Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Swaziland's Sugar Export: A Gravity Model Approach

The sugar industry in Swaziland is the highest contributor to the government treasury through taxation, social services and trade. The sugar industry also plays a crucial role in the Swazilandi¯s economy by influencing economic growth and employment. Given the role of the Swazilandi¯s sugar industry, it is therefore important to understand the influencing factors of the Swaziland sugar exports volumes to its major trading partners. The study objective was to analyze the factors determining sugar export from Swaziland to her trading partners using a gravity model approach. The study used panel dataset for the period 2001 to 2013. The results showed that Swazilandi¯s GDP, importeri¯s GDP, importeri¯s land area and official common language had significant positive effects on Swazilandi¯s sugar exports. The study further revealed that the creation of COMESA and EU trading blocs had significant positive effects on the Swazilandi¯s sugar exports. This implies that the above-mentioned factors have contributed to the sugar trade flows increase during the time period under study. On the other hand, importeri¯s population, Swaziland openness and distance between Swaziland and her trading partneri¯s capital cities had a significant negative effect on Swazilandi¯s sugar export flows. It is therefore recommended that policies that lead to the exceptional advancement of the Swaziland and importeri¯s economy should be promoted which will have an effects on the Swaziland GDP and importeri¯s GDP. Trading with less self-sufficient, neighbouring countries and deepening the economic integration processes enhances Swaziland sugar exports flows.
Prevalence of Psychological Stress among Undergraduate Students Attending a Health Programme in a Malaysian University

Psychological stress among undergraduate students is associated with poor academic results, physical ill-health and psychiatric disorders. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of psychological stress and its associated factors among undergraduate students attending a health programme in a local university. This is a cross-sectional study among undergraduate students attending a health programme in a local university. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used to determine the presence of psychological stress at a cut-off point of 4 and above. Analysis was conducted to determine any association between gender, ethnicity, year of study in the university, recent health-seeking contact with a doctor, and psychological stress among the participants. The prevalence of psychological stress among undergraduate students attending a health program in a Malaysian University was 49.3%. There was no significant association with any of the socio-demographic factors studied (p>0.05). The prevalence of psychological stress in this study was significantly high, and irrespective of gender, ethnicity, year of study in the university, and recent health-seeking contact with a doctor. Hence, the findings of this study show that it may be a useful strategy to integrate such health programs regularly in activities of colleges and universities, with the aim of promoting mental health and wellness among the students.
Trade Liberalization and Productivity Growth: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

The impact of trade liberalisation on productivity growth is still an empirical issue; the theoretical literature is as yet unclear on the direction of any such association. This paper develops an analytical framework and employs it to empirically test if trade liberalisation in Indian manufacturing has raised total factor productivity (TFP) growth. The answer is in the affirmative. Our results also support a key postulate of the new growth theories that liberalisation of the intermediate good sectors has a larger favourable impact on TFP growth than that of the final good sectors. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
MicroCT imaging reveals differential 3D micro-scale remodelling of the murine aorta in ageing and Marfan syndrome

Aortic wall remodelling is a key feature of both ageing and genetic connective tissue diseases, which are associated with vasculopathies such as Marfan syndrome (MFS). Although the aorta is a 3D structure, little attention has been paid to volumetric assessment, primarily due to the limitations of conventional imaging techniques. Phase-contrast microCT is an emerging imaging technique, which is able to resolve the 3D micro-scale structure of large samples without the need for staining or sectioning. Methods: Here, we have used synchrotron-based phase-contrast microCT to image aortae of wild type (WT) and MFS Fbn1C1039G/+ mice aged 3, 6 and 9 months old (n=5). We have also developed a new computational approach to automatically measure key histological parameters. Results: This analysis revealed that WT mice undergo age-dependent aortic remodelling characterised by increases in ascending aorta diameter, tunica media thickness and cross-sectional area. The MFS aortic wall was subject to comparable remodelling, but the magnitudes of the changes were significantly exacerbated, particularly in 9 month-old MFS mice with ascending aorta wall dilations. Moreover, this morphological remodelling in MFS aorta included internal elastic lamina surface breaks that extended throughout the MFS ascending aorta and were already evident in animals who had not yet developed aneurysms. Conclusions: Our 3D microCT study of the sub-micron wall structure of whole, intact aorta reveals that histological remodelling of the tunica media in MFS could be viewed as an accelerated ageing process, and that phase-contrast microCT combined with computational image analysis allows the visualisation and quantification of 3D morphological remodelling in large volumes of unstained vascular tissues.
Bioconversion of municipal (organic) solid waste into nutrient-rich vermicompost by earthworms (Eudrilus eugeniae, Eisenia fetida and Perionyx excavatus).

Changes in the concentrations of major nutrients of vermicompost of Municipal Organic Solid Waste [MOSW] processed by three species of earthworms viz., Eudrilus eugeniae, Eisenia fetida, and Perionyx excavatus and its simple compost were assessed during different intervals. The bulk mass of MOSW was reduced up to 65, 55 and 40% by vermicomposting mediated by E. eugeniae, E. fetida and P. excavatus, respectively, and up to 20% in the compost. The pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and concentrations of major nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium in the vermicompost and compost gradually increased while the organic carbon, C/N and C/P ratios decreased as the composting process progressed from 0 to 60 days (P<0.05). The vermicompost of all the earthworm species possessed significantly higher concentrations of nutrients than the compost and substrate (P<0.05). Moreover, among them, vermicompost of E. eugeniae acquired higher nutrients than that of E. fetida, P. excavatus, and compost (P<0.05). Thus, E. eugeniae may be chosen for vermicomposting of MOSW over the other two species of earthworms. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Investigating open source software creators through the lens of an entrepreneur

The purpose of our research is to explore the characteristics of the creators of open source software (OSS) and to determine if there is a connection between OSS creators and entrepreneurs. We begin with a review of the literature on OSS and entrepreneurship, and then develop a conceptual model that seeks to define what it means to be an entrepreneur. We use the conceptual model as a lens to examine if OSS creators can be classified as entrepreneurs via an exploratory multiple-case research approach based on OSSprojects found in the SourceForge repository. Our study establishes an association between the characteristics of an OSS creator and an entrepreneur.
Impact of Cement Industry Pollution on Morphological Attributes of Wheat (Triticum Species) Kodinar Gujarat, India.

This study was aimed to know the effect of cement industry pollutants viz. SO2, NOx and PM, on morphological as well as yield characteristics of wheat (Triticum sp.) plants grown at different distance from the cement industry at Kodinar, Gujarat, India. The wheat plant near the industry showed deterioration in morphological characteristics. The study indicated that parameters reductions in wheat correlated directly with particulate pollutant which led to lower yield at more polluted site. Increased concentration of cement dust pollutant causes invisible injuries like progressive decline in photosynthetic ability and closure of leaf stomata and it affect the growth and productivity of plant. It was observed that wheat plants near the cement industry were having morphological reduction in growth and yield and as the distance from industry increases growth and yield also increases. Overall study shows that control plants were healthier in term of morphological and yield parameter. It was found that wheat plant growing near the cement industry was adversely affected.
Grazing management systems: creep grazing for suckling goat kids.

Creep grazing is a management system designed to match particular pasture forages and (or) grazing areas with specific nutritional requirements of different classes of grazing animals. It allows access of young nursing animals to forage of high quality and palatability (creep area) while excluding mature animals. The young animals through special openings (creep gates) are able to graze the creep area and return for suckling, thus possibly increasing weight gain and weaning weight without concentrate supplementation. In this paper, creep grazing by goats is described, with special attention given to considerations of the location of the creep area, creep gates and forage species. Kids' foraging behaviour and relevant management practices, with highlighting of areas deserved of future research attention, were also discussed.
Effect of polymers and excipients on the release kinetics, bioadhesion, and floatability of metronidazole tablet

Stomach-specific floating tablet of metronidazole based on the buoyancy and bioadhesion concept was prepared with a purpose to retain the drug in stomach for longer duration and helps in releasing the drug in the antrum region of gastric mucosa, a safe heaven for Helicobacter pylori.This research work systematically studied the effects of various polymeric blends of bioadhesive polymers namely chitosan and carbopol 971P with low density polymer- methocel K100LV on the desired in vitro drug release profile in the stomach, buoyancy, swelling index, and mucoadhesion of tablet formulation. Chitosan and carbopol 971P concentration significantly influence the in vitro drug release and bioadhesion strength. An increase in buoyancy was observed with increase in Methocel K100LV concentration in the polymeric blend. The increase in buoyancy and drug release was obtained in the presence of microcrystalline cellulose, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium citrate.The optimum formulation provides desired high drug concentration (~35%) during 1 hour and sustained release up to 12 hours, following the Higuchi model. The mechanism of release of metronidazole from the floating bioadhesive tablets was anomalous diffusion transport. The studies indicated successful formulation of gastroretentive compressed tablet with excellent controlled release, mucoadhesion, and hydrodynamic balance.
SILCC-Zoom: Polarization and depolarization in molecular clouds

We present synthetic dust polarisation maps of 3D magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of molecular clouds before the onset of stellar feedback. The clouds are modelled within the SILCC-Zoom project and are embedded in their galactic environment. The radiative transfer is carried out with POLARIS for wavelengths from 70 $\mu$m to 3 mm at a resolution of 0.12 pc, and includes self-consistently calculated alignment efficiencies for radiative torque alignment. We explore the reason of the observed depolarisation in the center of molecular clouds: We find that dust grains remain well aligned even at high densities ($n$ $>$ 10$^3$ cm$^{-3}$) and visual extinctions ($A_\text{V}$ $>$ 1). The depolarisation is rather caused by strong variations of the magnetic field direction along the LOS due to turbulent motions. The observed magnetic field structure thus resembles best the mass-weighted, line-of-sight averaged field structure. Furthermore, it differs by only a few 1$^\circ$ for different wavelengths and is little affected by the spatial resolution of the synthetic observations. Noise effects can be reduced by convolving the image. Doing so, for $\lambda$ $\gtrsim$ 160 $\mu$m the observed magnetic field traces reliably the underlying field in regions with intensities $I$ $\gtrsim$ 2 times the noise level and column densities above 1 M$_\text{sun}$ pc$^{-2}$. Here, typical deviations are $\lesssim$ 10$^\circ$. The observed structure is less reliable in regions with low polarisation degrees and possibly in regions with large column density gradients. Finally, we show that a simplified and widely used method without self-consistent dust alignment efficiencies can provide a good representation of the observable polarisation structure with deviations below 5$^\circ$.
Constraints on black hole spins with a general relativistic accretion disk corona model

The peaks in the spectra of the accretion disks surrounding massive black holes in quasars are in the far-UV or soft X-ray band, which are usually not observed. However, in the disk corona model, soft photons from the disk are Comptonized to high energy in the hot corona, and the hard X-ray spectra (luminosity and spectral shape) contain information on the incident spectra from the disk. The values of black hole spin parameter a* are inferred from the spectral fitting, which are spread over a large range, ∼ −0.94 to 0.998. We find that the inclination angles and mass accretion rates are well determined by the spectral fitting, but the results are sensitive to the accuracy of black hole mass estimates. No tight constraints on the black hole spins are achieved, if the uncertainties in black hole mass measurements are a factor of four, which are typical for the single-epoch reverberation mapping method. Recently, the accuracy of black hole mass measurement has been significantly improved to 0.2 – 0.4 dex with the velocity resolved reverberation mapping method. The black hole spin can be well constrained if the mass measurement accuracy is ≲ 50%. In the accretion disk corona scenario, a fraction of power dissipated in the disk is transported into the corona, and therefore the accretion disk is thinner than a bare disk for the same mass accretion rate, because the radiation pressure in the disk is reduced. We find that the thin disk approximation, H/R ≲ 0.1, is still valid if 0.3 < ṁ < 0.5, provided half of the dissipated power is radiated in the corona above the disk.
Trace Metals Geochemistry of Crude Oils from Umutu/Bomu Fields in South West Niger Delta Nigeria

Seven crude oil samples were collected from two oil fields south Niger Delta Nigeria which had not been previously characterized with trace metals and analyzed using Atomic absorption spectroscopy. The concentration of Fe ranges from 0.38 to 31.53 ppm, Zn ranges from 0.65 to 80.69 ppm, Pb ranges from 1.39 to 25.00 ppm, Cu ranges from 0.26 to 6.43 ppm, Cr ranges 0.60 to 2.94ppm, Cd ranges from 0.09 to 0.33ppm, Ni ranges from 0.63 to 8.93 ppm, Mn ranges from 0.21 to 2.25 ppm, V ranges 0.30 to 0.72 ppm, Co ranges from 0.38 to 0.62 ppm. The divergent ratios calculated from the concentration of the trace metals include V/Ni, V/(V+Ni), Co/ Ni and Fe/V, which varies between 0.36 and 0.67 for V/Ni, between 0.07 and 0.40 for V/(V+Ni), between 0.06 and 0.99 for Co/ Ni and finally between 1.26 and 43.78 for Fe/V. Two genetic groups of crude oils are identified and the organic matter originated from mixed sources deposited in an oxic environment.
SEISMIC VIBRATOR MODELLING

BAETEN, G.J.M. , FOKKEMA, J.T. and ZIOLKOWSKI, A.M. 1988. Seismic vibrator modelling. Geophysical Prospecting 36,22-65. The wavefield in, and at the surface of, a homogeneous, isotropic, perfectly elastic halfspace, excited by a traction distribution at the surface of the medium is investigated. The emitted wavefield is a spatial convolution of the surface tractions and the spatial impulse response. The properties of the wavefield in the far-field of the medium are derived and it is shown that the far-field particle velocity is essentially equal to a weighted sum of the time derivative of the integrated surface tractions, that is, of the components of the ‘ground force’. The theory is valid for an arbitrary geometry and orientation of the surface tractions, and is independent of the boundary conditions at the surface of the medium. The surface tractions are related to a source that consists of a mass distribution with an arbitrary force distribution imposed upon it. A boundary condition is introduced that accounts for the mass load and the forces applied to it but neglects vibrations within the mass. The boundary condition follows from the equation of motion of the surface mass load. The theory is applied to the Vibroseis configuration, using a P-wave vibrator model with a uniformly distributed force imposed on top of the baseplate, and assuming that horizontal surface traction components are absent. The distribution of displacement and stress directly underneath the baseplate of a single vibrator and an array of vibrators is investigated. Three different boundary conditions are used: (1) assuming uniform pressure, (2) assuming uniform displacement, (3) using the equation of motion of the baseplate as a boundary condition. The calculations of the distribution of stress and displacement over the plate for different elastic media and several frequencies of operation show that only the results obtained with the mixed boundary condition agree with measurements made in the field. The accuracy of three different phase-feedback signals is compared using synthetic data. Baseplate velocity phase-feedback leads to huge deviations in the determination of the farfield wavelet; reaction mass acceleration phase-feedback looks stable but neglects the differentiating earth filter; and phase-feedback to a weighted sum of baseplate and reaction mass accelerations becomes unstable with increasing frequency. The instability can be overcome using measurements over the whole baseplate. The model can be extended to a lossy layered earth.
THE DETERMINANTS OF INTENTION TO SHOP ONLINE AND EFFECTS OF BRAND EQUITY ON E-STORE PATRONAGE * Murat CEMBERCI

While the penetration of the Internet in consumers’ daily lives still continue with an increasing momentum, this new medium has experienced a radical transformation from being a communication tool to be an economic platform where consumers do not only communicate but also transact. In this perspective, online consumer behavior became an imp ortant area for both academics and professionals, which needs to be investigated and e xplored. As the Internet is a new technological channel for shopping, consumers need first to decid e to use this new channel for shopping and then make their online retailer preference. Thus, online consumer behavior involves a two-step process composed of intention to shop online and selection of e-store. The purpose of this study is to develo p and test a two steps online consumer behavior model which explains the dynamics of the intention and selection processes. A two staged research design hbeen implemented in the study. At the first stage, parallel to the existing literature, the effects of risk perceptions, technology acceptance fac tors, and benefit perceptions on the intention to shop on line has been measured. The effect of retailer bran d equity on e-store selection process has been measur ed on the second stage. The research hypotheses have been developed based on both the existing theo retical ground and current findings in the literature. The results of the study confirmed that risk perceptions, technology acceptance factors an d benefit perceptions regarding online shopping play a decisive role in the intention of consumers to shop online. A second important finding of the stud y is that once consumers’ involve into online shopping activity, the strength of retailers’ brand equity directly affects the consumers’ store preference.
The impact of angular momentum on black hole accretion rates in simulations of galaxy formation

Feedback from energy liberated by gas accretion onto black holes (BHs) is an attractive mechanism to explain the exponential cut-off at the massive end of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF). Semi-analytic models of galaxy formation in which this form of feedback is assumed to suppress cooling in haloes where the gas cooling time is large compared to the dynamical time do indeed achieve a good match to the observed SMF. Furthermore, hydrodynamic simulations of individual halos in which gas is assumed to accrete onto the central BH at the Bondi rate have shown that a self-regulating regime is established in which the BH grows just enough to liberate an amount of energy comparable to the thermal energy of the halo. However, this process is efficient at suppressing the growth not only of massive galaxies but also of galaxies like the Milky Way, leading to disagreement with the observed SMF. The Bondi accretion rate, however, is inappropriate when the accreting material has angular momentum. We present an improved accretion model that takes into account the circularisation and subsequent viscous transport of infalling material and include it as a "subgrid" model in hydrodynamic simulations of the evolution of halos with a wide range of masses. The resulting accretion rates are generally low in low mass ($\lsim 10^{11.5} \msun$) halos, but show outbursts of Eddington-limited accretion during galaxy mergers. During outbursts these objects strongly resemble quasars. In higher mass haloes, gas accretion occurs continuously, typically at $~10$ % of the Eddington rate, which is conducive to the formation of radio jets. The resulting dependence of the accretion behaviour on halo mass induces a break in the relation between galaxy stellar mass and halo mass in these simulations that matches observations.
Targeting Risk Lovers? Incentives for Voluntary Pension Savings with Heterogeneous Risk Preferences

Many countries need to stimulate voluntary pension-planning to meet the demands of an ageing population. Sweden has been a front-runner in introducing tax-deferred designated pension savings accounts along with self-directed individual public pension accounts. A particular feature is that savings are taxed by a presumptive return. In this paper, we show that with heterogeneous risk preferences, this tax-policy makes designated pensions unattractive for individuals with a high level of risk aversion. Using data on self-directed choices and designated pension-savings, we also empirically confirm our result. This paper sheds light on the importance of coherent policy-making in stimulating adequate pension planning and also on the negative consequences of a presumptive tax-design like e.g. the Dutch “Box-III” tax system.