Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small Business Financing. Financial preferences throughout the life cycle of a firm

In this paper, the strategic financing choices of small businesses are examined through the lens of the business life cycle. The growth of small and medium-sized firms, i.e., those most vulnerable to information and incentive problems, is often constrained by the lack of access to external finances. Understanding the financial determinants of small and medium-sized firms at different stages of the business life cycle allows managers and policy-making institutions to correctly support firm growth. Here we argue that the controversy in the empirical literature on the determinants of financial decisionmaking is based on a failure to take into account the different degrees of information opacity, and, consequently, firms’ characteristics and needs at specific stages of their life cycles. The explanatory power of financing theories based on informational opacity is therefore highlighted and tested in this study. The results of an inductive approach based on cluster analysis showed that, in a bank-oriented country, firms tend to adopt specific financing strategies as they progress through the phases of their life cycle, and that a firm’s financing strategy is influenced, among other factors, by asymmetric information considerations and the role of financial institutions. Thus, firms follow a “pecking order” of financing over time. Young firms have inadequate internal financial resources to sustain growth and thus do not or, because of financial constraints in the capital market, are unable to seek new equity finance. Contrary to conventional wisdom, debt is fundamental to growth in the early stage of a firm. During their mature stages, firms rebalance their capital structure, substituting debt for internal capital. Therefore, start-up and young firms need an increasing amount of debt to sustain their growth, while they rebalance gradually their capital structure after a consolidation of the business. The pecking order theory seems to do not apply for young firms, where debt seems to be at the first place; by contrast, this theory has a high magnitude for firms that have consolidated their business.
Running title: Phase-coupled dual-brain stimulation

Synchronous movement is a key component of social behaviour in several species including humans. Recent theories have suggested a link between interpersonal synchrony of brain oscillations and interpersonal movement synchrony. The present study investigated this link. Using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) applied over the left motor cortex, we induced beta band (20 Hz) oscillations in pairs of individuals who both performed a finger-tapping task with the right hand. In-phase or anti-phase oscillations were delivered during a preparatory period prior to movement and while the tapping task was performed. In-phase 20 Hz stimulation enhanced interpersonal movement synchrony, compared to anti-phase or sham stimulation, particularly for the initial taps following the preparatory period. This was confirmed in an analysis comparing real vs. pseudo pair surrogate data. No enhancement was observed for stimulation frequencies of 2 Hz (matching the target movement frequency) or 10 Hz (alpha band). Thus, phase-coupling of beta band neural oscillations across two individuals’ (resting) motor cortices supports the interpersonal alignment of sensorimotor processes that regulate rhythmic action initiation, thereby facilitating the establishment of synchronous movement. Phaselocked dual brain stimulation provides a promising method to study causal effects of interpersonal brain synchrony on social, sensorimotor and cognitive processes.
Microcosm Experiment to Assess the Capacity of a Poplar Clone to Grow in a PCB-Contaminated Soil

Polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) are a class of Persistent Organic Pollutants extremely hard to remove from soil. The use of plants to promote the degradation of PCBs, thanks to synergic interactions between roots and the natural soil microorganisms in the rhizosphere, has been proved to constitute an effective and environmentally friendly remediation technique. Preliminary microcosm experiments were conducted in a greenhouse for 12 months to evaluate the capacity of the Monviso hybrid poplar clone, a model plant for phytoremediation, to grow in a low quality and PCB-contaminated soil in order to assess if this clone could be subsequently used in a field experiment. For this purpose, three different soil conditions (Microbiologically Active, Pre-sterilized and Hypoxic soils) were set up in order to assess the capacity of this clone to grow in the polluted soil in these different conditions and support the soil microbial community activity. The growth and physiology (chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence, ascorbate, phenolic compounds and flavonoid contents) of the poplar were determined. Moreover, chemical analyses were performed to assess the concentrations of PCB indicators in soil and plant roots. Finally, the microbial community was evaluated in terms of total abundance and activity under the different experimental conditions. Results showed that the poplar clone was able to grow efficiently in the contaminated soil and to promote microbial transformations of PCBs. Plants grown in the hypoxic condition promoted the formation of a higher number of higher-chlorinated PCBs and accumulated lower PCBs in their roots. However, plants in this condition showed a higher stress level than the other microcosms, producing higher amounts of phenolic, flavonoid and ascorbate contents, as a defence mechanism.
Prevalence and predictors of intestinal worm infections among Semai aboriginal tribe school children in Tapah, Malaysia

Introduction: Worm infection is one of the major global public health problems especially among rural communities. Objectives: to determine the prevalence of intestinal worm infection and factors associated among Semai Aboriginal children aged between 6 to 13 years in Tapah, Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used in this study. The estimated sample size was 508. Data was collected using a validated pretested questionnaire. Faecal samples were also examined. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22. Results: The response rate was 80.9%. The overall mean age of the 411 respondents was 10.1 years(95% CI = 9.89, 10.22). Majority (71.5%) were poor. Prevalence of intestinal worm infections was 60.8% and 57.2% had multiple infections. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that those with poor hygiene practices were 2.18 times the odds of worm infection when compared with children with good hygiene practices (95% CI = 1.4, 3.4). Similarly, poor attitudes towards prevention of worm infection increased the odds of having worm infection by 1.62 times among Orang Asli children. Children living without toilets had 2.45 times higher odds as compared with those who had proper toilets. Absence of river near by these areas where there is no safe water supply also increases the risk of worm infection among children by 1.84 times among Orang Asli children. Conclusions: the prevalence of worm infection is still very high among rural Aboriginal community. Current control measures should be reassessed to enable introduction of effective measures to reduce the worm infection among Orang Asli children.
FIRST RECORD OF QUADRUPLETS IN THE MUSKY RAT-KANGAROO

THE musky rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus) is endemic to the tropical rainforests of north-east Queensland (Johnson and Strahan 1982). It is the smallest (510 – 530 g) and most unusual member of the marsupial superfamily Macropodoidea (Dennis and Johnson 1995). Unlike other macropodoids, H. moschatus is frugivorous, diurnal, has an opposable first digit on the pes, a running quadrupedal gait and possesses a relatively unspecialised digestive tract (Johnson and Strahan 1982; Dennis 2002). It also differs from all other macropodoids in typically giving birth to multiple young, usually twins – although single young and triplets are regularly reported both in the wild and in captivity (Troughton 1967; Johnson and Strahan 1982; Johnson et al. 1983; Dennis and Marsh 1997; Lloyd 2001). However, the birth of more than three young has not previously been observed in H. moschatus or any other macropodoid, even though all species possess four teats.
GENE ACTION AND COMBINING ABILITY IN SOME TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.) CROSSES GROWN IN LATE SUMMER SEASON

Gene action and combining ability effects were estimated in forty five hybrids obtained from crossing fifteen lines with three testers using line x tester matting design. These genotypes (fifteen lines, three testers and forty five hybrids) were evaluated for vegetative growth, yield and its quality in late summer season. This study was carried out at Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Sidi Salim distrect, North-Delta Region of Egypt. G.C. A and P.C. V. % ranged from 0.88 to 0.98, which was confirmed by the estimated ratio of G.C. V. / P.C. V. Furthermore, broad sense heritability (h 2 bs) values ranged from 76.96 to 95.60 suggesting less effect of environmental and the large portion of σ 2 p was due to the σ 2 g on these traits. The magnitude of variance due to general and specific combining ability was highly significant indicating importance of the additive (σ 2 A) and non-additive (σ 2 D) gene action. However, the ratios of σ 2 GCA / σ 2 SCA (<1) and σ 2 A/ σ 2 D (<1) revealed the preponderance of non-additive variance in the inheritance of all studied traits. The average degree of dominance revealed over-dominance for all studied traits except for ascorbic acid content, which was revealed partial dominance. Highly significant differences were observed among the parents and hybrids for general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects. The parental lines HE-13-21, HE-6-5-1, HE-13-1-1 and D-7-3-1 displayed desirable general combiners for most studied traits. The cross combinations HE-13-1-1 x F.M. 9, D-4-3-1 x F.M. 9, D-2-1-2 x Super Strain B and HE-19-1-1 x Super Strain B are considered the best specific combinations since showed desirable significant SCA effect values for most studied traits.
Substrate Volumetric Water Content Controls Growth and Development of Containerized Culinary Herbs

There are no chemical plant growth retardants that may be used on containerized culinary herbs intended for consumption. Our objective was to quantify the effect of substrate moisture content on the growth of four commonly produced culinary annual herbs grown in containers in the greenhouse. Seedlings of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), dill (Anethum graveolens L.), parsley (Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Fuss), and sage (Salvia officinalis L.) were transplanted into 11.4 cm diameter containers filled with commercial soilless substrate comprising (by vol.) 75% sphagnum peat moss and 25% coarse perlite and amended with 3.0 kg·m−3 of controlled-release fertilizer. After the containers were thoroughly irrigated to container capacity, plants were placed into a sensor-controlled irrigation system, which maintained substrate volumetric water content (VWC) at 0.15, 0.28, 0.30, 0.38, or 0.45 m3·m−3. Chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration were measured 27 d after initiating treatments, and the results showed that chlorophyll fluorescence of parsley and photosynthesis of basil increased as substrate VWC increased from 0.15 to 0.45 m3·m−3; the remaining parameters for basil, parsley, and sage were unaffected. Additionally, height, width, leaf area, and shoot dry mass of basil, dill, parsley, and sage increased as substrate volumetric water content increased from 0.15 to 0.45 m3·m−3. Our results show that growth of basil, dill, parsley, and sage can be promoted or inhibited by providing or withholding water, respectively, with no signs of stress or visual damage resulting from reduced substrate volumetric water content. Therefore, restricting irrigation and substrate volumetric water content is an effective nonchemical growth control method for containerized culinary herbs grown in peat-based substrate.
Catch the Thief! Fraud in the U.S. Banking Industry

Little is known about fraud in the financial services sector. Using a rich supervisory dataset, this study dissects fraud at large U.S. banking organizations. We examine the different categories of fraud and their materiality, the recovery from fraud, the time from fraud occurrence to fraud discovery and accounting. We quantify exposure to fraud and study the determinants of fraud at the banking organization level. Lastly, we document a significant effect of fraud on bank credit intermediation. Overall, our analysis provides new, detailed evidence on fraud in the U.S. financial services industry, and its costs and consequences.
Cyclic anelasticity of metals

The mechanics of a solid body is based on Hooke’s law. The non-linearity of the stress-strain curve in cyclic loading begins at much lower stress values than at the static yield stress point. A sensitive measurement of hysteresis loops led to discovering the anelastic strain processes below the yield stress and also below the fatigue limit. In this paper, the anelasticity limit is defined – the limit between reversible and irreversible strains – which is in compliance with the fatigue damage cumulation. K e y w o r d s: anelasticity, cyclic strain, fatigue
Fatigue and Thermo Sensitivity Affect Physical Activity in Multiple Sclerosis

Background Thermo sensitivity (TS), characterized by worsening of neurological symptoms due to increased body temperature, is common in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Fatigue is also a common complaint. Both TS and fatigue can lead to decreased participation in physical activity (PA) in this population. Purpose The primary purpose of this study was to determine through self-report if TS and fatigue have any effect of PA levels in individuals diagnosed with MS.
Propagation and diagnosis faulty LUTs in an FPGA

This paper proposes a new technique for propagation and diagnosis the faulty LUTs (Look Up Tables) in an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) using a simple parallel in serial out shift register. The proposed fault propagation design helps in diagnosing the multiple faulty LUTs precisely by avoiding any fault masking. This method has been tested on the commercial FPGA and the experimental results are provided. The experimental result shows that time taken to test 4656 LUTs exhaustively is 196 seconds.
Effectiveness of Ginger Root (Zingiber officinale) on Running-Induced Muscle Soreness and Function: A Pilot Study

Context: Analgesics are commonly used by individuals undertaking endurance training; unfortunately, many commonly-used analgesics cause significant adverse effects. Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) has been used effectively as an analgesic in several contexts, but to date, no research is available to evaluate ginger root’s effects in the context of endurance training. Objective: Determine whether ginger root supplementation reduces muscle soreness and prevents impairments in muscle function following a long-distance training run. Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Setting: University marathon training course. Participants: Twenty college students (n = 8 for ginger root group and n = 12 for placebo group). Intervention: Supplementation with 2.2 g·day–1 of ginger root or placebo for three days before, the day of, and the day after a 20–22 mile training run. Main Outcome Measures: Four days before and 24-hr postrun, participants rated soreness on a 100-mm visual analog scale, while .
Tillage impact on soil erosion by water: Discrepancies due to climate and soil characteristics

No-tillage (NT) is promoted for soil and water conservation, but research findings on overland flow and soil erosion are inconsistent across different ecosystems, with some studies showing no benefits of NT over conventional tillage (CT). A global literature review was conducted to quantify the impact of NT on water runoff, sediment concentration and soil losses. The objective was to identify the underlying causes of the variability in the performance of NT across different environments. Data from 282 paired NT and CT runoff plots from 41 research studies worldwide were analysed using meta-analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). Sediment concentration and soil losses were 56 and 60% lower under NT than CT, respectively. These tended to be greater under CT than NT on long plots (90% for sediment concentration and 94% for soil losses) and steepest slopes (79 and 77%, respectively). Greater differences in sediment concentration and soil losses between NT and CT were observed in low clay soils and under temperate climates. While on average there were no differences on runoff coefficient, NT decreased runoff coefficient by about 40% compared to CT in mulched soils, under cool climate (<10 C), and for experiments done >5 years. Overall, the results indicated that NT has greater potential to reduce runoff and soil losses in temperate regions where soils of peri-glacial influence are relatively young, moderately weathered and fragile compared to the heavily weathered clayey tropical soils that are well aggregated and less erodible. The results of this study are expected to inform scientists, practitioners and policy makers on the links between land management and soil functioning processes. Policy makers and development implementers will be able to make informed choices of land management techniques for effective NT implementation, for instance by having more mulch input under warm climates. ã 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Preliminary clinical results for PET/MR compared with PET/CT in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

The present study aimed to assess the performance of positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MR) for the visualization and characterization of lesions. In addition, the present study investigated whether the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and intravoxel incoherent motion parameters exhibited any significant correlation with standardized uptake values (SUV) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 35 patients with NPC underwent whole body PET-computed tomography (CT) and head and neck MR imaging (MRI) scans using the PET/CT-MRI system. Image quality, lesion conspicuity and the diagnostic confidence of PET/CT, T1 weighted (T1w) PET/MR and T2w PET/MR imaging were assessed. The true diffusion coefficient (D), the pseudo-diffusion coefficient or diffusion within the microcirculation (D*), and the perfusion fraction or the contribution of water moving in the capillaries (f), and ADC, were calculated. The correlation between the ADC, D*, D and f values and the SUV were analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis. Similar image quality was obtained using PET/CT, T1w PET/MR and T2w PET/MR imaging. However, the T1w PET/MR and T2w PET/MR imaging were more effective than PET/CT in analyzing the lesion conspicuity of the primary tumors and lymph nodes. In addition, T2w PET/MR imaging was more efficient than T1w PET/MR imaging in analyzing primary tumors and lymph nodes. Pearson's correlation analysis showed no significant correlation between the SUV and ADC, and D*, D and f values in NPC. The present results suggested that the application of PET/MR is feasible and could serve as a reliable alternative to PET/CT, while SUV and ADC, D*, D and f values were identified as independent biomarkers in NPC.
Modeling Inter and Intra-Class Relations in the Triplet Loss for Zero-Shot Learning

Recognizing visual unseen classes, i.e. for which no training data is available, is known as Zero Shot Learning (ZSL). Some of the best performing methods apply the triplet loss to seen classes to learn a mapping between visual representations of images and attribute vectors that constitute class prototypes. They nevertheless make several implicit assumptions that limit their performance on real use cases, particularly with fine-grained datasets comprising a large number of classes. We identify three of these assumptions and put forward corresponding novel contributions to address them. Our approach consists in taking into account both inter-class and intra-class relations, respectively by being more permissive with confusions between similar classes, and by penalizing visual samples which are atypical to their class. The approach is tested on four datasets, including the large-scale ImageNet, and exhibits performances significantly above recent methods, even generative methods based on more restrictive hypotheses.
Dietary Exposure to Heavy Metal Contaminated Rice and Health Risk to the Population of Monrovia

The aim of this study was to assess the exposure of the population of Monrovia to Heavy metals (Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury and Nickel) through the consumption of rice and the health risk posed. A total of forty one (41) imported and nineteen (19) locally cultivated rice samples were collected from major markets in Monrovia. A mixture of nitric, per chloric and sulfuric acids were used for complete digestion of the samples and the levels of the metals were determined using ICP-MS and AAS techniques. Dietary exposure of the consumers to the metals was assessed by comparing the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) to the Provisional Tolerable Daily Intake (PTDI) of the metals, and the potential non-carcinogenic health risk was assessed using Hazard Quotients and Hazard Indices. Carcinogenic health risk from Arsenic was assessed by using Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk values. Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk values were less than the US EPA threshold value of 1.00E-04. Hazard Quotients and Hazard Indices for all the metals were less than US EPA permissible value of 1; suggesting that the consumption of the products constitute no potential individual or combined health risk to the population with regards to the tested metals. Although the current levels of heavy metals in the products are negligible, regular monitoring of contaminant levels is highly recommended.
A new Canarian lizards subspecies from Hierro Island (Canarian archipelago)

The first in-depth study of a relict population of large-sized lizards on Hierro (Canary Islands) was done by Antonio Machado in 1985. The presence of this animal ín Hierro was first revealed by Bohme & Bings (1975, 1977) anda preliminary study "in situ" (Martinez-Rica 1982) was carried out in September 1975. Later discoveries of fossil remains at other places on the island demonstrated the former existence of this lizard on virtually all the island surface (Bohme et aL, 1981; Bings 1985; and our own unpublished data). The results obtained by Machado (1985) show differences of taxonornic value between this lizard and the specimens of Gallotia simonyi simonyi originating from the "Roque Chico de Salmor" (Hierro Island) kept in different zoological collections. Machado (1985) classified the taxon as Gallotia affinis simonyi. The aim of this work, thus, is to scientifically name this large-sized lizard which is today found in the "Fuga de Gorreta" on the Island of Hierro, one of the western islands in the Canarian archipelago.