Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Title Village health volunteers ’ social capital related to their performance inLao People ’ s Democratic Republic : a cross-sectional study

Background: Improving the performance of community health workers (CHWs) is a global issue. The relationship between CHWs and their community may impact their performance. In Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), CHW are called village health volunteers (VHV). Lao PDR has a problem with VHV inactivity, especially in rural areas. This study focused on which aspects of social capital are related to VHV performance. Methods: This research represents a cross-sectional study with a quantitative survey based primarily on interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. Interviews were conducted with 149 VHVs living and working in the Sepon District. VHV performance evaluation was measured with scores on a 5-point scale, and the cutoff point for designating performance as good or poor was set at the median score. This evaluation of VHV performance was conducted as a self-evaluation by VHVs and by health center staff who were supervisors of the VHVs. Measurement of social capital was accomplished using the short version of the Adapted Social Capital Assessment Tool (SASCAT). For statistical analyses, logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: The results of multiple logistic regression adjusted by moderator variables showed that citizenship activities in the structural social capital component of SASCAT were significantly related to performance in self-evaluation by VHVs (adjusted OR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.19-3.71) and the evaluations by health center staff (adjusted OR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.01-2.77). Support from groups (adjusted OR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.27-2.76) and cognitive social capital (adjusted OR: 7.48, 95% CI: 2.14-26.10) were found to be significantly associated but only for VHV self-evaluation. Conclusions: The results suggest that individuals who interact with important figures in the community and who cooperate with other villagers whenever problems arise, i.e., have social capital, exhibit good performance as VHVs. These findings suggest that increasing citizenship activities could increase the retention rate of CHWs and help improve their performance. Citizenship activities could also be used as a predictive indicator when selecting new CHWs.
A 3000-Year Culture Sequence from Palau, Western Micronesia

In western Micronesia archaeological sites containing material-culture remains spanning millennia are rare. This paper reports one from Ulong Island in Palau, which is radiocarbon dated to 3000 cal. B.P. The pottery sequence was divided into three assemblages, each distinguished by distinct vessel forms and by the type and proportion of nonplastic temper inclusions. An abrupt transformation of the ceramic assemblage is tentatively dated to around 2400 cal. B.P., coincident with substantial landscape alteration on the main island where pottery was manufactured, indicating that anthropogenic activity may have constrained the raw materials available to prehistoric potters. There is a discontinuity in the sequence from 2000-1000 B.P. that might represent an hiatus in site use. Critical consideration of paleoenvironmental data pointing to human arrival at 4500-4300 cal. B.P. suggests, instead, that climatic events may be responsible for the observed palaeoecological changes. If so, then sites dating to 3300-3000 cal. B.P., such as Ulong, could well be among the oldest in western Micronesia.
An Empirical Investigation of External Debt - Military Expenditure Nexus in Bangladesh

The objective of this paper is to empirically investigate a two-way statistical relationship between the real external debt and real military expenditure in the context of Bangladesh. A time series co-integration and Granger causality tests have been employed from 1980 - 2009 for analysis. The empirical results support the bi-directional causality between the external debt and economic growth, while unidirectional causality runs from military spending to external debt.
The Role of the Educational Developer in the Improvement of University Teaching

As educational development (ED) programs become entrenched in many universities and a growing number of academics are engaged in educa- tional development work, it is important that the nature of the ED occu- pation/profession is defined. The study reported in this paper examined the characteristics of persons holding educational development appoint- ments in Ontario universities. The intent was to develop an accurate pic- ture of the respondents as a professional group. The study provides insight into how educational developers make sense of their work.
Modelling Drought and Recovery in the Southern Murray‐Darling Basin

The prolonged drought from 2006–07 to 2008–09 in south-eastern Australia presented severe difficulties for dry-land and irrigation farmers in the southern Murray-Darling basin. A dynamic multi-regional computable general equilibrium model (TERMH2O) is used to estimate the economy-wide small region impacts during and after drought. Drought reduces real GDP in some small regions by up to 20 per cent. Irrigation water trading and farm factor movements alleviate losses. The drought results in an estimated 6000 jobs being lost across the southern basin. Depressed farm investment during drought results in farm capital not returning to baseline levels after drought. Consequently, job numbers in 2017–18 remain 1500 below forecast in the southern basin.
Comparision of ant colony optimization and genetic algorithm models for identifying the relation between flow discharge and suspended sediment load (Gorgan River - Iran)

Correct estimation of sediment volume carried by a river is very important for many water resources projects. The prediction of river sediment load also constitutes an important issue in hydraulic and river engineering. Conceptual models based on artificial intelligence models, namely, ant colony optimization (ACO) and genetic algorithm (GA) are now being used more frequently to solve optimization problems. Hence, the main purpose of this study was to apply ACO and GA in order to identify the relation between stream flow discharge and sediment loads for Nodeh station at the Gorgan River in Iran. The training and testing data sets were chosen based on the K-fold method of cross validation to find the optimal classifier. Different input combinations of ACO and GA models (that is, ACO1 and GA1: the suspended sediment estimation based on current discharge; ACO2 and GA2: the estimation of suspended sediment based on current, one day of previous discharges; and ACO3 and GA3: the suspended sediment estimation based on current, one and two-day of previous discharges) were chosen based on similar meteorological requirements to those of the suspended sediment equations included in this study. The estimation of the ACO and GA models was also compared with the empirical model, such as the sediment rating curve (SRC) technique. The models were compared based on statistical criteria, namely; regression coefficient (R 2 ), Nash-Sutclif coefficient (CE) and root mean square error (RMSE). The results indicated that the ACO1 model provided better performance in estimating the suspended sediment loads as compared to the ACO models. Also, the GA2 model was more accurate than the GA1 and GA3 models. The findings in this study showed that the performance of the SRC model was more inferior the ACO and GA techniques when the inputs of the GA, ACO and rating curve models comprised only the current discharge. As seen from the results, the ACO1 model approximated that the corresponding observed suspended sediment values were better than the rating curve and GA2 techniques. However, for the peak flow discharge, the GA2 model could predict the suspended sediment better than the ACO2 and SRC models.
What Linear Estimators Miss: The Effects of Family Income on Child Outcomes

We assess the implications of nonlinearity for IV and FE estimation when the estimated model is inappropriately assumed to be linear. Our application is the causal link between family income and child outcomes. Our nonlinear IV and FE estimates show an increasing, concave relationship between family income and children's outcomes. We find that the linear estimators miss the significant effects of family income because they assign little weight to the large marginal effects in the lower part of the income distribution. We also show that the linear IV and FE estimates differ primarily because of different weighting of marginal effects. (JEL C26, D14, J12, J13)
Evaluating the nationalization & privatization effect: a case of Indian banking industry

The facilitation of economic transactions and friendly investor environment is under-taken through effective performance of financial systems. Mobilization of savings and funding the profitable business opportunities are essential in improving the efficiency of intermediation. The study aims to evaluate the effects of nationalization and privati- zation on Indian banks. Various factors have been considered to examine the effects of privatization and nationalization, including sources of public sector inefficiency, mea- sures of firm performance, econometric issues, and the mode of privatization. The data was collected for the period of 1998 to 2016 from Indian banks. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to evaluate the financial reports of the banks selected to evaluate the efficiency of input and output variables. Positive results were observed, con- cerning the efficiency and profitability of banking industry after banks privatization. Performance of private banks has been observed effective and efficient as compared to the public sector banks. Privatization of banks must be increased and maintained to sustain the efficiency of the banks and implement strategies to maintain the assets. Future studies may recruit more appropriate sample size to evaluate the privatization and nationalization effects of Indian banking industry. Greater number of banks will provide more precise results, using data envelopment analysis.
Equilibrium of a Magnetically Confined Plasma in a Toroid

A variety of properties are derived satisfied by any static equilibrium of a plasma governed by the well‐known magnetostatic equations. Some of these are local and quite trivial. Others involve integrals over surfaces of constant pressure, which are shown to be topologically toroidal under fairly general assumptions.A variational principle for such equilibria is derived. One of its consequences is to provide a characterization of equilibria by their values of certain invariants.Finally, conditions are obtained additional to the magnetostatic equations appropriate to the steady state of a plasma slowly diffusing across a magnetic field out of a topologically toroidal region.
Role of Fractalkine / CX 3 CL 1 and Its Receptor in the Pathogenesis of Inflammatory and Malignant Diseases with Emphasis on B Cell Malignancies

Fractalkine/CX3CL1, the onlymember of theCX3C chemokine family, exists as amembrane-anchoredmolecule aswell as in soluble form, each mediating different biological activities. It is constitutively expressed in many hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic tissues such as endothelial and epithelial cells, lymphocytes, neurons, microglial osteoblasts. The biological activities of CX3CL1 are mediated by CX3CR1, that is expressed on different cell types such as NK cells, CD14 monocytes, cytotoxic effector T cells, B cells, neurons, microglia, smooth muscle cells, and tumor cells. The CX3CL1/CX3CR1 axis is involved in the pathogenesis of several inflammatory cancer including various B cell malignancies. In tumors the interaction between cancer cells and cellular microenvironment creates a context that may promote tumor growth, increase tumor survival, and facilitate metastasis. Therefore the role of the CX3CL1/CX3CR1 has attracted interest as to the development of potential therapeutic approaches. Here we review the different effects of the CX3CL1/CX3CR1 axis in several inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases and in cancer, with emphasis on human B cell lymphomas.
Comparison of SVM and REPTRee for Classification of Poultry Quality

Classification of poultry meat quality relies on inconsistent, time-consuming, and laborious techniques often conducted subjectively. Measurement of attributes such as water holding capacity (WHC) and interpretation of other parameters such as pH and colour features depends on trained personnel and specific equipments for each test. The current work presents a combined attribute selection step and classification step for poultry meat samples. Samples from different quality attributes were analysed to comprise a large set of values for each parameter. REPTRee decision trees predictor exploit the optimal parameters for classification tasks of different quality grades of poultry meat. The proposed methodology was conducted with a Support Vector Machine algorithm (SVM) with standard parameters to compare model precision without a pipeline of processes. Experiments were performed on colour (CIEL*a*b*, chroma and hue), water holding capacity (WHC), and pH of each sample analysed. Results show that the best method was a REPTree based on 2 parameters, allowing for classification of poultry samples on quality grades with 98.1% precision.
The Framing of Climate-Change Discourse by Shell and the Framing of Shell’s Climate Change-Related Activities by The Economist and The Financial Times

This article presents a qualitative study of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s corporate image building in relation to climate change and how this image is represented in the British financial press. The material of the study involves the official 2014 Shell’s annual report (AR) and online coverage of Shell’s climate change-related activities by the leading British financial newspapers, The Economist and The Financial Times . Shell’s image of climate change is investigated by means of identification of conceptual metaphors viewed through the lenses of the methodological apparatus of cognitive linguistics. Conceptual metaphors identified in the 2014 AR are subsequently juxtaposed with conceptual metaphors associated with Shell’s climate-change activities in The Economist and in The Financial Times . The results reveal that Shell’s 2014 AR involves the following conceptual metaphors associated with climate change: ‘Climate Change as a Journey’, ‘Climate Change as a Battle’, ‘Shell as a Responsible Citizen’, ‘Shell as a Caring Corporation’, ‘Climate Change as Growth’, and ‘Climate Change as Money’. In contrast to these conceptual metaphors, The Economist represents Shell’s climate change activities in 2014 via ‘Shell as an Immoral Corporation’ and ‘Shell as a Sinner’. The Financial Times frames Shell’s climate change agenda in 2014 by means of conceptual metaphors ‘Climate Change as Growth’, ‘Climate Change as a Journey’, and ‘Climate Change as Money’ respectively. The discrepancies between Shell’s self-image of climate change and its representations by The Economist and The Financial Times are further presented and discussed in the article.
The formation of very wide binaries during the star cluster dissolution phase

Over the past few decades, numerous wide (> 103 au) binaries in the Galactic field and halo have been discovered. Their existence cannot be explained by the process of star formation or by dynamical interactions in the field, and their origin has long been a mystery. We explain the origin of these wide binaries by formation during the dissolution phase of young star clusters: an initially unbound pair of stars may form a binary when their distance in phase space is small. Using N-body simulations, we find that the resulting wide binary fraction in the semimajor axis range 103 au < a < 0.1 pc for individual clusters is 1-30 per cent, depending on the initial conditions. The existence of numerous wide binaries in the field is consistent with observational evidence that most clusters start out with a large degree of substructure. The wide binary fraction decreases strongly with increasing cluster mass, and the semimajor axis of the newly formed binaries is determined by the initial cluster size. The resulting eccentricity distribution is thermal, and the mass ratio distribution is consistent with gravitationally focused random pairing. As a large fraction of the stars forms in primordial binaries, we predict that a large number of the observed 'wide binaries' are in fact triple or quadruple systems. By integrating over the initial cluster mass distribution, we predict a binary fraction of a few per cent in the semimajor axis range 103 au < a < 0.1 pc in the Galactic field, which is smaller than the observed wide binary fraction. However, this discrepancy may be solved when we consider a broad range of cluster morphologies. (Less)
Loughborough University Institutional Repository Following the World Health Organization ' s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding to six months of age does not impact the growth of rural Gambian infants

Background: The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 mo of life. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the benefit of EBF to age 6 mo on growth in a large sample of rural Gambian infants at high risk of undernutrition. Methods: Infants with growth monitoring from birth to 2 y of age (n = 756) from the ENID (Early Nutrition and Immune Development) trial were categorized as exclusively breastfed if only breast milk and no other liquids or foods were given. EBF status was entered into confounder-adjusted multilevel models to test associations with growth trajectories by using >11,000 weight-for-age (WAZ), length-for-age (LAZ), and weight-for-length (WLZ) z score observations. Results: Thirty-two percent of infants were exclusively breastfed to age 6 mo. The mean age of discontinuation of EBF was 5.2 mo, and growth faltering started at;3.5 mo of age. Some evidence for a difference in WAZ and WHZ was found between infants who were exclusively breastfed to age 6 mo (EBF-6) and those who were not (nEBF-6), at 6 and 12 mo of age, with EBF-6 children having a higher mean z score. The differences in z scores between the 2 groups were small in magnitude (at 6 mo of age: 0.147 WAZ; 95% CI: 20.001, 0.293 WAZ; 0.189 WHZ; 95% CI: 0.038, 0.341 WHZ). No evidence for a difference between EBF-6 and nEBF-6 infants was observed for LAZ at any time point (6, 12, and 24 mo of age). Furthermore, a higher mean WLZ at 3 mo of age was associated with a subsequent higher mean age at discontinuation of EBF, which implied reverse causality in this setting (coefficient: 0.060; 95% CI: 0.008, 0.120). Conclusion: This study suggests that EBF to age 6 mo has limited benefit to the growth of rural Gambian infants. This trial was registered at http://www.isrctn. com as ISRCTN49285450. J Nutr doi: 10.3945/jn.116. 241737.
THE MEDIATOR EFFECT OF INTERNAL RESOURCES ON THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN KIBS AND THE GROWTH OF NIFS

Recently, network literature has considered the crucial importance of the resources which firm obtains through its network of external relationships. Specifically, this paper analyzes if the mediator effect of the internal resources on the association between Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) and the growth of the New Innovative Firms (NIFs) is moderated by the belonging of the firm to an industrial cluster. The paper presents several contributions. First, this research shows like firms with higher internal resources exploit better the external resources and enhancing firm’s performance. In this way we integrate two approaches, network strategic perspective (external resources represented by the KIBS) and those authors from Resource-Based View, giving priority to internal resources. Moreover, we prove like the mediator role played by internal resources is not constant; on the contrary is changing when firm belong to an industrial cluster. Additionally, we consider as a contribution the application in this context of the particular and new analysis techniques to combine mediator and moderator effects as it is suggested in Preacher et al., (2007).
Automatic processing of space and valence in a semantic categorization task

In der deutschen wie auch in der englischen Sprache gibt es mehrere Metaphern und Redewendungen, welche eine Assoziation zwischen positiven und negativem Affekt, und der vertikalen raumlichen Ebene (oben/unten) aufweisen (e.g., oben auf sein oder in ein tiefes Loch fallen). Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit bemuht sich die Tragweite solch wiederholender thematischer Muster in Metaphern zu beleuchten, und zu belegen, dass sie auf Grund eines grundlegenden Zusammenhang zwischen positiv und oben, und zwischen negativ und unten bestehen. Dieser grundlegende Zusammenhang lasst sich anhand von philosophischen, psycholinguistischen und kognitiv-psychologischen Theorien erklaren, die hier beleuchtet werden. Es wird auch auf vergangene Studien eingegangen die sich mit diesem Zusammenhang zwischen Affekt und der vertikalen raumlichen Ebene befassen, und diese werden als Ansatzpunkt fur die vorliegende Studie verwendet. Das wesentliche Ziel ist es zu belegen, dass dieser Zusammenhang auch automatisch wahrgenommen und verarbeitet wird. Zu diesem Zweck wurden hier die Reize so dargeboten, dass die Versuchsteilnehmer sie nicht bewusst wahrnehmen konnten (also subliminal). Zudem bemuht sich die vorliegende Arbeit, die Erkenntnisse vorhergehender Studien dahingehend auszubauen, dass dieser Zusammenhang sich auch in der Verarbeitung rein semantischer Reize zeigt. Das heist, dass die Verarbeitung von dargebotenen raumlichen und affektiven Wortern so erfolgt, dass sie einen bedeutungsvollen Zusammenhang erschliesen lasst. Obwohl die vorliegenden Ergebnisse zwar ein Indiz fur eine einfachgerichtete Beziehung zwischen Affekt und Raum liefern, so sind sie aber nicht ausreichend eindeutig um einen Beleg fur eine automatische Aktivierung dieser metaphorischen Bedeutungszusammenhange darzustellen. Daraus lasst sich aber nicht schliesen, dass es diesen Zusammenhang nicht gibt. In der vorliegenden Diplomarbeit wird auch die Moglichkeit beleuchtet, dass die Reize direkt mit gewissen Reaktionen in Verbindung stehen, und dass diese Reiz-Reaktionskompatibilitat die Ergebnisse konfundieren konnten. Zwar zeigten die dahingehenden Untersuchungen keine systematische Effekte die in eine bestimmte Richtung verfalschen konnten, dennoch konnten Reiz-Reaktions-Effekte die vorliegenden Daten zur Bedeutungsbeziehung beeinflusst haben. Des Weiteren werden andere mogliche Konfundierungseffekte erlautert, in der Hoffnung die Ergebnisse zu erklaren und einen Ausblick fur zukunftige Studien zu liefern.