Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Agricultural Technology Adoption: The Case of Improved Highland Maize Varieties in Toke Kutaye District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Improved highland Maize is a new and promising crop gradually becoming important in Ethiopian highlands. Its production is rapidly increasing where it has been a minor crop in the past. The empirical evidences on the determinants of agricultural technology adoption and their intensity of adoption are very limited. In this paper, determinants of adoption and intensity of adoption of improved highland maize varieties were investigated by using descriptive statistics and econometric model (Tobit). Two stage sampling procedure was followed in order to draw 150 sample respondents. The model result revealed that variables such as farm size, household income, access to credit, contact with extension agents, participation in training, and field day were positively and significantly influenced whereas, age of household and market distance negatively influenced adoption and intensity of use of improved highland maize varieties in the study area. Therefore, government policies and intervention on adoption and intensity use of agricultural technology should pay attention and move along with those variables significantly influencing adoption and intensity of use of new agricultural technology.
CONCRETE FRACTURE ENERGY TESTS PERFORMED BY 9 LABORATORlES ACCORDING TO A DRAFT RILEM RECOMMENDATION

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Influence of natural surfactants on short wind waves in the coastal Peruvian waters

Abstract. Results from measurements of wave slope statistics during the R/V Meteor M91 cruise in the coastal upwelling regions off the coast of Peru are reported. Wave slope probability distributions were measured with an instrument based on the reflection of light at the water surface and a method very similar to the Cox and Munk (1954b) sun glitter technique. During the cruise, the mean square slope (mss) of the waves was found to be very variable, despite the limited range of encountered wind speeds. The Cox and Munk (1954b) parameterization for clean water is found to overestimate mss, but most measurements fall in the range spanned by their clean water and slick parameterizations. The observed variability of mss is attributed to the wave damping effect of surface films, generated by increased biological production in the upwelling zones. The small footprint and high temporal resolution of the measurement allows for tracking abrupt changes in conditions caused by the often patchy structure of the surface films.
– Systematic with Meta-Analysis Calcium supplements and cancer risk : a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Some evidence suggests that Ca and vitamin D supplements affect cancer risk; however, it is uncertain whether the effects are due to Ca, vitamin D or the combination. We investigated the effect of Ca supplements without co-administered vitamin D on cancer risk. Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, reference lists of meta-analyses and two clinical trial registries were searched for randomised, placebo-controlled trials of Ca supplements ($500 mg/d), with $100 participants and duration . 1 year. The lead authors of eligible trials supplied data on cancer outcomes. Trial-level data were analysed using random-effects meta-analyses and patient-level data using Cox proportional hazards models. A total of sixteen trials were eligible, six had no data available, ten provided trial-level data (n 10 496, mean duration 3·9 years), and of these, four provided patient-level data (n 7221, median duration 3·5 years). In the meta-analysis of trial-level data, allocation to Ca did not alter the risk of total cancer (relative risk 0·95, 95 % CI 0·76, 1·18, P1⁄40·63), colorectal cancer (relative risk 1·38, 95 % CI 0·89, 2·15, P1⁄40·15), breast cancer (relative risk 1·01, 95 % CI 0·64, 1·59, P1⁄40·97) or cancer-related mortality (relative risk 0·96, 95 % CI 0·74, 1·24, P1⁄40·75), but reduced the risk of prostate cancer (relative risk 0·54, 95 % CI 0·30, 0·96, P1⁄40·03), although there were few events. The meta-analysis of patient-level data showed similar results, with no effect of Ca on the risk of total cancer (hazard ratio 1·07, 95 % CI 0·89, 1·28, P1⁄40·50). Ca supplements without co-administered vitamin D did not alter total cancer risk over 4 years, although the meta-analysis lacked power to detect very small effects, or those with a longer latency.
Effect of Sesame Oil on Lipid Profile and Liver Enzymes in Male Albino Rats Treated With Carbone Tetrachloride (CCl4)

This study was designed to investigate the effect of sesame oil on lipid profile and liver enzyme in male albino rats treated with Carbone tetrachloride (CCl4). Forty adult male rats were divided into four equal groups, first group was daily administrated with tap water, the second group was injected with CCl4 (80mg/kg.BW/day), the third group was administrated with sesame oil (150mg/kg.BW/day) and the fourth group was injected with CCl4 (80mg/kg.BW/day) and was administrated with sesame oil (150 mg /kg.BW /day) for 30 days. The statistical results of the present study showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in the level of cholesterol , triglycerides and Low density lipoprotein (LDL) in the group treated with CCl4 compared with control group, also a significant (p<0.05) increase in the level of liver enzymes Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) , no difference on High density lipoprotein (HDL) level . The fourth group that was administrated with sesame oil and injected with CCl4 showed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the level of cholesterol, triglyceride , LDL and also a significant (p<0.05) decrease in liver enzymes Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) compared with the group that injected with Carbone tetrachloride CCl4. It is concluded that sesame oil has a protective effect against the toxicity of Carbone tetrachloride on the liver.
Ageing in Norwegian Rural and Urban Communities

Abstract This paper, based on data from two recent national surveys of the residents of municipalities in Norway, compares rural and urban elderly people’s degree of satisfaction with locally available services and their reported involvement with others in the community. It focuses in particular on their living conditions and indicators of well-being, including their access to home care and medical services and their degree of participation and trust in local social networks. Two findings stand out. First, contrary to common expectations, rural residents are at least as satisfied with their home care and medical services as their urban counterparts are. This parity reflects Norway's policy of subsidizing social welfare services in sparsely populated areas. Second, in keeping with common expectations, they report more frequent social contacts with their neighbours and greater participation in voluntary work than urban residents do.
The Canonical Correlation Analysis between the Fitness of Organizational Condition and Integration Possibility: The Evidence of Configurational Approach

In past literature, most studies discussed organizational fit from a single perspective instead of examining the positive and negative effects of high and low organizational fit through a comprehensive and concrete narrative and integrated concept. Furthermore, most studies attempted to explain "how to make integration work", while omitting "why integration is not easily achieved", often resulting in post-mergers and acquisitions (M&A) failure. This study surveyed top managers working for publicly-traded Taiwanese companies which had processed M&A in the past five years. We randomly chose qualifying companies by using secondary data, and then mailed 300 questionnaires to top managers of the respective firms who were directly or indirectly involved in the M&A. The results of this study indicate the possibility of integration project after M&A has been proven. It signifies high organizational fit companies are more likely to implement organizational management than companies with low organizational fit. Second, the relationship between the organizational fit and the integration possibility of organizational management shows a positive correlation. Specifically, the symmetry of power contains a high correlation with four variables of organizational management.
HD 5388 b is a 69 MJup companion instead of a planet

We examined six exoplanet host stars with non-standard Hipparcos astrometric solution, which may be indicative of unrecognised orbital motion. Using Hipparcos intermediate astrometric data, we detected the astrometric orbit of HD 5388 at a significance level of 99.4% (2.7 σ). HD 5388 is a metal-deficient star and hosts a planet candidate with a minimum mass of 1.96 MJ discovered in 2010. We determined its orbit inclination to be i = 178.3 +0.4 ◦ −0.7 and the corresponding mass of its companion HD 5388 b to be M2 = 69 ± 20 MJ. The orbit is seen almost face-on and the companion mass lies at the upper end of the brown-dwarf mass range. A mass lower than 13 MJ was excluded at the 3 σ-level. The astrometric motions of the five other stars had been investigated by other authors revealing two planetary companions, one stellar companion, and two statistically insignificant orbits. We conclude that HD 5388 b is not a planet but most likely a brown-dwarf companion. In addition, we find that the inclinations of the stellar rotation axis and the companion’s orbital axis differ significantly.
Audit Rotation; Creative Accounting, Audit Independence And Objectivity

The debate for audit firms and audit team rotation had been on the increase since the collapse of major multi-national firms in recent years, most scholars and industrialist/ government agents and officials had laid hold on the negligence of auditors to minor acts of creative accounting by managements of such firms, which cumulate into world class frauds leading to economic melt-downs. This study evaluates this claim by using empirical means to determine the effect of audit rotation on creative accounting. Believing that a long relationship between auditors and staff/management of auditee firms will possibly result to auditors compromising standards on minor but intentional acts of fraud and violation of internal control guidelines. It also examine the relationship between audit rotation and independence, objectivity and financial discipline of management. Using the statistical package for social sciences, the researchers used spearman correlation coefficient to test proposed hypotheses of the relationships of the variables. A questionnaire was designed to collect primary data from one hundred and eighty respondents drawn from audit firms and companies in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. The result of the analysis shows that audit rotation has a positive effect on creative accounting, audit objectivity, independence and financial discipline. The researchers therefore recommended that audit rotation should be seen by shareholders, relevant regulatory authorities, investors, corporate providers of interest capital and intervention fund along with the Governments as a means of guaranteeing corporate survival in this desperate get rich quick laden economy. KEY WORDS: Audit, Rotation, Creative, Accounting, Independence and Objectivity
Students’ School Performance in Language and Mathematics: Effects of Hope on Attributions, Emotions and Performance Expectations

This study examined (a) students’ (n= 342, both genders, grades 5 and 6) attributions and emotions for their subjectively perceived school performance in language and mathematics as successful or unsuccessful, (b) the role of students’ hope (pathways thinking, agency thinking) in the: perceived performance in the above school subjects as successful or unsuccessful, subsequent attributions and emotions, impact of attributions on emotions, and,in turn,interactive effect on performance expectations. The estimated as successful and unsuccessful school performance was predominately attributed to stable and unstable (external in language) factors, respectively. The students experienced intense positive and moderate negative emotions for the perceived successful and unsuccessful school performance, respectively. Hope (mainly, agency thinking) positively influenced the attributions (particularly, stability) and emotions (mainly, pathway thinking), and the impact of attributions on emotions, mainly in unsuccessful performance in mathematics. Hope, attributions and emotions had unique and complimentarily effect on performance expectations.
Cost Efficiency of International Tourist Hotels in Taiwan: A Data Envelopment Analysis Application

This paper uses the data envelopment analysis approach to measure cost, allocative and overall technical efficiencies of international tourist hotels (ITHs) in Taiwan during 1997–2006. There are three outputs, three inputs, three input prices and four environmental variables in the empirical model. The cost inefficiency of these hotels is from overall technical inefficiency. International tourist hotels in Taiwan have an average efficiency of 57%. Chain systems, non-metropolitan areas and occupancy rate have significantly positive impacts on all efficiency scores of Taiwan's ITHs. The distance from the nearest international airport significantly worsens their efficiency scores.
Discontinuous Galerkin approximations for elliptic problems

In this article, we analyze a discontinuous finite element method recently introduced by Bassi and Rebay for the approximation of elliptic problems. Stability and error estimates in various norms are proven. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 16: 365–378, 2000
Optimizing layout of obstacles for enhanced mixing in microchannels

To improve mixing, obstacles have been placed in the channel to try to disrupt flow and reduce the diffusion path. The disruption to flow velocity field alters the flow direction from one fluid to another. In this way, convection may occur to enhance the mixing. Ideally, properly designed geometric parameters, such as layout and number of obstacles, improve the mixing performance without increasing the pressure drop. In this work, CoventorWareTM, a commercial computational fluid dynamics tool for microfluidics was used to study the mixing of two liquids in a 'Y' channel. The results indicate that asymmetric layout of the obstacle has more effect on the mixing than the number of obstacles. Placing obstacles in the microchannels is a novel method for mixing in microfluidic devices, and the results can provide useful information in the design of these devices.
Quality Control of Soil Water Data in Applied Climate

Soil moisture is a key state variable from both climate and hydrologic cycle assessment perspectives. Recently, automated measurements of soil moisture with sensors deployed at sites in a real-time monitoring network have provided valuable new data to monitor the soil water resource. However, to assure the quality of the data, quality control QC tools are needed. Earlier studies left little literature on the QC of soil water data as measurements were generally not part of a network that routinely collected measurements. This paper presents a systematic QC analysis and methodology to evaluate the performance of candidate QC techniques using a spatiallyextensive soil water data set. The six tests included are based on the general behavior of soil moisture, the statistical characteristics of the measurements, the soil properties, and the precipitation measurements. The threshold, step change, and spatial regression test proved most effective in identifying data problems. The results demonstrate that these methods will lead to early identification of potential instrument failures and other disturbances to the soil water measurements. DOI: 10.1061/ ASCE HE.1943-5584.0000174 CE Database subject headings: Soil water; Hydrologic data; Quality control; Weather; Nebraska; Case studies. Author keywords: Soil water; Soil water data; Quality control; Applied Climate Information System ACIS ; Automated Weather Data Network AWDN ; Nebraska; Theta probe; Vitel probe.
Antiretroviral Drug Resistance In Brazilian Children Infected By Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1

The purpose is to determine the prevalence of drug-resistance mutations in HIV-1 infected children under antiretroviral treatment from Brazil. Blood samples from sixty one human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vertically-infected Brazilian children are studied. DNA was extracted from the samples, and a 1.0 kb fragment containing HIV-1 PR and RT-coding sequence were amplified by Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction sequencing. The HIV-1 sequencing, based on the polymerase gene sequences (protease and reverse transcriptase regions), was as follows; subtype B (83.6%), subtype F (9.8%) and B/F viral recombinant forms (6.6%). Two major protease inhibitor-resistance associated mutations, M36I and L90M, were most prevalent in our samples (32.8%), as well as the polymorphism L63P (42.6%). Many mutations associated with reduced susceptibility to nucleoside or nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors were detected: M184V (42.6%), M41L (37.7%), D67N (26.2 %), T215Y (24.6%), L210W (21%). This study showed that 85.2% of the studied population showed evidence of therapy failure, with the presence of viral genomic mutations associated with drug resistance.
The Possible Effects of Need for Uniqueness’s Dimensions on Luxury Brands: Case of Iran and UAE

The current research aims to explore the possible effects of need for uniqueness’s dimensions on fashion luxury brands purchase intentions and to compare Kish and Dubai market in this perspective. The researchers consider three dimensions for uniqueness: creative choice, similarity avoidance and unpopular choice. In addition, the relations between those three dimensions were investigated.Findings indicate that consumers want to express their individuality, and they also want to maintain social norms. This findings support the idea that some consumers prefer expensive and high quality brands that are considered prestigious. This study reveals that there is a relation between creativity choice and unpopular choice among respondents of two markets and the relation between unpopular choice and similarity avoidance, creativity choice and similarity avoidance is only valid among respondents of Iran. The definition of uniqueness for both markets is the same due to order of importance for each constructs in mind of participants in the survey while this definition remain the same between genders and among respondents with different level of education.
Effect of Salt Stress on Seed Germination, Shoot and Root Length in Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Salinity is one of the most environmental problems in arid and semi-arid region. It is an abiotic stress factor which restricts crop production and affects development of plants. One of the these plants is basil ( Ocimum basilicum ). It is an annual medicinal and aromatic plant from Lamiaceae family. The present study was carried out to determine the response of different salt concentrations from 0 to 240 mM doses which increasing 20 mM. The experiment was conducted with randomized complete block design with 3 replications and placed 20 number from seeds of each plant in petri dishes. 39 petris were used consisting from 1 plant x 13 salt levels x 3 replicats. Germination tests were made at constant temperature (29±1 °C), dark field and drying oven in laboratory conditions. Appropriate test solution was placed at each petri dish being 5 ml and was changed with an interval of two days. According to the study results, germination speed and power of basil seeds completed within 3-15 days. The results noted that root lenght changed between 0.08-5.07 cm, shoot lenght changed between 0.1-5.82 cm in the basil and they changed between 10-100% germination rate between the 0-240 mM salt concentrations. The lowest germination speed and power were seen in 240 mM and the highest germination speed and power were seen in 20 mM except control condition. Germination percentage of basil seeds were decreased from 0 (control) to 240 mM. In addition to this, the highest shoot and root lenght were obtained from 20 mM and the lowest shoot and root lenght were obtained from 240 mM except control condition. Root lenght/shoot lenght was also determined changing between 0.43-1.27. According to results, it was determined that germination number and rate, shoot and root lenght were statistically affected by different salt doses. Considering different salt doses, the highest number of germination was obtained from 20 mM salt dose, the lowest value was determined in 240 mM salt application compared to control application. It is suggested that salt tolerence studies should be preferred under 200 mM salt dose to obtain the germination number and rate over 80% in different salt doses and in order to grow the basil under salted areas.
Diagnostic Performance of Quadruple Phase Multidetector Row Computed Tomography in Hepatoma: Comparison with Histopathological Diagnosis

Objective: To determine diagnostic accuracy of quadruple phase helical computed tomography scan in detection of hepatocellular carcinoma in individuals with hepatitis B and C, keeping histopathology as the gold standard. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in the Radiology and Imaging department of a tertiary care university hospital during 2014 to 2016. All serologically positive patients were included. Quadruple phase computed tomography scan was done and results were interrelated with histological diagnosis. Results: Hepatocellular carcinoma was accurately diagnosed in 76 out of 80 patients using Quadruple phase computed tomography scan (sensitivity, 95%). It was correctly excluded in 70 of 72 patients (specificity, 97.2%). The overall diagnostic accuracy of Quadruple phase computed tomography scan for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma was 96.05%. The positive and negative predictive values were 97.4% and 94.59% respectively. Conclusion: Quadruple phase computed tomography is more effective in evaluating hepatocellular carcinoma than conventional biphasic and triphasic computed tomography scans. We propose it as the technique of first preference for imaging workup in patients with Hepatitis B and C.
Strategic ambiguity and decision-making: an experimental study

We conducted a set of experiments to compare the effect of ambiguity in single-person decisions and games. Our results suggest that ambiguity has a bigger impact in games than in ball and urn problems. We find that ambiguity has the opposite effect in games of strategic substitutes and complements. This confirms a theoretical prediction made by Eichberger and Kelsey (J Econ Theory 106:436–466, 2002). In addition, we note that subjects’ ambiguity attitudes appear to be context dependent: ambiguity loving in single-person decisions and ambiguity averse in games. This is consistent with the findings of Kelsey and le Roux (Theory Decis 79:667–688, 2015).