Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regional and Monthly Assessment of Extraterrestrial Solar Radiations in Pakistan

The monthly extraterrestrial solar radiations (ESR) have been simulated separately for all the months of the year. The subtropical location and distribution of mountains and their height determine the spatial distribution and amount of ESR in Pakistan. The mountains, piedmonts, enclosed valleys and plains show distinct diversity of ESR values. The assessment acknowledged that countries like Pakistan with ever increasing demand of energy receive sufficient amount of ESR that could be linked with solar irradiance where development of solar energy has great potential. The simulation was done with the help of ArcGIS based on distributed modeling.
CHALLENGES FACING ACCESSIBILITY OF CREDIT FACILITIES AMONG WOMEN OWNED ENTERPRISES IN NAIROBI CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT IN KENYA

Access to finance is a challenge to women micro and small enterprises. The challenge for women business owners is compounded by the multi-faceted gender related problems that inhibit their ability to access finance which even within the MSE sectors is one of the major factors accountable for hindering the emergence and growth of their businesses According to the 2009 National MSEs Baseline Survey, there were 812,848 women in MSEs in Kenya, accounting for 47.4 per cent of all those in MSEs and 47% of the women entrepreneurs found in Nairobi. The study sought to determine challenges that women entrepreneurs are facing in accessing finance in Kenya focusing on urban women entrepreneurs within Nairobi Central Business District. Descriptive research was used to describe the general characteristic of the study population and show the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The target population was 1439 enterprises owned by women located in Nairobi Central business in construction, textile, food and beverages, consultancy and beauty enterprises. A sample of 10% was drawn from each stratum to get a sample size of 144 respondents. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire which was self-administered through drop and pick questionnaires to sampled members of the women owner’s respondents. The data was then analysed using descriptive which included frequency, percentages, means and standard deviations. Data presentation was done by the use of pie charts, bar charts and graphs, percentages and frequency tables. For qualitative data, which was mainly gathered from open ended questions a qualitative data checklist was developed. The study revealed that lack of collateral, legislation status of the business, lack of financial track and lack of experience in financial management hinders women entrepreneurs from accessing credit facilities from the financial institutions. The study concludes that lack of information accessibility, insufficient skill and knowledge level, lack of collaterals required and socio-cultural roles had a strong and negative influence towards the accessibility of
Rhizoctonia fungi enhance the growth of the endangered orchid Cymbidium goeringii.

Orchids are among the most prized ornamental plants in many societies throughout the world. As a result, consumer demands have created a significant pressure on wild populations of many species, including Cymbidium goeringii Rchb. f. , a rare terrestrial orchid endemic in China, Korea, and Japan. To help conserve natural populations of C. goeringii, we recently started investigating methods to cultivate these orchids. Here we fulfilled Koch’s postulates and demonstrated that fungal strains isolated from the roots of natural Cymbidium plants increased fresh mass, plant height, number of leaves, and root length of C. goeringii, and that the two fungal strains originally isolated from C. goeringii showed overall greater effects on growth than two other strains from other Cymbidium species. Internal transcribed spacer sequence analyses revealed that the four fungal strains likely represented at least two new taxonomic groups, both belonging to the family Ceratobasidiaceae of the Rhizoctonia fungi. Our study de.
From seeing the writing on the wall, to getting together for a bowl: Direct and compensating effects of Facebook use on offline associational membership

ABSTRACT Research concerned with a decline of associational involvement has examined whether the use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, may reinvigorate or crowd out involvement in civil society. Yet, previous studies have not systematically investigated possible effects of Facebook use on associational membership. We posit that the effects of Facebook use are twofold: Facebook stimulates associational membership directly through its inherent networking features and indirectly by compensating for the lack of traditional mobilizing factors, such as social trust and internal efficacy. Relying on a probabilistic sample of German participants aged 18–49, our findings show that Facebook users are more likely to be members of voluntary associations and that Facebook use increases the likelihood of associational membership even for individuals with low levels of social trust and internal efficacy. Instead of crowding out offline associational involvement, Facebook use stimulates membership in voluntary associations, thus contributing to the vitality of civil society.
Effects of a daily dose of zeolite on rumen ammonia of lactating dairy cows consuming fresh-cut ryegrass pasture

Zeolites are aluminosilicates that can be safely fed to ruminants on a daily basis. They have a strong affinity for cations, including ammonium (NH4 +), which creates the potential to adsorb excess ammonium released in the rumen and reduce urinary nitrogen (N) excreted. The main objective of this proof-of-concept study was to evaluate the effect of a single dose of 300 g of zeolite, deposited into the rumens of cannulated dairy cows before the main morning meal of fresh-cut ryegrass pasture, on changes in rumen ammonium concentrations over the following 8 h. The two-week trial was a cross-over design with 12 cows, either fed ryegrass as a sole diet (Control) or with zeolite (Zeolite). There was a consistent trend for rumen ammonium concentrations in the zeolitetreated cows to increase more slowly over time, and were lower than control cows 8 h after the zeolite was given (P = 0.08). This study provides some indications that a daily dose of zeolite, fed at the onset of the morning meal, may have a moderating effect on rumen ammonium concentration, and reduce plasma urea N concentrations in lactating dairy cows fed a ryegrass-dominant diet.
Intention to leave among health care professionals: The importance of working conditions and social capital

Hospitals in Sweden are redesigning their care processes to increase efficiency. However, related to these changes, there is a risk of increased staff intention to leave and turnover due to increased workload and work pace. The literature on work engagement and job demands and resources suggests that specific job resources can buffer negative effects; i.e., intention to leave because of job demands. Social capital is suggested to have the potential to be a resource associated with staff intention to leave. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between social capital and intention to leave and to test if social capital moderates the relationship between job demands and intention to leave. A sample of five hospitals working under conditions of improvements of care processes were studied using a questionnaire administered to the healthcare clinicians (n = 849). High levels of social capital were associated with low levels of intention to leave. However, the moderating effect of social capital was not confirmed. Intention to leave among occupational groups was influenced differently by social capital, other job resources, and job demands.
Characterization of Size Distribution
and Concentration of Atmospheric Particles
During Summer in Zhuzhou, China

In order to provide a sound basis for the performance evaluation of a local government’s air pollution prevention and abatement measures, the mass concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 and the concentrations of different sized particles were measured in August 2013. Meanwhile, the influencing factors and sources of atmospheric particulate matters were analyzed by combining meteorological factors and gaseous pollutants. The results indicated that PM2.5 and PM10 in Zhuzhou were (30.3±12.2) μg·m-3 and (56.4±26.6) μg·m-3, respectively. The mean values of the particle number concentration in the size range of 0.5~1 μm and 1~2.5 μm on sunny days were (121.2±75.9) cm-3 and (6.8±3.7) cm-3, respectively, whereas in the rainy days they sharply increased to (868.7±262.1) cm-3 and (347.9±238.6) cm-3, which accounted for 71.0% and 28.4% of the total number of concentrations, respectively. Backward trajectory analysis demonstrated that the air masses in Zhuzhou city mainly came from three directions: southeast (52.2%), southwest (24.7%), and northeast (23.1%). Although accounting for a minor fraction, the northeast air mass had the largest effect on particle concentrations in Zhuzhou and also carried a lot of gaseous primary pollutants.
Organic Acids and Carbon Profiles by Bifidobacteria Pseudocatenulatum G4 During Cultivation in Low Concentrations of Milk Medium

Growth characteristics of Bifidobaceria pseudocatenulatum G4 in low concentration milk medium were studied. During cultivation process, profiles of cell growth, pH changes, organic acids and sugar profile were monitored. A finding showed that final cell concentration (cfumL-1) obtained in 2 and 4% (w/v) milk concentration was two times lower than in comparative media. However, 6% (w/v) skim milk gave a promising media for B. pseudocatenulatum G4 growth. Organic acids production (acetic, lactic, formic and citric acid) by strains was detected in all milk medium concentrations and similar profile were observed. Except for formic acid which actively produced in 2 and 4% (w/v) milk concentration. The accumulation of formic acids was believed due to carbon limitation. As for sugar profile, co-metabolized galactose and glucose were observed in 2, 4 and 6% (w/v) skim milk concentration. Meanwhile high carbon remains occurred in 8 and 10% (w/v) milk concentrations after cultivation period. Among all concentrations, milk with 6% (w/v) concentration showed better support for cells growth without formic acid presence and low carbon remains at the end of cultivation period.
Patterns of animal dispersal, vicariance and diversification in the Holarctic

We analysed patterns of animal dispersal, vicariance and diversification in the Holarctic based on complete phylogenies of 57 extant non-marine taxa, together comprising 770 species, documenting biogeographic events from the Late Mesozoic to the present. Four major areas, each corresponding to a historically persistent landmass, were used in the analyses: eastern Nearctic (EN), western Nearctic (WN), eastern Palaeoarctic (EP) and western Palaeoarctic (WP). Parsimony-based tree fitting showed that there is no significantly supported general area cladogram for the dataset. Yet, distributions are strongly phylogenetically conserved, as revealed by dispersalvicariance analysis (DIVA). DIVA-based permutation tests were used to pinpoint phylogenetically determined biogeographic patterns. Consistent with expectations, continental dispersals (WP↔EP and WN↔EN) are significantly more common than palaeocontinental dispersals (WN↔EP and EN↔WP), which in turn are more common than disjunct dispersals (EN↔EP and WN↔WP). There is significant dispersal asymmetry both within the Nearctic (WN→EN more common than EN→WN) and the Palaeoarctic (EP→WP more common than WP→EP). CrossBeringian faunal connections have traditionally been emphasized but are not more important than cross-Atlantic connections in our data set. To analyse changes over time, we sorted biogeographic events into four major time periods using fossil, biogeographic and molecular evidence combined with a ‘branching clock’. These analyses show that trans-Atlantic distributions (EN–WP) were common in the Early–Mid Tertiary (70–20 Myr), whereas transBeringian distributions (WN–EP) were rare in that period. Most EN–EP disjunctions date back to the Early Tertiary (70–45 Myr), suggesting that they resulted from division of cross-Atlantic rather than cross-Beringian distributions. Diversification in WN and WP increased in the Quaternary (< 3 Myr), whereas in EP and EN it decreased from a maximum in the Early–Mid Tertiary.  2001 The Linnean Society of London
Fronts and upper ocean thermal variability south of New Zealand

The structure and variability of Southern Ocean fronts south of New Zealand are described based on fifteen summer expendable bathythermograph (XBT) sections obtained between 1994 and 2001. The temperature variability north of 60°S is dominated by meanders and meridional shifts of the Sub-Antarctic Front (SAF), which often bifurcates to form northern and southern branches. The northern branch follows the southern edge of the Campbell Plateau, while the southern branch is found over the abyssal plain of the south-west Pacific Basin. The northern and southern branches of the SAF can be separated by as much as 900 km. Intense eddies or meanders of the SAF displace isotherms by as much as 5 degrees of latitude from their positions when such features are absent. The Polar Front (PF) position is more stable in time, although cold-core features associated with eddies or meanders of the front are occasionally observed between the southern SAF and the PF. The position of the southern ACC front is extremely stable, consistently overlying the 3000 m isobath on the northern flank of the Pacific-Antarctic/south-east Indian Ridge.
Alternate contracts for side payments

We characterize efficient equilibrium outcomes of two-player games that remain equilibrium outcomes even when the two players may alternately make binding offers of strategy contingent side payments before the game is played. Our characterization result implies that alternately contracting for side payments has more efficiency of a certain type in equilibria than simultaneously side contracting which is analyzed by Jackson and Wilkie (2005).
Towards News Verification: Deception Detection Methods for News Discourse

News verification is a process of determining whether a particular news report is truthful or deceptive. Deliberately deceptive (fabricated) news creates false conclusions in the readers’ minds. Truthful (authentic) news matches the writer’s knowledge. How do you tell the difference between the two in an automated way? To investigate this question, we analyzed rhetorical structures, discourse constituent parts and their coherence relations in deceptive and truthful news sample from NPR’s “Bluff the Listener”. Subsequently, we applied a vector space model to cluster the news by discourse feature similarity, achieving 63% accuracy. Our predictive model is not significantly better than chance (56% accuracy), though comparable to average human lie detection abilities (54%). Methodological limitations and future improvements are discussed. The long-term goal is to uncover systematic language differences and inform the core methodology of the news verification system.
Cellulose Fibres Functionalised by Chitosan: Characterization and Application

Biopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms. Cellulose, starch, chitin, proteins, peptides, DNA and RNA are all examples of biopolymers. This book comprehensively reviews and compiles information on biopolymers in 30 chapters. The book covers occurrence, synthesis, isolation and production, properties and applications, modification, and the relevant analysis methods to reveal the structures and properties of some biopolymers. This book will hopefully be of help to many scientists, physicians, pharmacists, engineers and other experts in a variety of disciplines, both academic and industrial. It may not only support research and development, but be suitable for teaching as well.
Genre and Register of Antagonist’s Language in Media: An Appraisal Study of Indonesian Newspapers

This research explores how the language of the antagonists is unfolded in print Indonesian media. The analysis is focused on the exploitation of types of texts (genres) and the register. These are explored through the lexis, transitivity, appraisal systems, and text structure. The data were news, editorials, and letters to editors, collected from Kompas, Jawa Pos, Solopos, and Suara Merdek a from May to October 2012. Further selected using criterion-based sampling techniques, the data resulted in eight texts to analyze. In addition to the linguistic analysis, interviews were conducted with the stakeholders of the social issues. The results show that antagonists used the three types of macro genres to express their ideologies in the newspapers. At the level of register, the antagonists develop their attitudes through their feeling (affect), as well as evaluation about other participants (judgment) or things (appreciation). They even amplify and align their attitude through graduation and engagement.
Towards studies of organizational behaviour with greater local relevance

Theories of organizational behaviour mostly originated in North America. In testing their applicability elsewhere, attention must be given to differences in local environments and in the values of local employees. Within Latin America, the prevalence of high collectivism and power distance are particularly important. Employees’ attachment to their organization has been shown to differ within collectivistic cultures. The argument is illustrated by two Latin American studies. Firstly, the ways in which managers handle work events within Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Argentina are compared. Secondly, cross-national work problems of employees from these countries are surveyed. The results emphasize the need to take account of variability within the region, and the need to use measures that
Precise Study on Size-Dependent Properties of Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Developing a biocompatible contrast agent with high stability and favorable magnetism for sensitive detection of malignant tumors using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) remains a great demand in clinical. Nowadays, the fine control of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (MION) sizes from a few nanometers to dozens of nanometers can be realized through a thermal decomposition method of iron precursors. This progress allows us to research accurately on the size dependence of magnetic properties of MION, involving saturation magnetization (Ms), specific absorption rate (SAR), and relaxivity. Here, we synthesized MION in a size range between 14 and 26 nm and modified them with DSPE-PEG2000 for biomedical use. The magnetic properties of PEGylated MION increased monotonically with MION size, while the nonspecific uptake of MION also enhanced with size through cell experiments. The MION with the size of 22 nm as a T2-weighted contrast agent presented the best contrast-enhancing effect comparing with other sizes in vivo MRI of murine tumor. Therefore, the MION of 22 nm may have potential to serve as an ideal MRI contrast agent for tumor detection.
Contraceptive Methods: The Level of Awareness and Patronage among Ghanaian Health Profession Trainees

Introduction: Health workers are invaluable human resources that ensure the unmet contraceptive needs of especially people in developing countries are bridged. Even before their graduation, health profession trainees would be looked up to by society to provide services on contraceptive use. This study therefore assessed their level of awareness and patronage of contraceptive methods among health profession trainees. Methodology: Graph Pad 5.01 and SPSS 21.0 software (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL) were used to analyze data collected from 376 randomly selected university students in Tamale, Ghana in a cross-sectional study using a semi-structured questionnaire. Association between different variables was tested using appropriate statistical tests. Results: Health profession students were more aware of female contraceptive methods than that of the males. The condom was the most listed and used male contraceptive while the oral contraceptive was the best known female contraceptive among the respondents but the emergency contraceptive, Levonorgestrel branded Postinor 2 was the most used female contraceptive. Advancing biological age, marital status and programme of study were significantly associated with students’ level of awareness of contraceptive methods but multivariate analysis showed that after adjustment, being a male student (OR= 1.95; 95% CI, 1.04 – 3.67; p = 0.037) and being married (OR = 10.48; 95% CI, 4.81 – 56.49; p<0.0001) were significantly associated with contraceptive use. Conclusion: Older age, programme of study and marital status of health profession trainees were significantly associated with better awareness of contraceptive methods. The predictors of the use of contraceptives were being a male and being married
Social Capital Dimensions and other Determinants Influencing Household Participation in Micro-credit Groups in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

This paper examined the social capital dimensions and other determinants influencing household participation and level of participation in micro-credit groups in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya specifically Moiben division. In the study area, the microfinance institutions and other lending organizations have extended credit facilities to households through individual and group lending schemes in their bid to increase household access to credit. However, even with the recent proliferation of micro-credit groups a considerable proportion of the poor households in the area have not joined micro-credit groups. A structured questionnaire was used to gather information from 174 households from the division, using the multistage sampling technique. Heckman selection model was applied to identify factors that influenced households to join and the level of participation in the micro-credit group . The results indicate that age, gender, education farm size, household size, farm income and distance to the nearest financial institution influenced household decision to join the micro-credit groups. On the other hand age, farm size, total income, heterogeneity index, density of membership, years of experience in group borrowing and decision making index significantly influenced the level of participation. Based on the findings policy implications were drawn for improving household access to credit in the study areas. Key words: Access to credit, group lending, social capital and Heckman selection model
THE EFFECT OF HUMAN AND SOCIAL CAPITAL ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF FINANCING ALTERNATIVES BY NEW SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The failure rate of new SMEs is very high in South Africa. Financing constraints is one of the major causes of failure. The knowledge of the alternative sources of finance can help to reduce the financing constraints faced by new SMEs. The study investigated the effect of human and social capital on the understanding of financing alternatives. Selfadministered questionnaire was used in a survey to collect data from data were from 136 owners of new SMEs in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The Cronbach’s alpha was used as a measure of internal consistency. Descriptive statistics and independent samples T-test used for data analysis. The results indicated that new SME owners with higher levels of generic and specific human capital have a better knowledge of financing alternatives. There are significant differences in the level of education and business courses and the knowledge of factoring, venture capital, Alt-X, bootstrapping, Islamic baking and crowdfunding. New SME owners with social capital as measured by direct and indirect ties have a better knowledge of financing alternatives.