Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Warsaw School of Economics

The paper presents a new approach to exchange rate modelling that augments the CHEER model with a sovereign credit default risk as perceived by financial investors making their decisions. In the cointegrated VAR system with nine variables comprised of the shortand long-term interest rates in Poland and the euro area, inflation rates, CDS indices and the zloty/euro exchange rate, four long-run relationships were found. Two of them link term spreads with inflation rates, the third one describes the exchange rate and the fourth one explains the inflation rate in Poland. Transmission of shocks was analysed by common stochastic trends. The estimation results were used to calculate the zloty/euro equilibrium exchange rate. JEL classification numbers: C32, E31, E43
Ectoparasitism: Threat to Ethiopian small ruminant population and tanning industry

Sheep and goats are important contributors to food production in Ethiopia providing meat, milk and income generation for the country. Skins are the most important items to generate foreign currency for developing countries like Ethiopia. However, the huge resource potential of sheep and goats populations of the country are constrained and threatened by compound effect of diseases, poor management and malnutrition. Parasitic skin diseases caused by ectoparasites such as mange mites, lice, keds and ticks are among these threats resulting in serious economic loss to the tanning industry and the country as a whole. The economic impact of ectoparasitism in Ethiopia is not well documented. Tanneries reported that 35% of sheep skin and 56% of goats’ skin are rejected due to external parasites, and out of the reject groups of the processed skin, about 80 to 90% defects were believed to be due to external parasites. The estimated economic loss due to drop in quality of sheep and goat skin is around USD 25.8 million per year. It also takes time before disease affected animals after treatment could return to their normal body condition. Currently, ectoparasites are among major causes in decreased production, reproduction of these animals as well as leather quality deterioration, down grading and rejection of skins. As many as one-quarter to one third of all skins processed at tanneries in Ethiopia have various defects and are unsuitable for export purposes where most of these defects occur in the pre-slaughter stage of production while the animals are alive and are directly related to parasitic skin diseases. Information available so far in Ethiopia indicate that parasitic skin diseases of small ruminants are widely distributed in different agro-climatic areas, causing serious economic loss to the farming community, tanning and leather industry at large, seriously hampering the income generation and foreign currency flow to the country. The extent of the problem has increased continuously during the past few years, threatening the small ruminant population, health, production and reproduction that warrants cost effective control measures. Key words: Control, Ethiopia, ectoparasites, small ruminants, tanning industry.
Salt tolerance evaluation and relative comparison in cuttings of different pomegranate cultivars

A pot experiment was conducted during a two-year period in order to evaluate and compare the salinity tolerance of 10 Iranian commercial cultivars of pomegranate. Pots were arranged in a split plot design with two factors included water salinity as main plot in 3 levels of 4, 7 and 10 dS/m and 10 pomegranate cultivars as sub-plot and 3 replications. The properties concerned during the experiment were vegetative growth, percentage of alive cut tings after 2 month and the necrosis and chlorosis of leaves. In the end of the experiment the vegetative yield and root dry weight were also measured. In addition, irrigation water, drainage water, soil in plots, root, stem and leaves were analyzed for elements such as Na + and Cl – . The obtained results indicated that the best vegetative growth con ditions were related to Voshike -e- Saravan and Tab -o- Larz cultivars at 4 and 7 dS/m salinity levels, respectively. Moreover, the most significant percentage of alive cuttings was related to Voshike -e- Saravan cultivar at each of the three studied salinity levels. Similarly, this cultivar had the minimum values of leaves necrosis and chlorosis at all three levels of salinity. Furthermore, the highest level of fresh yield was related to Zagh cultivar at 4 dS/m salinity level. The highest values of total Na + and Cl – were observed in shoots and leaves of Zagh and Voshike -e- Saravan cultivars at 10 dS/m salinity level as well. In general, Voshike -e- Saravan is the most salinity-resistant cultivar among 10 studied cultivars. Besides, Malas -e- yazdi and Tab -o- larz can be planted as salinity resistant cultivars in the second hand. Other cultivar cuttings were not resistant in salinity and finally died (even after the second year) and three cultivars of Gabri, Malas -e- Esfahani and Khafri -e- Jahrom were the most sensitive cultivars with the lowest salinity resistance.
A Model to Explore Turkish Teachers' ICT Integration Stages.

The aim of the study is to determine teachers’ ICT integration stages according to CEO Forum’s standards and factors affecting their integration. Teachers are expected to use ICT in their teaching practice. Hence, it is crucial that their integration stages and factors affecting it are examined. A survey method was employed for this study. A sample of 200 teachers was selected randomly out of 460 teachers working in primary schools in Usak, Turkey. Researchers of this study developed an ICT integration questionnaire. Analysis of the data reveals that the teachers are in three different stages in ICT integration. A significant relationship is discovered between feelings of inadequacy in using ICT and exhibiting stage 1 behaviors. It is also clear that the ICT knowledge of teachers is the most important variable for the teachers who were at the third (the highest) stage of ICT integration. A model showing interrelations among factors influencing ICT integration behaviors were drawn for further studies to be tested.
Food Habits of the Jamaican Lizard Anolis opalinus: Resource Partitioning and Seasonal Effects Examined

A stomach analysis of 340 lizards collected in 33 samples over a 12 month period showed that Anolis opalinus eats arthropods, primarily ants by number (70%). By volume, however, ants comprised only 12% of the food bulk, with lepidopteran larvae and orthopterans being the main food items (46%). The lizards fed predominantly on soft bodied prey, except for ants. We found almost no evidence for food niche partitioning in the size dimorphic A. opalinus. All age and sex classes of lizards had eaten similar sized prey and prey taxa. When a significant difference was detected among classes, it was frequently the smaller lizards which had eaten the larger prey. In fact, season had more effect on diversifying the diet than did size of the lizards' trophic structures (i.e., mouths) or any possible feeding preferences. Niche overlap indices for prey length (0.86-0.94) and prey taxa (0.82-0.93) among all age-sex classes ran higher than those reported for a mainland anole with almost no sexual size dimorphism. Comparison of variables between the seasons (dry-Nov.-Mar., wet-AprilOct.) showed that lizards tended to ingest about the same volume of food (approx. 17 mm3 of food/g of lizard body wt). However, lizards ate more, but smaller prey in the dry season and fewer, but larger prey in the wet season. Relative fat body and liver weights were highest in the dry season and lowest in the wet season. Adult males and especially adult females experienced the greatest weight loss in these energy reserve organs; this was attributed in part to breeding activities. Coefficient of condition calculations (body wt/SVL) showed no body weight loss between seasons for any age-sex class of lizards. For the population, the volume of food taken across seasons appeared sufficient to increase energy reserves during the dry season and maintain body weight during the wet season.
Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods doped with lithium for polymer solar cells: defect related photovoltaic properties

The nanorod arrays of ZnO incorporated with lithium atoms show specific crystallinity, photoluminescence and absorption properties, which are promising for the improvement of photovoltaic performance of hybrid solar cells based on ZnO/poly(3-hexylthiophene). Li ions can be incorporated into ZnO crystals during the hydrothermal growth of the nanorods. The presence of Li in ZnO crystal was confirmed through X-ray diffraction analysis and by the photoluminescence spectra obtained. The difference in photovoltaic properties brought about by Li doping was determined from concentrations of the precursor solution. It was determined that appropriate Li doping improves both the short circuit current density (Jsc) and open circuit voltage (Voc). The quenching of photoluminescence of Li-doped ZnO nanorods/P3HT films indicates effective charge transfer at the interface due to oxygen-enrichment of the surface, corresponding to the enhancement of Jsc. The improvement of Voc was due to the suppression of the charge injection from the electrode brought about by the increase in barrier height at the ITO/ZnO interface as the work function of the ZnO nanorods was reduced after Li ion doping. However, further substitution of Li to Zn (LiZn) leads to increased reverse current densities of minority carriers decreasing Voc after the maximum value at 5 atom% incorporation. The maximum power conversion efficiency of 0.37% was obtained at 5 atom% doping, although improvements in photovoltaic performances through Li doping were still seen up to 20 atom% doping.
The Joint Determination of Leverage and Maturity: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia

This study empirically investigates the simultaneity between leverage and debt maturity policies and the factors that influences them by using a simultaneous equation framework in which leverage and debt maturity are endogenous variables. Based on a panel data of 788 non-financial firms listed on Bursa Malaysia from 1999 until 2010. The simultaneity between leverage and debt maturity is tested by utilizing a two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression model. The results of this study show that leverage and debt maturity policies have a negative simultaneous relationship which indicates that there are strategic complementarities between leverage and maturity. This study also documents different results among the exogenous variables in both equations, in which growth opportunities, regulation, firm size, profitability and tangibility lend considerable support to the proposed hypotheses on the leverage equation. Meanwhile, firm size, regulation, abnormal earnings and tangibility are found to have significant effects on the debt maturity equation.
Ethnic Competition and Opposition to Ethnic Intermarriage in the Netherlands: A Multi-Level Approach

This study investigates the relationship between characteristics of the living environment and antagonistic attitudes towards ethnic out-groups, with a focus on the explanation of opposition to ethnic intermarriage. Previous studies on the relationship between the living environment and prejudice-related attitudes used at most a limited set of contextual characteristics. We investigate to what extent relative group sizes, economic competition, cultural competition, safety threats, and social cohesion within Dutch municipalities and neighbourhoods affect antagonistic attitudes once social origin characteristics and other relevant individual-level characteristics are controlled for. To test hypotheses derived from Ethnic Competition Theory and Contact Theory, we used data from the Netherlands Kinship and Panel Survey supplemented with unique aggregate demographic statistics. The results show that proximity of ethnic out-group members in the municipality reduces opposition to ethnic heterogamy. However, an increase in the ethnic out-group proportion is positively related to opposition to ethnic intermarriage. Moreover, at the neighbourhood level, proximity of ethnic outgroups increases opposition among the lower educated, whereas it decreases opposition among the higher educated. These findings indicate that the threat mechanism, the contact mechanism, and selective migration operate at the same time. Economic competition is the only type of competition that evokes opposition to ethnic intermarriage.
CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF SMALL BUSINESSES OPERATING IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN RETAIL SECTOR

The small, micro and medium business enterprises (SMMEs) sector is universally acclaimed for fostering economic growth in many economies. The health of this sector is largely premised on the observance of prudent financial management tenets, mainly cash flow management. In this study we interrogate the influence of cash flow management practices on the survival or growth of the SMMEs by conducting a survey amongst the SMMES operating in the retail sector of Pretoria in South Africa. We find evidence that cash flow management is extremely important to the survival of a business, particularly small businesses, and poor cash flow management can also lead to small business failure. We also proffer policy advice as to the remedial actions needed to safeguard this sector.
SCIENTISTS IN ORGANIZATIONS: DISCRIMINATION PROCESSES IN AN INTERNAL LABOR MARKET

It has been argued that discrimination against women may stem from their location in female-dominated occupations. In order to examine whether men and women working in the same occupation are similarly treated the attention is focused on the scientific enterprise that is considered to be governed by universalistic criteria. Whereas earlier studies of discrimination in science were conducted in academic settings or in the entire labor market, a more recent trend in organizational analysis is followed that emphasizes the significant role of internal labor markets in determining employment practices within large firms. This study, which employs a “one occupation-one firm” design, indicates that female scientists clearly have fewer promotion opportunities than their male counterparts. The article concludes that controlling for organizational position in wage equations produces a downward biased estimated level of wage discrimination. These results suggest that internal labor markets may act as a subtle mechan.
Evaluating campus climate according to resident status

v List of Figures . viii Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Need for Study . 1 Purpose . 2 Hypotheses . 2 Operational Definitions . 2 Limitations . 3 Assumptions . 3 Summary . 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 6 Defining School Climate.6 Safety . 6 Relationships . 7 Teaching and learning . 8 Institutional environment . 9 School improvement process . 10 School Climate and Associated Outcomes . 10 Defining Campus Climate.11 Overview of Campus Climate Research . 13 Limitations of Previous Campus Climate Research . 18
Predicting transitions in the use of informal and professional care by older adults

To prepare the care system for a rising population of older people, it is important to understand what factors predict the use of care. This paper reports a study of transitions in the use of informal and professional care using Andersen-Newman models of the predictive predisposing, enabling and need factors. The study has drawn on Longitudinal Ageing Study Amsterdam (LASA) data on the use of care and the contextual factors. The data were collected at three-yearly intervals from a random, sex- and age-stratified, population-based sample of adults aged 55–85 years. In summary, the findings for those who initially did not receive care were that almost one-third received some kind of care three years later, most of which was provided by informal care-givers. Need factors were important predictors of most transitions in care, and predisposing and enabling factors, such as age, partner status and income, also played a role. On the relationship between informal and professional care, evidence was found for both ‘compensatory processes’, i.e. informal care substitutes for professional care, and ‘bridging processes’, i.e. informal care facilitates professional care. In view of the increasing discrepancy between the demand for professional care and its supply, the significant impact of predisposing and enabling factors offers opportunities for intervention.
Predictive Value of Ischemia Modified Albumin in Determining the Severity of Coronary Artery Disease

Oguzhan Toklu1, Evren Akgol2, Murat Yesil1, Fusun Ustuner3, Sedat Abusoglu4 1Department of Cardiology, İzmir Ataturk Training and Education Hospital, İzmir, 2Department of Biochemistry, Birecik State Hospital, Urfa, 3Department of Biochemistry, İzmir Ataturk Training and Education Hospital, İzmir, 4Department of Biochemistry, Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine, Konya, Turkey Ischemia Modified Albumin in Coronary Artery Disease Predictive Value of Ischemia Modified Albumin in Determining the Severity of Coronary Artery Disease
Effects of kernel weight and source-limitation on wheat grain yield under heat stress

High temperature in terminal growth stages is a major stress of wheat productivity in South-west Iran, as well as in other Mediterranean environments and the long-term spring temperatures trend to increase. Determination of affecting factors or traits helps to improve the yield potential of wheat. The effects of heat stress during and post anthesis for physiologic, phenologic and agronomic traits was evaluated in ten bread wheat genotypes. The research was conducted under field condition in two different dates under less and more heated environments (two different sowing times). Also, source levels were manipulated through 50% spikelet removal at anthesis to evaluate cultivar source/sink limitations to kernel growth. The results depicted that grain yield, kernel number per spike and 1000 kernel weight were reduced by 24.1%, 9.2% and 23.7% in warmer environment, respectively. Hence, kernel weight was more suited for heat stress screening than other traits evaluated in this study. Thus, wheat genotypes that are able to maintain high individual kernel weight despite heat stress may possess a high level of heat tolerance. Furthermore, results indicated that the poor grain filling could mainly be attributed not to sink-limited conditions, but to source-limited conditions. Key words : Heat, stress intensity, tolerance, sink-source limitation.
ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL GROUP OF MANIFOLDS WITH POSITIVE SCALAR CURVATURE

The aim of this paper is to study the structure of the fun- damental group of a closed oriented Riemannian manifold with positive scalar curvature. To be more precise, let M be a closed oriented Riemann- ian manifold of dimension n (4 n 7) with positive scalar curvature and non-trivialrst Betti number, and let be a non-trivial codimen- sion one homology class in Hn 1( M ; R). Then it is known as in (8) that there exists a closed embedded hypersurface N of M representing of minimum volume, compared with all other closed hypersurfaces in the homology class. Our main result is to show that the fundamental group 1( N ) is always virtually free. In particular, this gives rise to a new obstruction to the existence of a metric of positive scalar curvature.
Title Analysis of the substrate recognition state of TDP-43 to single-stranded DNA using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

Normal function and abnormal aggregation of transactivation response (TAR) DNA/RNA-binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) are directly associated with the lethal genetic diseases: cystic fibrosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The binding of TDP-43 to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) or RNA is involved in transcriptional repression, regulation of RNA splicing, and RNA stabilization. Equilibrium dissociation constants (Kd) of TDP-43 and ssDNA or RNA have been determined using various methods; however, methods that can measure Kd with high sensitivity in a short time using a small amount of TDP-43 in solution would be advantageous. Here, in order to determine the Kd of TDP-43 and fluorescence-labeled ssDNA as well as the binding stoichiometry, we use fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), which detects the slowed diffusion of molecular interactions in solution with single-molecule sensitivity, in addition to electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Using tandem affinity chromatography of TDP-43 dually tagged with glutathione-Stransferase and poly-histidine tags, highly purified protein was obtained. FCS successfully detected specific interaction between purified TDP-43 and TG ssDNA repeats, with a Kd in the nanomolar range. The Kd of the TDP43 mutant was not different from the wild type, although mutant oligomers, which did not bind ssDNA, were observed. Analysis of the fluorescence brightness per dimerized TDP-43/ssDNA complex was used to evaluate their binding stoichiometry. The results suggest that an assay combining FCS and EMSA can precisely analyze ssDNA recognition mechanisms, and that FCS may be applied for the rapid and quantitative determination of the interaction strength between TDP-43 and ssDNA or RNA. These methods will aid in the elucidation of the substrate recognition mechanism of ALSand FTLD-associated variants of TDP-43.
Comparison of Void Fraction Correlations for Different Flow Patterns in Upward Vertical Two-Phase Flow

A comparison of the performance of 52 void fraction correlations was made based on an unbiased experimental data set of 1208 data points. A comprehensive literature search was undertaken for the available void fraction correlations and experimental void fraction data for upward vertical two-phase flow. The performance of the correlations in correctly predicting the diverse data set was evaluated. Comparisons between the correlations were made and appropriate recommendations were drawn. The analysis showed that most of the correlations developed are very restricted in terms of handling a wide variety of data sets. Based on this analysis, void fraction correlations with the best predictive capability are highlighted.
Modelling the EU sugar supply to assess sectoral policy reforms

We investigate the possible linkages between the EU sugar production under quota and the supply of C sugar. We calibrate the implicit cross-subsidy between in-quota sugar and out-of-quota sugar. The resulting supply specification is included in a computable general equilibrium model of the EU economy detailing the agricultural sector. We simulate the effects of the 2006 reform of the EU sugar regime and the effects of a ban on sugar export subsidies. Results suggest that the reform makes it possible to fill the requirements of the 2005 World Trade Organisation panel but that further adjustment will be needed to eliminate all export subsidies as is scheduled for 2013. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.