Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Constraints of Rural Beef Cattle Cooperative Farmers: A Case Study of Ga-kibi, Norma and Mogalakwena in Blouberg

Agricultural co-operatives are tools used to accelerate the process of agricultural development. Co-operatives in South Africa are useful tools used to assuage poverty and improve the living standard of the rural household through pooling together the available resources. There is emerging evidence that beef cooperatives and their members can benefit from market oriented agriculture when smallholders farmers are integrated into the value chain management. Furthermore, institutional provisions along the value chain and policies seldom prioritize the needs of smallholder farmers and thus increased the barriers to production and market access. The purpose of this study is to evaluate production and marketing constraints as perceived by beef cattle cooperative farmers in Ga-kibi, Norma, and Mogalakwena. The specific objectives of the study were: (i) to assess production and marketing constraints of beef farmers’ cooperative; and (ii) to determine the role of speculators (traders) in marketing of beef cattle. The paper succinctly examines the tottering problems of speculators and concomitant contribution in the marketing of beef animals in the study areas. The study adduces some reasons for the poor performance of beef co-operatives in achieving their goal. These include amongst others: problem of pest and diseases, water stress, inadequate marketing infrastructures, insufficient market access, price fixing of culled stocks, labour and stock pilfering. Logistic regression was used to evaluate perception of constraints by beef cooperative farmers’. The response pattern revealed that the ability of farmers to perceive constraints increases with number of years of farming experience. The study concludes with proposals to improve the performance of agricultural co-operatives in the study areas.
Technological and methodological challenges of using classroom video to analyse physics teachers’ explanations

Abstract This paper reports a project conducted in twelve Grade 11 Physics classrooms in Edmonton, Canada, that used close analysis of video recordings of teacher explanations to explore the ways in which physics teachers explain concepts. The focus here is on discussion of the research methods and associated technological and methodological issues rather than on the specific issue of teacher explanations. Details of particular approaches to video analysis, including the qualitative video analysis software packages vPrism and Transana are given, and the costs and advantages of using video data discussed.
Slovene Twitter Analytics

The paper presents the results of metadata analysis in a corpus of 7.5 million Slovene tweets. In our analyses we primarily focus on the weekly and daily posting dynamics, their dependence on the account type (corporate vs. private) and user gender, as well as the dependence of the mentioned variables on retweeting, favoriting, text standardness and text sentiment. Through these analyses we gain insight into both user behaviour on social networks and the available linguistic material.
The Peak Stress Method Applied to Fatigue Strength Assessments of Load Carrying Transverse Fillet Welds with Toe or Root Failures

This paper deals with the local approach based on the Notch Stress Intensity Factors (NSIFs) to analyse the fatigue behavior of welded joints. In transverse load carrying fillet-welded joints, failure may occur either at the toe or at the root, depending on the geometry. At the toe, due to the flank angles that are usually encountered in practice, mode I local stresses are singular, while mode II stresses are not. Conversely, at the root of the particular joints analysed in the present paper both mode I and mode II stresses are singular and must be taken into account in fatigue assessments. Recently, a simplified finite element-based method to readily estimate the mode I NSIF and mode II SIF has been proposed (the so-called Peak Stress Method, PSM). According to the PSM, the mode I NSIF and mode II SIF are proportional to the finite values of the opening and sliding stresses, respectively, evaluated at the point of singularity by means of a finite element analysis, as soon as an appropriate mesh pattern is drawn. In this paper the PSM is first summarized and then applied to assess the fatigue strength of load carrying transverse fillet welds, where competition between toe and root failures exists.
Histogenetic Study of Verruciform Xanthoma of the Gingiva

Verruciform xanthoma is characterized macroscopically by papillomatous or verrucous hyperplasia of the mucosal epithelium and histopathologically by papillary epithelial hyperplasia and foam cell accumulation in the lamina propria between epithelial processes. This relatively rare lesion does not appear to be a true tumor, but rather an inflammatory event. Here, verruciform xanthoma of the gingiva was subjected to histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses. Notably, the cortical layer of the lesion exhibited a verrucous and granular outer surface, similar to a papilloma. Within the lesion, keratinized stratified squamous epithelium and epithelial process extensions were observed, and the connective tissue between clubbed epithelial processes was filled with foam cells. These foam cells exhibited strong cytoplasmic and membrane expression of CD68, α1-antitrypsin, and macrophage scavenger receptor-1 (MSR-1), as well as human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR and oxidized low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ox-LDL). The epithelial cells also expressed HLA-DR in the cytoplasm and cell membrane. By contrast, the expression of S-100 and CD1a in Langerhans cells was clearly reduced in the epithelium of the verruciform xanthoma, while the inflammatory infiltrating cell population comprised of mainly CD3or CD8-positive cells, with few CD20or CD4-positive cells. The increased lipid content of the cell membrane and concomitant epithelial hyperplasia causes cellular injury and leakage into the connective tissue consistent with dysregulated cellular immunity in the stratified squamous epithelium. Accordingly, it may be concluded that macrophages phagocytose these lipids and differentiate to foam cells.
An Equilibrium Analysis of the IPO Risk Information Supply and Demand

The efficiency of the securities market depends on the degree of the completeness of information. The efficiency is affected by the supply as well as the demand of the information. But there are few studies on the risk information demand of investors, and much fewer studies on the equilibrium of the IPO risk information supply and demand. Because of the frequent occurrences of information fraud behavior in the IPO market of China, Chinese investors pay a lot of attention to the risk information disclosure. This paper discussed the development of the Chinese IPO system and the current situation of the risk information disclosure. And then according to the problems, this paper gave a theoretical analysis of the equilibrium and disequilibrium conditions of the risk information supply and demand in the IPO market by examining the dynamic process between information supply and demand. Through the analysis, this paper found that there exist many information supply and demand deficiencies in the Chinese IPO market. The “make-up” phenomenon in IPO information disclosure has been very serious. The investors’ demand for valuable risk information disclosure is largely ignored. More attention needs urgently to be paid to the information demands of Chinese IPO investors.
A Regional Geoelectric Investigation For Groundwater Exploration In Minna Area, North West Nigeria.

A Regional Geoelectric survey using the Vertical Electrical Resistivity (VES) was used to investigate the land mass covering Minna and it's environ in Nigeria aimed at assessing the lithology beneath the area, delineate the aquiferous formations and its depths and thicknesses. The area was grided into 13 profiles spaced at 3 km intervals with each having 13 stations for the VES. A total of 169 VES points were occupied. The Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment was used for locating the stations on ground. The interpretation of the field data was carried out using the Zhody soft-ware, which converts the apparent resistivity as a function of electrode spacing to the true resistivity as a function of depth in two dimensions. The rocks of the area are largely of crystalline rocks, which include gneisses, migmatites and metasedimentary schists. The results show that the area is underlain by three layer lithologic sections. In some sections where the basement had probably suffered severe weathering and or fracturing, four or five layer models were obtained. The weathered/fractured layers along the transitional zones form the aquiferous formations in the area with a maximum thickness of about 45m.
Ketogenic Diet in Advanced Cancer: A Pilot Feasibility and Safety Trial in the Veterans Affairs Cancer Patient Population

In their natural state within the body, normal cells use cellular respiration as their main source of ATP and energy. Carbohydrate deprived cells easily depend on the resulting ketone bodies for an alternative energy source. This natural evolutionary adaptation to starvation allows for survival of normal cells during times of fasting or famine. Cancer cells in contrast are defective in this respect, lacking the ability to utilize ketone bodies for energy and depend heavily on glycolysis for survival. The pancreas senses increased carbohydrate intake resulting in increased insulin secretion. Normal growth throughout the body depends on insulin, which by itself is also a potent growth factor which binds to cell membrane insulin receptors and stimulates mitosis via signal transduction and DNA synthesis, resulting in less apoptosis or tumor cell death. Consequentially, carbohydrate restriction will increase tumor cell destruction. We are conducting a pilot study to examine the safety and tolerability of the ketogenic diet KD in patients with advanced cancer within the Veteran Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) oncology patient population.
Reading Recovery and the At-Risk First Grade Students.

A school district located in the southern region of the United States is implementing the Reading Recovery (RR) Program in 10 elementary schools. The RR program is an initiative to help elementary schools improve student learning, especially in the area of reading. A broad literature review framed this quantitative investigation. The overall evaluation question that guided this study was the impact of the RR program on schools' Stanford reading test scores. A quantitative-oriented evaluation methodology was used, specifically a quasi-experimental research design with post-test only (N = 20 schools). The continuous assessment system of the county under study provided the instrumentation. Schools were matched on four socio-economic characteristics, including percentage of students participating on the free/reduced lunch program. Findings indicated that, after one-year intervention in first grade, the RR program schools had higher vocabulary and phonetics scores than the control schools; and the control schools had higher reading comprehension test scores than the RR schools. Implications for policy, practice, and further research are discussed. Contains 18 references and 3 tables of data. Appendixes contain individual school data. (Author/RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
Mother–child emotion dialogues in families exposed to interparental violence

ABSTRACT This cross-sectional study examined the hypothesis that parent–child emotion dialogues among interparental violence (IPV) exposed dyads (n = 30; 4–12 years) show less quality than dialogues among nonexposed dyads (n = 30; 4–12 years). Second, we examined whether parental posttraumatic stress symptoms and parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were associated with the quality of the dialogues. As expected, in the IPV-exposed group, quality of mother–child emotion dialogues was of lesser quality; dyads often showed a lack of elaboration in their dialogue; mothers showed less sensitive guidance; and children showed less cooperation and exploration, compared to dialogues, dyads, mothers, and children in the nonexposed group. Although maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms and maternal history of ACEs were significantly higher in the IPV-exposed families than in the nonexposed families, these variables were not associated with the quality of emotion dialogues. Clinical implications and study limitations are discussed.
Asset illiquidity and dynamic bank capital requirements

This paper introduces banks into a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model by featuring asymmetric information as the underlying friction for banking. Asymmetric information about asset qualities causes a lemons problem in the asset market. In this environment, banks can issue liquid liabilities by pooling illiquid assets contaminated by asymmetric information. The liquidity transformation by banks results in a minimum value of common equity that banks must issue to avoid a run. This value increases with downside risk to the asset price and the expected degree of asset illiquidity. It rises during a boom if productivity shocks cause the business cycle.
Teen fathers perceptions and experiences of fatherhood: A qualitativeexploration with in-school teen fathers in a rural district in South Africa.

Background: Teen parenthood is a serious problem in South Africa and sub Saharan Africa. Research demonstrates that boys exposed to risk factors have an increased probability of fathering a child during their teenage years. However, there is paucity of studies on teen fathers relative to research on teen mothers. The aim of the study was to explore teen fathers’ perceptions and experiences of fatherhood. Methods: Twenty-five teenagers who fathered a child between 16-19 years participated in in-depth interviews. Teenagers were selected using purposive sampling from two high schools in a rural district in Limpopo Province, South Africa. NVivo data analysis software was used to facilitate data analysis of verbatim transcripts using thematic data analysis. Findings: Four themes emerged from the data; (a) reacting to being a teen father, (b) transition to becoming a father, (c) perception of self as a father, and (d) involvement with the child. Fatherhood came as a surprise to teen fathers who reacted with shock, denial, and fear. Their perceptions of good father were limited to a financial provider for the child. Most were transformed by the experience of being a father. They wanted to be good fathers and planned to complete school and get employment. The relationship with the child’s mother and lack of financial means to support the child were significant barriers to involvement in the life of their children. Conclusion: Given the high incidence of teenage pregnancy in South Africa, prevention of teen pregnancy interventions should design appropriate programs for teen fathers to prepare them to transition from teenagers to fatherhood. Healthcare professionals who engage with teen mothers during antenatal and post-natal care could use this opportunity to engage with teen fathers to empower them to cope with fatherhood.
The impact of board characteristics on firm's financial performance : evidence from the Netherlands.

This study examines the impact of board characteristics for 78 Dutch listed firms on the Euronext Amsterdam during the period 2014 till 2016. The Netherlands provides an interesting institutional setting because of their two-tier board structure. The studied board characteristics are board size, gender diversity, age diversity, nationality diversity and board meetings. Data on these independent variables are gathered from annual reports and the ORBIS database. We find that the frequency of board meetings has a negative influence on firm performance. There is no significant relationship between board size, gender diversity, age diversity and nationality diversity with firms financial performance. This study contributes to the literature because there are not many studies conducted regarding board characteristics in the Netherlands. So, these results show some new insights into the impact of board characteristics on firm performance in the Netherlands.
First Results of High Resolution Large-Eddy Simulations of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

As one of the most densely populated cities in the world Macau has to face particular difficulties in terms of creating a comfortable living environment. Narrow streets and high-density districts significantly reduce the natural ventilation. Especially in Macau's humid subtropical climate the natural ventilation should be used to decrease thermal stress. As an aggravating factor, Macau's population is still growing. In order to create new habitable space, five reclamation areas are currently being built around Macau's present coasts. This study investigates the pedestrian level ventilation in Macau using the parallelized large-eddy simulation model PALM. The aims of the study are a) to evaluate the impact of the planned reclamation areas on the ventilation within the present city districts, b) to investigate how urban morphological quantities, e.g. the surface cover fraction, affect the ventilation in cities and c) to show the advantages of urban LES over RANS simulations. The results reveal that the planned reclamation areas might only have a small impact on the average ventilation within the present city districts of Macau.
Literature on Student Book and its Effect for Developing Elementary School Teaching Materials

This research adopted the qualitative research content analysis on the 4th grade of elementary school students which aimed to know the literary material contained in the 2013 curriculum student book in Indonesia as the compulsory guidebook. The results of this research could be useful for guidelines for the development of literary materials by teachers when implementing learning planning. The findings show that students’ literature material is only about 30% of the Indonesian language learning material found in the 4th grade of elementary school. The lesson was limited to reading the text of the story then answering questions about the content of the text. In general, literary competence material in student books has not been emphasized on the cultivation of literary concepts. The development of literary materials in the 4th grade of elementary school should include the introduction of literary concepts, analyzing the contents of literary texts, and applying moral values in literature to be applied in daily life.
Long-range-transported bioaerosols captured in snow cover on Mount Tateyama, Japan: impacts of Asian-dust events on airborne bacterial dynamics relating to ice-nucleation activities

Abstract. The westerly wind travelling at high altitudes over eastern Asia transports aerosols from the Asian deserts and urban areas to downwind areas such as Japan. These long-range-transported aerosols include not only mineral particles but also microbial particles (bioaerosols), that impact the ice-cloud formation processes as ice nuclei. However, the detailed relations of airborne bacterial dynamics to ice nucleation in high-elevation aerosols have not been investigated. Here, we used the aerosol particles captured in the snow cover at altitudes of 2450 m on Mt Tateyama to investigate sequential changes in the ice-nucleation activities and bacterial communities in aerosols and elucidate the relationships between the two processes. After stratification of the snow layers formed on the walls of a snow pit on Mt Tateyama, snow samples, including aerosol particles, were collected from 70 layers at the lower (winter accumulation) and upper (spring accumulation) parts of the snow wall. The aerosols recorded in the lower parts mainly came from Siberia (Russia), northern Asia and the Sea of Japan, whereas those in the upper parts showed an increase in Asian dust particles originating from the desert regions and industrial coasts of Asia. The snow samples exhibited high levels of ice nucleation corresponding to the increase in Asian dust particles. Amplicon sequencing analysis using 16S rRNA genes revealed that the bacterial communities in the snow samples predominately included plant associated and marine bacteria (phyla Proteobacteria) during winter, whereas during spring, when dust events arrived frequently, the majority were terrestrial bacteria of phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. The relative abundances of Firmicutes (Bacilli) showed a significant positive relationship with the ice nucleation in snow samples. Presumably, Asian dust events change the airborne bacterial communities over Mt Tateyama and carry terrestrial bacterial populations, which possibly induce ice-nucleation activities, thereby indirectly impacting climate change.
Do the nutrition and physiology of eucalyptus seedlings respond to silicon (Si) supply

In Brazil, Eucalyptus plantations are found, generally in soils with naturally low chemical fertility. Silicon (Si) can improve photosynthesis, decrease plant transpiration and increase water use efficiency (WUE). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Si supply at five rates (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 mmol L-1) for growing Eucalyptus clone IPB8 seedlings (E. urophylla E. grandis) in Clark's nutrient solution in a greenhouse. Plant growth, nutritional status, gas exchange, leaf water potential (? w), leaf area (LA), inclination angle of leaves and stomatal density (SD) were measured. There was no significant response in Eucalyptus seedling growth due to Si application, which was related to the absence of benefits provided by Si in plant nutritional status and physiology. The efficiency of assimilation (EA), efficiency of translocation (ET) and efficiency of utilization (EU) did not show significant results either. The low ET indicates that Si was highly accumulated in the root (75.4 % in relation to total Si absorbed by plants), which may also have contributed to the lack of the benefits expected. Despite that, Si application promoted higher rates of photosynthesis when compared to plants with 0 mmol Si L-1, increasing the total dry matter production by up to 28 % at an Si rate 0.50 mmol L-1, which also provided a trend of higher growth, EU, LA and SLA, showing it to be the best rate for this Eucalyptus species.