Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Plasma Discharge Parameters on the Nano-Particles Formation in the PECVD Reactor

In this paper, the effects of plasma discharge parameters on the nano particles formation process in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) reactor using a model based on equations of ionization kinetics for different active species are studied. A radio frequency applied electric field causes ionization inside the reactor and consequently different reaction schemically active species are formed. The reactions leading to production of nano-particles include negative and positive ion, neutrals and radicals. The dependency of the background gas temperature, frequency and amplitude of applied electric field as the main plasma discharge parameters on the avalanche time constant, nano-particles formation and their growth rate is verified. Silane and hydrogen gases are considered as background species. It was observed that the growth rate at higher frequencies and lower temperatures is higher. It was seen that increase in the applied voltage peak amplitude affects charged and radical particles fairly similar to the applied voltage frequency.
Effect of cultivars and culture medium on callus formation and plant regeneration from mature embryos of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Experiments were conducted to investigate callus induction, plant regeneration and somaclonal variations in 9 locally developed wheat cultivars viz., Ghaznavi-98, Fakhr-e-Sarhad, Inqilab-91, Tatara, Takbeer, Margalla, Pirsabak-85, SARC-3 and Khattakwal and one line from ICARDA (ICP-3) on hormones free and various concentrations of 2,4-dichorophenoxyaceitc acid (2, 4-D) in LS/MS medium. Cultivars responded differently to medium and 2, 4-D concentration for callus induction. Maximum calli induction (67.5%) was noted in ICP-3 followed by SARC-3 (65.5%) on MS. In our studies MS medium was more effective for all the wheat cultivars compared with LS medium for callus induction. When the effect of different concentration of 2, 4-D on callus induction was studied, MS medium containing 2 mg l -1 2, 4-D produced the greatest number of calli. Morphology of these cultivars were further studied on both LS/MS medium containing only 2 mg l -1 2, 4-D. Embroyogenic and non-embryogenic calli were observed in all the cultivars studied. Embryogenic calli were generally compact and rapidly growing whereas non-embryogenic calli were loose and slow growing. For regeneration, LS/MS medium was supplemented with various combinations of IAA and BAP. Significant differences were detected in plant regeneration, culture efficiency and regeneration capacity when mature embryos of 9 locally developed cultivars and one line from ICARDA (ICP-3) were compared. Six cultivars responded efficiently to LS medium while four showed better performance on MS medium for plant regeneration. Majority of the somaclones regenerated in this study were found to be inferior for agronomic traits except plant height, days to heading and maturity when compared with their respective controls. Our results showed that callus derived from this wheat cultivar is amendable and could be used for genetic transformation studies.
Hedging with Futures and Options under a Truncated Cash Price Distribution

Abstract Many agricultural producers face cash price distributions that are effectively truncated at a lower limit through participation in farm programs designed to support farm prices and incomes. For example, the 1996 Federal Agricultural Improvement Act (FAIR) makes many producers eligible to obtain marketing loans which truncate their cash price realization at the loan rate, while allowing market prices to freely equilibrate supply and demand. This paper studies the effects of truncated cash price distributions on the optimal use of futures and options. The results show that truncation in the cash price distribution facing an individual producer provides incentives to trade options as well as futures. We derive optimal futures and options trading rules under a range of different truncation scenarios. Empirical results highlight the impacts of basis risk and yield risk on the optimal futures and options portfolio.
SEM Analysis and Degradation Behavior of Conventional and Bio-Based Plastics During Composting

ADAMCOVÁ DANA, RADZIEMSKA MAJA, ZLOCH JAN, DVOŘÁČKOVÁ HELENA, ELBL JAKUB, KYNICKÝ JINDŘICH, BRTNICKY MARTIN, VAVERKOVÁ MAGDALENA DARIA. 2018. SEM Analysis and Degradation Behavior of Conventional and Bio-Based Plastics During Composting. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 66(2): 349 – 356. Recently, various materials have begun to be marketed that claim to be biodegradable or compostable. Terms such as “degradable”, “oxo-biodegradable”, “biological”, “compostable” and “green” are often used to describe and promote different plastics. Commercial bioplastics and a petrochemical plastic (claim to be degradable) were used for this study. The research was carried out in real conditions in the Central Composting Plant in Brno, Czech Republic. SEM analysis of the samples was done in order to analyze microstructure and morphology of specimens, validating dispersion results. It can be concluded that samples certified as compostable have degrade in real composting conditions. Samples (4 – 7) showed significant erosion on surface when subjected to the SEM analysis. Samples labeled (by their producers) as 100 % degradable (Samples 1 – 3) did not show any visual signs of degradation.
A cross-sectional study on depression among school going adolescent girls in Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh, India

Background: Depression is one of the common and ignorant psychiatric problems in adolescents now days. It has profound adverse effect on their physical as well as mental health. The objective of this study was to study the prevalence of depression among school going adolescent girls. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 336 school going adolescent girls in Barabanki district from June 2016 to September 2016. Multistage sampling was used to enroll the study subjects. Bio-social parameters such as age, socioeconomic status etc. were assessed by direct interview of adolescent girl as well as its confirmation with school records. Six items KADS (Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale) was used for assessment of depression among adolescent girl . Results: Out of 336 adolescent girls screened 18.7% were found positive for depression. Lower socio-economic status was found as one of the independent predictor of depression. Girls belonging to lower socioeconomic groups (odds ratio ([OR] 2.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-3.21; p = 0.03) were more susceptible for depression. However on multiple logistic regression no statistical association was observed between depression with respect to age group, class, religion, caste and mothers education, and type of family (p>0.05). Conclusions: The study highlights need for timely diagnosis and treatment of problem through school based periodic screening programmes. There is also need of increasing awareness among teachers and parents about depression.
Equity Ownership, Audit Quality and Firm Performance in Malaysia using Generalized Least Square Estimations Technique

The separation of ownership and management functions in modern corporations and the presence of ‘information asymmetry’ result in principal-agent conflict. This study investigates the relationship between ownership structure and company performance of publicly listed companies in Malaysia. The ownership is divided into two categories; managerial ownership and institutional ownership. Further, this study investigates the effect of audit quality on company performance. Panel data of 730 Malaysian public listed companies were examined. Normality check of the data was also carried out and some of the measures were transformed into logarithmic data to control the skewed nature of data. As multivariate regression is used to analyze the data in this study, assumptions of multicollinearity, hemoscedasticity and linearity are also tested. Furthermore, this study applied the F-test, Chow test and Hausman test to determine the best statistical method. The analysis utilizing GLS fix effects estimations technique is applied. The results showed that managerial ownership had negative and significant relationship with ROA and Tobin’s Q. In contrast, institutional ownership showed positive and significant relationship with ROA and Tobin’s Q. Further, audit quality affects positively to both of performance indicators. The involvement of institutional investors in monitoring and controlling activities and high quality auditing have the potential to reduce agency cost and as a result, the company performance increased.
Assessment of Knowledge, Awareness, and Behavior of Folic Acid

Background: A balanced diet is very important for pregnant women, which consists of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fats. Supplements do not replace a healthy diet but rather ensure that a woman is taking enough daily nutrients.Folic acid (FA) is a B vitamin, which is found in different foods but can be best got through a multi-vitamin. Things such as leafy green vegetables, fortified cereals, orange juice and strawberries are just some of many foods that contain folic acid.Congenital anomalies affect an evaluated 3% of newborns worldwide. Nearly 50 years ago, it was found that the B-vitamin folic acid play a role in improving normal embryonic development. This study done to investigate the level of awareness among female college students on the importance of preconception folic acid supplementation in preventing neural tube defects (NTDs). Methods: We have conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in Tabuk city population, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire requires information about Knowledge, awareness, perception of Folic Acid importance and use among females during the childbearing period, has been filled by participants. Results: In this study, there was a significant relation between age and if ever heard about folic acid (p<0.001), and for work and if ever heard about folic acid (p<0.001). Those who heard about folic acid were ninety four, and the majority of them aged from eighteen to thirty years (65.9%). Among those who heard about folic acid, the majority were university graduated (73.4%). Conclusion: We need to apply more efforts to increase the knowledge and emphasize on the importance of the use of folic acid among females in Tabuk city.
Classroom commands and the novelty factor: What happens when a teacher gives commands in a foreign language?

Giving effective classroom commands is basic to fostering a positive learning environment. This investigation explored the impact of adding a novelty factor to classroom commands by delivering commands in a foreign language. Foreign language commands (FLCs) are classroom directions given in a language other than the one generally used for learning and teaching. The purpose of this primary classroom-based case study was to examine the impact FLCs had on students’ response times and attitudes when learning about the culture associated with the language of the commands. Twenty-four Grade Three students in one class were exposed to FLCs for a period of five weeks. Data showing how many seconds it took for students to respond to verbal commands in both English and a foreign language were recorded over a variety of lessons. Surveys identified student attitudes towards FLCs. It was found that students responded faster to FLCs than similar English commands and demonstrated different response times to FLCs during different lessons. Variations were also noted in the attitudes of the children towards foreign language commands.
The Web-based Learning Environment in General Physics Course in a Public University in Kyrgyzstan

This study was conducted to see the attitudes of students toward web-based learning environment in General Physics course. The study was conducted in a public university in Kyrgyzstan in 2018. 144 students from the faculty of Science and Engineering participated in the study. Online questionnaire was completed online at the end of the spring semester 2017-2018. In addition, in-depth interviews with 12 students were conducted. Results showed that students’ success in online Physics course depends on gender and academic major of students. Factors, that were defined in this study: advantages over traditional methods, and fear of using online course were also found to be significant for students’ success in completing online Physics course while ease of use was found to be non-significant. In interviews with students, 2 major points were highlighted, namely, lack of online education experience among students and internet connection problems.
Effect of feeding fermented extruded corn stover on reproductive performance of pregnant sows

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of fermented extruded corn stover on back fat thickness, reproductive performance and serum hormone in sows during late pregnancy. A total of 48 pregnant sows (24 Landrace and 24 Yorkshire) were randomly assigned into four experimental treatment groups (0%, 10%, 15% and 20% fermented extruded corn stover). Back fat thickness results showed that no significant differences on control group compared to each fermented treatment groups (P>0.05) at 55 and 105 days of gestation, respectively. Reproductive performance results demonstrated that control group had a lower litter size per head than 10% fermented extruded corn stover group (P<0.05), respectively. The results showed that leptin hormone was higher in control group than 10%, 15% and 20% treatment groups (P<0.05), respectively. Our findings suggested that 10% fermented extruded corn stover increased the litter size per head in pregnant sows.
Healthcare Waste Composition and Generation Rate in Menellik II Referral Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study

Healthcare facilities generate tremendous amount of infectious waste from healthcare activities. Despite the great potential for environmental hazards and public health risks of healthcare waste, its proper handling and management is significantly undermined in many developing countries where the actual amount of healthcare waste generated and its composition in Ethiopia is not well defined. Thus it is important to determine the existing generation rate in the hospital. Across-sectional study design was employed to assess the waste composition and determine generation rate in Menellik II hospital. A calibrated sensitive weight scale was used to quantify the generation rate of health care waste for seven days. Data was entered, arranged and analyzed using MS office excel sversion 2007and SPS Sversion 20. Correlation and regression analysis were computed to know the relationships between magnitude of waste generated and other variables. The results showed that the mean waste generation rate was found to be 1.94Kg/bed/day±0.335, comprised of 40.9% (130.20Kg/day±38.22) general and 59.1% (187.89Kg/day±38.85) hazardous wastes. The amount of waste generated was positively correlated with patients treated per day (r=0.835, p 2 =56.558, p<0.0001). The mean generation rate in the hospital was comparable to other studies in Ethiopia but higher than Sub Saharan African countries. The proportion of hazardous waste (59.1%) was above the threshold set by the WHO (10-25%). This is because of malpractices of healthcare waste segregation. Therefore providing safe waste management technologies, adherence to national policy and awareness rising of all concerned needs to adopt in the hospital.
A Large-Swing High-Driving Low-Power Class-AB Buffer Amplifier with Low Variation of Quiescent Current

SUMMARY A large-swing, high-driving, low-power, class-AB buffer amplifier, which consists of a high-gain input stage and a unity-gain classAB output stage, with low variation of quiescent current is proposed. The low power consumption and low variation of the quiescent output current are achieved by using a weak-driving and a strong-driving pseudo-source followers. The high-driving capability is mainly provided by the strongdriving pseudo-source follower whose output transistors are turned off in the vicinity of the stable state to reduce the power consumption and the variation of output current, while the quiescent state is maintained by the weak-driving pseudo-source follower. The error amplifiers with sourcecoupled pairs of the same type transistors are merged into a single error amplifier to reduce the area of the buffer and the current consumption. An experimental prototype buffer amplifier implemented in a 0.35-µ mC MOS technology demonstrates that the circuit dissipates an average static power consumption of only 388. 7µW with the standard deviation of only 3. 4µW, which is only 0.874% at a power supply of 3.3 V, and exhibits the slew rates of 2.18 V/µs and 2.50 V/µs for the rising and falling edges, respectively, under a 300 Ω/150 pF load. Both of the second and third harmonic distortions (HD2 and HD3) are −69 dB at 20 kHz under the same load.
On the origin of the correlations between the accretion luminosity and emission line luminosities in pre-main-sequence stars

Correlations between the accretion luminosity and emission line luminosities (Lacc and Lline) of pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars have been published for many different spectral lines, which are used to estimate accretion rates. Despite the origin of those correlations is unknown, this could be attributed to direct or indirect physical relations between the emission line formation and the accretion mechanism. This work shows that all (near-UV/optical/near-IR) Lacc–Lline correlations are the result of the fact that the accretion luminosity and the stellar luminosity (L*) are correlated, and are not necessarily related with the physical origin of the line. Synthetic and observational data are used to illustrate how the Lacc–Lline correlations depend on the Lacc–L* relationship. We conclude that because PMS stars show the Lacc–L* correlation immediately implies that Lacc also correlates with the luminosity of all emission lines, for which the Lacc–Lline correlations alone do not prove any physical connection with accretion but can only be used with practical purposes to roughly estimate accretion rates. When looking for correlations with possible physical meaning, we suggest that Lacc/L* and Lline/L* should be used instead of Lacc and Lline. Finally, the finding that Lacc has a steeper dependence on L* for T Tauri stars than for intermediate-mass Herbig Ae/Be stars is also discussed. That is explained from the magnetospheric accretion scenario and the different photospheric properties in the near-UV.
Teaching secondary RE at faith schools in England and Wales: listening to the teachers

The present study begins by distinguishing between three kinds of ‘faith schools’ (known as schools with a religious character) within England and Wales: faith schools that operate within the state-maintained sector and had their origin in voluntary church-related initiatives prior to the Education Act 1870; ‘traditional’ independent faith schools, many of which had their roots in or before the nineteenth century; and ‘new’ independent faith schools, particularly Christian and Muslim schools, following the Rochester initiative in 1969. Second, the present study draws attention to and summarises a quantitative research tradition established in 1982 concerned with identifying the attitudes and values of teachers working specifically within Anglican faith schools within the state-maintained sector, and with modelling the influence of personal and religious factors in shaping their attitudes. Third, the present study reanalyses a new database profiling the views of subject leaders in religious education (RE) across a broad range of secondary schools with a religious character in England. These new analyses demonstrate the different priorities given to different aims of RE by teachers in this sector, and illustrates the relative influence of personal factors (age, sex, and church attendance), professional factors (years teaching, qualifications, and continuing professional development) and contextual factors (type of school) in shaping these priorities. The main findings are that personal and professional factors are largely irrelevant compared with the type of school. The aims of RE promoted within the new independent faith schools are largely indistinguishable from those within Church of England schools within the state-maintained sector. Compared with state-maintained Church of England schools, state-maintained Roman Catholic schools gave less priority in RE to promoting personal and social values, to promoting religious and spiritual nurture, and to promoting community cohesion.
Boron Tolerance in Wheat Accessions of Different Origin Estimated in Controlled and Field Conditions

This study was aimed to assess the effects of excess boron on 59 genetically divergent wheat accessions and to identify those with high and stable yields under a range of soil boron concentrations. The second aim was to test the applicability of a laboratory technique performed at juvenile stages of development in estimating field boron tolerance. The study comprised a control and three boron treatments, applied as 50, 100 and 150 mg boric acid L in laboratory, and 33.0, 67.0 and 133.0 kg boric acid ha in field trial. Yield performance and stability were evaluated using biplots from sites regression model, while interrelationships among analyzed parameters were assessed using path coefficient analysis. Parameters were mostly decreased by excess boron when compared to the control (seedling root length, seedling dry weight, grain number per spike, grain yield, flag leaf area, leaf area duration and grain weight). Significant increase was noted for seedling boron concentration and content, percentage of sterile spikelets per spike and number of spikes per m. Spike length, number of spikelets per spike, and anthesis date remained unaffected. The majority of accessions with high and stable yields were of local origin, so, we conclude that adaptation to environmental factors other than elevated soil boron plays an important role in overall field boron tolerance. The effects of excessive external boron on boron accumulation noted at the seedling stage in laboratory studies corresponded to its effects on yield in field.
Valuation accuracy and infinity horizon forecasts by Lucio Cassia and Silvio Vismara

This paper focuses on the assumptions of infinite-horizon forecasting in the field of firm valuation. The estimate of long-run continuing values is based on the hypothesis that companies should have reached the steady-state at the end of the period of explicit forecasts, i.e. due to competition forces any eventual source of extra profitability ends. It is argued that the equivalence between cash accounting and accrual accounting is the way of verifying such steady-state assumption. The main contribution of this paper is to provide an accuracy index measuring the variance of the target prices due to variations in long-term assumptions. The efficacy of this index is validated by using Logit and Cox regression models on a sample of 784 equity reports on European companies published by sell-side analysts.
Affirming the Interdependent Self: Implications for Latino Student Performance

ABSTRACT We examined whether culture-relevant affirmations that focus on family (i.e., family affirmation) would enhance performance for Latino students compared to affirmations that focus on the individual (i.e., self-affirmation). In Study 1 (N = 82), Latino middle school students exposed to a family affirmation outperformed Latino students exposed to a self-affirmation. In Study 2 (N = 269), Latino college students exposed to a family affirmation outperformed Latino students exposed to a self-affirmation and outperformed European American students across conditions. European American students performed equally well across conditions. The findings suggest that culture provides a meaningful framework for developing effective classroom strategies.