Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vulnerability of Farming Households to Environmental Degradation in Developing Countries: Evidence from North Central Nigeria

This study examined the vulnerability level of individual farming households in North central Nigeria. A survey of 356 households in North Central Nigeria was used to generate household level data. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to develop vulnerability index for individual household so as to classify households depending on their level of vulnerability to environmental degradation impacts and then ordered logistic regression model was employed to identify the key determinants of vulnerability to environmental degradation impacts. The households were categorized into three levels as: highly vulnerable (vulnerability index, Vi of 1.24), vulnerable (Vi=3.35) less vulnerable and (Vi=6.18). The result of households vulnerability to environmental degradation showed that mean household vulnerability index in the study area was 2.86, and only the farming households from Kogi State (3.189) had above this average. Households in Benue State had an average vulnerability index of 2.585 while those from Plateau State had an index of 2.811. Access to credit, land fragmentation and land tenure security positively favoured less vulnerability while intensity of environmental hazards was found to increase the likelihood of households being highly vulnerable to environmental degradation. It was recommended that government should encourage farming households in the study area to obtain loan from banks and micro-credit institutions by regulating interest rate on loans for farmers as well as removing the stringent conditions attached to loans. This will increase farmers’ adaptive capacity to changes in the environment. Key words: Vulnerability, vulnerability index, farm household, environmental degradation
Getting one step closer to deduction: Introducing an alternative paradigm for transitive inference

Transitive inference is claimed to be “deductive”. Yet every group/species ever reported apparently uses it. We asked 58 adults to solve five-term transitive tasks, requiring neither training nor premise learning. A computer-based procedure ensured all premises were continually visible. Response accuracy and RT (non-discriminative nRT) were measured as is typically done. We also measured RT confined to correct responses (cRT). Overall, very few typical transitive phenomena emerged. The symbolic distance effect never extended to premise recall and was not at all evident for nRT; suggesting the use of non-deductive end-anchor strategies. For overall performance, and particularly the critical B? D inference, our findings indicate that deductive transitive inference is far more intellectually challenging than previously thought. Contrasts of our present findings against previous findings suggest at least two distinct transitive inference modes, with most research and most computational models to date targeting an associative mode rather than their desired deductive mode. This conclusion fits well with the growing number of theories embracing a “dual process” conception of reasoning. Finally, our differing findings for nRT versus cRT suggest that researchers should give closer consideration to matching the RT measure they use to the particular conception of transitive inference they pre-held.
Inpatient and outpatient health care utilization and expenditures among older adults aged 50 years and above in India

Background: Social and economic inequality in utilization of health care services, as well as high out of pocket expenditures are prevalent in overall Indian population. The situation among older adults will be much more critical as they require long-term health care services. The objective of this study is to assess the utilization of outpatient and inpatient care among older adults and incurred out of pocket health expenditure. It also tried to explore the association between socioeconomic factors on receiving health care services and out of pocket health expenditure among older adults in India. Data source: The data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) Wave 1 was used, which was conducted in 2007-08 in India. Respondents aged 50 and above are taken as older adult population. The final sample size was 7150 respondents aged 50 years and above. Results: The percentage of older adults aged 50 years and above receiving outpatient and inpatient health care service were 87.5% and 14.6% respectively. The use of private health facilities was high compared to government health facility. High utilization of outpatient among women and high use of inpatient care among men were found, which was insignificant after adjusting for other variables. Socioeconomic characteristics also play an important role in access to health care among older adults. Place of residence, marital status, caste, education and presence of morbidity were related to the utilization of health care services. Place of residence, education and wealth quintile were also significantly associated with health expenditures. Conclusion: Requirement of long-term health care among older adult population may result in increasing burden of health care expenditures. Socioeconomic characteristics also play an important role in access to health care among older adults. Developing quality and affordable health care services for older adults to ensure equity in accessibility and affordablility will be a major task for the public health system in India.
Study on the Taxonomy Status of Alfalfa with Cream Flowers

Alfalfa with cream flowers is differentiable and genetically stable; however, describing it in scientific research is difficult and ambiguous because of its taxonomical status. This research attempts to delimit the taxonomical status of 14 accessions, including Medicago sativa ssp. sativa, alfalfa with cream flowers, Medicago sativa ssp. falcata and Medicago ruthinica L. , using morphology, chromosome karyotypes and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. From morphology and the ISSR-PCR analysis, three accessions of M. ruthenica L. were clustered into an independent group, and the remaining 11 accessions were clustered into three groups apparently based on flower color. Alfalfa with cream flowers had its own remarkable chromosome karyotype. The genetic distance between alfalfa with cream flowers and M. sativa ssp. sativa was almost equal to that between M. sativa ssp. falcata and M. sativa ssp. sativa. In conclusion, alfalfa with cream flowers may be an independent population just like M. sativa ssp. falcate, representing a subspecies of M. sativa ssp. according to certain taxonomic principles.
The New Combined Soy Beverage for Elderly People: the TechnologyProcess and the Use

This study was conducted to develop of functional beverages on the basis of cultured aqueous extraction of soya grains with added extracts from Schisandra chinensis. Formulas and technology for production of functional beverages on the basis of aqueous soya extract, extract of Schisandra chinensis berries and probiotic starters (Lactobacillus bulgaricus AÂ¸ Streptococcus thermophilus) have been developed. Shelf life of beverages has been determined. Quality and safety of developed products have been studied. Characterizing the chemical composition and nutritional value of combined soy beverage, we can conclude that they differ balanced protein composition, adjusted for fatty acid composition, have a low calorie, which is very important for the elderly and balanced mineral macronutrients. Soy fermented beverages “Taste of Health” has a high number of viable cells, the optimal pH, allowing lactic acid bacteria remain in the active state during storage. All this makes it possible to call the resulting drink probiotic drinks functionality.
Interferon Gamma/IL10 Ratio Production in Response to Host Antigens may Predict Acute Graft Versus Host Disease after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation from a Sibling

Background: Graft versus host disease (GVHD) continues to be the main concern of transplanters. Cytokines’ contribution to its pathogenesis has been widely addressed in the literature. Previous studies have mainly evaluated the cytokine’s level after the actual occurrence of GVHD. In this work, we investigated the possibility of predicting the occurrence of acute GVHD through an experimental setup to mimic the response of the immune cells of the graft to the host antigens expressed by interferon gamma (IFNγ) and interleukin 10 (IL10) production. Methods: The study included 45 patients receiving allogeneic HSCT from an identical sibling. An aliquot from the graft prior to infusion was used for in vitro culture for 3 days with patients’ mitomycin treated mononuclear cells. IFNγ and IL10 were measured in culture supernatant using microbead array technology. Results: Acute GVHD was encountered in 14 cases. IFNγ was detectable in the culture supernatant of 9/14 (64.3%) cases with GVHD at a level of 6.2 - 19.000 with a median of 159.3 pg/ml versus 3/31 (9.6%) cases without GVHD at a level of 1.1, 8.1 and 80.01 pg/ml (p<0.001). IL10 was detectable in the culture supernatant of 7/14 (50%) cases with GVHD at a level of 9.5 – 858.5 with a median of 128 pg/ml versus 6/31 (19.3%) cases without GVHD at a level of 14.0 – 359.0 with a median of 45.39 pg/ml (p<0.05). At a cutoff of 1.13, IFNγ/IL10 ratio could predict GVHD with a sensitivity of 85.7%, specificity of 83.3% and a total accuracy of 84.6%. Conclusion: In vitro cytokine production by graft immune cells in response to host antigens is extremely variable. IFNγ production apparently reflects potential development of acute GVHD while IL10 production is apparently protective. When both are produced the IFNγ/IL10 ratio is more informative than either alone.
The orientation of the Pyrococcus furiosus transcription factor TFB2 in the transcription initiation complex

The hyperthermophile archaeon, Pyrococcus furiosus encodes two eukaryotic TFIIB family proteins, TFB1 and TFB2. TFB1 is very similar to TFIIB in terms of sequence homology and function, whereas TFB2 is unusual as it is missing highly conserved sequences in its N-terminal domain that are present in TFIIB and TFB1. Despite this, TFB2 is effective in transcription process, albeit with lower efficiency compared to TFB1. Other archaea also contain multiple TFBs, but unlike Pyrococcus furiosus TFB2, these multiple TFBs have higher sequence homology to each other and have similar transcription efficiencies. Photochemical cross-linking experiments have shown that the B-reader of TFB in archaea and TFIIB in eukaryotes is close to transcription start site and is very important in RNAP recruitment to promoter DNA and transcription start site selection. Thus the lack of the highly conserved B reader region in P. furiosus TFB2 presents the opportunity to further study the functional importance of this
Juvenal Plumage Polymorphism in Yellow Warblers is Not Associated with Sex

Abstract. Polymorphisms of the juvenal plumage in birds have received little study in comparison to other plumages. We investigate a polymorphism in the juvenal plumage of the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) in southeastern Ontario, Canada. Yellow Warblers in juvenal plumage show either yellow or white plumage on their lower ventral surface of the neck, breast, and belly, and these differences have been speculated to be associated with sex. We tested the hypothesis that juvenal plumage color varies with sex by using blood samples to molecularly sex 10 yellow and 14 white nestlings. We found no relationship between plumage color and sex (yellow nestlings: 70% male, 30% female; white nestlings: 64% male, 36% female). Using the same 24 nestlings that we sexed, we measured feather color with a spectrometer and found that white and yellow morphs differ significantly in reflectance spectra of red and yellow chroma. Of 66 nestlings whose plumage color we visually inspected in the wild, 73% were white and 27% were yellow, showing that white nestlings are more common than yellow in our study population. We propose alternative explanations for the possible significance of yellow and white polymorphism in the juvenal plumage of the Yellow Warbler.
Widening educational disparities in all-cause mortality: An analysis of Austrian data with international comparisons

Recent studies have demonstrated a widening in the relative mortality gap between the various socio-economic classes in several industrialised, Western countries. The present paper aims to determine whether or not education-related differentials in mortality have increased between 1981/82 and 1991/92 in Austria, and compares these findings with those gleaned from other European countries as well as the US and New Zealand. For the Austrian analysis, the data source consists of census records from 1981 and 1991 for the entire Austrian population that were linked with the respective death registry records for a follow-up period of one year. The disparities were measured by means of the regression-based Slope Index of Inequality and Relative Index of Inequality. The findings suggest that educational inequalities in mortality have widened in Austria, but more among men than among women. Austrian results are similar to patterns observed in other countries. International patterns pertaining to social disparities in mortality appeared mixed, when we distinguish between the various age groups and between men and women. However, widening educational mortality disparities are a worldwide phenomenon, a phenomenon that persists even when the educational expansion of the 1980s is taken into account.
Evaluation of the Risk of Marine Slope Instability: A Pseudo-3D Approach for Application to Large Areas

Abstract This article presents a methodology developed to evaluate the instability of submarine slopes that extend over a large area. Special attention was paid to (1) the complex geometry (bathymetry) and the expanse of the slope, (2) the heterogeneity of the sediment, and (3) the distribution of the pore pressure. The safety factor was considered as a spatially varying quantity. The General Formulation (GLE, Fredlund and Krahn 1977), which fully satisfies equilibrium conditions, was used for evaluating the stability of the marine slope. The submarine slope failure, which occurred on 16 October 1979 during the construction of the new Nice airport, was studied in order to test the developed model. Geotechnical parameters were taken from experimental tests carried out by IFREMER on 19 cores extracted at different depths (from 27 m to 1300 m) (Cochonat, Bourillet, and Savoye, 1993; Mulder et al., 1994). Many scenarios were proposed in order to explain the cause of the Nice slope failure (Habib, 1994). In this article, two of those scenarios were tested. Simulation results are presented and discussed.
Knowledge discovery in higher education institutes

This paper documents our endeavor in utilizing clustering techniques based on 18 years data gathering in Persian to discover interesting findings from five medical universities in Tehran, Iran. Research reveals findings in related to the opportunities and concerns in students’ (I) perceived acceptances on study programs, (II) preferred study mode, and (III) programs that could be offered to perspective students. The discovered knowledge could be utilized to improve ranking of a university, in specific, and demonstrated the application of data mining in education.
DIFFERENTIAL ROTATION IN MAGNETIZED AND NON-MAGNETIZED STARS

The effects of magnetic field on stellar differential rotation (DR) are studied by comparing magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models and their hydrodynamic (HD) counterparts in the broad range of rotation rates and across varying initial rotation profiles. Fully compressible MHD simulations of rotating penetrative convection are performed in a full-spherical shell geometry. Critical conditions for the transition of the DR between a faster equator (solar type) and a slower equator (anti-solar type) are explored by focusing on the “Rossby number (Ro)” and the “convective Rossby number ( Ro conv ? > ). ” It is confirmed that the transition is more gradual and the critical value for it is higher in the MHD model than in the HD model in view of the Ro conv ? > dependence. As observed in earlier studies, the rotation profile shows a bistability near the transition in the HD model, whereas it disappears when allowing the growth of magnetic fields except in the model taking the anti-solar-type solution as the initial condition. We find that the transition occurs at Ro ≃ 1 ? > both in the MHD and HD models independently of the hysteresis. Not only the critical value but also the sharpness of the transition is similar between the two models in view of the Ro dependence. The influences of the dynamo-generated magnetic field and/or the hysteresis on convective motion are reflected by Ro. This is why the transition is unified in view of the Ro dependence. We also discuss the Ro dependence of magnetic dynamo activities with emphasis on their possible relation to the kinetic helicity profile.
Effect of Elastic Constants on the Ultrasonic Properties of Group VIB Transition Metal Diborides

The ultrasonic properties like ultrasonic attenuation, sound velocity in the group VIB transition metal diborides like CrB2 and MoB2 have been studied along unique axis at room temperature. The second- and third order elastic constants (SOEC & TOEC) have been calculated for these diborides using Lennard- Jones potential. The velocities VL and VS2 increases with the angle from the unique axis and VS1 have maximum at 45 0 with unique axis of the crystal. The inconsistent behaviour of angle dependent velocities is associated to the action of second order elastic constants. Debye average sound velocities of these compounds are increasing with the angle and has maximum at 55 0 with unique axis at room temperature. Hence when a sound wave travels at 55 0 with unique axis of these materials, then the average sound velocity is found to be maximum. The mechanical properties of CrB2 are better than MoB2, because CrB2 has low ultrasonic attenuation comparison t h a n MoB2. The comparison of calculated ultrasonic parameters with available theoretical/experimental physical parameters gives information about classification of these compounds.
Conditional Convergence Revisited: Taking Solow Very Seriously

Output per worker can be expressed as a function of technological efficiency and of the capital-output ratio. Because technology is exogenous in the Solow model, all of the endogenous convergence dynamics take place through the adjustment of the capital-output ratio. This paper uses the empirical behaviour of the capital-output ratio to estimate the speed of conditional convergence of economies towards their steady-state paths. We find that the conditional convergence speed is about seven percent per year. This is somewhat faster than predicted by the Solow model and is significantly higher than reported in most previous studies based on output per worker regressions. We show that, once there are stochastic shocks to technology, standard panel econometric techniques produce downward-biased estimates of convergence speeds, while our approach does not.
Correlates of Narrow Bracketing

We examine whether different phenomena of narrow bracketing can be traced back to some common characteristic and whether and how different phenomena are related. We find that making dominated lottery choices or ignoring the endowment when making risky choices are related phenomena and are both associated with low levels of cognitive reflection. In contrast, the phenomena of setting narrow goals or narrow mental budgets seem not to reflect choice errors due to low cognitive reflection, but are tools to overcome self-control problems. Buying small scale insurance is associated with having narrow mental budgets - suggesting that people buy such insurance to insure themselves against the consequences of their own self-control strategy.
Effects of Divorce on Children: The Importance of Intervention

When parents divorce, their children are affected in significant ways. Many of the consequences of marital dissolution may adversely affect children’s success in their future romantic relationships, but fortunately this downward spiral can be mitigated through deliberate parental efforts (Cui & Fincham, 2010; Shulman, Zlotnik, Shachar-Shapira, Conolly, & Bohr, 2012). One remedy to counteract this trend is conscientious coparenting— continuing to work together despite altered family dynamics, since such effort positively impacts the children’s future relationships, specifically daughters’ future intimacy (Haaz, Kneavel, & Browning, 2014; Shulman et al., 2012). Another significant factor in children’s future marital success is the amount of conflict between their parents. High-conflict parental relationships have been linked to children’s difficulty in forming their own healthy relationships (Cui & Fincham, 2010; Gager, Yabiku, & Linver, 2016; Sprague & Kinney, 1997). However, when the amount of conflict between parents decreases following divorce, children fare significantly better (Gager et al., 2016). If divorced parents have an increased awareness of how their behavior and relationship affect their children, they may take measures towards more cooperation and less conflict, thus increasing their children’s future chance for success in romantic relationships.
Simulation Modeling of Particleboard Density Profile

Particleboard properties are affected by the vertical density profile among other factors. To predict or model board properties, one needs to determine the density profile. A simulation model was developed in this study to model the vertical density profile by simulating the hot pressing process of a particleboard. Temperature and moisture content profiles during hot pressing in the thickness direction of a pressed mat and the influential factors affecting wood compressibility were modeled such that they can be determined at any moment of pressing. The models developed allow calculations of the profiles to be carried out by either the finite difference method or an alternative approximation method presented herein. The density profile was modeled based on the compressibility and the resulting strain of each layer of the board thickness due to pressing.
Utility of silver nanoparticles for the analysis of diosmin and rutin in Persicaria salicifolia extract, authentic and pharmaceutical dosage forms monitored with their haemostatic activity

The present work was conducted to evaluate a simple effective technique for spectrophotometric determination of two flavonoids namely diosmin (1) and rutin (2) in the isolated fractions obtained from Persicaria salicifolia, authentic and pharmaceutical dosage forms, the method is based on the reduction of Ag+ cations to silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) by the effect of these flavonoids in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a stabilizing agent which result in production of intense brown colour corresponding to the formation of the surface plasmon resonance of produced silver nanoparticles. The plasmon absorbance of the Ag-NPs allows quantitative spectrophotometric determination of these flavonoids where calibration curves derived from the changes in absorbance at λ=415 and 432 nm were linear with concentration range of diosmin and rutin 1-8 and 0.5-7.0 µg/mL while their detection limits (3σ) were 0.26 and 0.12, respectively. The method was applied successfully for the determination of flavonoids in extract, authentic and pharmaceutical dosage forms. The haemostatic activity of the total methanol extract, isolated fractions, authentic and dosage forms were investigated for their usual and silver nanoparticulated forms using tail bleeding time and amount of bleeding assays in rats, where the nanoparticulated samples exhibited more significant activities. Key words: Persicaria, diosmin, rutin, silver nanoparticles, spectrophotometry, haemostatic.