Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECTS OF ROAD TRANSPORT CHARACTERISTICS ON THE MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE IN NSUKKA LGA, ENUGU STATE, SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA

The objective of this paper is to analyse the characteristics of road transport and its effect on marketing of agricultural produce in Nsukka L.G. A, South Eastern Nigeria. To achieve this objective, data were collected from documentary materials,questionaire, in-depth interview and field observation. The varibles considered were nature and conditions of roads, means of transportation used, distance travelled . Data were analysed using frequency distribution, percentages and Simple Regression. Field observations revealed that majority of roads are in deplorable state, characterised by potholes, gullies, rough surfaces and are mainly seasonal and poorly accessible during the rainy season. Percentage analysis performed on nature of roads travelled by farmers on their journey to farm movement revealed that 85.3percent of farmers travel on untarred roads while only 14.7percent move on tarred roads. Also we discovered that the most preferred means of transportation for farmers head poterage. Finally, the regression analysis performed on transport cost and distance and nature of roads travelled by farmers indicated a strong and positive relationship between both variables. The regression gave an R 2 of 0.571 implying that 57percent of the variation in the dependent variables (transport cost) was explained by the independent variables (nature of road surfaces and distances). The overall effect of this, is increase in transport cost which has adverse effect on rural livelihood, farmers wellbeing and quality of life. Appropriate recommendations based on the findings of the study were made. These include road concession of rural roads development to private companies for proper maintainance of rural roads. KEYWORDS : transportation, marketing, road,food, transport cost, Nsukka
In vitro ovicidal and larvicidal activity of condensed tannins on gastrointestinal nematode infestations in sheep (Ovis aries) Atividade ovicida e larvicida in vitro de taninos condensados em nematódeos gastrintestinais de ovinos (Ovis aries)

Infestations of gastrointestinal parasitic nematodes in sheep result in significant costs to farmers. These infestations are controlled using synthetic anthelmintic treatments, which can result in the development of anthelmintic resistance in nematodes. The use of plants rich in condensed tannins (CTs) is a promising alternative for controlling infestations of harmful parasites in sheep, and could allow reduction of the chemical products used. This study investigated the in vitro effect of CTs from Acacia mearnsii extract (AE) on egg hatching and motility of third-stage larvae. Egg-hatching rate was measured after incubation with extracts for 48 h at 27 °C. The egg hatch test was performed with dilutions of 0.09, 0.19, 0.39, 0.78, 1.56, 3.12, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 mg mL -1 . Distilled water was used as the negative control. The corresponding egg hatching inhibition percentages were 22.3, 32.3, 39.2, 49.1, 56.7, 59.0, 62.3, 77.3, 92.7, 98.3, and 100%. The concentration required to inhibit egg hatching in 50% of eggs (LC 50 ) was 2.85 mg mL -1 . The inhibition achieved with the negative control was 7.06%. A larval migration inhibition test was carried out after incubation with the extracts for 48 h at 27 o C, with AE and distilled water used in dilutions of 3.12, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 mg mL -1 . The corresponding percentages of migration inhibition were 16.5, 37.0, 56.3, 79.4, 91.8, and 97.1%. The concentration required to inhibit migration of 50% of larvae (LC 50 ) was 12.45 mg mL -1 . The inhibition achieved with the negative control was 8.53%. The in vitro ovicidal and larvicidal activity of CTs from AE indicate the anthelmintic effect of AE, suggesting the potential of CT extracts to be used as alternatives for controlling gastrointestinal nematode infestations in small ruminants.
Alcohol and alcohol-related Crime and Violence in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

In Nigeria, particularly in Bayelsa State, alcohol consumption is increasing. A steady increase in alcohol production has also been observed in the country, together with a rise in alcohol-related violence and harm. Alcohol consumption is not only linked to acts of violence, but to the escalation of violence and the resulting severity of injuries. Crime reports in the country indicate that approximately six in ten incidents of alcohol-related violence resulted in injury to the victim. Despite these trends, Nigeria's policies on the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages are weak compared with those of other countries in the world, especially, its policies on taxation, drink driving laws, alcohol sale to minors and marketing licenses. The authors of this research draw attention to the urgent need for public health professionals Law- enforcement Agencies and other government officials in the state as well as the entire country to prioritize population surveillance, research and interventions designed to reduce alcohol use disorders. Key Terms: Alcohol, Crime, Violence, Late Night, Entertainment, Bayelsa, Sttate.
The effect of corporate governance on the relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure and corporate value

This study aims to reveal the effect of corporate governance on the relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure and corporate value. The data were taken from sustainability reports, annual reports, and financial statements of companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange from sector one to seven in a row during 2009-2010. This study replicates the research by Rustiarini (2010). It shows that corporate social responsibility and corporate governance disclosure, both simultaneously and partially, have significant effect on corporate value. Corporate governance as a moderating variable does not affect the relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure and corporate value. Of 28.9 percent of variation in corporate value is explained by variables of corporate social responsibility disclosure, corporate governance, and interaction variables used in the model, while the rest of 71.1 percent must be caused by other variables. For further studies, the researchers could take longer period with other variables (i.e. variables of corporate governance, return on assets, cash holdings, dividend payout ratio, and investment opportunity) and use another index (i.e. corporate governance index issued by the Indonesian Institute for Corporate Governance (IICG).
Entropic Ricci curvature bounds for discrete interacting systems

We develop a new and systematic method for proving entropic Ricci curvature lower bounds for Markov chains on discrete sets. Using different methods, such bounds have recently been obtained in several examples (e.g., 1-dimensional birth and death chains, product chains, Bernoulli-Laplace models, and random transposition models). However, a general method to obtain discrete Ricci bounds had been lacking. Our method covers all of the examples above. In addition, we obtain new Ricci curvature bounds for zero-range processes on the complete graph. The method is inspired by recent work of Caputo, Dai Pra and Posta on discrete functional inequalities.
Semantics of Information

Due to the self-referencing aspect, consciousness is placed in a unique non-computable position among natural phenomena. Non-computable consciousness was previously analyzed on the basis of self-referential cyclical time. This paper extends the cyclical model of vacuum observation and posits that choice, or the experience of reality, may be expressed as the initial part of the self-referencing loop, while the conscious awareness of the experience is the other part of the loop. In particular, the inseparability of the two sides of the loop is established through the cyclical time process, which bears a resemblance to Heidegger's analysis of existence. The cyclical looping model is also discussed in terms of Wittgenstein's analysis of language as attaching semantic meaning, or continuous or infinite conscious awareness, to physical reality. We also discuss the proposed model of subjectivity and cyclical time - as opposed to objectivity and linear time - which may be considered similar to Hebrew thought.
How Can We Increase Shareholder' Wealth? An Empirical Validation from European Countries

This paper tests the determinants of shareholder's wealth. Our study examined three countries: Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The samples contains 69 firms for every country observed over a period of 4 years from 2007 to 2010. Firm value is measured by two ratios: Tobin's Q ratio obtained as the sum of market capitalisation, long term debt and short term capital structure divided by total assets, and market to book ratio measured as market value equity over shareholder's equity. The descriptive statistics manipulate that firms in Sweden and the United Kingdom have higher Tobin's Q and market to book ratios, respectively. We found evidence about the hypothesis of tax savings on firm value. Firms with higher values of performance have higher market equity values. We manipulated to a significant relationship between firm value and size when we consider, only Tobin's Q ratio, as dependant variable. More cash means high stocks prices for firms in Sweden and the United Kingdom. In the British and Swedish markets, older firms have less value.
Major microbial points (MMP) in halobacterial contamination of fish curing environments of Andhra coast, India

The levels of microbial contamination from different environmental sources in the process of fish curing in five coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh are reported. The descending order of halophilic bacterial contamination is (1) solar salt, drying ground (DG), soil, raised cemented platform (RCP), sea sand (SS) and fish skin surface (FSS) for red halophilic bacteria; (2) DG, soil, FSS, RCP, solar salt and SS for Halomonas spp. and (3) soil, FSS, solar salt, RCP, DG and SS with respect to slime producing bacteria. A positive correlation was observed with solar salt and SS for red halophiles, soil for Halomonas spp. , and DG and solar salt for slime producing bacteria. The sources of contamination in relation to cured product showed that (a) solar salt, RCP and soil for red halophilic bacteria, (b) soil, solar salt and RCP for Halomonas spp. , and (c) DG, soil and solar salt for slime producing bacteria as best sets. An inverse relationship was observed in the occurrence of red halophiles and slime producing bacteria at different fish curing environs. Occurrence of Halomonas spp. , in fish drying grounds is reported for the first time.
Division of Labor Among Lesbian and Heterosexual Parents : Associations With Children ' s Adjustment

This study compared lesbian and heterosexual parents' division of household labor, satisfaction with division of labor, satisfaction with couple relationships, and associations of these variables with psychological adjustment of children. Participating lesbian (n = 30) and heterosexual (n = 16) couples all became parents by using anonymous donor insemination and had at least 1 child of elementary-school age. Although both lesbian and heterosexual couples reported relatively equal divisions of paid employment and of household and decision-making tasks, lesbian biological and nonbiological mothers shared child-care tasks more equally than did heterosexual parents. Among lesbian nonbiological mothers, those more satisfied with the division of family decisions in the home were also more satisfied with their relationships and had children who exhibited fewer externalizing behavior problems. The effect of division of labor on children's adjustment was mediated by parents' relationship satisfaction.
Association between Career Program, Support for Career Development and Commitment with Career Choice

This study assesses the association between career program, support for career development and commitment with career choice. Self-report questionnaires were used to collect data from university staff. The SmartPLS path model analysis was employed to test the research hypotheses and outcomes of this test confirmed that linking career program to support for career development has been an important antecedent of commitment with career choice in the studied organization. Discussion on the findings, implications and conclusion of the study are elaborated.
Efficiency of selection in early generations of potato families with a view toward heat tolerance

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of selection of potato families in early generations for heat tolerance. Thirty families were evaluated in the seedling generation (SG), first clonal generation (FCG) in the field and greenhouse under high temperature conditions, and second clonal generation (SCG) under mild temperatures. The mean of the families was obtained in each generation. The 16 most productive families in FCG were selected, and the clones of these families were evaluated in experiments in the winter and rainy crop seasons. The results showed that family selection for tuber shape may be applied as of the SG. It was also observed that family selection in the FCG and SCG for yield and tuber specific gravity contributed to identification of clones tolerant to heat and responsive to environmental improvement.
Effect of hydro and osmo priming on yield and yield components of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

A field study was conducted at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research center station under rain fed condition with the objectives to determine the effect of seed priming for improving chickpea variety productivity and to determine the effectiveness of seed priming treatment and variety on stand establishment. The experimental factors were laid out in RCBD with three replications. The study indicated that all the phenological and growth traits significantly differed as a result of priming treatment and variety. With respect to yield and yield related traits, only seed yield kgha-1, harvest index (%), seeds plant-1 and seeds pod-1 were significantly affected by the main effect. While, the rest of yield related traits responded differently due to variety alone. However, all variables studied in the field were not significantly affected by the interactions of the main effects. Improvement made due to main effect hydro and osmopriming was statistically similar for all phenological traits; seeds plant-1 and seeds pod-1 was considerably improved as a result of osmopriming than hydropriming. However, plant height, stand count at emergence and at harvest, seed yield kg ha-1 were substantially increased by 7, 10, 12 and 15%, respectively as a result of water priming over the control. Therefore, from present study, it can be concluded that hydropriming can step-up economical benefit of chickpea growing farmers. Key words: Chickpea, hydropriming, osmopriming, productivity, seed priming.
A Genre Analysis of the Introduction Section of Applied Linguistics and Chemistry Research Articles

This study investigated the cross-disciplinary variations in the generic structure of Introduction sections of 52 Applied Linguistics and 52 Chemistry research articles drawing upon Swales‟ (2004) framework, taking into account the new insights proposed by Bhatia (2004), Shehzad (2008), and Lim (2012, 2014). To this end, in addition to collecting quantitative data and conducting frequency and Chi-square analyses, a number of semi-structured interviews were conducted with some Chemistry scholars and Applied Linguistics (ALs) experts for triangulation purposes. The results of the quantitative data analysis indicated that the two disciplines showed significant variations in the frequency with which they used some steps and sub-steps to realize the moves. The results of the qualitative content analysis of the interviews also helped understand why authors in each discipline might use a specific move/step more than the others and why a move/step was frequently used by the authors in one discipline, but completely absent in another. Finally, based on the results, some implications were presented to postgraduate students and novice researchers in Chemistry and Applied Linguistics to help them write effective research articles in their field. The findings of the study could also provide some practical implications for the EAP teachers to help their students become better writers. In addition, some suggestions were presented to genre analysts to help them obtain more dependable results when analyzing the generic structure of various sections of research articles.
PRESERVING CONTINUITY IN WHOLE-LIFE COST MODELS FOR NET-ZERO CARBON BUILDINGS

Investment in net-zero carbon buildings requires comprehensive evaluation especially with regards to economic viability. Mathematical modelling of whole-life costing provides a relevant framework to assess the investment potential of net-zero carbon buildings. Previous studies in investment analysis have suggested insufficiency in the discounting mechanism of cash flows leading to unrealistic estimation, and in some instances, incorrect decisions. There is a growing body of evidence that conceptual adjustments to cost models could facilitate improvements in the costing of zero carbon buildings. This study, - which is part of a PhD investigation on cost studies in zero carbon buildings, presents an approach to preserving continuity in whole-life cost models using the binomial theorem. The work builds on the New Generation whole-life costing developed in Ellingham and Fawcett (2006) by extending the period under consideration and concurrently providing for other elements of time, uncertainty and irrevocability. The study also highlights the conceptual importance of continuity in decision-models. An illustrative costing exercise is carried out, over a 25-year period, on a conventional and net- zero carbon building using three different whole-life cost procedures. Results from the study suggest that continuous whole-life cost models provide a realistic template for representing cost variables especially in comparative studies. Future research will examine the implications of continuous whole-life costing for a generic net-zero carbon building. This will provide construction professionals with clear aspirational objectives on the economic performance of net-zero carbon buildings.
Positive relationship between live weight at first calving and first lactation milk production

This study investigated the effects of pre-calving live weight on milk production in first lactation New Zealand dairy heifers. Heifers were classified into five breed groups; HolsteinFriesian (F), Holstein-Friesian crossbred (FX), Jersey (J), Jersey crossbred (JX) and HolsteinFriesian-Jersey crossbred (FJ). There was a curvilinear relationship between live weight at 21 months of age and protein and fat yields for all breed groups. The relationship between live weight and milk yields was curvilinear for all breed groups apart from J which had a linear relationship only. At most live weights, F heifers produced more than J heifers, however, all breed groups produced similar yields when heifers were lighter (260 – 325 kg) at 21 months of age. For lighter heifers the response to a one kg increase in live weight was greater compared with heavier heifers, indicating there could be greater benefits of preferentially feeding lighter heifers to attain heavier pre-calving live weights. Within the live weight range studied (260 – 600 kg) there was no live weight at which maximum milk or protein yields was achieved. An increase in live weight was also associated with an increase in milk and protein yields for all breed groups. For fat yield, the maximum production was achieved by J heifers that were 497 kg. For all other breed groups, the maximum yields were predicted to be at live weights greater than 658 kg; beyond the live weight range studied. These results show the potential to increase first lactation milk production of New Zealand dairy heifers by increasing pre-calving live weight.
Examining the Validity of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework for Preservice Chemistry Teachers.

While various quantitative measures for assessing teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) have developed rapidly, few studies to date have comprehensively validated the structure of TPACK through various criteria of validity especially for content specific areas. In this paper, we examined how the TPACK survey measure is aligned with the TPACK lesson plan measure and how they are related to the measure of epistemological beliefs about chemistry. The participants were 280 Chinese preservice chemistry teachers enrolled in a university in China. Both exploratory and confirmatory factory analyses were performed on the TPACK survey measure to help to establish validity, including considerations for convergent and discriminant validity. This was followed by the invariance test to examine factorial validity as related to gender. To establish the predictive validity of TPACK, the relationships among teachers’ epistemological beliefs, TPACK, and their capacity for planning technology-integrated lessons were also examined. Overall, the results showed that all four types of validity looked at in this study (i.e., convergent, discriminant, factorial, and predictive) were satisfactorily established. Implications for TPACK research and teacher education are also discussed.
Immigrant Earnings Growth: Selection Bias or Real Progress? (Croissance des gains des immigrants: biais de sélection ou progrès réel?)

We use longitudinal tax data linked to immigrant landing records to estimate the earnings growth of immigrants from three entering cohorts since the early 1980s. Selective attrition by low-earning immigrants might result in lower earnings growth with years since migration in longitudinal data compared to repeated cross-sections. Existing studies on U.S. data have found exactly this result (Lubotsky 2007, JPE). We ask whether a similar bias is observed in the Canadian data and find that it is not. We show that while low-earnings immigrants are more likely to leave the cross-sectional samples over time, the same is true for the Canadian born population. We conclude that there is no evidence of selective labour force participation patterns among immigrants in Canada compared to the native born population.
Nongonococcal And Nonchlamydial Microbial Isolates From High Vaginal Swabs Of Nigerian Women Diagnosed With Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

High vaginal swabs from 1451 Nigerian women clinically diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) were investigated for nongonococcal and nonchlamydial microbial infections using standard techniques. Bacteria were isolated from 623(42.9%, 95% CI., 40.4-45.4%) women, comprising 474(76.1%) monobacterial and 149(23.9%) polybacterial isolates. Trichomonas vaginalis and Candida albicans were isolated from 124(8.5%, 95% CI., 7.1-9.9%) and 611(42.1%, 95% CI., 39.6-44.6%) women respectively. Predominant bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli (34.9%, 95% CI., 29.2-40.6%) and Staphylococcus aureus (27.1%, 95% CI., 24.0-30.2%), while least bacterial isolates were Streptococcus species (5.1%, 95% CI., 3.5-6.7%) and Gardnerella vaginalis (4.3%, 95% CI., 2.9-5.7%). Individuals aged 36-40 years were significantly more infected with bacteria (χ2 =107.97, P<0.05) and C. albicans (χ2 =55.90, P<0.05). While prevalence of T. vaginalis was significantly higher among individuals aged 26-30 years (χ2 =27.46, P<0.05). Routine screening and treatment of women for lower genital tract infections to minimize their role in PID is recommended