Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNICATION COLLABORATIONS AND PERFORMANCE OF SMES IN TRANS-NZOIA COUNTY, KENYA

This papers looks at the relationship between communication collaborations and performance of SMEs in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya. This was done due to the challenges that individual are facing in surviving in business. SMEs enter strategic collaboration to access to provide access to information necessary for their business growth and survival. The theory that informed this study is resource based view theory advanced by Barney. A descriptive research design was used to select 136 SMEs from a target of 216 located in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya. Data for this research was collected using questionnaire. Correlation statistics showed that there existed significant positive relationship between strategic communication and performance of SMEs in Trans-Nzoia County. This happened through sharing of information or viability of business enterprises through the formal collaborating networks by SMEs in the county. The paper concludes that for performance of SMEs to improve, joint communication and sharing is a critical component. The paper therefore recommends that: the communique on decision reached by strategic collaboration members should all be inclusive to make all members feel part of the association. Article visualizations:
Classification of Enzyme Function from Protein Sequence based on Feature Representation

Enzymes are the proteins that accelerate the rate of chemical reaction, and both their structures and dynamics may be important to their function of catalyzing biochemical reactions. For the function prediction and classification of enzymes, many methods based on sequence similarity to detect similar proteins have been developed. However, these methods often miscarry in the case of the absence of similar sequences or poor similarity among proteins. Therefore, many researchers have been developing alternative approaches that assign function from protein features without consideration of sequence similarity. In this paper, we propose a method of sequence-driven feature extraction and enzyme functional classification using only the features of protein sequence, excluding predicted secondary structures and annotation information of protein databases. Our experimental results demonstrate that the enzyme classification based on the Chi-Squared ranking method among various attribute selection methods is efficient. Also, we And that amino acid composition of specific enzyme differs from composition of other enzymes.
Linkages at Tourism Destinations: Challenges in Zanzibar

espanolEste estudio explora los retos vinculados entre la industria turistica y los proveedores locales en las destinaciones. Durante el 2010 se realizaron estudios en Zanzibar entre los tres grupos involucrados: hoteleros y restauradores, proveedores locales y turistas. El resultado del analisis cualitativo de las perspectivas de los encuestados revelan una multitud de coacciones y restricciones. Para los operadores la mayor restriccion serian la baja calidad del producto local, la poca formalidad en los negocios, el alto nivel de costes y el incumplimiento de acuerdos por parte de los proveedores locales. El bajo nivel de produccion, los bajos precios ofrecidos por los hoteleros y restauradores, en combinacion con el pago tardio por los productos suministrados, representan los problemas mas serios comentados por los proveedores locales. Existe tambien un cierto grado de desconfianza mutua entre proveedores locales y operadores. No obstante, desde el punto de vista del turista, el origen de estos productos consumidos en los hoteles y restaurantes, no resulta ser una gran preocupacion. Se recomiendan estrategias que unan el desequilibrio entre oferta y demanda con el objetivo de maximizar los beneficios turisticos como metodo para combatir la intensa pobreza. EnglishThis study explores challenges facing the linkages between the tourism industry and local suppliers at the destinations. During 2010 surveys involving hotel and restaurant operators, local suppliers and tourists were conducted in Zanzibar. Qualitative analysis of the perspectives of the respondents reveals the multitude of constraints. From operators, the main constraints include poor quality of the locally supplied products, business informalities, high transaction costs and violation of agreements by local suppliers. Low production levels, low prices offered by hotels and restaurants coupled with late payments for the products delivered were the most serious problems cited by local suppliers. There is also a certain degree of mistrust between the local suppliers and the operators. However, the source of the tourism products consumed in the hotels or restaurants was not a point of concern, at least from the tourists’ perspective. Strategies to bridge the demandsupply gaps in order to maximize the benefits of tourism, among the tools for fighting the rampant poverty, have been recommended.
Visual signalling and sexual selection in male fiddler crabs Uca tangeri

Similar to many other species of fiddler crabs, the interactions of Uca tangeri are influenced by 2 characteristic visual signals: the waving display performed by males with their enlarged claw, and the building of structures (mudballs) around the burrow entrance. This study focused on male signalling, male-male competition and female mate choice. Female choice and male mating success were investigated by looking at male quality, male visual signals (waving activity and mudballs) and male interactions and their outcome. Fieldwork was carried out in June and July 1997 at the Ria Formosa Natural Park, Algarve, Portugal, on a sandy beach with an average population density of 2.06 burrows m -2 , Behavioural observations of focal males were made at low tide, 1 h before and after the peak of low tide, that is during the mudballing phase or interaction phase. This was also when measurements of male characteristics, mudballs and burrow characteristics were taken. The results show that the quality of a male's burrow is related to its depth, and depth is correlated with 4 features: claw size, waving rate, mean distance to mudballs and number of mudballs. Therefore, females could use these features as indicators of gallery depth, eliminating the need to enter the burrow for sampling. Males compete for the possession of burrows that are more visited by females, thus taking over burrows is an alternative strategy to burrow digging. Male waving activity, mudball distance and claw size can be considered as multiple visual signals available to females for mate choice. Females' first choice criterion would seem to be burrow quality.
Criminality, consumption and the counterfeiting of fashion goods : a consumer perspective

The past decade has seen heightened attention towards the potentially harmful consequences of intellectual property crime. In particular, there are concerns about the damage to industry and the global economy, alongside increasing recognition of links with organised crime and terrorism. As a result, a plethora of policy initiatives have sought to reduce the problem of counterfeiting and piracy, of which the underlying principle is consumer responsibility. However, this thesis argues that this approach is based on a number of assumptions. These are prominent when the specific example of fashion counterfeiting is examined. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to explore consumers' perceptions about fashion counterfeiting and how they relate to their fashion purchasing and assumptions underpinning anti-counterfeiting policy. The research seeks to contextualise fashion counterfeiting within the broader literature about consumption and fashion and add to criminological literature. This is achieved by taking an interdisciplinary consumer-based approach which involved the completion of 801 questionnaires and conducting 27 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups. The findings support recent existing research findings that consumers of counterfeit fashion goods cannot be distinguished by their demographic characteristics. Instead, consumers' preferences about fashion, as well as the situation, context and availability are major factors related to the propensity to purchase fashion counterfeits. Techniques of neutralisation and notably the denial of harm can be clearly identified in consumer justifications for purchasing counterfeits. This has clear consequences for consumer perceptions about whether counterfeiting is a 'real crime' and inevitably, responses to counterfeiting. In particular, the notion that consumers will change their behaviour through being educated about the 'dangers of buying fakes' is problematic, as is the suggestion that criminalising the consumption of counterfeits could be a solution. Therefore, these findings demonstrate fundamental concerns about current assumptions underpinning anti-counterfeiting policy.
Asteroid impact effects and their immediate hazards for human populations

A set of 50,000 artificial Earth impacting asteroids was used to obtain, for the first time, information about the dominance of individual impact effects such as wind blast, overpressure shock, thermal radiation, cratering, seismic shaking, ejecta deposition, and tsunami for the loss of human life during an impact event for impactor sizes between 15 and 400 m and how the dominance of impact effects changes over size. Information about the dominance of each impact effect can enable disaster managers to plan for the most relevant effects in the event of an asteroid impact. Furthermore, the analysis of average casualty numbers per impactor shows that there is a significant difference in expected loss for airburst and surface impacts and that the average impact over land is an order of magnitude more dangerous than one over water.
Pharmacological Augmentation of Psychosocial and Remediation Training Efforts in Schizophrenia

Pharmacological approaches to cognitive enhancement have received considerable attention but have not had considerable success in improving their cognitive and functional targets. Other intervention strategies, such as cognitive remediation therapy (CRT), have been shown to enhance cognitive performance but have not been found to improve functional outcomes without additional psychosocial interventions. Recently, several studies have attempted to enhance the effects of CRT by adding pharmacological interventions to the CRT treatments. In addition, as CRT has been shown to synergistically improve the effects of psychosocial interventions, the combination of pharmacological therapies aimed at cognition and psychosocial interventions may itself provide a promising strategy for improving functional outcomes. This review and commentary examines the current state of interventions combining CRT and psychosocial treatments with pharmacological augmentation. Our focus is on the specific level of effect of the pharmacological intervention, which could be enhancing motivation, training efficiency, or the consolidation of therapeutic gains. Different pharmacological strategies (e.g., stimulants, plasticity-inducing agents, or attentional or alertness enhancers) may have the potential to lead to different types of gains when combined with CRT or psychosocial interventions. The relative potential of these different mechanisms for immediate and durable effects is considered.
[Doubts of caregivers of children with cleft lip and palate on postoperative care after cheiloplasty and palatoplasty].

OBJECTIVE To identify the main doubts of caregivers of children with cleft lip and palate on postoperative care after cheiloplasty and palatoplasty. METHOD Cross-sectional study carried out in a reference hospital, between September and November 2012. The sample was composed of 50 individuals divided in two groups, of which 25 caregivers of children submitted to cheiloplasty, and 25 of children submitted to palatoplasty. The doubts were identified by an interview applied during the preoperative nursing consultation and were then categorized by similarity. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis of the outcomes. RESULTS Concerning cheiloplasty, the doubts were related to feeding (36%), hygiene and healing (24% each), pain and infection (8% each). With regard to palatoplasty, the doubts were related to feeding (48%), hygiene (24%), pain (16%), bleeding (8%) and infection (4%). CONCLUSION The study evidenced the concern of caregivers in relation to feeding and care of the postoperative wound.
Root Canal Penetration of a Sodium Hypoch

whether the design has an influence on the penetration length of sodium hypochlorite mixed with a radiopaque contrast medium, measured in millimeters, when delivered using positive pressure (PP) and using sonic (SI) or passive ultrasonic (PUI) activation. Sixty single-rooted teeth were divided into two groups: open and closed systems (n=30). Root canal shaping was performed to a working length of 17 mm. The samples were divided into three sub-groups (n=10) according to irrigant delivery and activation: PP, and SI or PUI activation. By using radiographs, penetration length was measured, and vapor lock was assessed. For the closed group, the penetration distance means were: PP 15.715 (±0.898) mm, SI 16.299 (±0.738) mm and PUI 16.813 (±0.465) mm, with vapor lock occurring in 53.3% of the specimens. In the open group, penetration to 17 mm occurred in 97.6% of the samples, and no vapor lock occurred. Irrigant penetration and distribution evaluation using open and closed systems provide significantly different results. For closed systems, PUI is the most effective in delivering the irrigant to working length, followed by SI. Root Canal Penetration of a Sodium Hypoch l o r i t e M ix tu r e U s ing Sonic or Ultrasonic Activation
Talking , Teaching , and Listening : Gender differences in teachers ’ responses to acoustic environments

School teachers have an elevated risk of voice problems due to the vocal demands in the workplace. Studies suggest that male and female teachers respond differently, which may explain why female teachers have an elevated risk for vocal disorders. Presented will be an amalgamation of two studies investigating gender differences in voice use in the school setting. In the first study, 57 teachers (45 f, 12 m) were observed for 2 weeks (waking hours) to compare how their voice was used at work versus not-at-work. The results suggest that female adjust more to their environment than males. In a second study, 45 participants (20 f, 25 m) performed a short vocal task in two different rooms, a variable acoustic room and an anechoic chamber. Subjects were taken back and forth between the two rooms using a deception protocol. Each time they entered the variable acoustics room, the room characteristics had been changed using two background noise conditions and two reverberation conditions. In this latter study, subjects responded to questions about their comfort and perception of changes in the acoustic environment. Objective acoustic metrics were compared to subjective perception of a room, as well as to metrics calculated from their vocal output. Several significant differences between male and females subjects were found. Most of the differences held for each room condition (at-school vs. not-at-school, varying reverberation times, varying noise levels, and levels of early reflections).
Feasibility and efficacy of helical intensity-modulated radiotherapy for stage III non-small cell lung cancer in comparison with conventionally fractionated 3D-CRT.

BACKGROUND The standard treatment for stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still 60 Gy in conventional fractions combined with concurrent chemotherapy; however, the resulting local controls are disappointing. The aim of this study was to compare and assess the feasibility and efficacy of hypofractionated chemoradiotherapy using helical tomotherapy (HT) with conventional fractionation as opposed to using three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) for stage III NSCLC. METHODS Sixty-nine patients with stage III (AJCC 7th edition) NSCLC who underwent definitive radiation treatment at our institution between July 2011 and November 2013 were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively. A dose of 60 Gy in 20 fractions was delivered in the HT group (n=34), whereas 60 Gy in 30 fractions in the 3D-CRT group (n=35). Primary endpoints were toxicity, overall response rate, overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). RESULTS The median follow-up period was 26.4 months. V20 (P=0.005), V30 (P=0.001), V40 (P=0.004), mean lung dose (P=0.000) and max dose of spinal cord (P=0.005) were significantly lower in the HT group than in the 3D-CRT group. There was no significant difference in the incidences of acute radiation pneumonitis (RP) ≥ grade 2 between the two groups, whereas the incidences of acute radiation esophagitis ≥ grade 2 were significantly lower in the HT group than in the 3D-CRT group (P=0.027). Two-year overall response rate was significantly higher in the HT group than in the 3D-CRT group (P=0.015). One- and 2-year OS rates were significantly higher in the HT group (95.0% and 68.7%, respectively) than in the 3D-CRT group (85.5% and 47.6%, respectively; P=0.0236). One- and 2-year PFS rates were significantly higher in the HT group (57.8% and 26.3%, respectively) than in the 3D-CRT group (32.7% and 11.4%, respectively; P=0.0351). Univariate analysis indicated that performance status (PS), T stage and radiotherapy technique were significant prognostic factors for both OS and PFS. Multivariate analysis indicated that PS and radiotherapy technique were independent prognostic factors of OS and PS was independent prognostic factor of PFS. CONCLUSIONS Hypofractionated chemoradiotherapy via HT can shorten the radiotherapy time without increasing treatment-related toxicity. The preliminary findings are that OS and PFS can be improved by hypofractionated chemoradiotherapy via HT for patients with stage III NSCLC.
Quantum generalized observables framework for psychological data: a case of preference reversals in US elections

Politics is regarded as a vital area of public choice theory, and it is strongly relying on the assumptions of voters’ rationality and as such, stability of preferences. However, recent opinion polls and real election outcomes in the USA have shown that voters often engage in ‘ticket splitting’, by exhibiting contrasting party support in Congressional and Presidential elections (cf. Khrennikova 2014 Phys. Scripta T163, 014010 (doi:10.1088/0031-8949/2014/T163/014010); Khrennikova & Haven 2016 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 374, 20150106 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2015.0106); Smith et al. 1999 Am. J. Polit. Sci. 43, 737–764 (doi:10.2307/2991833)). Such types of preference reversals cannot be mathematically captured via the formula of total probability, thus showing that voters’ decision making is at variance with the classical probabilistic information processing framework. In recent work, we have shown that quantum probability describes well the violation of Bayesian rationality in statistical data of voting in US elections, through the so-called interference effects of probability amplitudes. This paper is proposing a novel generalized observables framework of voting behaviour, by using the statistical data collected and analysed in previous studies by Khrennikova (Khrennikova 2015 Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 8951, 196–209) and Khrennikova & Haven (Khrennikova & Haven 2016 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 374, 20150106 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2015.0106)). This framework aims to overcome the main problems associated with the quantum probabilistic representation of psychological data, namely the non-double stochasticity of transition probability matrices. We develop a simplified construction of generalized positive operator valued measures by formulating special non-orthonormal bases with respect to these operators. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Second quantum revolution: foundational questions’.
The clinical significance of the pollen calendar of the Western Thrace/northeast Greece region in allergic rhinitis

There are major differences in the clinical pattern of allergic rhinitis (AR) patients among countries, reflecting local aerobiological conditions. We analyzed the correlation between airborne pollen concentrations of the Western Thrace/northeast (NE) Greece region with symptoms scores in AR patients. The above data is the first provided for the Mediterranean climate of Greece and reflects the clinical significance of pollen calendar in everyday clinical practice.
Functional Status and Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer's Patients With and Without Depression

Cognitive impairment and depression each compromise functional status in the elderly, but it is not known whether their coexistence is associated with additive functional impairment. The effect of the presence or absence of a diagnosis of major depression on functional status was examined in a group of 50 community‐residing patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT). Patients were diagnosed as depressed (N = 20) or not (N = 30) according to DSM‐III criteria. Cognitive status was assessed with the Mini‐Mental State Exam (MMSE), and functional status was assessed by family report of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). Consistent with previous reports, patients with a depression diagnosis were less cognitively impaired than their nondepressed counterparts. When cognitive status was controlled for, depression diagnosis was found to have a main effect on functional impairment. Although the direction of effects between depression and functional limitations was not determined here, these results suggest that alleviating depression may decrease functional limitations in DAT patients.
How Good is the Advice You Receive? The Influence of Social Value Orientation and Knowledge Asymmetry on the Formulation of Advice

What motivates advisors in the formulation of their advice? People seek advice so as to improve the quality of their decisions. But is the advice provided of a consistent quality in all circumstances? We suggest that advice formulation is a selective process. The quality of advice given to a decision maker, far from being consistent, is shaped by a number of factors, including the social value orientations of the advisors and knowledge asymmetry between advisors and their clients. A pilot study was conducted to assess the effect of social value orientations and knowledge asymmetry on the optimality of the advice provided by advisors. Results suggested advice optimality was influenced by knowledge asymmetry between the parties but not by the social value orientations of the advisors. Prosocials were found to exhibit the same type of strategic behaviour observed in competitors
Institutional Risk and Firm Performance in Africa: The Moderating Role of Corruption Control†

ABSTRACT How does institutional risk influence firm performance in Africa? While most studies focus on formal institutional risk, I argue that informal institutional risks are equally influential. Consistent with that view I use informal institutions theory and multilevel techniques to analyze data from 411 firms in 18 African countries. I find negative effects of informal institutional risks (socioeconomic conditions) on firm performance. In addition, I find interactive effects of control of corruption. I discuss the implications of the findings for research and practice.