Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA : A DYNAMIC GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS

This study explores the impact of government policy on long-run growth and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), drawing on insights from cross-country research on the direct and indirect links between public spending and total factor productivity (TFP) growth. Methodologically, we use a dynamic, computable general equilibrium (CGE) model that is solved for the period 1998-2015. The model keeps track of the accumulation of major assets and captures the impact of government spending (disaggregated by function into agriculture, human capital, transportation-communication, defense, and other) on TFP growth. The model is applied to a stylized country-level data set that reflects the structural characteristics of economies in SSA and incorporates empirically estimated links between TFP and different types of public spending. Simulations of alternative government spending strategies suggest that a reallocation of spending to more productive areas, most importantly agriculture, and increased efficiency of government spending are key elements in pro-poor growth strategies. The returns from increased government spending in target areas without cuts elsewhere are lower since, in the absence of foreign financing, less resources is available for private consumption and investment. By releasing domestic resource constraints, foreign grant financing can play a crucial role in strategies aimed at drastic improvements in economic performance, including the realization of the Millennium Development goal of halving poverty by 2015.
Population biology of bay anchovy Anchoa mitchitli in the mid Chesapeake Bay

The population biology of bay anchovy Anchoa mtchilli was studied from July 1986 to December 1987 to estimate relative abundance, age structure, growth and mortality. Trawl surveys indicated that mean abundance, indexed by catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), was higher in the JulyNovember period in 1986 than in 1987. Mean CPUE was highest in September of each year when catches were dominated by recruiting, young-of-the-year (YOY) anchovy. Annuli on otoliths indicated the presence of 4 age classes. Maximum age was 3+, when some individuals were 85 mm fork length (FL) and > 5 g wet wt. The population consisted primarily of YOY and age 1+ individuals. Observed lengths-at-age were highly variable. Although most growth in length was completed by age 1+, significant increases in length and, especially, weight occurred in older fish. The parameters of a von Bertalanffy growth model, fitted to the means of back-calculated lengths at otolith annuli and fall marks, are: Lv, = 129.3 mm. FL, K = 0.23, and to = -1.23 yr. The best estimates of mean fork length-at-age were generated by a seasonally oscillating version of the von Bertalanffy model, with L= 107.0 mm FL, K= 0.36 and to = -0.81 yr. Fork lengths-at-age, based upon this model, are: age 1, 50.4 nun; age 2, 67.6 mm; and age 3, 79.5 mm. The instantaneous natural mortality rates of recruited anchovy are high. Annual mortality rates, estimated from catch curve analyses, ranged from 2.2 to 2.9 (89 to 95% yr"'). The fast growth and high mortality rates indicated that maximum cohort biomass is achieved during the late postlarval or early juvenile period.
On Cluster Points, Continuity, and Boundedness Associated with the Generalized Statistical Convergence in Probabilistic Normed Spaces

We consider the recently introduced notion of -statistical convergence (Das, Savas and Ghosal, Appl. Math. Lett., 24(9) (2011), 1509–1514, Savas and Das, Appl. Math. Lett. 24(6) (2011), 826–830) in probabilistic normed spaces and in the following (Şencimen and Pehlivan (2008 vol. 26, 2008 vol. 87, 2009)) we introduce the notions like strong -statistical cluster points and extremal limit points, and strong -statistical continuity and strong -statistical D-boundedness in probabilistic normed spaces and study some of their important properties.
Cover Crop for Early Season Weed Suppression in Crops: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

2211 Weeds occurring during early crop growth need to be removed because these are known to be most competitive with crops (Knezevic et al., 2002; Norsworthy and Oliviera, 2004; Tursun et al., 2016; Osipitan et al., 2016). Uncontrolled weeds at this early growth stage could cause irreversible and substantial crop yield losses (Knezevic et al., 2002, Adigun et al., 2014). If weeds are controlled at this time, crops can get a head start, achieve canopy closure, and compete effectively with later emerging weeds (Rajcan and Swanton, 2001). Typical early season weed control options include pre-plant, pre-emergence, and early post emergence herbicide applications in no-till cropping systems or mechanical cultivation in tilled systems. Herbicides provide an easy and cost-effective way of controlling weeds in crops and result in increased crop vigor and yield. Conversely, they are also a potential threat to the environment (e.g., pesticides residues in surface and/or groundwater) and in some areas, the development of resistant weed biotypes has reduced the utility of herbicides. In tillage-based cropping systems, mechanical operations such as plowing, harrowing, disking, and cultivating are used. Tillage for weed control has been utilized for a long time (Abdin et al., 2000) as it reduces weed density. At the same time, weed seeds receive a brief exposure to sunlight, due to soil inversion after tillage that can trigger their germination. There are still concerns about the negative impact of tillage on soil health and topsoil erosion (Loaiza Puerta et al., 2018). Cover crops have been documented to improve soil quality and minimize environmental degradation while providing a level of weed suppression in crops (Bachie and McGiffen, 2013; Norsworthy et al., 2007; Petrosino et al., 2015; Teasdale and Mohler, 2000). Cover crops can potentially provide an alternative tactic for control of herbicide-resistant weeds (Price et al., 2016; Wiggins et al., 2016). Reported weed suppression provided by cover crops has not been consistent, as it can range from 0% weed control (Galloway and Weston, 1996) to 98% control (Hayden et al., 2012), perhaps due to environmental, management, or inherent factors (Teasdale, 1996). Cover crops provide weed suppression either through competition (Mirsky et al., 2013), smothering (Hutchinson and McGiffen, 2000), or allelopathic activity (Barnes et al., 1987; Kunz et al., 2016). Cover crops can either be inter-seeded (Abdin et al., 2000; Cover Crop for Early Season Weed Suppression in Crops: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
EVALUATING THE DELETION AND POINT MUTATIONS OF THE SMN1 GENE IN PATIENTS WITH SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY (SMA) IN WEST AZERBAIJAN PROVINCE OF IRAN

Background & Aims: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a common disorder with autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. The frequency of carriers of this disease is one in forty to one in sixty. SMA occurs in 98% of cases due to the homozygous deletion of SMN1 exons 7 and 8. The purpose of this study was to evaluating the deletion and point mutations of the SMN1 gene in patients with SMA in west Azerbaijan province of Iran. Materials & Methods: A total of 50 patients with SMA were referred to the Genetic Department after clinical diagnosis for molecular evaluation and genetic counseling. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples. The exclusion rate of exons 7 and 8 in the neuronal survival gene 1 was determined by using the PCR-RFLP. Results: Deletion of exons 7 and 8 were observed in 98% of the studied cases (49 out of 50 cases). In one patient, the sequencing of exon 5 showed homozygote mutation c.549 del C (p.Lys184ser fs 29) (point mutation). Conclusion: The evaluation of the presence or absence of exons 7 and 8 of the SMN1 gene, as well as point mutations in SMN1 gene in patients suspected of musculoskeletal atrophy, is effective in confirming the clinical diagnosis and subsequent genetic counseling.
Corporate Restructuring in Japan: Who Monitors the Monitor?

Peek and Rosengren [Peek, J., Rosengren, E. , 2005. Unnatural selection: Perverse incentives and the misallocation of credit in Japan. American Economic Review 95, 1144-1166] showed that, when the bubble economy era ended, regulatory forbearance and perverse incentives allowed Japanese banks to engage extensively in evergreening. This is the first comprehensive study to empirically analyze the economics of private debt restructurings of financially distressed companies in Japan, where the corporate monitoring mechanism is not market based but large-stakeholder based - typically, banks and affiliated companies. These stakeholders are expected to efficiently resolve potential bankruptcy or collapse with better information resulting from long-term relationships with the distressed firms. Our study, however, finds that private restructurings led by them failed because of delays in implementing fundamental solutions. Forbearance in addressing the needs of distressed firms demonstrates the weakness of such stakeholders in instituting discipline, hence the need for a system to "monitor the monitor".
Diagnostic utility of trophoblastic cell surface antigen 2 immunohistochemical expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Background: Although nuclear criteria are considered to be characteristic for papillary thyroid carcinoma, some cases do raise controversy as being papillary thyroid carcinoma or non-papillary thyroid carcinoma due to unclear diagnostic nuclear features. Immunohistochemical markers can help in identifying PTC. Trophoblastic cell surface antigen 2 (TROP-2) is a novel marker that is recently applied on thyroid. The aim of this study was to evaluate TROP-2 expression and diagnostic utility in PTC compared to other thyroid nodules with follicular pattern on tissue specimens and cell block sections. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was carried out at National Cancer Institute, Cairo University between January 2010 and January 2015. Immunohistochemical evaluation of TROP-2 was applied on archival 110 surgically excised and 66 cytological cell blocks of PTC and other follicular thyroid nodules. Membranous staining, with or without cytoplasm, was considered positive.Results: Among excised specimens, 85.1% of PTC demonstrated TROP-2 staining. The majority revealed diffuse staining. No significant staining difference was reported between studied classic and non classic variants. TROP-2 sensitivity and were 85.1% and 94.4%. Among cytological materials, all PTC were positive except two (false negative) and only two follicular adenomas were positive (false positive). TROP-2 sensitivity and specificity were 93.8% and 94.1%. None of nodular hyperplasia or adjacent normal thyroid tissues showed TROP-2 immunoreactivity either on histopathological or cytological sections.Conclusion: TROP-2 positivity was significantly higher in PTC compared to all other studied non PTC lesion in both surgical pathology specimens and cytological materials. No reported significant staining difference among studied PTC variant.
Default Risk, the Real Exchange Rate and Income Fluctuations in Emerging Economies

Volatile and countercyclical country interest rates and dollar-denominated debt are common features of emerging economies. This paper develops a two-sector small open economy model to study endogenous default risk and its interaction with the real exchange rate and income. Default probabilities and country risk premia depend on incentives for repayment. Default occurs in equilibrium because asset markets are incomplete. The model predicts that default incentives and default premia are higher in recessions, as observed in the data. The reason is that in a recession, a risk averse borrower finds it more costly to repay noncontingent debt and is more likely to default. In a quantitative exercise, the model matches several features of the Argentinian economy and can account for the dynamics observed during the recent default episode. Prior to default, the economy experiences higher interest rate premia, capital outflows, real exchange rate depreciation, and collapses in consumption. An important feature of the model is that economies with relatively small tradable sectors have higher incentives to default on dollar denominated debt and thus have larger default probabilities.
Random matrix minor processes related to percolation theory

This paper studies a number of matrix models of size n and the associated Markov chains for the eigenvalues of the models for consecutive n's. They are consecutive principal minors for two of the models, GUE with external source and the multiple Laguerre matrix model, and merely properly defined consecutive matrices for the third one, the Jacobi-Pineiro model; nevertheless the eigenvalues of the consecutive models all interlace. We show: (i) For each of those finite models, we give the transition probability of the associated Markov chain and the joint distribution of the entire interlacing set of eigenvalues; we show this is a determinantal point process whose extended kernels share many common features. (ii) To each of these models and their set of eigenvalues, we associate a last-passage percolation model, either finite percolation or percolation along an infinite strip of finite width, yielding a precise relationship between the last passage times and the eigenvalues. (iii) Finally it is shown that for appropriate choices of exponential distribution on the percolation, with very small means, the rescaled last passage times lead to the Pearcey process; this should connect the Pearcey statistics with random directed polymers.
On quantum and classical Poisson algebras

Results on derivations and automorphisms of some quantum and classical Poisson algebras, as well as characterizations of manifolds by the Lie structure of such algebras, are revisited and extended. We prove in particular somehow unexpected fact that the algebras of linear differential operators acting on smooth sections of two real vector bundles of rank 1 are isomorphic as Lie algebras if and only if the base manifolds are diffeomorphic, independently whether the line bundles themselves are isomorphic or not. MSC 2000: 17B63 (Primary), 13N10, 16S32, 17B40, 17B65, 53D17 (Secondary).
Comparative responses of container- versus ground-grown soybean to elevated carbon dioxide and ozone

In studies of CO 2 -enrichment effects on plants, the applicability of results derived from experiments using container-grown plants for predictions of future crop performance in a CO 2 -enriched atmosphere has been questioned. Concerns also have been expressed about plant growth studies with the air pollutant O 3 in pot-grown plants. Further, since elevated CO 2 and O 3 co-occur, studies are required with the combination of gases. In this 2-yr experiment, soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ] plants grown in large pots (15 and 21 L) and in the ground were exposed to mixtures of CO 2 and O 3 in open-top chambers. The CO 2 treatments were ambient and CO 2 enrichment of approximately 337 μmol mol -1 added 24 h d -1 . Ozone treatments were charcoal-filtered (CF) air (23 nmol mol -1 ) and approximately 1.5 times ambient O 3 levels (71 nmol mol -1 ) given 12 h d -1 . Relative effects of elevated CO 2 and O 3 on aboveground biomass and seed yield were quite similar for plants grown in pots compared with plants grown in the ground. Elevated CO 2 increased total seed mass and O 3 suppressed it to similar magnitudes in both rooting environments. Elevated CO 2 also reduced the toxic effects of O 3 . Net photosynthesis (A) was similar while stomatal conductance (g,) was higher in pot-grown compared with ground-grown plants, possibly due to better soil moisture status. The results indicated that planting density and rooting environment affected plant morphology, but relative responses of seed yield to elevated CO 2 and O 3 were not fundamentally different between soybean plants grown in large pots and in the ground in open-top chambers.
Direct numerical simulation of the Taylor–Couette flow with the asymmetric end-wall boundary conditions

In the paper the authors present the results obtained during a direct numerical simulation of the transitional Taylor–Couette flow in closed cavity. The spectral vanishing viscosity method is used to stabilize computations for higher Reynolds numbers. The Taylor–Couette flow is widely used for studying the primary pattern formation, transitional flows and fully turbulent flows. The Taylor–Couette flow is also important from engineering point of view: the results can be interesting for engineers dealing with gas turbines and axial compressors. In the paper the attention is focused on the influence of the end-wall boundary conditions on the flow structures and on statistics (i.e. the radial profiles of the angular velocity, angular momentum, torque, the Reynolds stress tensor components). The results are discussed in the light of experimental and numerical data published in literature (F. Wendt, Ing.-Arch., 4, 1933; H. Brauckmann, B. Eckhardt, J. Fluid Mech., 718, 2013).
Analysis factors of consumer purchasing decision on snack from tubers in Padang City

This study aims to analyze the factors that influence snack from tubers purchase decision in Padang City. The population in this study is all consumers who purchase snack from tubers. The number of samples in this study was 200 respondents. Data analysis technique used is multiple linear regression analysis. The results of the analysis show that culture, product, promotion, and distribution have an effect on purchasing decisions. Social, personal, psychological, and price have no significant effect on purchasing decisions on consumers of snack from tubers in Padang City.
Perceptions of Prospective Pre-School Teachers Regarding Children's Right to Participate in Classroom Activities.

* This study is derived from the master’s thesis conducted by Nihan Koran at the Department of Educational Sciences of Girne American University under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Neslihan Avcı. 1 Correspondence to: Nihan Koran (PhD Candidate), Department of Preschool Education, Cyprus International University, Haspolat, Lefkoşa 34660 Northern Cyprus. Email: nkoran@ciu.edu. tr 2 Department of Early Childhood Education, Gazi University, Ankara Turkey. Email: navci@gazi.edu. tr Citation: Koran, N. , & Avcı, N. (2017). Perceptions of prospective pre-school teachers regarding children’s right to participate in classroom activities. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 17, 1035–1059. http://dx.doi. org/10.12738/estp.2017. 3.0325 Abstract This study investigates the behaviours of pre-school teachers working with children aged between 4 and 6 years with regard to their right to participate in classroom activities. In this context, pre-school teacher’s negative or positive applications regarding children’s participation rights were revealed. Furthermore, preschool teachers’ aplications were evaluated with regard to requirements of participation. The data of 15 pre-school teachers observed in the ‘school experience’ course were obtained from the files of prospective teachers. Further, 64 hours of observations for each teacher were recorded by two prospective teachers during eight weeks. The data reflecting teachers’ behaviours in the educational environment were analysed using descriptive analysis techniques. Results of the research suggested 144 positive and 505 negative cases for 15 teachers in terms of these requirements. It was observed that some teachers consider child-centered and democratic behaviours and children’s wishes and opinions and take decisions accordingly. Furthermore, teachers showed negative behaviours predominantly in terms of requirements for participation.
Pap Test as the First Step in Screening Genetic Stability in Cell-BasedTherapy

The possibility of cell modifications compromises the safety of stem cell therapy under standardized conditions. The aim of this study was to analyze adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) using the Pap test as a first screening step to evaluate genetic stability. Methods: Human adipose tissue from six healthy female donors was obtained from elective liposuction procedures. The cells were isolated, cultivated at P2/P3, characterized by flow cytometric analysis, and differentiation induced. The AT-MSCs were stained by Papanicolaou (Pap) staining and analyzed according to the Bethesda classification, and viability-apoptosis relationships were evaluated. Results: The Pap test for Sample I indicated high-grade alterations consistent with genetic instability; for Samples II-V, atypical cells of undetermined significance; and for Sample VI, normal cells. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the potential of using the Pap test as an initial screening step to evaluate the genetic stability of cultured AT-MSCs as well for other adherent stem cells.
A hybrid topology optimization algorithm for static and vibrating shell structures

Structural designers are reconsidering traditional design procedures using structural optimization techniques. Although shape and sizing optimization techniques have facilitated a great improvement in the emergence of new optimum designs, they are still limited by the fact that a suitable topology must be assumed initially. In this paper a hybrid algorithm entitled constrained adaptive topology optimization, or CATO is introduced. The algorithm, based on an artificial material model and an adaptive updating scheme, combines ideas from the mathematically rigorous homogenization (h) methods and the intuitive evolutionary (e) methods. The algorithm is applied to shell structures under static or free vibration situations. For the static situation, the objective is to produce the stiffest structure subject to given loading conditions, boundary conditions and material properties. For the free vibration situation, the objective is to maximize or minimize a chosen frequency. In both cases, a constraint on the structural volume/mass is applied and the optimization process is achieved by redistributing the material through the shell structure. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is illustrated through several numerical examples of shells under either static or free vibration situations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.