Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Good Governance Contribute to Pro-poor Growth?: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence from Cross-Country Studies

Since the 1990s, the concept of “good governance” has taken center stage in development thinking and practice. This is reflected not only by Kofi Annan’s statement above but also by donors’ increasing dependence on governance performance indicators for allocating overseas development assistance (ODA). Indeed, the Country Institutional and Policy Assessment (CPIA) indicators remain an integral part of the World Bank’s lending decisions, and the highly publicized US Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) intends to distribute funds only to those countries that “rule justly, invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom” (MCC website). Several reasons account for the increasing attention to governance and institutions by the international development community, among them research findings demonstrating that the effectiveness of financial aid depends on “a good policy environment” (Burnside and Dollar 1997; World Bank, 1998: 2). According to Wolfensohn and Bourguignon (2004), the lackluster performance of structural adjustment programs, the end of the Cold War and the funding of proxy states, political problems associated with reforming the economy of the former Soviet Union, and institutional weaknesses revealed during the East Asian financial crisis have also contributed to the new focus on governance.
Effect of Storage on Physico-chemical Characteristics and Fatty Acid Composition of Selected Oil Blends

Abstract An attempt was made to prepare oil blends with SFA:MUFA:PUFA ratios very close to the recommended ratio by admixing oils with different fatty acid composition, in the ratios of 80:20 and 20:80 because of its important health benefits and the possibility of developing nutritionally superior oils with recommended fatty acid ratios and their effect during storage in rice bran and mustard based blends with sesame oil as control, was studied. These blends were stored for 12 months and their physico-chemical changes and fatty acid composition were studied every month till the end of the storage period. Significant changes (p<0.005) were observed. Slight variations of increase in saturated fats and decrease in unsaturated fats were seen over time. Fatty acid composition and changes during storage of control indicated that control was efficient in C-18:3. During storage there is a gradual increase in C-16:0 from 10.03 to 11.89, C-18:0 from 5.26 to 5.86, and a gradual decrease in C-18:1 from 37.94 to 33.05, C-18:2 from 46.74 to 44. The principal fatty acid seen in sesame-rice bran blends were C-18:1 at a level of 45.65 and 38.35 followed by C-18:2, 29.66 and 39.16 and C-16:0 at a level of 16.54 and 13.35 respectively while C-18:0 was present in low quantities and C-18:3 was found to be negligible. The major fatty acids seen in sesame-cottonseed blends were C-18:2 at 43.82 and 37.95 followed by C-18:1 at 38.55 and 40.77 and C- 16:0 at 11.8 and 17.58 respectively for the blends of 80:20 and 20:80. Lesser quantities of C-18:0 of 4.45 and 2.44 and C-18:3 of 0.68 and 0.77 were also observed.
Exploring the Effectiveness of Spoken English Classes of Japanese EFL Learners

This article explores the effectiveness of spoken English classes of Japanese EFL learners through analyzing teachersquestioning strategies, rate of speech, wait- time in interactions, feedback, and learnerslanguage production. As a case study, a 90-minute class of approximately 40 learners was observed employing the "Flint system" and the "Ethnographic approach" common in classroom research. A care- ful examination of the lesson transcript and the post interview with the teacher revealed that the teacher directed more referential questions leading to the modifi ed interaction which is regarded as successful classroom second language acquisition. However, the production from an average learner seemed to be much smaller in comparison with the teachers efforts. The reasons seem to relate to the concept of saving face that compelled Japanese students to remain silent when responding in English. Based on the fi nding, suggestions for how to have students speak out dur- ing classroom interactions are made.
The Antidepressant-like Action of Human and Caprine Amniotic Fluid in Rats: Effect of Gender

Depression is a common worldwide burdening mental disease. The amniotic fluid (AF) in both humans and animals has been reported to be associated with reduction of anxiety, pain and with helping the newborns to recognize their mothers. As far as we know, no published work on its possible antidepressant action has been reported before. Therefore, we tested here if AF has an anti-depressant- like activity, and investigated if there is a gender difference in this action. Also, we wanted to find out if this possible action can be modified by a known antidepressant drug. Sixty male and female Wister rats were divided randomly into five groups in each gender, and treated with the following: water (control), human AF, goat AF, venlafaxine and venlafaxine+ human AF. AF and venlafaxine were given orally by gavage at a dose of 0.2ml/ Kgonce a day for five days. Twenty four hours later, locomotor activity test, and the forced swimming test (FST) were measured. Motor activity and immobility time in the FST were both significantly reduced in male and female rats treated with human and caprine AF. Rats treated with human AF showed the least activity. The latter effects were not significantly affected by concomitant treatment with venlafaxine and human AF. The biochemical mechanisms of antidepressant like effect of AF warrant further study.
Efficiency of planetesimal ablation in giant planetary envelopes

Observations of exoplanetary spectra are leading to unprecedented constraints on their atmospheric elemental abundances, particularly O/H, C/H, and C/O ratios. Recent studies suggest that elemental ratios could provide important constraints on formation and migration mechanisms of giant exoplanets. A fundamental assumption in such studies is that the chemical composition of the planetary envelope represents the sum-total of compositions of the accreted gas and solids during the formation history of the planet. We investigate the efficiency with which accreted planetesimals ablate in a giant planetary envelope thereby contributing to its composition rather than sinking to the core. From considerations of aerodynamic drag causing `frictional ablation' and the envelope temperature structure causing `thermal ablation', we compute mass ablations for impacting planetesimals of radii 30 m to 1 km for different compositions (ice to iron) and a wide range of velocities and impact angles, assuming spherical symmetry. Icy impactors are fully ablated in the outer envelope for a wide range of parameters. Even for Fe impactors substantial ablation occurs in the envelope for a wide range of sizes and velocities. For example, iron impactors of sizes below ~0.5 km and velocities above ~30 km/s are found to ablate by ~60-80% within the outer envelope at pressures below 10^3 bar due to frictional ablation alone. For deeper pressures (~10^7 bar), substantial ablation happens over a wider range of parameters. Therefore, our exploratory study suggests that atmospheric abundances of volatile elements in giant planets reflect their accretion history during formation.
Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF): The Alternative Farm Stay Experience?

This paper aims to contribute to knowledge about the farm stay experience by providing exploratory insights into the characteristics that are common to a hosted stay on a WWOOF farm and to investigate whether the experiences provided for visitors by WWOOF hosts are notably different from those offered by other farm hosts. The paper reports the findings of in-depth interviews conducted with 12 WWOOF hosts and 22 visitors staying at WWOOF farms located in the rural region of Canterbury in the south island of New Zealand. The findings of the study, while indicative, show that the hosted experience on an organic (WWOOF) farm may be notably different from that provided at a commercial farm stay, with four key dimensions: the rurality of the experience; the opportunity to learn about organics; the personal meaningfulness of the experience; and the element of sincerity in the experience.
Identification of vegetation parameters for compound channel discharge as inverse problem

Abstract In recent years many sophisticated models for discharge capacity of compound channels with vegetation have been developed. Despite the mature state of knowledge in this field, in a practice the simplest methods prevail and most of hydraulic models are based on the Manning formula. One of the reasons is that more complex methods require detailed characteristics on vegetation. The present study demonstrates that this issue can be solved by treating all such necessary variables as parameters to be identified in a sense of an inverse problem, using techniques of optimization. With a flume experiment as a case study, four models of a uniform flow were identified: Pasche, Mertens as complex methods, divided channel method (DCM) with Manning and Darcy–Weisbach equations as techniques used in a practice. Results showed that parameters for all methods can be found on the basis of minimization of model residuals, with the restriction that because of the larger number of parameters in complex methods, more observations are required. Methods of Pasche and Mertens with identified parameters provided a much better explanation of water depths than the Manning or Darcy–Weisbach based on the DCM. It is surprising that significant discrepancies between identified parameters and their real measured values were recorded. Even more, an almost perfect fit was obtained for different parameter sets.
When can you trust "trust"? Calculative trust, relational trust, and supplier performance

Our research empirically assesses two distinct bases for trust: calculative trust, based on a structure of rewards and penalties, versus relational trust, a judgment anchored in past behavior and characterized by a shared identity. We find that calculative trust and relational trust positively influence supplier performance, with calculative trust having a stronger association than relational trust. Yet, important boundary conditions exist. If buyers invest in supplier-specific assets or when supply side market uncertainty is high, relational trust, not calculative trust, is more strongly associated with supplier performance. In contrast, when behavioral uncertainty is high, calculative trust, not relational trust, relates more strongly to supplier performance. These results highlight the value of examining distinct forms of trust. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Regulation and foreclosure

The paper considers the optimal regulation of access charges, and the effect such regulation has on incentives to foreclose downstream rival firms. I show that when a vertically integrated firm is able to discriminate against rivals by means of non-price measures, optimal access charges must be set higher than in the case when no discrimination is possible and will always provide a positive access margin. The reason is that the level of the access charge affects incentives to practice foreclosure. The optimal access charge may, when non-price measures are not possible, be lower than marginal cost of providing access. JEL Classifications: D82, L13, L22, L51
Microfracturing Ceramic Abrasive in Grinding

Microfracturing “ceramic” abrasives have been in common use for 20 years. However, their success has been limited because of a lack of understanding of how they function and in choosing grinding parameters that take advantage of their self-sharpening ability. A study was made into how these abrasives function and into which grinding parameters should be used to achieve optimum results.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
HEAT REQUIREMENTS AND LENGTH OF PHENOLOGICAL STAGES . EFFECTS OF ROOTSTOCK ON RED GRAPE VARIETIES AT DOURO REGION

Temperature is the major climate element for grapevine development, controlling the rhythm at which several phenological stages like bud break, flowering, veraison and maturity occur during the biological cycle. In an experimental field located in Douro Region the dates of the phenological stages bud break, flowering and veraison were recorded for the varieties Touriga Nacional (TN), Tinta Barroca (TB), Touriga Franca (TF) and Tinta Roriz (TR), grafted onto the rootstocks Rupestris du Lot, R110, and 196-17, over 10 years (2002-2011). Climatic data was taken from a meteorological station near the vineyard. During grape ripening, berry samples were taken on average at three different periods (4 week of August, 2 week of September and 4 week of September). Results show the thermal and chronological durations for each phase of the cycle and the rhythm of the maturation was evaluated.
Comparative Analysis of METRIC Model and Atmometer Methods for Estimating Actual Evapotranspiration

Accurate estimation of crop evapotranspiration (ET) is a key factor in agricultural water management including irrigated agriculture. The objective of this study was to compare ET estimated from the satellite-based remote sensing METRIC model to in situ atmometer readings. Atmometer readings were recorded from three sites in eastern South Dakota every morning between 8:15 and 8:30 AM for the duration of the 2016 growing season. Seven corresponding clear sky images from Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 (Path 29, Row 29) were processed and used for comparison. Three corn fields in three sites were used to compare actual evapotranspiration ( ). The results showed a good relationship between estimated by the METRIC model ( -METRIC) and estimated with atmometer ( -atm) ( = 0.87, index of agreement of 0.84, and RMSE = 0.65 mm day−1). However, -atm values were consistently lower than -METRIC values. The differences in daily between the two methods increase with high wind speed values (>4 m s−1). Results from this study are useful for improving irrigation water management at local and field scales.
The Relationship between Exports, Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth: Empirical evidence from Brazil

The relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth has been intensively studied in energy economics. However, there are mixed evidence on the relationship, possibly due to omission of other relevant variables and low power of t r a d i t i o n a l cointegration tests in small samples. This paper examines the relationship between exports, electricity consumption and real income in an emerging market economy for the period 1971-2007. Employing bounds testing procedure, we find evidence of cointegration when real income is considered the dependent variable. In the long run, exports and electricity consumption have statistically significant and positive impact on economic growth.
A deeper look at the relationship between root carbon pools and the vertical distribution of the soil carbon pool

Abstract. Plant root material makes a substantial contribution to the soil organic carbon (C) pool, but this contribution is disproportionate below 20 cm where 30 % of root mass and 50 % of soil organic C is found. Root carbon inputs changed drastically when native perennial plant systems were shifted to cultivated annual plant systems. We used the reconstruction of a native prairie and a continuous maize field to examine both the relationship between root carbon and soil carbon and the fundamental rooting system differences between the vegetation under which the soils developed versus the vegetation under which the soils continue to change. In all treatments we found that root C : N ratios increased with depth, and this plays a role in why an unexpectedly large proportion of soil organic C is found below 20 cm. Measured root C : N ratios and turnover times along with modeled root turnover dynamics showed that in the historical shift from prairie to maize, a large, structural-tissue-dominated root C pool with slow turnover concentrated at shallow depths was replaced by a small, nonstructural-tissue-dominated root C pool with fast turnover evenly distributed in the soil profile. These differences in rooting systems suggest that while prairie roots contribute more C to the soil than maize at shallow depths, maize may contribute more C to soil C stocks than prairies at deeper depths.
Determination of physico-chemical and functional properties of different genotypes of horse gram

A study was carried out to determine the physicochemical and functional properties of seeds of five different genotypes of horsegram obtained from AICRP on Arid Legumes at Parbhani centre to assess their potential use in the food products. The five different genotypes viz. VLG-34, SHG-0628-4, AK-53, AK-21and AK-52 were analysed. The AK-21 have highest 100 seed weight (3.75%) followed by AK-52 (3.61g) while maximum density (1.42g/ml) and bulk density (0.833 g/ml) was found in AK-52. The data on proximate composition showed that among all genotypes the AK-21 had highest protein ( 30.08%),crude fiber(5.5%) which could be exploited for nutritional purpose and genotype VLG-34 scored highest in crude fat (2.56%), carbohydrate (64.53%) and ash content(3.10%) will be used in different food formulation. The functional properties study revealed that the genotype AK-21 was superior in most of the functional properties viz swelling capacity(0.041ml/seed), water absorption capacity (1.53g/g), oil absorption capacity(1.21 g/g), foaming capacity (48.18%), foaming stability (40.13%), emulsifying activity(59.53%), emulsifying stability(55.16%), invitro protein digestibility(81.80%) and required less cooking time(55 min.). These properties makes AK-21 suitable for processor and consumer also. These results suggest the potential utility of horse gram flour as substitutes for other legume flour for food products formulations.
An Overview of Research Methodology in Information System (IS)

Research methodology in a research study is considered as an important element, and therefore determining the method of research methodology is a very important section in the study. Research methodology is useful to establish the structure of research, such as strategy, approach, research philosophy, and components of the methodology. This paper aims to give and clarify the components of research methodology in Information System (IS), and highlight the differences between qualitative approach and quantitative approach, as well as justification for use of the case study in Information System (IS).
Effect of Total Quality Management Implementation on Business Performance of East Java Small and Medium Scale Manufacturing Companies.

TQM approach has long been known and applied to various organizations, but in Indonesia there is a lack of empirical studies that examine the relationship between TQM practices and the impact on the business, operational and human resource performance. This study aims to examine the relationship between TQM practices on the firms’ performance. Samples were selected randomly from East Java Manufacturing Company directory. Total questionnaires of 400 questionnaires sent to manufacturing companies in the area of East Java. Of the 400 questionnaires have been sent through post, 6 companies are not willing to participate, 17 questionnaires were returned to the researchers with some of the reasons the company closed, change the address, and the address is not known. Researchers also sent a follow up letter after 2 weeks questionnaire submitted. The results of data analysis in this study showed that: management practices (i.e. leadership, management of supplier quality, vision and planning, evaluation, process control improvement, product design, quality system design, participation, rewards and recognition, education and training, and customer focus) have a significant influence on financial performance, operational performance, and the performance of human resources. The result of partial analysis concluded that: (1). Leadership, supplier quality management, quality system design, education and training, and customer focus have significant influence on financial performance. (2). Leadership, supplier quality management, rewards and recognition, education and training, and customer focus have a significant influence on the operational performance. (3). Leadership and customer focus have a significant influence on the HR performance.
Performance management and well-being: a close look at the changing nature of the UK higher education workplace

Abstract The relationship between HRM and well-being has received a significant amount of research attention; however, results are still contested. Our study addresses this phenomenon in the Higher Education sector. We specifically investigate the association between performance management and the perceived well-being of academic staff. Our research finds that the application of a directive performance management approach, underpinned by agency theory ideas as evidenced by a high reliance on performance measures and targets, is negatively related to academics’ well-being (i.e. the more it is used, the worse people feel). In contrast, an enabling performance management approach, based on the learnings of stewardship theory, emphasising staff involvement, communication and development, is positively related to academics’ well-being. We also find the positive relationship between enabling practices and well-being is mediated by how academics experience their work (i.e. their perceptions of job demands, job control and management support). These results indicate that current trends to intensify the use of directive performance management can have consequences on the energy and health of academics, which may influence their motivation and willingness to stay in the profession. This research suggests that an enabling approach to managing performance in this context, may have more positive effects.