Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Purchasing Behaviour for Organic and Integrated Fruits and Vegetables: The Case of the Post Socialist Economy

Modern food consumer is highly concerned about the safety and quality of the food products purchased. This concern goes simultaneously with their awareness of the relation between the production practice and quality of food products, as well as environmental concern in regards to food (Thogersen & Olander, 2002). Moreower, the awareness has contributed towards growing demand for food from non-conventional production practices as well as an increasing consumer interest in having a closer relationship with the food producer (Thompson, 1998; Wier et al., 2003; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006; Botonaki et al., 2006). This change has been especially significant in the demand for organic foods, since the global annual organic sales are estimated at around 38.6 billion US Dollars in 2006 which is double figure in comparisons with the figure in 2000 (Willer et al., 2008). Consumption of organic food is highly concentrated in North America and Europe since these two regions comprise 97% of the global demand (Sahota, 2008). Consumption in these two markets is growing at close to 20% annually (Wier and Calverley, 2002; Halberg et al., 2006). Fruit and vegetables is the largest segment in the European organic food market with almost one forth of total organic food sales in 2006. Moreover, organic fruit and vegetables represented about 2 percent of all fruit and vegetable sales in Western Europe (Willer et al., 2008). This pattern is related particularly with the increased awareness of the importance of a healthy diet and positive perception of fruit and vegetable in this respect (Connor, 1994; Viaene et al., 2000; William & Hammit, 2001, Lambert N. 2001; Belows, et al., 2008). Response towards these trends on the supply side is also evident, since organic agriculture is one of the most rapidly developing market segments in both developed and developing countries (Halberg, 2006). Land area under organic agriculture has increased from 16.9 million hectares in 2000 to 30.4 in 2005 globally, whereas the growth in Europe was even faster (Willer et. al. 2008). In 2005 the organic area made up 3.9% of the total utilised agricultural area in the European Union, and the highest proportions were recorded in Austria with 11.0%, Italy with 8.4%, and the Czech Republic and Greece both with 7.2% (Eurostat, 2007). Simultaneously the global organic food chain has been transformed from a local network of producers and consumers to a highly coordinated and formally regulated supply system (Raynolds, 2004).
Payment modality preferences: Evidence from Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme

Economists typically default to the assumption that cash is always preferable to an in-kind transfer. We extend the classic Southworth (1945) framework to predict under what conditions this assumption holds. We take the model to longitudinal household data from Ethiopia where a large-scale social safety net intervention – the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) – operates. Even though most PSNP payments are paid in cash, and even though the (temporal) transaction costs associated with food payments are higher than payments received as cash, the overwhelming majority of the beneficiary households prefer their payments only or partly in food. However, these preferences are neither homogeneous nor stable. Higher food prices induce shifts in preferences towards in-kind transfers, but more food secure households and those closer to food markets and to financial services prefer cash. There is suggestive evidence that preferences for food are also driven by self-control concerns.
Differential Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Striatal Subregions in Bipolar Depression and Hypomania

Bipolar disorder (BP) is characterized by periods of depression (BPD) and (hypo)mania (BPM), but the underlying state-related brain circuit abnormalities are not fully understood. Striatal functional activation and connectivity abnormalities have been noted in BP, but consistent findings have not been reported. To further elucidate striatal abnormalities in different BP states, this study investigated differences in resting-state functional connectivity of six striatal subregions in BPD, BPM, and healthy control (HC) subjects. Ninety medication-free subjects (30 BPD, 30 BPM, and 30 HC), closely matched for age and gender, were scanned using 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquired at resting state. Correlations of low-frequency blood oxygen level dependent signal fluctuations for six previously described striatal subregions were used to obtain connectivity maps of each subregion. Using a factorial design, main effects for differences between groups were obtained and post hoc pairwise group comparisons performed. BPD showed increased connectivity of the dorsal caudal putamen with somatosensory areas such as the insula and temporal gyrus. BPM group showed unique increased connectivity between left dorsal caudate and midbrain regions, as well as increased connectivity between ventral striatum inferior and thalamus. In addition, both BPD and BPM exhibited widespread functional connectivity abnormalities between striatal subregions and frontal cortices, limbic regions, and midbrain structures. In summary, BPD exhibited connectivity abnormalities of associative and somatosensory subregions of the putamen, while BPM exhibited connectivity abnormalities of associative and limbic caudate. Most other striatal subregion connectivity abnormalities were common to both groups and may be trait related.
A corneal model for slit‐scanning elevation topography

Computerised videokeratography is increasing in sophistication and accuracy. The Orbscan II Videokeratographer combines the advantages of Placido derived and slit‐scanning derived topography, to acquire shape information on the posterior surface of the cornea. The purpose of this paper is to construct a model of slit‐scanning elevation topography and highlight potential sources of variation in this methodology. Ray tracing calculations were performed on a defined, theoretical, spherical model to obtain a pachymetric measurement. These calculations were tested by comparing the pachymetry measurement derived from the model, over a refractive index shift from 1.376 to 1.400 with the pachymetry measurement obtained by Orbscan II, of a human eye, with an identical alteration in refractive index. The two methods of measurement differed by only 0.157 μm, suggesting that the model is a good representation of slit‐scanning elevation topography, and that refractive index variations have only a minimal effect on Orbscan II pachymetry measurement.
Role of Leader-Member Exchange and Impression Management in Employee Performance at Hotels

تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى معرفة دور التبادل بین القائد والمرؤوس وإدارة الانطباع فى أداء العاملین بالفنادق فى مدینة القاهرة ومعرفة العلاقة بین إدارة الانطباع وأداء العاملین بالإضافة إلی التبادل بین القائد والمرؤوس وتأثیره على أداء العاملین. تم توزیع 420 إستمارة إستبیان على عدد 20 فندق من فنادق الخمس نجوم فی القاهرة وبلغت نسبة الاستمارات الصالحة للتحلیل الإحصائى 362 إستمارة بنسبة 86,2%. وأوضحت نتائج الدراسة أن هناک علاقة ذات دلالة إحصائیة بین التبادل بین القائد والمرؤوس وأداء العاملین. تم إختیار 5 أنواع لسلوکیات إدارة الانطباع "الترویج للذات, التملق والإطراء , التظاهر والتمثیل, التخویف والترهیب والتذلل والتضرع کما أوضحت النتائج أنه لا توجد علاقه ذات دلالة إحصائیة بین سلوکیات إدارة الانطباع وأداء العاملین بینما توجد علاقة بین التبادل بین القائد والمرؤوس وإدارة الانطباع .
Fast algorithm for HDR video pre-processing

The paper addresses a problem of perceptual artifacts that appear in saturated colors of Y'CbCr non-constant luminance 4:2:0 HDR video. A computationally inexpensive method is proposed for converting 4:4:4 HDR video to Y'CbCr 4:2:0 non-constant luminance format. The method shows similar objective performance to an iterative algorithm and outperforms a previously published explicit solution. The method removes artifacts in areas with saturated colors, obtaining results in one step. Compared to the iterative algorithm, the proposed solution significantly decreases the worst-case and average complexity.
Financial Development and Economic Growth Relationship: An Analysis with Credit Based Financial Index

Countries are classified under different group names because of their similarity to each other, and they are analyzed in that way by various international organizations. BRICS, MENA, G7 and Fragile Five are well known group names. In this study, the relationship between financial development and economic growth for Fragile five countries (Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey) through the period of 2002-2016 were examined using annual data. In emerging market economies, businesses prefer to meet their financing needs by asking for credit from the capital market, mostly from banks and non-bank financial institutions. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that financial system of Fragile Five countries is based on "lending financial institutions". Within the framework of the analysis, financial development index which includes three data related with credit provided by banks and financial institutions, and national income per capita as an economic growth variable were taken into account. Panel co-integration, VECM, DOLS and FMOLS tests have revealed the existence of a unidirectional causality relation from growth towards financial development.
Cross-national study of the extent of anti-anxiety-sedative drug use.

Abstract National samples of respondents in nine Western European countries were asked identical questions about their use of anti-anxiety/sedative drugs during the past year and about their general attitude toward tranquilizers. The proportion of persons who used anti-anxiety/sedative drugs on one or more occasions varied from 17 per cent in Belgium and France to 10 per cent in Spain. In almost every country the percentage of females who had used anti-anxiety/sedative drugs was approximately twice that of males. Persons 45 years of age and over were over-represented among drug users in all countries in relation to their presence in the national population. The rank order of the countries on attitude toward tranquilizers was poorly correlated with rank order on use rates. However, within each country there was a sharp difference in attitude between users and nonusers. Independent data place the United States in a middle position among the nine countries surveyed on use of anti-anxiety/sedative drugs. (N E.
ERP correlates of motivating voices: quality of motivation and time-course matters

Abstract Here, we conducted the first study to explore how motivations expressed through speech are processed in real-time. Participants listened to sentences spoken in two types of well-studied motivational tones (autonomy-supportive and controlling), or a neutral tone of voice. To examine this, listeners were presented with sentences that either signaled motivations through prosody (tone of voice) and words simultaneously (e.g. ‘You absolutely have to do it my way’ spoken in a controlling tone of voice), or lacked motivationally biasing words (e.g. ‘Why don’t we meet again tomorrow’ spoken in a motivational tone of voice). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in response to motivations conveyed through words and prosody showed that listeners rapidly distinguished between motivations and neutral forms of communication as shown in enhanced P2 amplitudes in response to motivational when compared with neutral speech. This early detection mechanism is argued to help determine the importance of incoming information. Once assessed, motivational language is continuously monitored and thoroughly evaluated. When compared with neutral speech, listening to controlling (but not autonomy-supportive) speech led to enhanced late potential ERP mean amplitudes, suggesting that listeners are particularly attuned to controlling messages. The importance of controlling motivation for listeners is mirrored in effects observed for motivations expressed through prosody only. Here, an early rapid appraisal, as reflected in enhanced P2 amplitudes, is only found for sentences spoken in controlling (but not autonomy-supportive) prosody. Once identified as sounding pressuring, the message seems to be preferentially processed, as shown by enhanced late potential amplitudes in response to controlling prosody. Taken together, results suggest that motivational and neutral language are differentially processed; further, the data suggest that listening to cues signaling pressure and control cannot be ignored and lead to preferential, and more in-depth processing mechanisms.
E-Learning Technology Adoption in the Philippines: An Investigation of Factors Affecting Filipino College Students' Acceptance of Learning Management Systems

When combined, education and technology can build dynamic teaching and learning experiences that are tailored to developing and transforming the educators and learners needed to power the digital economy. For some reasons, however, there is still a big chunk of people especially students who aren’t ready yet to embrace the technological change in the field of education. This study aims to determine the factors affecting students’ e-learning technology acceptance particularly on Learning Management Systems (LMS) in the Filipino context. A conceptual model was proposed based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which was extended through the inclusion of Internet Connectivity Experience (ICE), Social Media Influence (SMI), Integrated Multimedia Instruction (IMI), System Interactivity (SI) and Perceived Quality Work of Life (PQWL) as additional predictor values. The constructs were determined according to the three-tier use model (3-TUM) which was characterized to explore users’ attitudes towards IT at three levels. The target population in this research was Filipino students from colleges that are considered as promoters of e-learning integration in the educational sphere in the Philippines. The collected data from 629 Filipino college students were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique based on AMOS methods. Finally, a path model was created to examine the relationships between the factors to explain students’ adoption of e-learning technology from the information systems acceptance point of view. As a result, it provided practical and technical implications applicable for local and global school environments that could help educational leaders, educational technologists, educators and learners in their development, implementation, and acceptance of e-learning technology like LMS.
Identification of multi-input biological systems.

The Wiener theory of nonlinear system identification is extended to multi-input-output systems and experimentally applied. The experimental applicability of the method is discussed with regard to biological systems. It is shown that the method is well suited for the treatment of the idiosyncratic features of such systems: nonlinearities, short lifetimes of experimental preparations, and high noise content. A preliminary analysis is outlined, taking into account the characteristics of the system under study, which results in the determination of the parameters of the identifying experiment. An error analysis is made which can be used to increase the accuracy of the derived model within certain constraints. Several examples are given of the experimental application of the method to certain neural networks in a vertebrate retina (the catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, retina was used for these experiments). In addition to functional identification through white-noise stimulation, these same retinal neurons are identified morphologically through intracellular dye injection. The performance of the derived functional models, as compared to the physical system, is evaluated through a variety of tests and it is found to be very satisfactory.
Intertemporal Dynamics of Public Financing for Universal Health Coverage

As countries undergo their health financing transitions, moving away from external and out-of-pocket (OOP) financing toward domestically sourced public financing, the issue of fiscal space – that is, of finding ways to increase public financing in an efficient, equitable, and sustainable manner -- is front and center in the policy dialogue around universal health coverage (UHC). Although how money is expended is just as critical as the overall resource envelope, we analyze changes in per capita public financing for health in real terms, a proxy for realized fiscal space, within and across 151 countries over time. This allows for an assessment not just of trends in public financing for health but also of contributions from three macro-fiscal drivers -- economic growth, changes in aggregate public spending, and reprioritization for health -- exploiting a macroeconomic identity that captures the relationship between these factors. Analysis of data from 2000 to 2015 shows per capita public financing for health in low- and middle-income countries increased by 5.0 percent per year on average: up from US$60 (2.2 percent of GDP) in 2000 to US$117 (2.8 percent of gross domestic product [GDP]) in 2015. Some of the largest increases were in countries in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and East Asia and Pacific (EAP) regions. At 3.1 percent per year, annual growth in public financing for health was lower among high-income countries, albeit from a much higher baseline in 2000. Increases in on-budget external financing comprised most of the changes among low-income countries, whereas domestic government revenues dominated changes in composition of public financing among lower- and upper-middle-income countries. Public financing increased at a faster rate than OOP sources for health in most regions except for South Asia. Although there are important country-specific differences, it is notable that more than half of the increase in public financing for health was due to economic growth alone. For the remainder of the increase, aggregate public spending contributed more than reprioritization across low and lower-middle-income countries, whereas the reverse was true in high-income countries. One key point of note from the landscaping exercise summarized in the paper is the diversity of growth trajectories across countries and, especially, the volatility in trends over time. The implications are clear: capturing public financing with a single growth rate is not the best metric to characterize country experiences, many of which are punctuated by episodes wherein trends are flat or have varying degrees of growth rates (positive or negative). Although country context matters, the importance of economic growth for public financing for health underscores the critical need to situate, integrate, leverage, and proactively manage health financing reforms within a country’s overall macro-fiscal context and to assess different pillars of fiscal space holistically.
Linking Corporate Social Responsibility to Financial Performance Of Telecommunication Firms In Ghana

In recent years, interest has heightened among researchers to examine the potential linkage between CSR, corporate image and financial performance. The level of interest has become necessary due to the varied arguments raised in the literature in relation to CSR and its potential value creation or depreciation capabilities. This study examines the mediating role of corporate image in the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and financial performance of Ghanaian firms operating within the telecommunication sector. With the use of a cross-sectional survey design, relevant data for the study were obtained from senior managers of MTN, Airtel-Tigo and Vodafone Ghana Limited; the leading telecommunication companies in Ghana. Convenient sampling technique was used to select 100 participants for the study using a path modeling method known as the Partial Least Squares (PLS), which is a variance-based structural equation model for testing the research hypotheses in order to achieve the objectives of the study. The study established that, the relationship between CSR and financial performance is mediated by the image of companies in the telecommunication industry in Ghana.
Circulating IL17a and IFN-Gamma Serum Levels in Cirrhotic Hepatitis C Virus Infected Patients with Autoimmune Thyroiditis

1 Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt 2 Department of Tropical medicine and gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt 3 Medical Research center, Assiut University, Egypt 4 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Egypt 5 Department of Internal medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Egypt
Age trajectories of everyday cognition in African American and White older adults under prompted and unprompted conditions

ABSTRACT We investigated how race and verbal prompting interacted with age to predict age trajectories on a performance-based measure of everyday cognition. African American (n = 727) and White (n = 2052) older adults from the ACTIVE clinical trial were given the Observed Tasks of Daily Living (OTDL; a performance-based measure of medication management/finances/telephone use) at baseline and 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year follow-ups. When participants said “I don't know” or did not respond, they received a standardised verbal prompt, which served only as a cue to initiate the first step. At each occasion, unprompted (sum of items correct without prompting) and prompted (sum of correct prompted and unprompted items) scores were derived for each participant. Mixed effects models for change were used to determine the age trajectories of OTDL performance by race. When not prompted, African Americans demonstrated more rapid decline in OTDL performance than Whites, especially after age 80. When prompted, both groups had improved performance and evinced shallower decline, although African Americans continued to demonstrate a slightly more rapid decline. Simple prompting attenuated age-related changes of African Americans and Whites on a measure of everyday cognition. Prompting may be especially helpful for older African Americans.
Validity of Hamstring Muscle Length Assessment during the Sit-and-Reach Test Using an Inclinometer to Measure Hip Joint Angle

The aim of this study was twofold: (i) to describe the criterion-related validity of the sit-and-reach test (SRT) using a hand-held inclinometer when assessing hamstring muscle length (HML) when HML is recorded in degrees of hip joint angle (HJA); and (ii) to describe the effect of gender and age on HML in healthy adults during the performance of a SRT. We examined 212 healthy subjects (106 men and 106 women) whose ages ranged from 20 to 79 years. The Pearson-product moment correlation coefficient (r) described the relationship between HJA at the end-point of the SRT and the criterion, supine passive straight-leg raise (PSLR). We conducted a 6 × 2 analysis of variance, where age was stratified on 6 levels of 10-year increments (20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70-79 years of age) and gender was stratified on 2 levels (men and women). There was a statistically significant correlation (r = 0.59, P < 0.01) between performance on the SRT as measured by HJA and the supine PSLR, but the SRT only accounted for 35% of the variability in the PSLR. SRT performance in men (mean ± SD, 80 ± 9°) was significantly less (P < 0.001) than in women (mean ± SD, 92 ± 10°). Subjects in the 60- to 69- and 70- to 79-year age groups had significantly less (P < 0.05) HJA than those in the 20- to 29-, 30- to 39-, and 40- to 49-year age groups. Using an inclinometer to measure HJA during the SRT is not a valid method for assessing HML in men and women who can independently assume a long-sitting position on a hard surface. Clinicians should recognize there are differences in HML between men and women, and that men and women between 20 to 49 years of age have more HML than their counterparts between ages 60 to 79 years.