Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation of Relationship between Brand Equity of Services and Brand Relationship

The present study is aimed at investigating relationship between brand equity and brand relationships in banking industry. This study has considered some factors such as brand awareness, perceived quality, brand differentiation, brand association, and brand trust as the dimensions of brand equity. In terms of objective, the present study is applied research and based on its data collection method, it is a survey-descriptive study. In terms of data analysis method, applied method in this study would be in kind of correlation method. In order to collect required data for this study, questionnaire would be applied as data collection instrument. Statistical population of the study includes 385 persons of customers in Mellat and Parsian Banks in Gorgan province Iran. Obtained data from the questionnaire would be analyzed using inferential statistical methods and using SPSS software. Presented hypotheses in this study would be examined using Pearson coefficient of correlation and multiple regression method. Obtained results from the study indicate that 4 dimensions of brand equity including brand awareness, brand differentiation, brand association, and brand trust have significantly positive relationship with brand equity. However, obtained results indicate no significance relationship between perceived quality and brand relationships.
Partitioning Evaporation and Transpiration in a Maize Field Using Heat-Pulse Sensors for Evaporation Measurement

Evapotranspiration (ET) is the sum of soil water evaporation (E) and plant transpiration (T). E and T occur simultaneously in many systems with varying levels of importance, yet it is often very challenging to distinguish these fluxes separately in the field. Few studies have measured all three terms (ET, E, and T), and in the few cases where such measurements have been obtained, E is typically determined via destructive lysimetery. For 43 days in a fully developed maize ( L.) field, we continuously measured E using heat-pulse sensors and soil sensible heat balance, T using sap-flow gauges, and ET using an eddy covariance system. Crop evapotranspiration (ET c ) was also calculated from the crop coefficient (K c ) and the reference evapotranspiration (ET o ), which was determined with the standardized Penman-Monteith equation. During the measurement period, E and T accounted for 13% and 87% of E+T, respectively. E responded to variations in soil moisture and net radiation, whereas T changed primarily with net radiation. All three ET estimation methods (individually measured E+T, eddy covariance ET, and crop ET c ) demonstrated similar temporal trends and strong correlations (R 2 of 0.76 for ET c vs. E+T and 0.77 for ET vs. E+T), with the values of individually measured E+T close to crop ET c but larger than eddy covariance ET during the measurement period. Disparities in measurements were likely due to variations in measurement scale, which did not reflect the full range of field variability for individually measured E and T, and differences in response to declining soil moisture among the three approaches. Overall, the results support the need for individual measurement of each term (E, T, and ET) when attempting to interpret ET partitioning and suggest that soil heat-pulse sensors provide a viable complement to previously tested approaches for continuously determining E for ET partitioning during wetting-drying periods.
Factors Associated with Student Performance in the Senior Seminar in Accounting: A Comparative Study in Commuter and Residential Schools

Of the three motivation factors, the grade the student would like to earn in the course had strong association with student performance but only when it is defined as “grade” and only at the commuter school. Intention to take the CPA exam or attend graduate school had no associations with student performance at either school. Prior actual ability variables (Intermediate Accounting II grade and GPA) had strong associations with student performance at both schools. Surprisingly, holding non-accountingrelated jobs, working too many hours per week, and carrying higher course loads, had no significant negative associations with student performance at either school.
PRODUCTION OF WINTER CEREALS AS RELAY CROPS BY SURFACE SEEDING IN COTTON BASED CROPPING SYSTEM

Rabi cereals were sown by surface seeding in standing water in one half of standing cotton and by conventional method in the second half after harvest of the cotton. Relaying wheat by surface seeding produced 69.37% higher grain yield than sowing after harvest of cotton and by this technique increase in barley yield was 22.84% over conventional planting. Yield, yield components, and quality traits of cotton were not affected significantly by any of the relay cropping systems. Substantially higher net field benefit was obtained from relay cropping system as compared to wheat followed by cotton. Among cotton based cereal production cropping patterns, cotton/wheat proved better relay cropping system.
Description of an outdoor pig module for OVERSEER

A model has been developed to provide estimates of nutrient flows within an outdoor pig farm that is consistent with the scope of OVERSEER ® Nutrient Budgets (OVERSEER). The primary focus was on nitrogen (N). The model uses standard industry information as inputs to define the number of animals for different classes and their performance. The amount of feed brought in to the farm system and its quality is user defined or based on default values. Feed utilisation (including bird loss) is defined by the feeding method. The outdoor pig unit is divided into management areas (areas for lactating, mating, and growers and finishers, and an acclimatisation area for replacements). Sows use huts, and can be placed in village’s pre or post farrowing, and any pig class can be placed in sheds or barns as a means to reduce excreta deposition on the block. The model includes waste management options for the bedding and excreta from each form of housing. The nutrient flow and excreta deposited in each management area is estimated. For N, leaching losses were highly dependent on the stock density (the amount of feed intake) and the amount of pasture cover. Pasture cover was dependent on management (for example, stock density, placement and movement of troughs and huts, nose ringing) and hence pasture cover for each management area is an input. Introduction To provide an estimate of nutrient flows within an outdoor pig farm, an outdoor pig submodel has been developed that is consistent with the scope of OVERSEER ® Nutrient Budgets (OVERSEER). Initial analysis indicated that the features of outdoor pig units that the model should capture included:  Different classes of animals have a defined areas within an outdoor pig block  A high proportion of the diet is from feed brought in.  To maintain production, the feed composition for a class is relatively constant but the amount fed varies with time, e.g. sows may be fed more in winter as it is colder.  Feed utilisation varies with the feeding method used.  Bird loss of feed can occur.  The animals are on pasture, and consume pasture.  The amount of pasture present is highly variable between seasons and between blocks.  Pasture cover is dependent on management (for example, stock density, placement and movement of troughs and huts, nose ringing) and hence pasture cover for each management area is an input.  Outdoor pig farms run a constant number system – the number of animals on farm at a given time (referred to as on hand) is constant.
The Concept of Academic Politeness in a Multicultural University Classroom.

This study explored a context-embedded concept of politeness in a discussion-type, multicultural university classroom. The graduate-level class, Language Planning, had 33 students from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Looking below the surface of specific classroom incidents, situated on the politeness-impoliteness continuum, the research identified seven infrastructures: (1) Contribution; (2) Relevance; (3) Authority; (4) Mind; (5) Turn-Taking; (6) Quantity; and (7) Demeanor. These infrastructures constantly and interactively create the dynamics of academic politeness. (Contains 5 endnotes and 27 references.) (Author/SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document. The Concept of Academic Politeness
Farmers ’ perceptions ’ and participation on Mechanical soil and water conservation techniques in Kembata Tembaro Zone : the Case of Kachabirra Woreda , Ethiopia

Soil erosion is one of the major causes of land degradation that resulted in low agricultural productivity in Ethiopia. In the study area, Soil erosion by water constitutes a threat to the maintenance of the subsistence living of the Ethiopia rural population. Efforts made in the earlier period efforts of soil conservation did not bring about significant results, mainly because of lack of bottom-up approach. Uprooting this past oversight and instating a participatory approach has since been strongly recommended as the right strategy which was being practices for some years now in the study area. This research analyses the extent of farmers’ perception and participation in the current SWC activities in the Doreba and Hobichika watershed, Kachabirra Woreda, Kembata Tembaro Zone. Formal household survey, informal and focus group discussions and field observation were used to generate the data. The result shows that the majority of the respondent farmers participated in the SWC against their will. The most important factor discouraging them from participating freely was the perceived ineffectiveness of the soil and water conservation structures measures under construction. Awareness about severity soil erosion as a problem, Participation in SWC activities, level of literacy, land be absolute private property and off-farm were found to be less significant in providing an explanation for the disinterest shown by most of the respondent farmers towards the SWC activities except farmers willingness of participation and adoptions of soil conservation. Therefore, the most important factors that require immediate consideration for SWC activities in the study area are: firstly, SWC structures have to be carefully designed and constructed taking into account ground realities in the study sites, and secondly, participation of the household farmers has to be through their own conviction regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the soil conservation structures. In addition, Alternative soil and water conservation structures will have to be considered in this regard.
Small Worlds and Board Interlocking in Brazil: A Longitudinal Study of Corporate Networks, 1997-2007

Social Network Analysis (SNA) is an emerging research field in finance, above all in Brazil. This work is pioneering in that it is supported by reference to different areas of knowledge: social network analysis and corporate governance, for dealing with a similarly emerging topic in finance; interlocking boards, the purpose being to check the validity of the small-world model in the Brazilian capital market, and the existence of associations between the positioning of the firm in the network of corporate relationships and its worth. To do so official data relating to more than 400 companies listed in Brazil between 1997 and 2007 were used. The main results obtained suggest that the configuration of the networks of relationships between board members and companies reflects the small-world model. Furthermore, there seems to be a significant relationship between the firm’s centrality and its worth, described according to an “inverted U” curve, which suggests the existence of optimum values of social prominence in the corporate network.
Trust, Owner Rights, Employees and Firm Performance

This is a study of variations in trust relations according to institutional setting. A wide body of comparative institutional literature within economics and finance engages with trust. However, as most comparative institutional literature uses macro-level data and/or stylistic ideal types, it normally neglects intra-firm trust. This paper redresses this lacuna by using both macro-level data and comparative firm-level evidence. We found that both country trust and firm-level trust have a positive impact on performance, and that they act as substitutes for each other. Both employee rights and investor rights are negatively correlated with country trust.
Field Hydrology of Landfill Final Covers with Composite Barrier Layers

AstudywasconductedatsevensitesacrosstheUnitedStatestoevaluatethe fieldhydrologyof finalcoverswithacompositebarrier (a geomembrane over a soil barrier or a geosynthetic clay liner) for final closure of landfills. The water balance of each cover was monitored withalarge(10320m)instrumenteddrainagelysimeter.Withoneexception,thecoverslimitedtheaverageannualpercolationto,2.8mm/year (,0.4%ofprecipitation). Thegeomembranebarrieratonesite(Marina,California)waslikelydamagedduringconstruction;percolationatthis site averaged 30 mm/year (6.9% of precipitation). The annual percolation through the cover at the wettest site (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) ranged between0.1and6. 2mm/year.Theannualpercolationataridandsemiaridsiteswastypicallynomorethanatrace(,0.1mm/year). Percolation fromalltestcoversgenerallywascoincidentwithhighwaterstorageinthesurfacesoillayerandlateral flowinthedrainagelayeronthesurface of the geomembrane barrier. Water balance predictions were made with the hydrologic evaluation of landfill performance model using site- specific input. Surface runoff was overpredicted and evapotranspiration underpredicted when as-built soil hydraulic properties were used as input. Better agreement was obtained when in-service soil hydraulic properties were used as input. The lateral flow was consistently overpredicted regardless of the hydraulic properties, and no correspondence existed between the predicted and measured percolations. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000741. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Industrial policy changes and firm-level technological capability development : evidence from Brazil

Much has been written about the impacts of the policy changes of the 1990s on industrial performance, particularly in Latin America. Most of the studies are based on aggregated analyses that argue for or against such reforms in the policy regime. This study offers an alternative view to this debate based on a longitudinal empirical scrutiny of technological capability development in 46 local and foreign firms from three sectors in Northern Brazil. There were inter-sector and inter-firm variations in terms of the manner and rate of capability development for specific technical functions. Overall, the patterns of firm-level capability development exhibited a positive response to the structural reforms, but such responses were not a mere consequence of trade openness. A combination of government policy, foreign competition, and intra-firm capability building efforts have proved essential for speeding up capability development in some of the sampled firms. Therefore policies for accelerating industrial technological capability development in a developing area such as the one examined here would involve not only macro-level incentives and competition, but, very importantly, measures that facilitate intra-firm capability building efforts.
The potential lipolysis function of musclin and its mRNA expression both in Pig adipose tissue and primary adipocyte

Musclin is a newly discovered factor and its functions remain to be defined. This study investigated the tissue expression pattern of musclin gene and its potential effect on lipid metabolism. Musclin mRNA levels in adipose, muscle tissues and primary adipocytes were examined by quantitative PCR. The musclin gene expression in adult adipose tissue was significantly higher than that in muscle (p < 0.05), and its expression in young adipose tissue was higher than old one. We further found that in adipose tissue, the expression level of musclin had a negative correlation with FAS gene (p = 0.01), and positive correlation with PPAR gene (p < 0.05). In adipocyte, the expression level of musclin gene had a positive correlation with LPL gene (p < 0.01). Our results suggested that musclin is a potential factor that might play an important role in the regulation of adipogenesis.
Estimating the redistributive effects of the federal unemployment and pension insurance on the regional income distribution in Germany

The reduction of income disparities between regions is a basic target of regional policy in most advanced economies. Although expenditures on social policies are substantial parts of government spending as compared with regional policies, yet little is known about their effects on regional inequalities. In this note we show how, due to large regional economic disparities, payments from social insurance reduce interregional income disparities in Germany. We focus on the effects of the national pension and unemployment insurance. The results reveal large regional redistributive effects across regions and emphasize the need for further research on the geography of the welfare system and its impact on regional economic disparities.
A Qualitative Study of the Software Adoption of Building Information Modelling Technology in the Hong Kong Construction Industry

Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology is a powerful technology but is rather new to Hong Kong. The impacts and adoption of BIM in the context of Hong Kong building and construction industry requires an in depth study in order to provide insights for industry to leverage its power. The aim of this research was therefore to identify barriers that affect the adoption of BIM technology in the Hong Kong building and construction industry. A qualitative analysis was conducted on five professionals and experts in Hong Kong building and construction industry to study the effects of the variables of adoption of Building Information Modelling technology. The research results support the research questions and also bring contributions to both academia and the professional environments in the body of knowledge in the BIM field about major factors affecting user adoption of BIM software technology in the Hong Kong building and construction industry.
APPLYING COMMUNITY STRUCTURE ANALYSIS TO ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION: EXAMPLES FROM POLLINATION AND CARBON STORAGE

Human enterprise is increasingly affecting biodiversity beyond outright spe- cies losses, causing changes in ecosystem functions and the services they deliver to human beings. However, few tools are available to analyze how community attributes other than simple species richness affect ecosystem functioning, or how relative contribution to the function is distributed among the species within a community. Here, we adapted methods for describing the evenness in relative abundance among species (i.e., community structure) to the description of the evenness in species' relative contribution to ecosystem function (i.e., functional structure). We developed graphical approaches to: (1) describe the functional structure, (2) show the relationship between community and functional structures, (3) ex- amine the influence of species identity on ecosystem function, and the relationship between species' relative functional contribution and relative abundance, and (4) determine the effects of management on the total magnitude of ecosystem function, on community and functional structures, and on individual species' contribution to the function. We applied these methods to two contrasting ecosystem function cases: watermelon pollination by native bees in California and carbon storage in trees of a tropical humid forest in Chiapas, Mexico. Functional structure for pollination under organic management within a conserved forest matrix showed that the first two species contributed 80% of the function. Increasingly intensive management (e.g., conventional agriculture) caused the loss of 60% of the species, reductions in abundance of functionally important species, loss of 60-80% of the pollination function, and decreased evenness in functional structure. Functional structure for carbon storage of a conserved forest showed that 13% of species contributed 90% of the function. Forest under a hypothetical scenario of selective timber extraction showed a loss of 60% of carbon storage, no species loss, and an increase in evenness of the species' contribution to the function. Compared to conserved forest, sec- ondary forests shared only 17% of species, 80% less carbon storage, but similar evenness of species' contribution to this function. Overall, the tools developed here, and their applications, show that impacts of man- agement regimes on functional structure vary with the analyzed function and ecosystem, differentially affecting species richness, species composition, dominance of the first-ranked species, evenness in species' functionality, and potentially the stability of the function itself.
Herschel reveals a molecular outflow in a z = 2.3 ULIRG

We report the results from a 19-h integration with the Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE) Fourier Transform Spectrometer aboard the Herschel Space Observatory which has revealed the presence of a molecular outflow from the Cosmic Eyelash (SMM J2135−0102) via the detection of blueshifted OH absorption. Detections of several fine-structure emission lines indicate low-excitation H ii regions contribute strongly to the [C ii] luminosity in this z = 2.3 ultra-luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG). The OH feature suggests a maximum wind velocity of 700 km s− 1, which is lower than the expected escape velocity of the host dark matter halo, ≈ 1000 km s− 1. A large fraction of the available molecular gas could thus be converted into stars via a burst protracted by the resulting gas fountain, until an active galactic nucleus (AGN)-driven outflow can eject the remaining gas.
Adenovirus Infections in Jordanian Hospitalized Pediatric Patients: Prevalence and Clinical Features

Background and aims: Adenovirus is an important cause of respiratory infections in infants and children. Information on the prevalence, seasonal distribution of adenovirus and the clinical symptoms associated with it is not available in Jordan. Therefore, this study was conducted on 200 hospitalized children less than 2 years of age. Methods: Hep-2 cells were inoculated with nasopharyngeal aspirates (n = 200) and adenovirus antigens were detected by cell culture technique. The monthly distribution of the adenovirus isolates in relation to the climatic factors was determined. The associated clinical characteristics were also investigated. Results: Adenovirus infections were documented in 11.5% of patients, peaked in the 7-9 months age group and manifested mainly as bronchopneumonia. Fever (> 380C rectal) was observed in 74% of adenovirus-infected patients. There was no significant differences between the hospitalized adenovirusinfected and adenovirus-negative patients with respect to hypoxemia, tachypnea, retractions, crackles, hyperinflation, interstitial infiltration and consolidation. Abnormal chest X-ray with interstitial infiltrates was significantly (p< 0.05) more associated with adenovirus negative patients. Adenovirus infection is characterized by autumn-early winter seasonal pattern. The adenovirus infections began in September peaked in December and disappeared in spring and summer. This distribution was not significantly correlated with temperature, rainfall and relative humidity. Conclusion: The epidemiology of adenovirus could help in considering it in diagnosis of children between September and December each year, and planning of prevention and control programs in Jordan.