Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Hands-On Activities on Senior Secondary Chemistry Students Achievement and Retention in Stoichiometry in Zone C of Benue State

The research was on the effect of hands-on activities on senior secondary chemistry students’ achievement and retention in stoichiometry in Zone C of Benue State. The moderating effect of gender was also examined. The study adopted the pretest, posttest, control group, quasi-experimental research design. The instrument used for data collection was Stoichiometry Achievement Test (SAT) with the reliability value of 0.92 using Pearson product moment coefficient. The target population of this study was 8381 which was the population of SSII chemistry students in study area. A sample of 292 students comprising 158 boys and 134 girls drawn from 8 schools within 4 Local Government Areas (LGA) out of 9 LGA in the zone selected using multi-stage sampling techniques. Four research questions and six null hypotheses guided the study. The research questions were answered using Mean and Standard Deviation scores while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The study revealed that students taught stoichiometry using hands-on activities had significantly higher mean achievement scores than those taught using demonstration method F=555.374, P(0.0001<0.05) and students taught stoichiometry using hands-on activities had significantly higher mean retention scores than those taught using demonstration method F=117.523, P(0.0001<0.05). There was no significant difference between the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught stoichiometry using hands-on activities. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Chemistry teacher’s trainee should be trained on the use of hands-on activities and serving teachers should use it. Hands-on activities teaching method is not gender sensitive therefore both male and female students should be involved in hands-on activities to enhance their achievement and retention in stoichiometry.
Notes on the behavior and the pendulous egg-sacs of Viridasius sp. (Araneae: Viridasiidae)

Abstract The natural history and biology of the recently erected family Viridasiidae is virtually unknown, although members of Viridasius Simon, 1889 are frequently used in cladistical or toxicological studies. Therefore, we report on laboratory observations made of the feeding and mating behavior and describe the egg-sac of a species tentatively assigned to Viridasius. The spiders were mostly nocturnal and built a large, silken retreat for molting. Females built pendulum-like egg sacs consisting of a silken, string-like stalk and an oval repository. The egg-sacs were covered actively with substrate by the female. Our observations corroborate the positioning of the Viridasiidae outside of the Ctenidae, because pendulous and camouflaged egg-sacs are not known from any ctenid species to date.
Study on the effectiveness of topical application of antiseptics in the therapy of digital dermatitis in diary cattle

Digital dermatitis (DD) in cattle is an infectious skin disease of the plantar side of the interdigital space. The causative agents are bacteria from the genus Troponema. Pathomorphologically DD is defined as a combination of ulcerative and proliferative changes which reach down to the dermal papillae and stick out from the ulcerous surface. In order for DD to develop, beside the infective agent, predisposing factors such as wet and unclean floors are required. Treatment of this disorder is possible with the application of antibiotics and/or antiseptic solutions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of topical application of antiseptics in the therapy of DD lesions in affected diary cattle. The applied antiseptic solutions were: copper sulfate (8%), zinc sulfate (8%), formalin (8%), and peracetic acid (3%). The treatment was carried out daily during the first seven days, thereon every second day for a total of 30 days. Chlortetracycline was used as the positive control and saline solution was applied as the negative control. By estimation of the presence, size and painfulness of the DD lesions we have established that zinc sulfate had the best curative effect when compared to other antiseptics.
Optimal control for systems with varying sampling rate

The paper addresses the aspects of control of real time systems with varying sampling rate. An example is given in which a stable continuous system is sampled at two different sampling rates. Two controllers are designed to minimize the same continuous quadratic loss function with the same weights. It is shown that although the design leads to stable controlled closed loop systems, for both discretizations, the resulting system can be unstable due to variations in sampling rate. To avoid that problem, we suggest an optimal controller design in which a bound on the cost, for all possible sampling rate variations, is computed. This results in a piecewise constant state feedback control law and guarantees stability regardless of the variations in sampling rate. The controller synthesis is cast into an LMI, which conveniently solves the synthesis problem. To illustrate the procedure, the introduction example is revised using the proposed LMI synthesis method and the stable control law is given, which is robustly stable against variations in sampling rate.
CEO Age, Risk Incentives, and Hedging Strategy

This study tests if managerial preferences explain how firms hedge, i.e. how they choose between linear contracts and put options, and if they finance these hedging positions with cash-on-hand or by selling upside (call options). Using hand-collected data on derivative portfolios we characterize hedging strategies in the oil and gas industry. The predictions of the vega-theory of hedging instrument choice, according to which high-vega managers would avoid hedging strategies that cap upside potential, find some support in the data. Our second proxy for risk preferences, CEO age, increases the likelihood of being a derivative user but is not systematically related to hedging strategy. Our findings add to previous literature emphasizing non-linear exposures and financial status as determinants of hedging strategy.
Fish predation on Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) herbivores and indirect effects on macrophytes

We assessed the effect of fish predation on native and naturalized insect herbivores of the invasive aquatic plant Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) using manipulative field experiments within lakes and a field survey across lakes. For the field experiments, we manipulated sunfish (Lepomis spp.) density in cages in the littoral plant beds of two contrasting lakes: one with many sunfish, few watermilfoil herbivores, and abundant Eurasian watermilfoil; and one with few sunfish, many herbivores, and little Eurasian watermilfoil. Watermilfoil herbivores, including the milfoil weevil (Euhrychiopsis lecontei) and aquatic caterpillars, were suppressed by fish in both experiments. Herbivore density was also negatively related to sunfish abundance in the multiple-lake survey. We conclude that abundant sunfish can strongly suppress watermilfoil herbivores. Furthermore, in one of our experiments there was a marginally significant effect of fish exclosure on watermilfoil, suggesting that fish suppression of watermilfoil herbivores can have a positive, indirect effect on plant growth. Fish predation on macrophyte herbivores may be an important trophic interaction in freshwater lakes. Resume : Nous avons evalue les effets de la predation par les poissons sur les insectes herbivores indigenes et natura- lises vivant sur la plante aquatique envahissante, le myriophylle a epis (Myriophyllum spicatum), par des experiences de manipulation en nature dans les lacs et par un inventaire de terrain dans une serie de lacs. Dans les experiences de terrain, nous avons fait varier la densite des crapets (Lepomis spp.) dans des cages placees dans des herbiers littoraux de deux lacs tres differents, l'un contenant beaucoup de crapets, peu d'herbivores du myriophylle et une forte densite de myriophylle a epis, l'autre avec peu de crapets, de nombreux herbivores et peu de myriophylle a epis. Les herbivores consommateurs de myriophylle, dont le charancon du myriophylle (Euhrychiopsis lecontei) et les chenilles aquatiques, ont ete elimines par les poissons dans les deux experiences. De plus, il existe une relation negative entre la densite des herbivores et l'abondance des crapets dans l'inventaire fait dans la serie de lacs. Nous concluons que, lorsqu'ils sont nombreux, les crapets peuvent reduire fortement les populations d'herbivores consommateurs de myriophylle. De plus, dans l'une de nos experiences, il y avait un effet marginalement significatif de l'exclusion des poissons sur le myrio- phylle, ce qui laisse croire que la suppression des herbivores consommateurs de myriophylle peut avoir un effet positif indirect sur la croissance des plantes. La predation par les poissons des herbivores consommateurs de macrophytes peut donc etre une interaction trophique d'importance dans les lacs d'eau douce. (Traduit par la Redaction) Ward and Newman 1057
Mechanism of Future Spring Drying in the Southwestern United States in CMIP5 Models

The net surface water budget, precipitation minus evaporation ( P 2 E ), shows a clear seasonal cycle in the U.S. Southwest with a net gain of surface water (positive P 2 E ) in the cold half of the year (October–March) and a net loss of water (negative P 2 E ) in the warm half (April–September), with June and July being the driest months of the year. There is a signiﬁcant shift of the summer drying toward earlier in the year under a CO 2 warming scenario, resulting in substantial spring drying (March–May) of the U.S. Southwest from the near-term future to the end of the current century, with gradually increasing magnitude. While the spring drying has been identiﬁed in previous studies, its mechanism has not been fully addressed. Using moisture budget analysis, it was found that the drying is mainly due to decreased mean moisture convergence, partially compensated by the increase in transient eddy moisture ﬂux convergence. The decreased mean moisture convergence is further separated into components as a result of changes in circulation (dynamic changes) and changes in atmospheric moisture content (thermodynamic changes). The drying is found to be dominated by the thermodynamic-driven changes in column-averaged moisture convergence, mainly due to increased dry zonal advection caused by the climatological land–ocean thermal contrast, rather than by the well-known ‘‘dry get drier’’mechanism.Furthermore, theenhanceddry advectionin the warmingclimateis dominatedby the robust zonal mean atmospheric warming, leading to equally robust spring drying in the southwestern United States.
Rational Asymmetric Development: Transfer Mispricing and Sub-Saharan Africa's Extreme Poverty Tragedy

A recent publication by the World Bank on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has established that extreme poverty has been decreasing in all regions of the world with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in spite of over two decades of growth resurgence. This chapter explores the role of transfer pricing in SSA’s extreme poverty tragedy. The analytical structure entails: (i) emphasis of rational asymmetric development as the dark side of transfer pricing, (ii) evidence that the recent growth resurgence in African countries has been driven substantially by resource-rich countries which are experiencing high levels of exclusive growth and extreme poverty, (iii) the practice of transfer pricing by multinationals operating in resource-rich countries of SSA and (iv) a Zambian case study of extreme poverty and transfer pricing schemes by Glencore in the copper industry. While transfer pricing is contributing to diminishing African growth, available evidence shows that the component growth that is not captured by transfer pricing does not trickle down to the poor because the African elite is also captured by practices of rational asymmetric development. Policy implications for the fight against extreme poverty are discussed.
“ The Color of Money ” Expanded : Geographically Contingent Mortgage Lending in Atlanta

“The Color of Money,” a series of articles published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in May 1988 (Dedman 1988), documented persistent barriers in access to mortgage credit in Atlanta’s AfricanAmerican neighborhoods. Wyly and Holloway (1999) updated the original study with recent data and found that during the intervening decade traditional lenders still exhibited many of the same patterns that prompted concern in the 1980s. We extend the analysis here (1) by using applicant-level Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data not available for the original study and (2) by proposing and empirically examining a hypothesis about the geographically contingent influence of applicant race on loan application denial probabilities. Probability models that explicitly incorporate cross-level interactions between neighborhood racial and income characteristics and an applicant-level racial identifier support the hypothesized effects. Results are at least partially consistent with traditional redlining arguments, arguments highlighting unintended effects of spatially targeted policy efforts to expand minority and low-income homeownership, and arguments that posit exclusionary discrimination by lenders in predominantly white suburban communities.
Number Effects and Tacit Collusion in Experimental Oligopolies

We systematically investigate the relationship between the number of firms in a market and tacit collusion by means of a meta-analysis of the literature on oligopoly experiments as well as two own experiments with a total of 368 participants. We show that the degree of tacit collusion decreases strictly with the number of competitors in industries with two, three and four firms. Although previous literature could not affirm that triopolies are more collusive than quadropolies, we provide evidence for this fact for symmetric and asymmetric firms under Bertrand and Cournot competition.
Ecohydrology in a human‐dominated landscape

As the earth becomes a quilt of managed patches, ecohydrologists need to move from describing to predicting the consequences of human activities, using knowledge to improve human well‐being. We highlight three current opportunities in ecohydrology. The first is the need for stronger research in arid and semi‐arid ecosystems, where water is scarce and a tight coupling exists between hydrology and ecology. The second is to build better predictive frameworks for understanding the consequences of vegetation change. The new framework we propose here combines landscape connectivity, through recharge and discharge dynamics, with global climate. In systems where annual precipitation and evapotranspiration are similar, the evapotranspirative differences of altered vegetation can quickly tip the water balance between positive and negative, fundamentally altering water flows and biogeochemistry. The third opportunity is to use simplified agricultural systems to build and test ecohydrological theory. Such systems function under the same biophysical rules but are often better controlled and replicated than more natural ecosystems. Resolving today's controversies requires sound ecohydrological science in a world where the influences of people are increasingly universal. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A COMPARISON OF THE REY AUDITORY-VERBAL LEARNING TEST AND THE WECHSLER SCALES

The present study was designed to determine the correlation between a commonly used cognitive ability test (i.e., Wechsler) and a verbal memory test (i.e., Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test) by analyzing archival data from a clinical sample of adults. Many researchers have continued to establish the relationship between cognitive ability, or IQ, and learning and memory skills; however, there is little research regarding when differences between IQ and memory scores are statistically significant. Results of this study indicated 17 of 20 IQ index/memory correlations were statistically significant and a series of simple regressions generated standardized residuals. These residuals generated confidence bands that can permit practitioners to interpret when differences between IQ and memory scores are uncommon and, therefore, meaningful. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.
Comparative Study of Carbon Dioxide and Methane Adsorption by Synthesized Fine Particles of SAPO-34 Molecular Sieve

Fine particles Silicoaluminophosphate-34 were synthesized by hydrothermal sol-gel method. The effect of crystallization time, as one of the important synthesis factors on particle size and crystallinity, kinetic and equilibrium adsorption, and selectivity of CO2 / CH4 has been studied in this work. The adsorption isotherms are obtained at moderate gauge pressures (100 - 3000 kPa) and temperatures (278, 288 and 298 K), and the equilibrium adsorption parameters as well as heat of adsorption are determined for the synthesized SAPO-34. The observed adsorption selectivity of CO2 to CH4 was determined to be around eight for that sample with higher degree of crystallinity. The crystallinity, isotherm parameters, adsorption selectivity and heat of adsorption confirm that the synthesized fine particle of SAPO-34 could be a good candidate for separation of CO2 from CH4.
A Risk Assessment of Bluetongue Disease in Austria

Bluetongue Disease (BTD) is internationally recognised as a notifyable disease with great economical relevance. In the summer of 2006 this vector-borne disease was introduced into Northern Europe and has since affected most European countries. Culicoides biting midges are cyclic vectors of the bluetongue disease virus (BTV). In the recent outbreaks the main vector C. imicola was absent and palearctic Culicoides species like C. obsoletus and C. pulicaris were detected. In this study the distribution of Culicoides spp. in Austria is analysed and the Bluetongue Disease risk zones are determined. Culicoides spp. abundance data was collected from weekly catches of 14 months originating from 54 trapping locations. The corresponding weather data of the trapping day derived from neighbouring meteorological stations. From the total of 7.523. 947 Culicoides spp. caught, 90,3 % were classified to the C. obsoletus complex. To detect a correlation of weather and Culicoides spp. distribution 186 meteorological stations (years 1997 – 2007) were analysed. The regression model using R (R 2.8.0, http://CRAN.Rproject.org) assigned a highly significant probability of mean temperature (P< 0.001) and wind (P< 0.001) and a significant probability of relative humidity (P=0.019) and altitude (P=0.059). The majority of catches (>1000 individuals) were found at temperatures above 10° C and at relative humidities between 65 to 80 %. The point data of the significant parameters mean temperature and relative humidity were subsequently interpolated using the ESRI ArcGISTM version 9.3 Geostatistical Analyst tool Kriging. In a raster analysis those regions providing optimal temperature and humidity conditions were separately investigated in all four seasons. In addition data of cattle density were included to create a risk map. The season of summer holds the greatest risk of a BTD epidemic with 25.9 % of the analysed area providing optimal conditions for vector abundance and 12.4 % providing contact risk with ruminant host. The results of this project (1) provide fundamental data on the distribution of Culicoides spp. in Austria, (2) determine limiting climatic parameters, (3) model most favourable Culicoides habitats and (4) identify risk areas by including possible host interaction. These high-risk areas can subsequently be given special attention for precautionary monitoring measures.
Serum Iron, Zinc and its relationship with Blood lead levels among lead exposed worker from lead battery plant.

Objective: Present study was conceived to examine the relationship between blood lead level (BLL) and serum Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn) in lead-exposed workers from lead Battery plant. Methods: The study design was cross-sectional. Ninety seven male workers involved in the lead battery manufacturing plant were considered as study subjects. BLL, serum Zn and Fe were estimated using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Haematological parameters were determined by using an Fx-19E haematology analyser. The renal function tests - creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) determined by standard methods. The statistical analysis was performed on SPSS version 16. Results: The body mass index (BMI) of subjects was 25.8±3.0. The systolic blood Pressure (SBP) was 127.8±14.5 mm Hg while diastolic blood Pressure (DBP) was 77.8±10.8 mm Hg. The workers with >30 µg/dL BLL (Fe 1745 ± 723 µg/L) had significantly (P
ANTIOXIDANT AND CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF CURCUMA AMADA RHIZOME EXTRACT ON BENZO(A)PYRENE INDUCED CERVICAL CARCINOMA IN SPRAGUE DAWLEY RATS

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the antioxidant and chemotherapeutic potential of Curcuma amada Rhizome extract on benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) induced cervical carcinoma in Sprague Dawley rats. Methods: A total of 30 female Sprague Dawley rats were selected to establish cervical cancer model and then divided into 5 groups at random with six mice in each group. Group 1 control, Group 2 BaP (oral), Group 3 BaP for 8 weeks and post-treated with cisplatin (intravenous administration), Group 4 BaP for 8 weeks and post-treated with 250 mg of ethanol extract of C. amada (oral), Group 5 BaP for 8 weeks and post-treated with 500 mg of ethanol extract of C. amada (oral). 4 weeks after the treatment, the animals were sacrificed, serum separated, and cervical tissues were dissected. Antioxidants and the markers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigens (CAs) 125, gamma glutamyltransferase (GTT) were assayed in serum and the tissue was used for analyzing tumor burden and sectioned for histopathological assays.10% tissue homogenate was estimated for antioxidants and membrane-bound enzymes. Results: BaP treated group showed significant (p<0.001) incidence of tumor burden, decreased activities of antioxidants, elevated lipid peroxidation, Na+/K+ adenosine triphosphatase (Na+K+ATPase), Calcium adenosine triphosphatase (Ca2+ATPase), Magnesium adenosine triphosphatase (Mg2+ ATPase), CEA, CA 125, GTT. Treatment with C. amada rhizome extract and standard drug cisplatin reverted the antioxidants, serum markers and tissue enzymes. Conclusion: From the results, it can be concluded that C. amada Rhizome extract ameliorated BaP induced oxidative stress in the cervical carcinogenicity of rats. Keywords: Curcuma amada, In vivo antioxidant, Chemotherapy, Benzo(a)pyrene, Cervical carcinoma, Tumor markers.
Group Fairness for Indivisible Goods Allocation

We consider the problem of fairly dividing a collection of indivisible goods among a set of players. Much of the existing literature on fair division focuses on notions of individual fairness. For instance, envy-freeness requires that no player prefer the set of goods allocated to another player to her own allocation. We observe that an algorithm satisfying such individual fairness notions can still treat groups of players unfairly, with one group desiring the goods allocated to another. Our main contribution is a notion of group fairness, which implies most existing notions of individual fairness. Group fairness (like individual fairness) cannot be satisfied exactly with indivisible goods. Thus, we introduce two “up to one good” style relaxations. We show that certain local optima of the Nash welfare function, somewhat surprisingly, satisfy both relaxations and can be computed in pseudo-polynomial time by local search. Our experiments reveal faster computation and stronger fairness guarantees in practice.