biofilms are involved in all kinds of biofouling and cause a significant economic loss of billions of dollars annually, worldwide. In order to effectively control the growth of biofilms, it is necessary to investigate the structure of biofilms grown under different conditions. Several methods are available to monitor biofilm progression, but their applications are limited by low intensity, high labour intensity, intrusive sampling, and long time lags from sampling to results. The goal of this research was to monitor biofilm growth using a biological rotating contact disc, based on the total plate count, scanning electron microscopy and the light reflection. Light reflected changed with biofilm thickness and the thicker the biofilm, the less light was reflected. Addition of NaCl anolyte caused some detachment of the microbial cells as was indicated by a slight increase in light reflection. This was supported by SEM micrographs.
Soil Surface‐Active Fauna in Degraded and Restored Lands of Northeast Brazil

Land degradation reducing vegetation cover may affect the soil surface‐active fauna because both aboveground and belowground invertebrates depend on complex plant communities. In this study, we evaluated the effect of land degradation and restoration on soil fauna in northeast Brazil. Sites differed in degradation status: native vegetation, moderately degraded land, highly degraded land, and land under restoration for 4 years. Araneae and Coleoptera densities were significantly higher in natural vegetation and restored land (8 ± 4 ind./trap and 41 ± 21 ind./trap, respectively) than in degraded lands (−73% and −81%, respectively). The density of Formicidae was significantly higher in natural vegetation (206 ± 181 ind./trap) than in highly degraded land (32 ± 24 ind./trap), while restored land (51 ± 10 ind./trap) and moderately degraded land (37 ± 14 ind./trap) did not differ significantly from the other degradation levels. The density of Orthoptera did not follow the aforementioned patterns, while invertebrate groups mostly had highest densities in natural land and restored land. Linear regressions showed a strong negative relation between faunal density and soil bulk density, and a positive relation with soil organic matter due to an increase in plant cover. Our results indicate that land degradation simplifies soil surface‐active invertebrate communities with pronounced decreases in the density of Araneae, Coleoptera, and Formicidae, but that land restoration practices may recover the density of soil fauna even after only 4 years. Araneae, Coleoptera, and Formicidae respond sensitively to land degradation and restoration practice and are suggested as indicator groups for restoration success. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Economic Viability of Chilli Pepper and Neem Seed Kernel Powdered Formulations Vis-a-vis Sevin Dust (85%) in the Management of Lepidopterous Stemborers on Sorghum in North Eastern Nigeria

A two year field experiment was designed to evaluate the economic viability of Chilli Pepper and Neem Kernel based powdered formulations vis-a-vis Sevin Dust (85%) in controlling stemborer damage on Sorghum variety (KSV4) in 2009 and 2010 using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The botanicals evaluated are Chilli Pepper Powder (CPP), CPP + Finesand (1:1, w/w), Neem Kernel Powder (NKP) and, NKP + Finesand (1:1, w/w). The results shows that pesticides used significantly (p<0.05) reduced stemboring by stemborers. The results also shows that the botanicals significantly (p<0.05) perform better than the synthetic in reducing stemboring. While the grain yield were significantly (p<0.05) higher on the treated plots over the untreated, the results further reveals that there was no significant difference between the botanicals and the synthetic used even though NKP + Finesand gave the overall best yield. The economic analysis also shows that it was profitable and economically viable to use any of the pesticides in controlling stemborers on sorghum since all the pesticides gave a ratio of more than one. However, NKP + Finesand gave the highest cost: benefit ratio of 1:5.76 and 1:5.48 in 2009 and 2010, respectively followed by CPP and Finesand, NKP, CPP while Sevin 85% gave the least cost: benefit ratio of 1:2.48 and 1:2.40 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. While the cost: benefit analysis was strictly based on the cost of plant protection only and did not consider factors such as potential impact on natural enemies/non-targets, the environment, farm workers and consumer safety, the overall results shows that Neem Kernel and Chilli Pepper based botanicals can be useful components of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of Sorghum Stemborers and may serve as viable alternatives to the synthetics which have been identified to have several environmental and health implications. Keywords: Cost: Benefit Ratio, Sesamia calamistis , Botanicals, Stem Bored, Number of Holes Per Stem Finesand, Capsicum frutescens (Chilli pepper), Azadirachta indica (Neem), Sevin Dust (85%)
Where Are All of the Gas-bearing Local Dwarf Galaxies? Quantifying Possible Impacts of Reionization

We present an approach for comparing the detections and non-detections of Local Group (LG) dwarf galaxies in large H i surveys to the predictions of a suite of n-body simulations of the LG. This approach depends primarily on a set of empirical scaling relations to connect the simulations to the observations, rather than making strong theoretical assumptions. We then apply this methodology to the Galactic Arecibo L-band Feed Array Hi (GALFA-HI) Compact Cloud Catalog (CCC), and compare it to the suite Exploring the Local Volume In Simulations (ELVIS) of simulations. This approach reveals a strong tension between the naïve results of the model and the observations: while there are no LG dwarfs in the GALFA-HI CCC, the simulations predict ∼10. Applying a simple model of reionization can resolve this tension by preventing low-mass halos from forming gas. However, and if this effect operates as expected, the observations provide a constraint on the mass scale of the dwarf galaxy that reionization impacts. Combined with the observed properties of Leo T, the halo virial mass scale at which reionization impacts dwarf galaxy gas content is constrained to be , independent of any assumptions about star formation.
Students perceptions of audience response system in classroom feedback: A qualitative study

Article history: Received 2 December 2017 Received in revised form 7 February 2018 Accepted 13 February 2018 The aim of this study was to explore students’ attitudes to formative feedback from classroom questions, peer interactions, and post-lecture sessions. We used a qualitative approach involving focus groups interviews. A complete cohort of second-year nursing students (n = 120) attending a therapeutic communication course as part of a Bachelor of Nursing Program participated in this study. Of them, 49 volunteered to contribute to focus group interviews. NVivo (QSR International, Melbourne, Australia) was used to organize data using the content analysis method. All students were women aged 18–24 years. Most considered the ARS a useful tool that aided learning by providing instant, anonymous feedback. Some felt that there were barriers to peer interactions, including lack of interest in participating or not knowing the answers. In conclusion, ARS use improved students’ learning and encouraged a deep learning approach. Post-lecture feedback was most influential, followed by feedback from classroom questions, and lastly feedback from peer interactions.
Frontline Demonstrations on Indian Mustard: An Impact Assessment

Frontline demonstration (FLD) is one of the most powerful tools for transfer of technology. Keeping in view of an effective extension approach of FLDs for dissemination of mustard technology, an impact assessment of FLDs conducted by National Research Centre on Rapeseed-Mustard (NRCRM) in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan was assessed. The impact assessment was based on the comparison of beneficiary and non-beneficiary respondents with reference to increase in knowledge level of beneficiary farmers, extent of adoption of improved mustard production technologies and attitude of beneficiary farmers towards FLDs. It was found that the level of knowledge of beneficiary farmers regarding different practices of mustard production was higher than non-beneficiary farmers ranging from 1.11 MPS of soil treatment to 12.14 MPS of plant protection measures. The difference in adoption level between beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers ranging from MPS 3.89 to MPS 40.50. The highest and significant difference was observed in adoption of fertilizer management (MPS 40.50) followed by seed treatment (MPS 37.50), use of high yielding varieties (MPS 26.00), seed rate and spacing (MPS 17.00), pest management ( MPS 12.00), harvesting / threshing and storage(MPS 11.33) and soil treatment (MPS 10.00). The overall difference in adoption level of different practices of mustard production technology MPT between beneficiary and non-beneficiary was 14.22 MPS. The study also reported that most of the beneficiary respondents had their attitude in positive direction towards FLDs. The mean percent scores of all the attitude statements ranged from 62.00 to 85.33 which indicated the favourable to most favourable attitude of the respondents towards different aspects of frontline demonstrations on mustard conducted by NRCRM.
Effect of different sources of lipids in diet on the qualitative characteristics of Longissimus thoracis muscle of cattle finished in feedlots

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the dietary inclusion of lipid-based diets (whole cottonseed and protected fat) on the pH, meat color and fat, tenderness and cooking yield in Longissimus thoracis muscle of cattle feedlot. Were used 39 Nellore cattle uncastrated with average initial body weight of 494.1 ± 10.1 kg and 36 months of age were housed for 63 days in pens with thirteen animals each. A completely randomized design with three treatments and thirteen replications was used. The treatments evaluated were: Feed with 2.50% whole cottonseed (control diet); feed with 11.50% whole cottonseed; and feed with 3.13% whole cottonseed added of protected lipid (PL), all on a dry matter basis. No differences were found for pH 24 h post mortem, meat color and fat, tenderness or cooking yield. The values of shear force of meat the animals presented differences (P <0.05), and the animals fed with 11.50% of cottonseed had greater value than those fed 2.50% on the diet, in relation to dry matter. The study came to the conclusion that the protected lipid does not influence the qualitative characteristics of meat and the amount of 11.50% of cottonseed in the cattle diet does not contribute to the improvement of texture and tenderness of the meat. Key words: Color, cooking yield, shear force, whole cottonseed.
Multiphase fluid flow and subsequent geochemical transport invariably saturated fractured rocks: 1. Approaches

Multiphase fluid flow and subsequent geochemical transport in variably saturated fractured rocks: 1. Approaches Tianfu Xu and Karsten Pruess Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 ABSTRACT. Reactive fluid flow and geochemical transport in unsaturated fractured rocks has received increasing attention for studies of contaminant transport, groundwater quality, waste disposal, acid mine drainage remediation, mineral deposits, sedimentary diagenesis, and fluid-rock interactions in hydrothermal systems. This paper presents methods for modeling geochemical systems that emphasize: (1) involvement of the gas phase in addition to liquid and solid phases in fluid flow, mass transport and chemical reactions, (2) treatment of physically and chemically heterogeneous and fractured rocks, (3) the effect of heat on fluid flow and reaction properties and processes, and (4) the kinetics of fluid-rock interaction. The physical and chemical process model is embodied in a system of partial differential equations for flow and transport, coupled to algebraic equations and ordinary differential equations for chemical interactions. For numerical solution, the continuum equations are discretized in space and time. Space discretization is based on a flexible integral finite difference approach that can use irregular gridding to model geologic structure; time is discretized fully implicitly as a first-order finite difference. Heterogeneous and fractured media are treated with a general multiple interacting continua method that includes double-porosity, dual-permeability, and multi- region models as special cases. A sequential iteration approach is used to treat the coupling between fluid flow and mass transport on the one hand, chemical reactions on
Vector Spectral-Domain Method for the Analysis of Frequency Selective Surfaces

Standard spectral-domain method (SDM) is one of the popular approaches to analyze frequency selective surfaces (FSS). However, it is inherently incapable of handling normal incidence because of its dubious definition of excitation fields, reflection and transmission coefficients using z-component of vector potentials. Moreover, as far as the author knows, it has never been applied to analyze FSS with gangbuster arrays. In this paper, an improved SDM, the vector spectral-domain method, is presented. By proving the equivalence of the spectra of unit cell current and element current, the scattered field from FSS structures is formulated in terms of spectral- domain element current instead of spectral-domain unit cell current. Galerkin's method is applied to obtain the unknown induced surface current. Well-established definition of excitation fields, reflection and transmission coefficients is adopted. Extensive experimental validation has been conducted.
Protective effect of guabiju (Myrcianthes pungens (O. Berg) D. Legrand) and red guava (Psidium cattleyanum Sabine) against cisplatin-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats

O presente estudo foi o primeiro realizado para avaliar o efeito protetor e o potencial antioxidante de duas frutas nativas do sul do Brasil, conhecidas como Guabiju (Myrcianthes pungens (O. Berg) D. Legrand) e araca vermelho (Psidium cattleyanum Sabine), em relacao a reduzir os efeitos da hipercolesterolemia induzida pela cisplatina em ratos Wistar machos. Os animais tratados com a cisplatina apresentaram elevada taxa de glicose, altos niveis de colesterol LDL, colesterol LDL oxidado e colesterol total. Os frutos nativos atuaram protegendo os animais pela reducao destes parâmetros. Os niveis de gordura no figado melhoraram com a suplementacao pelos frutos e nao houve diferencas nas substâncias reativas ao acido tiobarbiturico (TBARS) e niveis de creatina, ureia e colesterol HDL e, tambem, no peso dos orgaos analisados, indicando que a dose utilizada nao foi capaz de afetar tais marcadores.