Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact Civil Conflicts, Information Quality, System Quality and Service Quality on the Net Benefits of M-government: An Empirical Study of Farmers' Southern Region of Iraq

Evaluation the Information System (IS) from the perspective of the net benefits of IS usage under unstable environment in developing countries, such as Iraq, is critical. For this purpose, this study aims to investigate mG success in the Iraqi context, where literature on this field of research is lacking. Today, ICTs promote development across many dimensions not only serving as one of the main resources for promoting products and services and for delivering and broadcasting information but also in connecting organizations and communities together in terms of better interaction and better communicational possibilities. Therefore, several governments have attempted to establish IS projects by exploiting modern ICTs. The Iraqi government has recently sought to harness these technologies to provide quality service for their citizens. Mobile technologies significantly increased among the Iraqi citizens, especially after 2003. ITU (International Telecommunication Union) (2013) reported mobile subscribers rates are forecast to a rise from 75% in 2013 to 95 by 2015 in Iraq. The reported noted that by 2013 Iraq is the highest mobile penetration rate amongst 34 countries. Despite the increase of the services offered by the government, few citizens have participated, according to a recent survey of the UN. Moreover, providing mobile Government (mG) services alone did not guarantee success of mG without releasing the benefits of using mG services, especially in rural areas. Net benefits are considered a critical phenomenon for the success of any IS and mG is not far from this issue. Quantitative data were collected from Iraqi citizens. Structural equation modeling was used this study to validate the findings. Results show that information, service quality and civil conflicts affect net benefits through use of mG, whereas use of mG affect net benefits of mG services. The results imply that service providers need to deliver quality information and quality service to facilitate the users’ post-adoption usage of mG services.
An Investigation into Graph Curvature's Ability to Measure Congestion in Network Flow

A recent trend in network research involves finding the appropriate geometric model for a given network, and to use features of the model to infer information about the network. One piece of information that this paper will focus on is the severity and location of congestion in the network's traffic flow. To this end, many versions of "curved surfaces" have been proposed, each with some set of parameters to allow the model to fit the network, and then those parameters are linked to congestion in some manner. These proposed spaces include Gromov's hyperbolic spaces, a scaled variation of Gromov's hyperbolic space, curved $2$-manifolds, additive metrics, and fixed points in the automorphism group of the graph. However, in each case above, the link between the parameters of the geometric space and the congestion of the network has been intuitive and non-rigorous. This paper is a thorough and rigorous treatment of each space's ability to describe congestion. Our conclusion is that Gromov's hyperbolicity is the unique space from which information can be extracted. Our investigation's wide scope led to the resolution of conjectures and open problems from a wide variety of topics, including \\ (a) a conjecture of Dourisboure and Gavoille on a $2$-approximation method for calculating tree-length, \\ (b) an open problem from Narayan and Saniee on the amount of congestion in the Euclidean grid,\\ (c) all of the conjectures from Jonckheere, Lou, Bonahon, and Baryshnikov relating congestion to rotational symmetry, and\\ (d) a rejection of the implication by Jonckheere, Lohsoonthorn, and Bonahon that scaled hyperbolicity implies properties characterized by hyperbolic spaces. \\ We also show that Buneman's distance approximating tree is the best possible up to a constant both additively and multiplicatively.
What Are the Goals of Early Childhood Education ?

H ead Start is a preschool program for disadvantaged children which aims to improve their skills so that they can begin schooling on an equal footing with their more advantaged peers. Begun in 1965 as part of President Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” Head Start now serves over 800,000 children in predominantly part-day programs, almost 50 percent of eligible three and four year-old poor children (Children’s Defense Fund, 2000). Over time, federal funding has increased from $96 million in 1965 to $4.7 billion in 1999. There have been dozens of studies of Head Start and closely related preschool and early school enrichment programs. Some studies involve small-scale model programs, others evaluate large-scale public programs which are generally of somewhat lower quality than the model programs. This paper discusses what is known about these early childhood education programs: what they try to do; the extent to which they work; what can be said about their optimal timing, targeting, and content; and the circumstances in which the benefits of providing these programs—ranging from gains to the children to the value of child care provided to the parents—are likely to outweigh the costs. This review of the evidence concludes that these programs have significant shortand medium-term benefits, and that the effects are often greater for more disadvantaged children. Some of the model programs have produced exciting results in terms of improving educational attainment and earnings and reducing welfare dependency and crime. The jury is still out on Head Start, but a simple cost-benefit analysis suggests that Head Start would pay for itself in terms of
A Structural Explanation of Comovements in Inflation across Developed Countries I

Inflation is highly positively correlated across the industrialized countries even though the cross-country correlation in money growth rate is negligible. This has been a puzzle. I show that a two-country new-Keynesian sticky-prices model driven by monetary and productivity shocks is capable of explaining this fact. The structure of this model generates cross-country correlations of inflation, output and consumption that appear to closely correspond to the data. Additionally, this model can explain the internal correlation between inflation and output.
CORRELATION BETWEEN THE PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS AND ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF LAWSONIA INERMIS LEAF EXTRACTS

To know the anthelmintic activity of leaves of Lawsonia inermis , we used maceration method of extraction using solvent s like ethanol and methanol. Each extract was tested for anthelminthic activi ty by following standa rd method . The ethanolic and methanolic extract displayed anthelmintic activi ty in dose dependant manner. We found that the ethanolic as well as methanolic extracts were more potent than the positive control as far as their anthelmintic activi ty was concer ned. To correlate phytochemical screening with anthelmintic activity, phytochemical evaluation of the extract was also performed. From our result it may be mentioned that the ethanolic extract was potent as anthelmintic agent due to the presence of glycosi des, terpenoids and flavonoids . On the other hand , the methanolic extract was effective probably due to the involvement of alkaloids, glycosides, terpenoids and flavonoids.
Ratio of digestible lysine to arginine in Japanese laying quails

The objective of this study was to evaluate the existence of an interaction between lysine and arginine, and to determine their optimal ratio in the diets of Japanese laying quails. We used 480 quails with an initial mean weight of 180 g at 140 days of age. The quails were distributed in the experimental units in a completely randomized (3 × 2) factorial design, with three levels of digestible lysine (1.083, 1.183, 1.283%) and two levels of digestible arginine (1.472 and 1.580%). There were six treatments, with 10 replicates each, for a total of 60 experimental units. Rations, leftovers, and dead animals were weighed in order to calculate and adjust performance parameters. The variables analyzed were: daily diet consumption (DDC), laying rate (LR), average egg weight (AEW), egg mass (EM), feed conversion per egg mass and dozen eggs (FCEM and FCDE, respectively), weights of yolk, eggshell, and albumen (YW, ESW, and AW, respectively), relative yolk, eggshell, and albumen weights (RYW, RESW, and RAW, respectively), Haugh unit (HU), and marketable egg percentage (ME). There was no interaction (P > 0.05) between the levels of digestible lysine and arginine on the parameters analyzed; independently, these parameters were not affected by lysine and arginine levels. In conclusion, the optimal ratio of lysine and arginine in the diet of laying quails was 1.36: 1.00, which was the lowest used in the present study.
Portuguese Direct Investment Abroad and the political orientation of governments

III RESUMO V TABLE INDEX VII GRAPH INDEX VII INDEX VIII ABBREVIATIONS X INTRODUCTION 1 SECTION 1 LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES 4 1.1. FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) 4 1.2. POLITICAL ECONOMY VIEW OF OUTWARD FDI 6 1.3. THE DETERMINANTS OF OUTWARD FDI: SOME HYPOTHESES FROM THE THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL LITERATURE 8 1.3. 1. Market size and Growth rate 8 1.3. 2. Natural Resources 9 1.3. 3. Taxes and Tariffs 10 1.3. 4. Openness and Incentives 12 1.3. 5. Geographical and Cultural Distance 12 1.3. 6. Imports and Exports 14 1.3. 7. Political risk and Democracy 15 1.3. 8. Bilateral International Treaties 15 1.3. 9. Government Ideology 17 SECTION 2 OUTWARD FDI IN PORTUGAL: DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS . 24 2.1. PORTUGUESE INVESTMENT DEVELOPMENT PATH 24
Coupled sea surface temperature–seawater δ18O reconstructions in the Arabian Sea at the millennial scale for the last 35 ka

Two sediment cores from the western (905; 10.46°9′N, 51.56°4′E, water depth 1586 m) and eastern (SK17; 15°15′N, 72°58′E, water depth 840 m) Arabian Sea were used to study past sea surface temperatures (SST) and seawater δ 18O (δ 18Ow) variations for the past 35 ka. We used coupled Mg/Ca-δ 18O calcite variability in two planktonic foraminiferal species: Globigerinoides ruber, which thrives throughout the year, and Globigerina bulloides, which occurs mainly when surface waters contain high nutrients during upwelling or convective mixing. SSTs in both areas based on Mg/Ca in G. ruber were ∼3 to 4°C lower during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ∼21 ka) than today and the Holocene period. The SST records based on G. bulloides also indicate general cooling, down to 18°C in both areas. SSTs in the western Arabian Sea based on G. bulloides were always lower than those based on G. ruber, indicating the presence of strong seasonal temperature contrast during the Holocene and LGM. We interpret the consistent presence of this seasonal temperature contrast to reflect a combination of seasonal summer upwelling (SW monsoon) and winter convective mixing (NE monsoon) in the western Arabian Sea. In the eastern Arabian Sea, G. bulloides-based SSTs were slightly lower (about 1°C) than G. ruber-based SSTs during the Holocene, indicating the almost absence of a seasonal temperature gradient, similar to today. However, a large seasonal temperature contrast occurred during the LGM which favors the assumption that strong NE monsoon winds forced winter upwelling or convective mixing offshore Goa. SST and δ 18Ow reconstructions reveal evidence of millennial-scale cycles, particularly in the eastern Arabian Sea. Here, the stadial periods (Northern Hemisphere cold periods such as Younger Dryas and Heinrich events) are marked by increasing SSTs and salty sea surface conditions relative to those during the interstadial periods. Indeed, the δ 18Ow record shows evidence of low-saline surface waters during interstadial periods, indicating increased freshwater runoff from the Western Ghats as a consequence of enhanced SW monsoon intensity.
SHAREHOLDER PROTECTION AND BANK BOARD QUALITY - AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

This study analyzes the quality of banks’ boards of directors across Europe and the United States (US). We investigate the interactions between the legal protection of investors and ownership concentration to explain the quality of boards at 190 of the largest publicly-traded US and European banks in 2005, well before the unraveling of the financial crisis in 2008. Overall, our results show that in Europe, where legal protection of shareholders is lower than the US, the quality of boards is lower when ownership is more concentrated. Since there are lower expected costs of conflicts with minority shareholders in Europe, the controlling shareholders maximize their own interests by promoting a board of lower quality. In contrast, since there are higher expected costs of conflicts with minority shareholders in the US, the controlling shareholders promote a board of higher quality, thereby limiting their legal responsibility in case of conflicts. Thus, the quality of the board depends upon the interaction between institutional factors (investor protection) and firm-specific characteristics (ownership concentration).
The position of Piedmontese on the Romance grammaticalization cline

Abstract The paper focuses on the pace of grammaticalization in (a number of varieties of) Piedmontese, a northwestern Italo-Romance language (which includes a regional koiné and several dialectal varieties), and compares it to the geographically closest languages conventionally discussed in the literature on the Romance grammaticalization cline (RGC): French and Italian. I examine the speed of grammaticalization in Piedmontese with respect to four grammatical domains previously analyzed for national languages in the literature on RGC, namely perfective auxiliaries, indefinite articles, demonstratives, and negation. The data show that Piedmontese varieties are on a par with, or even slightly ahead of, French along the Romance grammaticalization cline. While helping to explain why some languages appear to be more grammaticalized than others within the same genealogical family, these findings contribute to advancing our understanding of the role of language-external factors in the grammaticalization process: contact with other languages and the strength of social ties among speakers appear to be more important in favoring grammaticalization than early urbanization or the size of the speaker community.
Writing anxiety: an affective filter for essay writing instruction among ESL students in Ibadan

This study which adopted the descriptive research design investigated the relationship between writing anxiety and students’ achievement in essay writing. SS2 Students from six schools in Ibadan Metropolis were used for the study. The instruments used were Essay Writing Achievement Test(r=0.81) and Writing Anxiety Questionnaire(r=0.86). Data collected were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed a negative significant relationship between writing anxiety and students’ achievement in essay writing. This implies that the higher the writing anxiety, the lower the achievement in essay writing. It was therefore recommended among others that the teaching and learning of essay writing in classroom should be devoid of unnecessary tension and stress so as not to heighten students’ anxiety in essay writing. Also, English language teachers should devise any means of reducing writing anxiety among students so they can write better essays.
Empathy ability in children with motor coordination disorders

Aim: Children with motor coordination problems are known to have emotional difficulties and poor social skills. The current study investigated whether children with poor motor abilities have poor emotion recognition skills when they are compared with typically developing children without movement difficulties. Method: For the examination of empathy ability the Greek version of the self-completed questionnaire Empathy for children and adolescents was used (Empathy Index for children and Adolescents; Bryant, 1982). Participants were divided into two groups of 30 school-age children each with chronological age ranged from 7-15 years. All participants from the Group A were diagnosed with motor difficulties as well as developmental coordination problems. Comparison group was consisted of 30 school- age children without motor coordination disorders or any other developmental disorder. Results: Findings indicated that performance of the children with coordination disorders were characterized by relatively poor scores in comparison with the typically developing children without movement difficulties. Practical implications and recommendation for further research on empathy ability in children with motor difficulties are discussed.
Application and Effectiveness of Immunostimulants, Probiotics, and Prebiotics in Aquaculture: A Review

Immunostimulants, also called immunomodulators, adjuvants, or biological response modifiers, stimulate the immune system. They can be administered in the form of drugs or nutrients. Probiotics are organisms or substances that improve the intestinal microbial balance of a host animal. Prebiotics are indigestible components in a diet that are metabolized by specific microorganisms and prove helpful for the growth and health of the host. When provided as dietary supplements in feeds, even in small quantities, immunostimulants, probiotics, and prebiotics usually improve immunity, feed efficiency, and growth performance of crustaceans and fishes. The use of immunostimulants, probiotics, and prebiotics in aquaculture are presented in this review.
Water-retaining polymer and seedling type when planting irrigated coffee

The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of a water-retaining polymer on the initial growth of coffee plants for different levels of irrigation and types of seedling. The experiment was set up in pots with a clayey soil, in a greenhouse of the Sector for Coffee Production of the Federal University of Lavras, Brazil. The experiment was arranged in a randomised block design into sub-lots with three replications, giving a total of 48 experimental units. Four levels of irrigation (25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the available water) were randomly assigned to the lots; the type of seedling (grown in bags or tubes) were randomly assigned to the sub-lots, and the use or not of the water-retaining polymer randomly assigned to the sub-sub-lots. In the treatments with water-retaining polymer, a dilution of 1.5 Kg of polymer to 400 litres of water was used at a dose of 1.5 litres of solution per plant. The following were evaluated at intervals of 60 days during the experiment (360 days from planting): stem diameter, plant height, leaf area, number of leaves and number of plagiotropic branches on the coffee plants. Hydrated water-retaining polymer favoured the growth of coffee plants under an irrigated system. Irrigation resulted in greater plant growth, with the seedlings grown in bags showing more growth than those grown in tubes.
Numerical Simulation for Freeze Drying of Skimmed Milk with Moving Sublimation Front using Tri-Diagonal Matrix Algorithm

Freeze drying is a highly advanced dehydration technique used for preserving pharmaceuticals, human organs transplanted to others and highly heat sensitive food products. During the freeze drying, there are two layers formed namely dried region and frozen region. In this present work, a numerical model is developed to estimate the temperature distribution of both regions. The sample object considered is skimmed milk. The transient heat conduction equations are solved for both regions of dried and frozen region. The interface layer between the two region is considered as moving sublimation front as same as the realistic case. Radiative boundary condition at the top and convective boundary condition at the bottom are considered. The model has been solved by finite difference method and the scheme used is backward difference in time and central difference in space (implicit scheme), which generates set of finite difference equations forming a Tri-Diagonal Matrix. A computer program is developed in MATLAB to solve the tri-diagonal matrix. The temperature distribution along the length of the product with varying chamber pressures and the sublimation front temperature with time are estimated. The transient effect of sublimation front movement was estimated with different applied chamber pressure. It was noticed that at lower pressure the sublimation rate is very fast.
Indigenous Breeding and Management Practices of Dairy Animals - A Study On

Modern technology has today become indispensable for dairy development. However, the significance of indigenous knowledge (IK)/indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) should not and cannot be undermined if development has to be sustainable. It is essential to utilize local knowledge for increasing production in a manner, which does not disturb the ecosystem and environmental health. As a result indigenous knowledge (IK), ethno veterinary knowledge (EVK) has become an affordable alternative. In today"s concept of IPR regime, it is all the more imperative to document and protect our valuable IK for posterity. Considering this, an attempt was being made to document IK regarding breeding and management aspects of dairy animals and to appraise the rationality of those IK. The study was conducted in purposively selected Birbhum district of West Bengal. Multistage stratified sampling was applied for selection of blocks (2) and villages (4). "Snow-ball" sampling technique was adopted in the selected villages for collection and documentation of IK. Participant observation, unstructured interaction and recording of oral case histories by tape- records were used for documentation of indigenous knowledge /traditional practices regarding feeding of dairy animals. For abstracting and appraisal of rationality of indigenous knowledge, the analysis by formal R and D system is essential. Such analysis was done in relation to some practices. Attempts were made to probe the farmers" rationality towards the IK. Thirteen IK related to breeding and management of dairy animals were collected and documented with rationality. Identifying, documenting, and rationalising IK in dairy are essential to achieve sustainable development.