Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of onion top leaves extract on the quality of smoked Heterotis niloticus (Cuvier, 1829)

Food preservation techniques to improve the oxidative stability of fish-based foods are gaining renewed research interest in natural compounds of vegetable origin as valid alternatives to synthetic preservatives. This study was designed to determine the effect of Onion Top Leaves Extract (OTLE) on the chemical and sensory qualities of smoked Heterotis niloticus using four concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75% w/w) and three storage periods replicated four times in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). A total of 48 fresh samples of H. niloticus were treated with the different concentrations of OTLE, sundried for three hours and smoked using a modified portable drum kiln designed in the laboratory. The treated smoked samples were packaged in paper envelopes and stored at room temperature for a period of three weeks. The results indicated that OTLE concentration had significantly affected (P<0.05) moisture content, crude protein, crude fibre, nitrogen and total volatile base – nitrogen (TVB-N). The storage period was significantly affected (P<0.05) by OTLE for all tested chemical parameters except carbohydrates, (P>0.05). The results for sensory qualities indicated that after three weeks of storage, OTLE exerted a significant effect (P<0.05) on all sensory qualities tested in the study except general acceptability. The results for merit analysis showed that the samples treated with OTLE concentration of 0.25% ranked better followed by 0.5% while 0.75% recorded the lowest performance. For better optimisation of shelf life, chemical and sensory qualities of smoked H. niloticus, the product can be preserved in 0.25% w/w OTLE and stored for one week at room temperature in paper envelopes.Res. Agric. , Livest. Fish.5(2): 241-248, August 2018
Fiscal Policy and Financial Depth

Most economists and observers place the lack of fiscal discipline at the core of the recent Argentine crisis. This begs the question of how countries like Belgium or Italy (pre-Maastricht) could run large fiscal deficits and accumulate debts far beyond those of Argentina, without experiencing crises nearly as dramatic as that of Argentina? Why is it that Argentina cannot act like Belgium or Italy and pursue expansionary fiscal policy during downturns? We argue that advanced and emerging economies differ in their financial depth, and show that lack of financial depth constrains fiscal policy in a way that can overturn standard Keynesian fiscal policy prescriptions. We also provide empirical support for this viewpoint. Crowding out is systematically larger in emerging markets than in developed economies. More importantly, this difference is extreme during crises, when the crowding out coefficient exceeds one in emerging market economies.
Problem wypalenia zawodowego wśród pielęgniarek operacyjnych Problem of occupational burnout syndrome in surgery nurses

Background: An assessment of the knowledge of the term “burnout syndrome” in surgery nurses, an evaluation of their knowledge on this subject, and an exploration of levels of occupational burnout. Does the duration of their working or family life have an influence on the appearance of this syndrome and the determination by the studied nurses to manage stress. Material and methods: Our investigational tool was our own questionnaire consisting of 48 questions (opened, half-opened, closed). The presented study included 80 surgery nurses form the hospitals of Białystok. Males were excluded from this survey. Conclusions: Most of the emergency nurses knew the term “occupational burnout syndrome”. The term “occupational burnout” is known to the group of surgery nurses, but their knowledge on this syndrome is not sufficient. The duration of their working life had no influence on the appearance of the syndrome. In managing emotional stress, the nurses applied constructive behaviors but not relaxing techniques.
Reduction and Frequency Analyses of Vowels and Consonants in the Buckeye Speech Corpus

The aims of this study were three. First, to examine the degree of deviation from dictionary prescribed symbols and actual speech made by American English speakers. Second, to measure the frequency of vowel and consonant production of American English speakers. And third, to investigate gender differences in the segmental sounds in a speech corpus. The Buckeye Speech Corpus was recorded by forty American male and female subjects for one hour per subject. The vowels and consonants in both the phonemic and phonetic transcriptions were extracted from the original files of the corpus and their frequencies were obtained using codes of a free software R. Results were as follows: Firstly, the American English speakers produced a reduced number of vowels and consonants in daily conversation. The reduction rate from the dictionary transcriptions to the actual transcriptions was around 38.2%. Secondly, the American English speakers used more front high and back low vowels while three-fourths of the consonants accounted for stops, fricatives, and nasals. This indicates that the segmental inventory has nonlinear frequency distribution in the speech corpus. Thirdly, the two gender groups produced vowels and consonants similarly even though there were a few noticeable differences in their speech. From these results we propose that English teachers consider pronunciation education reflecting the actual speech sounds and that linguists find a way to establish unmarked segmentals from speech corpora.
Gravitational Radiation of the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation

The concept of gravitational radiation as a radiation of one level with the electromagnetic radiation is based on theoretically proved and experimentally confirmed fact of existence of electron’s stationary states in own gravitational field, characterized by gravitational constant K=10 42 G (G — Newtonian gravitational constant) and by irremovable space-time curvature. The received results strictly correspond to principles of the relativistic theory of gravitation and the quantum mechanics. In given article realization of the received results with reference to dense high-temperature plasma of multicharged ions and cosmological effects is considered also. The article is a systematic and full summary of the authors’ works published before [2,7,14].
The Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure on the Financial Performance of Financial Institutions: A 2002-2009 Analysis of Agricultural Development Bank, Ghana

Corporations are critical actors in the political, economic, social and cultural development of all countries. Besides providing goods and services in order to achieve profitability, they also serve as a source of livelihood for many, pay taxes that enable governments to operate, and have an impact on the physical and social environment. However, the practice of social responsibility poses a challenge to many financial institutions in Ghana including the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB). The socially responsible acts of financial have been assumed to have negative effect on the expenditure and profitability of some financial institutions thereby affecting their profit margins in the short-term. This research therefore focused on determining the extent of the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditures on the financial performance of financial institutions. A survey and interviews of some selected department heads at the ADB and reviews of the annual CSR reports revealed that the immediate effect of socially responsible activities on the financial performance of financial institutions tends to be negative. In the long term, such efforts have the potential to accrue positive impacts for financial institutions that engage in socially responsible behaviors as part of their core functions. It is therefore recommended that financial institutions need to undertake socially responsible activities that are part of their core functions so as to overcome the initial shocks that are associated with such programs. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Financial Performance, Financial Institutions
The Differences of the Personality Features and of the Emotional Empathy for Volunteering

The article presents personality features of volunteers as relatively permanent psychological characteristics. It summarizes motives for volunteering discussed in the current concepts of volunteering and it introduces the Functional approach to volunteer motivation. Some results of the research supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic No 407/11/0380, Prosocial behaviour and its personality aspects in the context of volunteering are presented. Research subjects were 240 volunteers, members of Czech Civic Associations of volunteers. Two questionnaires were used. Questionnaire NEO (authors P. T. Costa and R. R. McCraee) is based on the five-factor personality model (Big Five). They are: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness towards experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. The emotional empathy of volunteers was assessed by Multi-dimensional Scale of Emotional Empathy for Adolescents and Adults - MEE (by D. R. Caruso and J. D. Mayer). In six subscales measuring the following factors: Suffering, Positive Sharing, Responsive Crying, Emotional Attention, Feel for Others, Emotional Contagion. Scores were compared with sample of the Czech population. Volunteers showed significantly higher score of the personality feature of Agreeableness, Extraversion and Conscientiousness. In the structure of emotional empathy of volunteers dominated Positive Sharing, Emotional Contagion and Feel for Others. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013. v2n8p411
Experimental Analysis of Selective Laser Sintering of Polyamide Powders from Energetic Perspective

The diffusion of innovative working process, including rapid prototyping techniques, is needed to achieve sustainable production technology. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) has a potential as an environmental benign alternative to traditional processes but only few authors deal with the process optimisation including energy aspects. In the present paper an analysis of the energetic aspect of SLS is proposed. In addition, with respect to the classical technological parameters (resolution, productivity) attention is paid to energetic elements (energetic productivity, laser parameters) showing how the perspective of a sensible development of such a kind of technology could be beneficial not only from a technological point of view, but also for energy saving in a lot of manufacturing fields. A polyamide powder is the material tested to acquire some characteristics data of the process. It is shown that the energy intensity of the process in optimal condition could be of the order of 0.2 J for each mm of material agglomerated.
Social Capital and the Financial Crisis: The Case of Iceland

The aim of this working paper is to examine social capital in Iceland, as measured in terms of social ties, social trust, political activity and civic engagement, from a comparative perspective before and after the financial crisis of 2008. It uses data from four successive waves of the European Values Study (EVS). Following a contextualisation of this research theme, our results show that Icelanders appear to be as satisfied with their lives after the onset of the crisis as they were prior to the economic collapse. The strength of their family ties has been progressively increasing during the 26 year period covered by the data, with gradual growth in the importance awarded to family relationships, which indicates that Icelanders are now more reliant on their parents than in the past. Ties with non-family members are also adjudged to have become more important, though only after the financial crisis. Furthermore, Icelanders are more active civically and politically: for example, they are more likely to belong to a political party, social welfare organisation or local community initiative, which implies that such activities have become of greater importance since 2008. In addition, while there may have been an increase in levels of social trust among people, there is more dissatisfaction with how democracy works. In conclusion, we can see that social capital has almost certainly become more important in Iceland since the economic crisis but, given that we have been able to identify underlying trends showing that this is at least in part a long-term development, this heightened importance may not just be a consequence of the crisis but rather part of a more gradual societal change.
Employees’ Perceptions of Internal Communication Processes and Communication Satisfaction in a Northern Portuguese Higher Education Institution

This study explores employees’ perceptions about general organizational factors, internal communication (IC) processes and communication satisfaction (CS) dimensions, namely satisfaction with organizational integration (SOI), satisfaction with corporate information (SCI) and satisfaction with personal feedback (SPF). The main goal is to examine the aspects that influence the CS dimensions (such as general organizational factors and IC processes - overall IC evaluation, IC limitations, and effectiveness of IC channels), and to analyse the relationship between CS dimensions and some organizational outcomes (overall job satisfaction and institutional bond). A quantitative methodology was adopted, and data collection was done through a personally applied questionnaire to the employees of five functional units of a higher education institution, in northern Portugal. We have obtained 81 valid questionnaires. The statistical and analytical tools used included both descriptive and inferential analysis. One general organizational factor (relationship between organizational members/services/supervisor) was considered to be a determinant of the three CS dimensions (SOI, SCI and SPF). With regard to IC processes, the results show that the overall evaluation of IC and the effectiveness of IC channels have a positive impact on SOI, but the effect of IC limitations in this dimension is negative. Only the effectiveness of IC channels has a significant positive effect on SCI. The SPF is positively influenced by the effectiveness of IC channels and by the overall evaluation of IC. Furthermore, the findings suggest that as SOI and SPF increases, so does job satisfaction. SCI is not significantly correlated with overall job satisfaction. Positive correlations were found between the three dimensions of the CS and the institutional bond variable. Finally, it was observed that job satisfaction is positively correlated with institutional bond. This paper offers original findings and to the best of our knowledge this research is one of the few studies addressing the employee’s perceptions of general organizational factors and IC processes in explaining CS dimensions in the higher educational sector. Also, this study highlights the importance of CS dimensions in developing positive working attitudes, particularly job satisfaction and institutional bond.
A submillimetre search for cold extended debris disks in the β Pictoris moving group

Context: Previous observations with the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the Infrared Space Observatory, and ongoing observations with Spitzer and AKARI, have led to the discovery of over 200 debris disks, based on detected mid- and far infrared excess emission, indicating warm circumstellar dust. To constrain the properties of these systems, e.g., to more accurately determine the dust mass, temperature and radial extent, follow-up observations in the submillimetre wavelength region are needed. Aims: The β Pictoris moving group is a nearby stellar association of young ( 12 Myr) co-moving stars including the classical debris disk star β Pictoris. Due to their proximity and youth, they are excellent targets when searching for submillimetre emission from cold, extended, dust components produced by collisions in Kuiper-Belt-like disks. They also allow an age independent study of debris disk properties as a function of other stellar parameters. Methods: We observed 7 infrared-excess stars in the β Pictoris moving group with the LABOCA bolometer array, operating at a central wavelength of 870 μm at the 12-m submillimetre telescope APEX. The main emission at these wavelengths comes from large, cold dust grains, which constitute the main part of the total dust mass, and hence, for an optically thin case, make better estimates on the total dust mass than earlier infrared observations. Fitting the spectral energy distribution with combined optical and infrared photometry gives information on the temperature and radial extent of the disk. Results: From our sample, β Pic, HD 181327, and HD 172555 were detected with at least 3σ certainty, while all others are below 2σ and considered non-detections. The image of β Pic shows an offset flux density peak located near the south-west extension of the disk, similar to the one previously found by SCUBA at the JCMT. We present SED fits for detected sources and give an upper limit on the dust mass for undetected ones. Conclusions: We find a mean fractional dust luminosity bar{f}_dust = 1.1 × 10-3 at t ≈ 12 Myr, which together with recent data at 100 Myr suggests an f_dust ∝ t-α decline of the emitting dust, with α > 0.8. Based on observations with APEX, Llano Chajnantor, Chile (ESO programmes 079.F-9307(A) and 079.F-9308(A)).
Perturbation theorems for maximal $L_p$-regularity

In this paper we prove perturbation theorems for R-sectorial operators. Via the characterization of maximal Lp-regularity in terms of R-boundedness due to the second author we obtain perturbation theorems for maximal Lp-regularity in UMD -spaces. We prove that R-sectoriality of A is preserved by A-small perturbations and by perturbations that are bounded in a fractional scale and small in a certain sense. Here, our method seems to give new results even for sectorial operators. We apply our results to uniformly elliptic systems with bounded uniformly continuous coefficients, to Schr6dinger operators with bad potentials, to the perturbation of boundary conditions, and to pseudo-differential operators with non-smooth symbols.
A spatial analysis of the impact of West German television on protest mobilization during the East German revolution

Formal models of revolutionary collective action suggest that ‘informational cascades’ play a crucial role in overcoming collective action problems. These models highlight how information about the aggregate level of participation in collective action conveys information about others’ political preferences, and how such informational cues allow potential participants to update their beliefs about the value of participating in antiregime collective action. In authoritarian regimes, foreign mass media are often the only credible source of information about antiregime protests. However, limited robust evidence exists on whether foreign media can indeed serve as a coordination device for collective action. This article makes use of a detailed dataset on protest events during the 1989 East German revolution and exploits the fact that West German television broadcasts could be received in most but not all parts of East Germany. Across a wide range of Cox proportional hazards models and conditional on a rich set of observables, it finds that the availability of West German television did not affect the probability of protest events occurring. The evidence presented here does not support the widely accepted ‘fact’ that West German television served as a coordination device for antiregime protests during the East German revolution. More broadly, it also calls into question strong claims about the effects of communication technology on revolutionary collective action.
Levels of job satisfaction of coaches providing education to mentally retarded children in Turkey

The purpose of this research is to determine the levels of job satisfaction of sports coaches who are providing education to mentally retarded children and to examine as well as their job satisfaction according to different variables. Survey method was preferred as the data collection tool and “Minnesota Satisfaction Inventory” -developed by Weiss, Dawis, England, Lofquist and Turkish validity and reliability tests performed by Baycan and socio-demographic data collection form were used. Thirty four (34) female, 53 male, total of 87 coaches participated in the research on a voluntary basis from different branches (gymnastics, athletics, table tennis and swimming). For the data analysis; “independent-samples t test” and “one-way ANOVA” test were used. As a result of the research, it is possible to say that the coaches have high levels of job satisfaction. In addition, it is also concluded that the levels of job satisfaction of coaches did not vary according to the variables of gender, age, marital status, primary profession, professional publications, professional experience and financial situation. Key words: Coaching, job satisfaction, mentally retarded children, sports
Cyclical Informality and Unemployment

The proportion of informal or unprotected workers in developing countries is large. In developing economies, the fraction of informal workers can be as high as 70% of total employment. For economies with significant informal sectors, business cycle fluctuations and labor market policy interventions can have important effects on the unemployment rate, and also produce large reallocations of workers between "regulated" and "unregulated" jobs. In this paper, we report the main cyclical patterns of one such labor market: Brazil. We then use the empirical regularities found in the data to build, calibrate, and simulate a two-sector search and matching labor market model, in which firms have the choice of hiring workers formally or informally. We find that our model, built in the spirit of traditional search and matching models, can explain well most of the cyclical properties found in the data. We also show that government policies that decrease the cost of formal jobs, or increase the cost of informality, raise the share of formal employment while reducing unemployment.
Overcoming adversity: resilience & coping mechanisms developed by recent immigrant women living in the inner city of Calgary, Alberta

This article explores the resilience and coping mechanisms used by urban immigrant women to mediate gender, migration, socioeconomic conditions, locality and health. A purposive sample of eleven women who had recently immigrated to Canada was interviewed. Despite added stress, guilt and frustration of migration the women demonstrated agency and resiliency, enabling them to develop effective coping strategies. Life in the inner city was described as convenient upon first arrival, however, the inner city neighbourhood did not constitute a community for any of the women. Strong network-building skills enabled them to reach beyond the inner city and identify other coping strategies. While services for immigrants tend to be located centrally, in this case the inner city was generally considered a transient place for recent immigrant women and their families.
Analysis of molecular features of the Ukrainian isolates of HIV-1

Analysis of HIV-1 genome in the region of pol gene was performed by sequencing virus genome using 64 samples of blood from HIV-infected persons. Subtype a HIV-1 revealed to be dominating among investigated samples and a great number of samples belonged to a circulating recombinant forms of HIV-1. Analysis of mutations showed only one mutation connected with development of HIV-1 resistance to antiretroviral treatment. Most samples included polymorphic substitutions of nucleotides in the virus genome region studied.