Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk Management Practices Followed by the Commercial Banks in Pakistan

Risk management is one of the most important practices to be used especially in banks, for getting assurance about the reliability of the operations and procedures being followed within them. In today’s dynamic environment, nothing is constant but risk. Even banking is not deprived of risk and all banks are exposed to a variety of risks including credit risk, liquidity risk, foreign exchange risk, market risk and interest rate risk. An efficient risk management system is the need of time. Managing risk is one of the basic tasks to be done, once it has been identified and known. The risk and return are directly related to each other, which means that increasing one will subsequently increase the other and vice versa. The purpose of this study is to explore the current risk management practices that are being followed and exercised by the banks, specifically, commercial banks in Pakistan. Primary and secondary data sources are used to serve the purpose. Results reveal a significant difference in the application of risk management aspects among the pubic sector commercial banks and local private banks. Also the financial soundness indicators differ in value for each type of commercial bank. Although there is a general understanding about risk and its management among staff of commercial banks, still there is a need for commercial banks to devise training courses tailored to the needs of Banking Personnel in Risk Management. This study has been conducted to estimate the average returns on investment portfolio and risk involved in the return on investment of portfolio in each of selected insurance companies before and after GATS membership. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, Paired samples statistics and multiple comparisons have been used to evaluate the insurance investment activities. The study concludes that there is a significance difference between the average return of investment of each of the Pakistani insurance companies before and after GATS. Risk involved in this investment before membership was 1.74 % and increased to 12.869 % after this membership. Even after performing well, there is an intensive increase in the risk involved in investment after GATS membership. The study is expected to provide a useful reference for Insurance managers as well as the ministry of Finance and Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan in their efforts to control and improve the performance of insurance in Pakistan.
Differential effects of ocean acidification on growth and photosynthesis among phylotypes of Symbiodinium (Dinophyceae)

We investigated the effect of elevated partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) on the photosynthesis and growth of four phylotypes (ITS2 types A1, A13, A2, and B1) from the genus Symbiodinium, a diverse dinoflagellate group that is important, both free‐living and in symbiosis, for the viability of cnidarians and is thus a potentially important model dinoflagellate group. The response of Symbiodinium to an elevated pCO2 was phylotype‐specific. Phylotypes A1 and B1 were largely unaffected by a doubling in pCO2; in contrast, the growth rate of A13 and the photosynthetic capacity of A2 both increased by ~ 60%. In no case was there an effect of ocean acidification (OA) upon respiration (dark‐ or light‐dependent) for any of the phylotypes examined. Our observations suggest that OA might preferentially select among free‐living populations of Symbiodinium, with implications for future symbioses that rely on algal acquisition from the environment (i.e., horizontal transmission). Furthermore, the carbon environment within the host could differentially affect the physiology of different Symbiodinium phylotypes. The range of responses we observed also highlights that the choice of species is an important consideration in OA research and that further investigation across phylogenetic diversity, for both the direction of effect and the underlying mechanism(s) involved, is warranted.
Discrete kinetic eigenmode spectra of electron plasma oscillations in weakly collisional plasma: A numerical study

It has been demonstrated that in the presence of weak collisions, described by the Lenard-Bernstein (LB) collision operator, the Landau-damped solutions become true eigenmodes of the system and constitute a complete set [C. -S. Ng et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 1974 (1999) and C. S. Ng et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 065002 (2004)]. We present numerical results from an Eulerian Vlasov code that incorporates the Lenard-Bernstein collision operator [A. Lenard and I. B. Bernstein, Phys. Rev. 112, 1456 (1958)]. The effect of collisions on the numerical recursion phenomenon seen in Vlasov codes is discussed. The code is benchmarked against exact linear eigenmode solutions in the presence of weak collisions, and a spectrum of Landau-damped solutions is determined within the limits of numerical resolution. Tests of the orthogonality and the completeness relation are presented.
Community Integration or Community Exposure? A Review and Discussion in Relation to People with an Intellectual Disability

Background : This paper reviews the issue of integration as it applies to people with an intellectual disability. A compelling finding is the almost exclusive orientation of the literature to physical integration within the general community of non-disabled people. Moreover, it seems to be generally assumed that the more frequently people experience such integration the better their lives will be. Methods : We question the validity of this assumption on several grounds. It is social, not physical integration, that has a reliable positive influence on well-being. This is an important conclusion as some disabled people find effective social integration with the general community extremely difficult to achieve. Because of this, the consequences of an overly enthusiastic program of integration for such people has more potential to be more stressful than beneficial. Results : We further argue that, as integration is being pursued to benefit the individual, the essential goal of service provision should be to achieve a sense of community connectedness, rather than being concerned with physical integration within the general community. Conclusion : It is proposed that such connectedness is more likely to be achieved within the community of people with an intellectual disability.
Benefits and Key Project Success Factors from Enterprise Systems Implementations: Lessons from Sapphire 2003

This paper analyzes benefits and key project success factors from sixty enterprise system implementations discussed by senior implementation-project managers in some of the world’s largest corporations at the June 2003 Sapphire conference. The contributions of this paper are (1) insight into the nature of the benefits that organizations achieved from their investments in enterprise systems, ranked by frequency with which they were mentioned, (2) the lessons senior managers have learnt as they implemented the software, again ranked by frequency with which they were mentioned, and (3) the preliminary model explaining how key success factors influence benefits from ES use.
Is Evolutionary Psychology a Metatheory for Psychology? A Discussion of Four Major Issues in Psychology From an Evolutionary Developmental Perspective

Evolutionary psychology has been proposed as a metatheoretical framework for psychology. We argue that evolutionary psychology should be expanded if it is to offer new insights regarding the major issues in psychology. Evolutionary developmental biology can provide valuable new insights into issues such as the domain-specificity of the human mind, the nature–nurture debate, stages in development, and the origin of individual differences. Evolutionary developmental biology provides evidence for the hypotheses that domain-general and domain-specific abilities co-occur, that nature and nurture interact in a dynamic and nonadditive way, that stages occur in development, and that individual differences are the result of pleiotropic effects during development.
How Costly are Debt Crises?

The aim of this paper is to assess the short and medium-term impact of debt crises on GDP. Using an unbalanced panel of 154 countries from 1970 to 2008, the paper shows that debt crises produce significant and long-lasting output losses, reducing output by about 10 percent after 8 years. The results also suggest that debt crises tend to be more detrimental than banking and currency crises. The significance of the results is robust to different specifications, identification and endogeneity checks, and datasets.
UNIVERSITY OF NATAL ORALITY AND THE SIXTEEN VEDIC SANSKARAS

In this dissertation an examination of oral style in the Sixteen Vedic Sanskaras with particular reference to the Naming, Marriage and Death ceremonies, has been made. Sanskaras, which originated in the Vedas, have been orally transmitted from teacher (Guru) to pupil from generation to generation. The Introduction outlines the role of Sanskaras in the life of a Hindu and its link with the ancient Vedas.The oral features that facilitate memorisation and transmission of the Mantras are mentioned. The three universal anthropological laws of Marcel Jousse are applied. The first chapter focuses on the theoretical framework of orality where important terms are defined. The contribution of Marcel Jousse and Ong are highlighted . The orality-literacy continuum is elaborated upon. The important role of memory skills as a facilitator of the transmission of knowledge is explained. The second chapter deals with the origin and the classification of Vedic literature . The role of the Sacred Fire (Yajna) in Sanskaras is emphasized. It is around this ritual fire that the ceremony and the oral traditions revolve. The fire is central to all the rites and ceremonies and the litanies constantly refer to the fire as the vehicle of transmitting the aspirations of the devotee to God. The third chapter states the reason for the choice of the topic and summarises each of the sixteen Vedic Sanskaras. This is followed by the identification of oral elements in the Naming ceremony. The evidence of orality in the marriage ceremony features in chapter four I initially establishing the importance of the marriage ceremony and thereafter outlining the essential steps of a Hindu marriage. The death ceremony is described in chapter five with special reference to evidence of oral style expression therein. The conclusion emphasizes the role of orality in keeping alive the Hindu tradition and customs. It also augurs well for further research in Vedic literature.
MODELING OF STATISTICAL KINETICS FAST REDOX REACTIONS DATA

The present paper is focus on modeling of statistical data processing with applications in field of material science and engineering. A new method of data processing is present and applies on a set of kinetic data for the inner sphere redox reaction between copper (II) and thiosulfate ions. The method allows to identify the correlations between data sets and to exploit them later in statistical study kinetic rapid redox reactions. An algorithm for computing data was implements in preprocessed hypertext language (PHP), an interface in hypertext markup language for them was also realizes and put onto academicdirect.ro educational web server, and it is accessible via http protocol at the address http://academicdirect.ro/~lori/research/regression/linear/v1.5/.
Spiritual Intelligence and Transformational Leadership: A New Theoretical Framework

The purpose of this paper is to establish a connection between spiritual intelligence and transformational leadership in an effort to encourage further debate about the legitimacy of spiritual intelligence in educational discourse. In this context we define spiritual intelligence as an interconnected configuration of affective orientations intimately linked to create meaning through connecting ideas, events, and persons rather than to a specific religious tradition or orientation. An exploration of the meaning of transformational leadership in education in K-12 settings provides the basis for the development of a synthesis from a new perspective of two concepts that empower the dispositions of leadership impacting school culture.
Induced Innovation or a Paradox of Environmental Regulation

In a seeming paradox, bluegrass seed production in the State of Washington increased following imposition of a statewide ban on stubble burning in 1996. Despite forecasts that alternative production practices would increase the cost of producing bluegrass seed so much that the industry would be driven from the state, production in the years 1997-2003 was higher than in any seven-year period in recorded history. This study seeks to explain why this occurred. Several hypotheses are put forward and systematically tested. The final hypothesis, induced innovation, cannot be formally tested because of data limitations, but it is examined by an assessment of innovations that occurred contemporaneously with the ban and by corroborative statistical evidence. The evidence is consistent with this hypothesis as a plausible explanation.
MAKING SENSE OF CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS: Who to Ask (and About What?) - Evidence from Iceland

The extent of corruption in Iceland is highly contested. International corruption measures indicate a relatively small amount of corruption, while domestic public opinion suggest a serious corruption problem. Thus, uncertainty prevails about the actual extent of corruption and whose perceptions to rely on. This problem is relevant for corruption research in general. Perceptions are increasingly used as proxies for the actual levels of corruption in comparative research. But we still do not know enough about the accuracy of these proxies or the criteria they must meet in order to give dependable results. In fact, radical differences exist concerning evaluations of perceptions between those who believe in unbiased learning and those believing perceptual bias to be widespread. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to attempt to gauge which factors may influence how perceptions of corruption are shaped and why differences in corruption perceptions between different groups may be so pronounced. We present findings from original survey data from three parallel surveys – among the ‘public’, experts, and ‘municipal practitioners’ – conducted in Iceland in 2014. Expectations based on the perceptual bias approach are tested, indicating that perceptions may be affected by (1) information factors, (2) direct experience of corruption and (3) emotive and/or ideological factors. The validity of perception measures should be considered with this in mind. Domestic experts are likely to be well informed and avoid perceptual bias to a greater extent than other groups. Our examination of the Icelandic case suggests that the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) tends to underestimate corruption problems in ‘mature welfare states’, such as Iceland, whilst the general public tends to overestimate it.
The connection between the peaks in velocity dispersion and star-forming clumps of turbulent galaxies

We present Keck/OSIRIS adaptive optics observations with 150-400 pc spatial sampling of 7 turbulent, clumpy disc galaxies from the DYNAMO sample ($0.07<z<0.2$). DYNAMO galaxies have previously been shown to be well matched in properties to main sequence galaxies at $z\sim1.5$. Integral field spectroscopy observations using adaptive optics are subject to a number of systematics including a variable PSF and spatial sampling, which we account for in our analysis. We present gas velocity dispersion maps corrected for these effects, and confirm that DYNAMO galaxies do have high gas velocity dispersion ($\sigma=40-80$\kms), even at high spatial sampling. We find statistically significant structure in 6 out of 7 galaxies. The most common distance between the peaks in velocity dispersion and emission line peaks is $\sim0.5$~kpc, we note this is very similar to the average size of a clump measured with HST H$\alpha$ maps. This could suggest that the peaks in velocity dispersion in clumpy galaxies likely arise due to some interaction between the clump and the surrounding ISM of the galaxy, though our observations cannot distinguish between outflows, inflows or velocity shear. Observations covering a wider area of the galaxies will be needed to confirm this result.
Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production by Pseudomonas putida KT217 on a Condensed Corn Solubles Based Medium Fed with Glycerol Water or Sunflower Soapstock

Pseudomonas putida KT217 was grown on a complex medium comprised of co-products of the ethanol and biodiesel industries to assess the organism's capability to produce medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA). The growth phase was carried out in a medium containing 400 g/L condensed corn solubles (CCS), supplemented with ammonium hydroxide as a nitrogen source. Following the exponential phase, co-products of the biodiesel industry (soapstock and glycerin) were fed into the reactor to trigger PHA production. When glycerin was added to the bioreactor (75 g/L total addition), the final cell dry weight (CDW) and PHA content were 30 g/L and 31%, respectively. The monomeric composition in the PHA formed was relatively uniform throughout incubation with 3-hydroxydecanoate dominating. When a total of 153 g/L of sunflower soapstock was added to the bioreactor in a fed-batch manner, the final CDW and PHA content were 17 g/L and 17%, respectively. Following addition of soapstock the monomeric composition of the polymer changed dramatically, with the 3-hydroxyoctanoate monomer becoming dominant and greater unsaturation present in the PHA.
Effects of clear-cutting and site preparation on water quality from a drained Scots pine mire in southern Finland

Ditch outflow from four treatment areas on a drained Scots pine mire was sampled for one year before and four years after clear-cutting and different site preparation operations. Ditch-mounding, or excavation of 40-60 cm deep ditches at spacings of 12-15 m in connection with mounding, is currently considered the most reliable site preparation method for drained peatlands in Finland. High leaching rates of suspended solids were detected from the ditch-mounding area, where the ditches reached down into the mineral soil below peat layer. In contrast to clear-cutting + mounding (without ditches) and clear-cutting alone, cutting and ditch-mounding also increased the leaching of ammonium and nitrate. Phosphorus concentrations in ditch outflow following clear-cutting and site preparation increased from areas where peat contents of phosphorus sorbing minerals (aluminium and iron) were low. The study demonstrated that clear-cutting and site preparation can significantly impair water quality from drained low productive pine mires.
Determination of Sensory and Quality Changes at Treated Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) During Cold-Storage

In this study, it was aimed to point out the quality changes of fish flesh that had been stored in refrigerator (4±1°C). Fish was separated in 4 treatments were whole-scaly, scales-gutted, and scales fillets. Samples were put in polystyrene boxes and covered with stretch film. The samples were sampled on days 0, 2. 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Protein, Lipid, Sensory, pH, Total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), Trimethyl amine nitrogen (TMA-N) and Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) analysis were done during the storage. According to the chemical analysis results, experimental samples were under the upper limits of acceptability in terms of pH, TMA-N, TBA values at the end of the 12 days of storage in the refrigerator, while TVB-N values of whole-scaly sea bass exceeded. However, sensorially, scale-less-gutted and scale-less-filleted treatments exceeded the acceptability limit values after 8 days storage and so did the whole group after 10 days storage.
GEOCHEMISTRY AND GENESIS OF MEHREDJAN BENTONITE DEPOSIT, SOUTHEAST OF KHOOR, ISFEHAN PROVINCE

Mehredjan bentonite deposit is located ~33 km southeast of Khoor in Isfehan province. It includes 15 discrete outcrops and occurs as layered and massive forms within a volcano-clastic sequence. Bentonitization process was accompanied with development of minerals such as montmorillonite, quartz, cristobalite, calcite, kaolinite, halite, albite, orthoclase, and muscovite. The collected field and laboratory data indicate that this deposit was developed by authigenic alteration of tuffs ranging in composition from trachyandesite, through andesite to basaltic andesite in a shallow marine environment. The distribution patterns of REEs normalized to chondrite in both bentonite and enclosing tuffs illustrate similar trend indicating the fractionation and enrichment of LREEs relative to HREEs and negative anomalies for Eu. Geochemical data revealed that transformation of tuffs into bentonite took place in an open system where leaching and fixation processes were two basic regulating factors in concentrating of common trace and rare earth elements. By pointing to the obtained results, factors such as differences of alteration intensity of protolith, physico-chemical conditions of alteration environment, adsorbing mechanism, structural incorporation, existing of organic matters, effects of diagenesis, carbonate complexation, ionic exchange, physical concentrations, and existing of resistant minerals played important roles in development of Mehredjan bentonite.
Study on Mg2+ removal from ammonium dihydrogen phosphate solution by an emulsion liquid membrane

Mg2+is extracted from ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (NH4H2PO4) solution by an emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) using mono-(2-ethylhexyl) 2-ethylhexyl phosphonate (HEHPEHE)as a carrier, sulfonated liquid polybutadiene (LYF) as a surfactant and kerosene as a solvent. To study the extraction efficiency and advantages of the ELM process in the separation of Mg2+,the effects of various operating conditions on the extraction -HEHPEHE volume fraction, reaction temperature, treat ratio (emulsion phase / external phase), phase ratio (membrane phase / internal phase), agitation speed, extraction time, internal phase concentration, surfactant LYF concentration and initial pH of NH4H2PO4 solution are experimentally investigated and discussed. The results show that Mg2+ in NH4H2PO4 solution can be effectively removed by the ELM process. An extraction efficiency of more than 83.1% is attained at the optimized parameters and superior-grade NH4H2PO4can be obtained by two levels of extraction.
Filamentous fungi as source of biotechnologically useful metabolites and natural supplements for neurodegenerative diseases treatment

Filamentous Fungi as Source of Biotechnologically Useful Metabolites and Natural Supplements for Neurodegenerative Diseases Treatment Laura Ciribelli Borges Dominguete*, Jacqueline Aparecida Takahashi a Post-Graduation Course on Food Science, Pharmacy Faculty, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil b Department of Chemistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil ciribellilaura@gmail.com