Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Empirical Analysis on the Dividend Life-Cycle eory: Evidence from Japan

 is paper aims to clarify a characteristic of the dividend policies of Japanese fi rms by verifying the dividend life-cycle theory.  e analysis revealed that in Japan, growing fi rms choose further dividend increases compared to mature fi rms, and that such dividend increases by the growing fi rms are appreciated by the market more than those by the mature fi rms.  ese fi ndings are not consistent with the prediction by the dividend life-cycle theory, but can be interpreted using the concept of corroboration eff ect.
BIOMECHANICS OF CARRYING FUELWOOD BY WOMEN IN RURAL AREAS

The present study is focused on biomechanics of carrying fuel wood on the head by rural women since they carry too heavy bundles on their head and walk for several kilometres daily. The present study had been conducted to access the biomechanical stress faced by them in carrying the fuel wood on their head. An ergonomic assessment was done for the collection of fuel wood by the selected 10 rural women having permissible limit of physiological parameters to assess the work related discomfort faced by them. They were observed while carrying fuelwood and the required informations were recorded. The stress on musculoskeletal system was assessed in terms of grip fatigue and musculoskeletal discomfort of body parts using Grip dynamometer, flexicurve, Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), Ovako working posture assessment (OWAS), Visual Analogue Discomfort (VAD) scale and Human Body Map. Results revealed that among the three stages of head loading i.e., load lifting, carrying and landing, load carrying was most strenuous. The body parts being most affected were lower back, mid back, head, neck and upper arms. Hence, there was an urgent need to develop a solution for carrying fuel wood on a difficult terrain.
Determinants of demand for life insurance in European countries

In this study, we investigate the determinants of demand for life insurance in cross section of 31 European countries. As a result, we find that income is the central variable which affects life insurance consumption. In addition, while the impact of population and income on demand for life insurance is positive, education level and inflation affect life insurance consumption in negative way.
Factors Influencing Pressure Drop through a Dust Cake during Filtration

ABSTRACT Three kinds of dust materials, fly ash (MMAD : 6.28 μm), limestone (MMAD : 2.53 μm) and SAE fine dust (MMAD : 3.88 μm), have been used to test the dust cake compaction and its influence on the specific dust cake resistance coefficient at filtration velocity ranging from 1 to 9 cm/sec. An accurate laser dispacement system was used to determine dust cake thickness and the amount of dust cake compaction during filtration. In the range of filtration velocity tested, dust cake compaction has been found to occur. Higher filtration velocity results in larger amount of irreversible dust cake compaction and lesser amount of elastic dust cake compaction. The experimental specific dust cake resistance coefficient, K2, has also been found to increase with an increasing filtration velocity. For the three dusts tested, K2 relates to filtration velocity Vf as K2 ∞ Vn f, where n is 0.52, 0.38 and 0.43, for fly ash, limestone and SAE fine dust respectively. The theoretical K2 values predicted by the Rudnick-Happe.
Ear infections in primary school children of south western Nigeria

Background: Prevalence of ear infections in primary school children in Nigeria is scarcely documented and available studies are mostly hospital based. The aim of this Community based study is to define the point prevalence of ear infections among school children. Methods: Using a multi- staged stratified sampling technique, 630 pupils aged 6-12years, attending Government owed primary schools in two local government areas in the South Western Nigeria were recruited for the application of a structured questionnaire, single examination and classification using their socioeconomic index. Results: Three hundred and seven (48.7%) were females and three hundred and twenty three (51.3%) were males. Chronic otitis media had the highest prevalence of 7.9%, followed by acute otitis media and otitis externa (3.2%) while otomycosis (1.6%) had the lowest. Majority of the infections were unilateral and more prevalent in the males. It was observed that all the ear infections were more prevalent in pupils from the low socioeconomic class although not statistically significant. Conclusions: These results shows that ear infections is still common in our primary schools and that socioeconomic status and sex of the pupils did not significantly affect the occurrence of these ear infections. There is a need to incorporate health education programme in schools to prevent ear infections and the attendant disabilities.
The impact of the NSW Intensive Supervision Program on recidivism

Aim: To determine whether the NSW Juvenile Justice Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) is more effective than conventional case management in reducing the frequency of offending among young people. Method: Using a non-equivalent groups design, offending frequency over a 48-month period is examined for three groups of offenders; ISP graduates (those who signed up to and completed ISP), ISP terminates (those who signed up to but did not complete ISP) and a comparison group (those who received a supervised community order or a court-referred Youth Justice Conference in locations where ISP was not available). Days spent in custody over this 48-month period are also examined for each of these three groups. Time-series models are used to assess changes in offending frequency and days in custody during the 6 and 12 month periods after the intervention. Multilevel models are also used to test for group differences in offending frequency during the post intervention period after controlling for other factors. Results: Multilevel modelling showed a significant reduction in offending frequency during and after the intervention period for both ISP graduates and the comparison group, but the rate of decrease was not significantly different across these two groups. The time-series analysis found a significant reduction in offending frequency in the 6 months after the intervention start date that was restricted to non-Indigenous ISP graduates and Indigenous offenders from the comparison group. For all other groups (Indigenous ISP graduates, all ISP terminates and non-Indigenous offenders from the comparison group), offending decreased in the latter part of the study period but this drop did not coincide with commencement of the intervention. For the ISP graduates only, there was a significant reduction in days spent in custody during the 6-month intervention period. Nevertheless this downward trend was not sustained in the 6 months following program completion. Conclusion: There is no evidence that ISP impacts the offending frequency of young people over and above the usual effect of a supervised order. However, there is good evidence that young people who complete ISP spend significantly fewer days in custody during their treatment program.
Agricultural Mechanization: Assessment of Mechanization Impact Experiences on the Rural Population and the Implications for Ethiopian Smallholders

Ethiopia is currently at its GTP II program implementation years. In these years, the country is expected to undergo transformation of its economy. The rural Ethiopia is expected to transform itself in many ways including but not limited to demography, farm power, intensification, employment reduction, diversification of livelihoods and most importantly increased productivity. In this aspect, the contribution of appropriate agricultural mechanization cannot be relegated given the research and actual evidences from within and other developing countries. Hence, utilization of appropriate agricultural mechanization is expected to enhance the transformation of rural Ethiopia and lead to a middle income country by 2025. Therefore, this review of literature was undertaken to bring to light the various opportunities of appropriate agricultural mechanization as an input for transformation. It tries to link the different effects of mechanization under a developing economy. Mechanization once implemented with great ambition and ultimate failure has resulted in unfitness to the Ethiopian condition. In addition to land holding and other institutional issues, demography resulted in the idea and conclusion by most Ethiopians that mechanization will not work in Ethiopia at all. The great deviation in assuming the contribution of mechanization to the development process as a whole is intensified by the poor perception of people about it. Most people declare mechanization only refers to tractor and combine harvester. However, mechanization includes the different small and medium agricultural implements used in the production, processing and transporting of agricultural produces. Generally Indian experience shows that mechanization has a positive overall effect on the development of rural areas. With certain opportunity costs especially little displacement of human labor, mechanization having a response coefficient of 0.45 bears an important part of the agricultural production system. However, owing to the land conditions of Ethiopian smallholder what is most important is selective use of mechanization technologies that could increase the technical efficiency of the smallholder through increasing the labor and land productivity. So from the review it is possible to conclude that mechanization of agriculture bears undisputed truth for improving food security, creating employment opportunities, increasing productivity, reducing loss and promoting economic gender empowerment while maintaining environmental degradation to lower levels.
Title Longitudinal and seasonal variation of stream N uptake in an urbanizing watershed : effect of organic matter , stream size , transient storage and debris dams Permalink

We examined seasonal and spatial linkages between N cycling and organic matter for a suburban stream in Maryland and addressed the question: How do longitudinal NH4 ? uptake patterns vary seasonally and what is the effect of organic matter, stream size, transient storage and debris dams? We applied a longitudinal (stream channel corridor) approach in a forested stream section and conducted short-term nutrient addition experiments (adapted to account for the effect of nutrient saturation) covering 14–16 reaches, and compared two distinct seasons (late fall 2003 and late summer 2004). Longitudinal NH4 ? uptake rate patterns had a distinct seasonal reversal; fall had the highest uptake rates in the upper reaches, while summer had the highest uptake rates in the lower reaches. This seasonal reversal was attributed to organic matter and evidenced by DON patterns. Transient storage did not have an expected effect on uptake rates in fall because it was confounded by leaf litter; litter produced higher uptakes, but also may have reduced transient storage. In summer however, uptake rates had a positive correlation with transient storage. Debris dams had no distinct effect on uptake in fall because of their recent formation. In summer however, the debris dam effect was significant; although the debris dams were hydraulically inactive then, the upstream reaches had 2–5 fold higher uptake rates. The seasonal and longitudinal differences in NH4 ? uptake reflect interactions between flow conditions and the role of organic matter. Urbanization can alter both of these characteristics, hence affect stream N processing.
Investigation of the Electrohydraulic Forming Process with respect to the Design of Sharp Edged Contours

The overcoming of design constraints with respect to forming of sharply contoured sheet metal workpieces made of high strength steel or other materials which are difficult to form is an important aspect in sheet metal part production. One interesting solution to extend existing forming limits can be the use of electrohydraulic forming as single forming operation or in combination with quasi-static hydroforming. Apart from promising results regarding the feasible part geometries this process allows a quite efficient production due to its potential to reduce equipment expenses. Current research work at the Chair of Forming and Machining Technology (LUF) at Paderborn University deals with a comparison of investigations on both processes, quasistatic and high speed hydroforming. Recent results show an adequate comparison of achievable edge radii using an oblong die geometry and sheet metal made of thin stainless steel. It can be seen that when using electrohydraulic forming an increase of discharge energy leads to smaller radii than achievable by quasi-static hydroforming. An additional potential can be seen in the process characteristic itself because the very short pressure pulse allows a significant reduction of locking forces using only the inertia of the tooling mass.
Formulation and implementation of the relativistic Fock-space coupled cluster method for molecules

An implementation of the relativistic multireference Fock-space coupled cluster method is presented which allows simultaneous calculation of potential surfaces for different oxidation states and electronic levels of a molecule, yielding values for spectroscopic constants and transition energies. The method is tested in pilot calculations on the I2 and HgH molecules, and is shown to give a good and balanced description of various electronic states and energies.
Information, efficiency, and welfare in agricultural markets

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have spread rapidly in the developing world. There has been considerable interest in the potential role ICTs, particularly mobile phones, have begun to play in the marketing of agricultural outputs in these countries. In this article, we discuss the potential impacts ICTs may have on welfare, both in terms of potential efficiency gains (via improved arbitrage), and welfare transfers among agents in the supply chain (via reduced informational asymmetries and market power). We also review the recent empirical evidence for such effects.
Internet Motives of Users in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Korea

ABSTRACT The Web Motivation Inventory (WMI) is used in academic research and is cited in the academic Internet advertising literature. To date, the scale has only been tested on U.S. consumers. This research replicates the WMI using consumers from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and South Korea. Our findings revealed the same four-factor structure for three of the four countries, providing evidence of the scale’s global stability. However, the four motives--research, communicate, surf, and shop-differed significantly among the countries.
THE ECO-EFFICIENCY OF THE DAIRY CHEESE CHAIN: AN ITALIAN CASE STUDY

The eco-efficiency of mozzarella cheese production was investigated in two dairy chains that differ in liquid whey recycling, with whey recycling (B) and without whey recycling (A), in cow diets. The total eco-efficiency (total GVA/total GWP) for 1 kg of mozzarella cheese ranged from € 0.19 (B) to € 0.16 per kg CO2-eq (A). The cheese-making phase of each diet accounted for about 3% of GWP total emissions. The mozzarella cheese making phase had the highest eco-efficiency ratio, while the milk production phase showed the lowest economic value and the highest impact. Findings suggest improvements in reducing the environmental burden of the primary phase while increasing its economic value.
From vicious to virtuous circles : gender and micro-enterprise development

In this paper the author reviews some of the past and current experience of micro-enterprise programmes for women: training, credit and producer groups and co-operatives. Although there are some successes, the evidence indicates that the majority of programmes fail to make any significant impact on women's incomes. Most programmes, including co-operatives, have on the whole benefited better-off women. They cannot be assumed to have a beneficial impact on gender inequalities, but may increase workloads without increasing access to incomes within the household. They also cannot be assumed to be of greater benefit than other types of employment programmes to women labourers. The author argues that the diversity of the small-scale sector on the one hand, and the complexity of constraints posed by poverty and inequality on the other, make the likelihood of any easy "blueprint" for successful women's micro-enterprise development extremely slim. Both the market and empowerment approaches to micro-enterprise development contain a number of inherent tensions. These are complicated rather than resolved through the co-option of participation within the market approach, and greater attention to efficiency within the empowerment approach. What is clear from this paper is that micro-enterprise development for women is unlikely to be an "all-win", "bottom-up" solution to a wide range of development problems, as much of the rhetoric would imply. It cannot be seen as a substitute for welfare programmes or direct efforts to support labour and address gender inequality. Even in terms of narrow aims of increasing beneficiary incomes, micro-enterprise development is unlikely to succeed for the vast majority of poor women (rather than a small number of better-off women) unless it is part of a transformed wider agenda. There are particularly serious implications for any reliance on micro-enterprise programmes as the main focus of a wider strategy for poverty alleviation and change in gender inequality.
Magnetotail dipolarization and associated current systems observed by Cluster and Double Star

[1] A dipolarization and its associated current systems are studied using Cluster, Double Star TC1, and ground-based observations. The Cluster spacecraft are located approximately 16 R E downtail near 0030 LT. The Double Star TC1 spacecraft is located more earthward at approximately 7 R E just before local midnight. Auroral observations by the Wideband Imaging Camera on the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration spacecraft are used to determine the onset times of substorms. It is shown that the magnetic phenomena at the earthward site of a magnetic reconfiguration region are governed by field-aligned currents, which in their turn generate auroral brightenings near the foot points of the spacecraft. It is also shown that the inward and outward motion of the dipolarization front near Cluster has a direct influence on the parallel plasma flow at TC1, indicating a piston mechanism. Just like a piston, the inward moving dipolarization at Cluster pushes in plasma along with the flux transport, which turns to parallel plasma flow at TC1. When the flow reverses at Cluster, i.e., outgoing flux transport, the plasma gets "sucked out" again, which is directly reflected in the plasma data from TC1.
Use of orange peel as an adsorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) from its aqueous solution

The adsorption of Cr(VI) on activated carbon of orange peel (waste material) has been studied. Orange peel after carbonization and acid activation respectively, is found to be highly suitable for the removal of Cr(VI) from its aqueous solution. The effects of adsorbents surface, p H change, concentration of Cr(VI), adsorbent dosages and contact time on Cr(VI) removal have been studied. FTIR, BET and SEM analysis are used to characterize the adsorbent. The UV-Visible spectrophotometric technique is used for the estimation of concentration of Cr(VI) after adsorption. The equilibrium data are applied on Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the values of their corresponding constants are evaluated from the slopes and intercepts of their respective plots. The kinetic data are analyzed using the pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order equations. The results show that the activated carbon of orange peel (ACOP) can be utilized as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) ions from its aqueous solution. It’s easy availability and abundance makes it a strong choice in the investigation of economic way of metal removal.
Effect of Deposit Volume on Banks' Lending Behaviour in the Nigerian Post-Consolidation Era

Lending represents one of the core functions of commercial banking system. The essential role of banks in the economy has been to intermediate funds between surplus and deficit economic units. In the process of carrying out this primary task, banks have found themselves performing a number of functions which include: the mobilization of savings, stimulation of investment and economic growth, assistance in resources allocation, boosting of international trade and promotion of the payment system. The few studies which have been conducted on bank lending in Nigeria focused on the pre-consolidation banking era. This study examines the effect of deposit volume on bank lending behaviour in the Nigerian post-consolidation banking period. The population of the study comprises the 22 deposit money banks operating in Nigeria as at December, 2012. Data were obtained from the audited annual reports of the 22 banks for the post-consolidation period of 2006-2012. The analysis was conducted using regression analysis with the aid of SPSS package. The results revealed a positive and significant relationship between deposit volume and loan and advances in the selected banks. The study recommends that future researchers should investigate other factors which may exert some influence on the lending behaviour deposit money banks in Nigeria beside deposit volume. Specifically, factors such as capitalization, interest rates, gross domestic product, and liquidity ratio were mentioned.
On the Magnet Effect of Foreign Direct Investment

We extend Antras and Helpman (2004) on firm heterogeneity and organizational choice to a dynamic setting with FDI uncertainty, in which the probability of investment failure decreases with the host country's infrastructure level and increases with the technological complexity facing each firm. Moreover, it decreases over time as the accumulated mass of firms succeeding in FDI increases. We show that a minimum level of infrastructure is required to trigger a first wave of industrial migration. We then formalize the often noted "magnet effect" of FDI-the first wave of industrial migration generates positive externality (information spillover) for subsequent investors, which stimulates a second wave of industrial migration. The process continues until the power of the "magnet" reaches its steady-state level. In contrast with the predictions in Antras and Helpman (2004), we show that firms with intermediate productivity levels are the ones migrate first, while the most productive and the least productive firms tend to stay behind. This non-monotonic relationship between firms' productivity and their FDI propensities is consistent with the patterns of Taiwanese firms undertaking FDI in China.
Development of TQM in Steel Manufacturers' Production

The objective of this study was to examine the development of quality management in Rautaruukki Plc’s Production division. The idea is to describe critical incidents in the development of quality management in the light of the historical development, current state and theoretical framework, as well as analyse whether this description follows the development process described in the literature. The theoretical framework – development through the literature – describes the historical development of quality management, the development and assessment models of quality management as well as some essential sectors, tools and techniques of quality management presented in the literature. The case study is based on ten interviews made in four production sites of the case organisation. The interviews were used to create a description of the historical development and the applications of different sectors of quality management. We have also created three alternative scenarios to outline the future of the organisation.