Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE IMPACT OF INTEREST RATE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY ON ASIAN COUNTRIES

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of interest rate on economic development in Asian Countries. This research is conducted on 20 countries in Asia within the period of 2006-2015. The Target population of this research is 48 countries while the sample of 20 companies was selected using convenience sampling technique. The independent variable used in this research is Interest Rate and dependent variables are Growth Domestic Product, Foreign Direct Investment and Inflation. The research employed Descriptive Analysis, Correlation Analysis and Regression Analysis using E-view software. The findings of the study shows that interest rate has a negative significant impact on Gross Domestic Product and Inflation while have negative insignificant impact on Foreign Direct Investment. Furthermore, it is recommended that future researchers are encourage conducting an investigation on different countries in Asia with the same framework to discover the impact of interest rate which might be different since the difference in the context. Future researchers also can design another framework using other variable such as Exchange Rate, Export and Savings to see more aligned results. This study estimated to be beneficial for other researchers and academics as a foundation for theory development. Furthermore, government can develop policies that can be used to stable economy achievements. This study will increase the economic researcher’s knowledge and placed in higher education institution’s library. This study will also pave the way for many researchers out there to carry out some arguing in an area not covered by the study in issues of interest rate. Key Terms: Interest Rate, Growth Domestic Product, Foreign Direct Investment, Inflation, Asia.
Combining Machine Learning and Compact Polarimetry for Estimating Soil Moisture from C-Band SAR Data

This research aimed at exploiting the joint use of machine learning and polarimetry for improving the retrieval of surface soil moisture content (SMC) from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) acquisitions at C-band. The study was conducted on two agricultural areas in Canada, for which a series of RADARSAT-2 (RS2) images were available along with direct measurements of SMC from in situ stations. The analysis confirmed the sensitivity of RS2 backscattering (σ°) to SMC. The comparison of SMC with the compact polarimetry (CP) parameters, computed from the RS2 acquisitions by the CP data simulator, pointed out that some CP parameters had a sensitivity to SMC equal or better than σ°, with correlation coefficients up to R ≃ 0.4. Based on these results, the potential of machine learning (ML) for SMC retrieval was exploited by implementing and testing on the available data an artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm. The algorithm was implemented using several combinations of σ° and CP parameters. Validation results of the algorithm with in situ observations confirmed the promising capabilities of the ML techniques for SMC monitoring. Furthermore, results pointed out the potential of CP in improving the SMC retrieval accuracy, especially when used in combination with linearly polarized σ°. Depending on the considered input combination, the ANN algorithm was able to estimate SMC with Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between 3% and 7% of SMC and R between 0.7 and 0.9.
Deep Learning Models for Content-Based Retrieval of Construction Visual Data

Deep learning (DL) algorithms such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs) can assist in tasks such as content search and retrieval, image tagging and captioning, scene description, motion prediction, and language processing. This paper presents research that aims at designing and validating DL models for automated content-based retrieval of daily construction images and videos. Information retrieval from visual data is key to labor-intensive tasks such as safety inspection, crew activity logging, and work progress documentation. In order to train deep neural networks (DNNs), large repositories of high-quality annotated visual data are needed. However, generating such labeled datasets in construction is non-trivial and resource intensive, and requires specific skillset. To overcome this challenge, we present a methodology for fast object detection and tagging in visual data using DNNs trained with a relatively small dataset. Two state-of-the-art object detection algorithms, i.e., you-only-look-once (YOLO) and mask regionbased CNN (a.k.a., Mask R-CNN) are investigated. Training data is obtained via web mining (the Internet) and crowdsourcing. Results show that training on data from both sources yields the best classification accuracy. Testing the model on new data reveals that the fully-tuned model can achieve a minimum mean average precision (mAP) of 79% when tested on different image subsets.
A Critical View Over iStar Visual Constructs

The impact of the iStar (i*) on the requirements engineering community is corroborated by the large amount of research that cites, analyzes, and/or uses this modeling language. Since the creation of iStar, researchers have been using/evolving this language in different ways. Considering that iStar is strongly based on the use of graphic forms, it is important to pay special attention to the notation of its elements. This paper proposes a reflection over the modifications suggested for the graphical notation of iStar, based on the Physics of Notations. Our goal is to discuss the possible impacts of these suggestions, stressing some of its disadvantages.
Industry Location in Export Processing Zones with Vertical Linkages and Agglomeration

This paper provides a rationale for the common use of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in third world countries, as an alternative to liberalising foreign trade for all regions. I use a model from the new economic geography literature with vertically linked industries to analyse the e¤ect of an EPZ policy on the location of industry; vertical linkages are important in EPZs since its industry is typically characterised by the assembly of intermediate goods. Industry location is very sensitive to di¤erences in country size and the possibility of multiple equilibria disappears even at small size asymmetries in the relative size of countries. Therefore, a small country can lose industry when liberalising trade with a larger trading partner. On the other hand, if mutual trade costs are only reduced between the EPZ part of the Home country and the Foreign country, the EPZ turns into a so-called hub and the centre of downstream manufacturing. Upstream production locates in the rest of the Home country outside the EPZ. Industry becomes segregated rather than agglomerated; upstream and downstream industry locate in di¤erent regions. Moreover, the viability of the EPZ hinges on the permission of rms based in the EPZ to also sell goods domestically and not only for exports. Finally, a policy of only allowing downstream rms in the EPZ a common feature of many zones expands the range of trade costs for which agglomeration in Home is viable and reduces the wage inequality between the EPZ and the part of Home that is not covered by the zone. JEL Codes: F10, F13, L10, O40. I have received helpful comments by Richard Cooper, Rikard Forslid, Kai Guo and Diego Puga. Financial support from Jan Wallanders and Tom Hedelius Research Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. yEmail: anders.akerman@ne.su. se.
Hybrid Multiple Description Coding Based on Hierarchical B Pictures

Multiple description video coding (MDC) is one of the approaches for reducing the detrimental effects caused by transmission over error-prone networks. In this paper, a MDC model based on hierarchical B pictures is proposed to optimize the tradeoff between coding efficiency and error resilience. The model produces two descriptors by applying different MDC techniques such as duplication, spatial splitting and temporal splitting on the different frames of video sequences, taking into account the unequal importance of the frames at different hierarchical levels. In case of data loss, the model takes advantages of different estimation methods in providing unequal error resilience for the frames with different degrees of importance. As a consequence, better error resilience can be achieved at high coding efficiency. The advantages of the proposed MDC model are demonstrated in error-free and packet loss networks.
PPA_A_204465 1051..1056

Hiroyuki Karibe 1 Michihiko Koeda Kyoko Aoyagi-Naka Yuichi Kato Amane Tateno Hidenori Suzuki Yoshiro Okubo 1Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Life Dentistry at Tokyo, Nippon Dental University, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Neuropsychiatry, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Pharmacology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan Purpose: The sound of dental treatments can evoke anxiety in some dental patients. While women have shown greater dental anxiety than men, little is known about the gender differences in the perception of dental sounds. The purpose of this preliminary study was to evaluate differences in the perception of dental sounds according to the level of dental fear and gender. Patients and methods: Based on the level of dental fear, 69 adults (39 women, 30 men; average age, 28.1±8.1 years) were categorized into four groups. Three types of sounds were presented to participants: two sounds associated with dental treatment and a neutral sound. All participants rated their emotional reaction to each sound on a visual analog scale. Results: Significant differences were observed for ratings of valence and disgust for a dental drilling sound among the four groups (p=0.007 and 0.004, respectively). Female participants in the dental fear group rated the dental drilling sound as more negative and disgusting than did female participants in the control group (p=0.002 for both ratings). However, no significant differences were found in ratings between males in the dental fear and control groups. Conclusion: Perception of dental sounds appears to differ by level of dental fear and by gender. Considering these differences may contribute to reducing fear in dental patients.
Power to the People: Credible Communication in the Quotidian Use of Authoritarian Institutions∗

Authoritarian regimes often develop “input institutions” to gather information on societal preferences. However, these institutions face two underlying challenges. First, more information does not mean good information; citizens may have incentives to misrepresent their preferences. Second, some input institutions can also be “coordination goods” that increase citizens’ capacity and willingness to organize and thus their bargaining power vis-à-vis the state. What, then, is the logic of permitting them? We develop a model to investigate the trade-off between information and power in authoritarian institutions. We show that the underlying power transfer through input institutions makes otherwise non-credible elite-mass communication credible. Empirical evidence from East Germany, contemporary China, and contemporary Vietnam illustrates how the balance of power between state and society predicts when and why the regimes promote input institutions. ∗The authors contributed equally to the article. †Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh. (williamspaniel@gmail.com, http://williamspaniel.com). ‡Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh. (yud30@pitt.edu, http://www.izading.com).
Eriophyidae) in South Africa

Acalitus vaccinii (Keifer, 1939) is reported for the first time in South Africa, on cultivated blueberries (Ericaceae: Vaccinium spp.). This is the first known occurrence outside its likely native range in North America where it is a pest on cultivated and wild blueberries. In South Africa it has first been identified in 2014 and now occurs between Amsterdam and Lothair, and near Lydenburg and Dullstroom in the Mpumalanga Province. The morphology of the South African A. vaccinii specimens was compared with previous published taxonomic descriptions and differences were found. Infestation levels in South Africa were high, and reduced flower and berry formation considerably on various Vaccinium corymbosum L. cultivars, and on rabbiteye blueberry Vaccinium virgatum Aiton. ‘Centurion’. The current status of, symptoms, and cultivars infested by the mite in South African blueberry plantings are presented and discussed in the context of published information in North America. Acalitus vaccinii is a potential threat to cultivated blueberries in South Africa, but the threat varies according to climate and the susceptibility of different cultivars to this mite. Acalitus vaccinii will unlikely infest South Africa’s indigenous vegetation, apart from possibly the native Vaccinium exul Bolus.
ESTIMATING EQUITY PREFERENCES: AN ANALYSIS OF COMPETING SOCIAL JUSTICE PRINCIPLES

Environmental policies affect the distribution of resources, both financial and environmental, between groups within society. Yet empirical understanding of the application of social justice principles by the community in determining distributional preferences is limited. This paper presents an analysis of the decision-making strategies adopted by respondents when confronted with potential environmental policy options that include changes in both aggregate levels of welfare and equity in distribution between generations. The analysis is based on the results of a choice experiment designed to estimate intergenerational distribution preferences. The estimation of non-linear welfare functions within a conventional conditional logit framework enables analysis of the heuristics employed by respondents in the stated preference context.
The relationship between Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphism and Smoking-Related Ischemic Heart Diseases

Background: Smoking as a major risk factor for development of ischemic heart diseases is thought to be partially genetically determined. The aim of the study is to determine the effect of ACE gene polymorphism on the development of cardiovascular diseases among smokers. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Cairo university hospital, Egypt. An interviewed questionnaire was used to collect data from 200 subjects. ACE I/D polymorphism was detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: The frequencies of DD, ID, and II genotypes among smokers with ischemic heart diseases were 16.3%, 77.5% and 6.2% respectively. Their frequencies among smokers with no ischemic heart diseases were 25.0%, 60.0% and 15.0% respectively; the difference between the "ischemic heart diseases" group and "non-ischemic heart diseases" group was statistically significant (P= 0.046). Conclusion: According to this Egyptian Study, ID genotype may be a risk factor in the occurrence of ischemic heart diseases among Egyptian smokers. (Mona A. Abdel-hamid, Hanan M. F. Abdel-wahab, Inas A. Ahmed, Soheir M. Ibrahim. The relationship between Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphism and smoking-related Ischemic Heart Diseases. J Am Sci 2012;8(7):488-493). (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.jofamericanscience. org.
Government Spending Multipliers in (Un)certain Times

We estimate the dynamic effects of government spending shocks, using time-varying volatility in US data modeled through a Markov switching process. We find that the average government spending multiplier is significantly and persistently above one, driven by a crowding-in of private consumption and non-residential investment. We rationalize the results empirically through a contemporaneously countercyclical response of government spending and an efficient weighting of observations inversely to their error variance. We then show that the multiplier is signiﬁcantly smaller when volatility is high, consistent with theories predicting reduced effectiveness of fiscal interventions in uncertain times.
Squamous cell carcinoma is a malignant tumor common to the skin, mouth, and other body cavities covered by a squamous epithel

The purpose of the present study was to estimate the frequency of HPV DNA in four groups of oral lesions, including oral squamous cell carcinoma. Sixty paraffin-embedded oral tissue samples were examined for the presence of HPV DNAs using the PCR technique. These specimens were obtained from patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), leukoplakia, oral lichen planus (OLP), and pyogenic granuloma (PG). Consensus primers for L1 region (MY09 and MY11) and specific primers were used for detection of HPV DNA sequences in this study. we detected HPV DNA in 60% (9 out of 15) of OSCCs, 26.7% (4 out of 15) of leukoplakia, 13.3% (2 out of 15) of OLPs, and 6.7% (1 out of 15) of PGs. Statistical analysis showed that the prevalence of HPV in OSCC was significantly higher than other groups (P < 0.05). The frequency of HPV-16 and 18 detection in OSCC samples were 40% and 20%, respectively. The prevalence of these high risk HPVs was significantly higher in OSCC group (P < 0.05). The results of the present study show a successive increase of detection rate of HPV-16 and 18 DNAs from low level in samples of pyogenic granuloma and nonpremalignant or questionably premalignant lesions of OLP to premalignant leukoplakia and to OSCC. Acta Medica Iranica 2007; 45(3): 177-182. © 2007 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
Centre for Organisations In Development

Although organizational socialization tactics have been found to play an essential role in newcomer adjustment, the intervening mechanism by which organizational socialization tactics have manifested their impacts on newcomer socialization outcomes is still not clear. It is also worth noting that most research findings in the literature are based on western contexts and few studies have been conducted in a non-western context. Therefore, this research is expected to advance knowledge by illustrating: (1) whether organizational socialization tactics are important in shaping newcomers’ behaviours and attitudes in an Asian context; (2) the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) in the relationships between organizational socialization tactics and socialization outcomes. Data were collected from two different samples. One was 177 newly hired insurance agents in a leading insurance organization in south China, and the other was 245 new doctors/nurses in southeast China. The results confirmed the influences of organizational socialization tactics in the Chinese context and went further to indicate that three aspects of socialization tactics (i.e. context, content and social aspect) were differentially related with organizational socialization outcomes. Additionally, the results in general supported the hypotheses that POS serves as a mediator underlying the relationships between organizational socialization tactics and newcomer socialization outcomes. These results signal a message that under collective, formal, fixed, sequential, serial and investiture organizational socialization tactics, newcomers are more likely to develop the perception of organizational support which may in turn lead to effective socialization outcomes. * We are grateful to Dr. Nahee Kang for her encouragement and helpful comments on the early draft. Correspondent author: Jie Chen, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM), University of Manchester, Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL, UK, Jie.Chen-3@postgrad.manchester. ac.uk
Influence of Nitrogen and Phosphorus fertilizer Rates on Seed Yield, Yield Components and Quality of Onion (Allium cepa L.) at Kulumsa in Arsi Zone, South East Ethiopia

Onion is an important vegetable crop commercially grown both by large and small scale farmers in Ethiopia. Its production is highly dependent on availability of high and good quality seed, which is constrained by a number of problems including declining soil fertility and inappropriate fertilizer application. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer rates on onion seed yield and quality. The experiment was conducted at Kulumsa, South East Ethiopia, using four levels of N (0, 50,100 and 150 kg N ha-1) and four levels of P (0, 35, 70 and 105 kg P2O5 ha-1) fertilizers arranged in 4 × 4 factorial arrangements in randomized complete block design with three replications. The result of the study revealed that almost all of the yield and yield component parameters considered were significantly affected by the treatments. The crop phenology, growth and yield components were significantly influenced by the rate of N and P fertilizers and their interactions. More specifically, seed yield and seed quality were significantly (P<0.01) varied among treatment combinations. The combination of N at 100 kg N ha-1 and P at 70 kg P2O5 ha-1 gave the highest seed yield (1858.82 kg ha-1) with yield increment of about 57.72% over the control (no fertilizer application). As main factors each of N and P fertilizers at rates of 100 kg N ha-1 and 105 kg P2O5 ha-1 resulted in highest germination percentage of onion seed. Therefore, a combined application of N at 100 kg N ha-1 and P at 70 kg P2O5 ha-1 rates can be recommended for onion seed producers in the study area and areas of similar agro-ecology. Key words: Soil fertility, commercial fertilizers, Alliaceae, Tri- super phosphate, Urea.
Nasal carriage and antibiotics susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus in healthy students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

One hundred nasal swabs were collected from 50 males and 50 females students of University of Port Harcourt were examined for Staphylococcus aureus using standard bacteriological methods. Thirty- two percent of the 100 samples were found to be carrying Staphylococcus aureus in their nasal cavity. This study showed that there was a significant difference between sex for carriage rate of S. aureus (18.0% vs. 46.0%, P 0.05). It showed that Methicillin susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) (62.5%) was most predominant over Methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) which was 37.5% and that there was a significant difference between carriage rate of MRSA and MSSA (37.5% vs. 62.5%, P <0.05). (Odu NN, Okonko IO. Nasal carriage and antibiotics susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus in healthy students of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. N Y Sci J 2012;5(7):56-63). (ISSN: 1554-0200). http://www.sciencepub. net/newyork . 9