Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
International comparison of extension agent objectives and construction of a typology

ABSTRACT Purpose To analyse and compare the extension objectives of individual extension agents across nine countries. Design/methodology/approach Extension agents from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Paraguay, and South Africa were surveyed using convenience sampling (n = 2707). A typology of extension agents with different profiles of objectives was built using data from five of the countries. Findings The most frequent individual extension objectives were to increase farmers’ knowledge through training, and productive modernisation of farms. Four types of extension agents were identified: the socially-engaged extension agent; the agricultural production and business expert; the trainer of subsistence farmers, and the pro-poor practitioner. Practical implications Researchers can use these results to analyse specific institutional settings, and extension institutions to reflect on the type of extension agent that best fit their institutional goals and to select practitioners accordingly. Theoretical implications Productive modernisation persists as a fundamental individual extension objective in many countries. Individual extension objectives are not stand-alone preferences but clusters of interrelated priorities, which do not necessarily coincide with those of extension institutions or national policies. Practitioners’ agency plays a key role in realising (or not) a fit between extension service offerings and demand for extension services, and contributes to a wider repertoire of advisory styles in extension systems than implied by extension institutional objectives. Originality/value This research adds to the literature by examining individual extension agents, rather than the institutional extension objectives, and providing a typology of agents with different profiles of objectives.
Perinatal exposure to chemical agents: delayed effects by the mechanism of imprinting (Cell Programming)

ARBS Ann Rev Biomed Sci 2005;7:68-126 http://arbs.biblioteca. unesp.br Abstract Tchernitchin AN. Perinatal Exposure to Chemical Agents: Delayed Effects by the Mechanism of Imprinting (Cell Programming). ARBS Ann Rev Biomed Sci 2005;7:68-126. The early reports linking the development of clear cell cervicovaginal adenocarcinoma in young women with diethylstilbestrol treatment of their mothers during pregnancy were the first evidence that perinatal exposure to several substances may induce irreversible alterations that can be detected at older ages. Current evidence suggests that these substances induce, by the mechanism of imprinting, alterations of the differentiation or programming of several cell-types that last for life and that may further result in the development of disease. The first evidence for the induction of the imprinting mechanism was obtained by prenatal or early postnatal exposure to abnormal hormone levels or to synthetic hormonal compounds. Today it is known that several non-hormonal compounds such as heavy metals, pesticides, other pollutants, pharmaceuticals, drugs of abuse, food additives and even normal constituents present in food may induce this mechanism. The present review describes most relevant delayed effects of perinatal exposure to hormones displaying sex hormone action, several pollutants (lead, benzopyrenes, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, chlorinated organic persistent compounds, polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and several pesticides), maternal tobacco smoking, and illicit (tetrahydrocannabinol, ARBS Annual Review of Biomedical Sciences ISSN 1806-8774 http://arbs.biblioteca. unesp.br
Choosing to Retire? A Study of Women’s Patterns for Retiring or Continuing to Work

Women of the baby-boom generation are the first generation of women to present an old age-retirement trajectory similar to the traditional male model. Using a narrative approach, we collected 20 life stories from older women, mostly retired, all born in Canada. We present five patterns that influenced respondents’ decisions to end their career or, inversely, postpone the moment of retirement: 1) “Choosing myself” to fully take advantage of the retirement years; 2) Rational retirement: the deliberate choice to stop paid employment and mourn one’s career; 3) The break: obligation to retire; 4) Retirement as an extension of the retirement of a spouse-breadwinner, and 5) Postponing retirement. Our analysis reveals that patterns vary, depending on socio-economic contexts and state of health, relationship to work, spouse’s retirement status, care work, and the desire for freedom. They also reflect life-long social roles associated with care work, remunerated work, housework, and civic commitments. The Aging-retirement trajectory depends on women’s collective and individual histories and the impact of gender on other intersecting social relations.
Travel risk in the ecotourism industry amid COVID-19 pandemic: ecotourists’ perceptions

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a global turmoil which restricted movement and consequently, diminishing domestic and international travel. One that is severely affected is ecotourism in National Parks, that involves visiting fragile, pristine and undisturbed natural areas. One of the major concerns for ecotourists in destination decision-making is travel risk that could affect their safety. This study aims to examine their risk perception and how it affects the behaviour of ecotourists in Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia. The data was collected from 406 respondents and analysed using structural equation modelling. It is concluded that risk perception affects tourists’ decision-making, whereby health and safety information preference is the strongest predictor, and media’s influence has a very significant connection. This study has the potential of contributing to the management of ecotourism destinations in times of crisis. It also fills the literature gap on risk perceptions of ecotourists’ during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Customer Experience Management: A Study of Mechanic versus Humanic Clues and Student Loyalty in Nigerian Higher Education Institution

This study surveyed customer experience management (CEM) and student’s loyalty in higher education institution (HEI) sector using a private university in Ogun State, Nigeria as a case study. The primary intent of this study was to determine the roles of humanic and mechanic clues on student’s loyalty. The two hypotheses formulated to address the research questions and objectives raised in this study were analysed with Categorical Regression, which is also known as CATREG analysis. This study applied survey research design and the data were spawned via designed questionnaire. An overall of 215 copies of the questionnaires were regained from the student of the private university in Ogun State. Multi-stage sampling methods were engaged in this study. The research findings of this study show that mechanic clues significantly influence students’ retention, while humanic clues significantly influence students’ disposition to endorse the institution of higher education to others. As part of the recommendations of the study, it was suggested that the university management should deliberately focus on mechanic clues in terms of providing a conducive environment, especially one that is clean for its students at all times.
EFFECT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP, JOB SATISFACTION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENTS ON ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR

The purpose of this study was to determine and examine the effect of transformational leadership, organizational commitment and job satisfaction on organizational citizenship behavior in high schools in Banten Province. The sample in this study was taken from 220 managers of supply chain management implemented company respondents. Sampling in this study using the Simple Random Sampling technique. The analysis technique used is multiple regression analysis. The results of the analysis and testing show that transformational leadership has a positive and significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior, job satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior, organizational commitment has a positive and significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior. This study has proven that transformational leadership, Organizational commitment and job satisfaction influence organizational citizenship behavior in supply chain management implemented company
Diversity and relationships of Miscanthus sinensis from 20 geographical distributions in China based on SSR markers

Abstract: Miscanthus is a C4 herbaceous perennial genus, and it was chosen as a bioenergy crop due to high biomass yield. Miscanthus sinensis has many phenotypes which are adapted to various environments in China. In this study, 421 accessions of M. sinensis were collected from 22 provinces, and the genetic polymorphisms amongst these germplasm collections were identified using 20 primer pairs designed against 10 each from expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats [EST-SSR (eSSR)] and genomic SSR (gSSR) transferable markers from barley. A total of 95 SSR polymorphic bands were detected producing a 100% polymorphic rate among these M. sinensis accessions. The gSSR markers showed a richer genetic polymorphism than eSSR markers. Based on the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering, there was a distinct sub-population separation in M. sinensis, which indicates that geographical differences and natural selection are the driving forces for genetic variation and evolution in the species. The 20 pairs of barley markers matched to 26 polymorphic bands associated with date of heading, plant height, leaf weight, stem weight, leaf/stem ratio, and total biomass yield. Eleven marker polymorphic bands were associated with the date of heading, 4 with plant height, 10 with leaf weight, 7 with stem weight, 3 with leaf/stem ratio, and 10 with biomass yield.
Research Status about Influence Factors of International Students’ Cross-Cultural Adaptation with Different Models

With the advancement of global economic integration, the internationalization of higher education is constantly increasing, along with flourishing studies about cross-cultural adaptation of international students. Cross-cultural adaptation of international students was studied by researchers from different perspectives such as cross-cultural psychology, cross-cultural communication, and social psychology. To provide theoretical basis for the management of international students, this paper summarizes several predictors of cross-cultural adaptation with different models observed amongst international students.
Vlogs for enhancing trainee teachers’ motivational beliefs about school experience and teaching practice: They are on the factory floor for professional development

Abstract This study investigated the effectiveness of Vlogs on the motivational beliefs of trainee teachers in the practicum period. It also offers their perceptions of Vlogs for professional development. The participants were 54 trainee teachers from a university located in the north-west of Turkey. In this study, a pretest post-test quasi-experimental design with a control group was adopted to test the effects of using Vlogs on motivation. To collect qualitative data, semi-structured interviews were conducted in the experimental group. The results indicated that Vlogs had significantly positive effects on the sub-factors of motivation such as intrinsic goal orientation, control beliefs, self-efficacy, and task value. The experimental group had lower extrinsic goal orientation scores in comparison with the control group. The trainee teachers reported that Vlogs were a potential media not only for self-assessment, reflection, and peer learning but also for the development of techno-pedagogical skills in teacher education along with challenges of their use.
Tissue Zinc Concentration in Prostate Cancer: Relationship with Prostate Specific Antigen and Gleason Score in a Cohort of Nigerian Men

Prostate Cancer (PCa) is the commonest urologic malignancy [1-2]. The last few decades have witnessed an increase in the burden of PCa globally, an increase that is predominant among men of African decent [1, 3-5]. In Nigeria, PCa is the leading cause of cancer related deaths in men accounting for 11% of all male cancers in Nigerian men [1, 6]. This high mortality is attributed to the fact that greater than 80% of PCa cases in our environment present with advanced or metastatic disease hence most only benefit from palliative androgen ablation Abstract
Interval estimation based on the reduced-order observer and peak-to-peak analysis

An interval estimation method based on the reduced-order observer and peak-to-peak analysis is proposed for continuous-time linear time-invariant systems with disturbance and measurement noise. The proposed method consists of two steps. First, a reduced-order observer with performance is designed to obtain point estimation. Second, interval estimation is achieved by integrating the obtained point estimation and the error interval estimation by peak-to-peak analysis. Steady-state gain optimisation in terms of linear matrix inequalities is used in both steps to improve the estimation accuracy of the proposed method. The superiority of the method over the reduced-order interval observer is illustrated through numerical simulations.
Dual-channel competition: the role of quality improvement and price-matching

Quality improvement and price-matching are two commonly used competing strategies by the retailers. However, it is still unclear how the retailers should deliberate over the two strategies when selling in both online and offline markets. In this paper, we consider two dual-channel retailers selling a substitutable product to consumers in both online and offline markets. Especially, the retailers compete in the online market, and their offline markets are exclusive to themselves. We establish a game-theoretical model to investigate the trade-off between quality improvement and price-matching in competition, and the impact on retailers' profits and consumer surplus in the dual-channel market structure. The analysis shows that, first, a retailer should choose to improve its quality to avoid price competition when the online market is small; second, when retailers engage in price competition, the retailer with larger offline market is more willing to adopt price-matching, while the retailer with a small share of offline market can be hurt; third, quality improvement can always increase the consumer surplus, while price-matching always hurts consumer surplus due to price collusion.
Measuring Being “Developmentally on Track”: Comparing Direct Assessment and Caregiver Report of Early Childhood Development in Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar

ABSTRACT Assessment of progress toward UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 requires measurement of the proportion of children aged 24 to 59 months developmentally on track in health, learning, and psychosocial well-being (Indicator 4.2.1). UNICEF’s methodological work culminated with the development of the Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) to measure on track status. To compare direct assessment and caregiver report of early child development, a measure aligned to ECDI2030 – the Early Childhood Development Assessment Scale-Direct Assessment (ECDAS-DA) – was developed and administered to 510 preschoolers aged 36- to 59-months from Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar. Their caregivers completed the Early Childhood Development Assessment Scale-Caregiver Survey (ECDAS-CS) containing items based on the ECDI2030. Research Findings: The two measures correlated with each other and were associated with child age, maternal education, and family wealth. ECDAS-DA showed more variability by child age and provided more fine-grained analyses of emerging developmental competencies than ECDAS-CS. Practice or Policy: Given the dearth of pan-culturally appropriate tools, ECDAS-DA can be deployed in longitudinal studies and impact evaluations in low- and middle-income countries.
Aluminium Alloy Foam Modelling and Prediction of Elastic Properties Using X-ray Microcomputed Tomography

X-ray microcomputed tomography has been gaining relevance in the field of cellular materials to characterize materials and analyse their microstructure. So, here, it was used together with finite element modelling to develop numerical models to estimate the effective properties (Young’s modulus) of aluminium alloy foams and evaluate the effects of processing on the results. A manual global thresholding technique using the mass as a quality indicator was used. The models were reconstructed (Marching Cubes 33), then simplified and analysed in terms of mass and shape maintenance (Hausdorff distance algorithm) and face quality. Two simplification procedures were evaluated, with and without small structural imperfections, to evaluate the impact of the procedures on the results. Results demonstrate that the developed procedures are good at minimizing changes in mass and shape of the geometries while providing good face quality, i.e., face aspect ratio. The models are also shown to be able to predict the effective properties of metallic foams in accordance with the findings of other researchers. In addition, the process of obtaining the models and the presence of small structural imperfections were shown to have a great impact on the results.
The Color of Education: Discriminación Y Comportamientos

ABSTRACT Discrimination is overwhelming immigrant communities across the U.S.A. and impacting educational outcomes and the fragmentation of families. This article employs intersectionality and Latina/o critical theory (LatCrit) as its theoretical framework to analyze education and the institution of familismo as a counterweight to anti-Latinx discrimination. Specifically, we investigate the relative importance of feeling discriminated against, family composition (dual-parent), and demographic variables (family composition, urbanicity – whether or not the student attends school in a city – region, SES, nativity) affect academic behavior for a national sample of Latinx students. Utilizing the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS), we employed hierarchical regression modeling and found (1) that for females two-parent households had no effect on academic behavior when demographic variables were held constant; and (2) for males, those in households with more children possessed less positive academic behavior. Differences between female and male student groups speak to, among other things, the importance of educators employing more advanced theoretical frameworks and nuanced methodologies to fully understand the academic behaviors of Latinx students. Practice and policy recommendations that follow data findings are offered.
Generalized anxiety in healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic

Abstract The coronavirus pandemic affects the lifestyle, mental and physical health of people, especially those at direct risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. In the period from November 2020 to February 2021, data were collected from 296 healthcare workers through the GAD-7 generalized anxiety questionnaire, as well as through self-assessment of their physical and mental health status, and the degree of perceiving the coronavirus as a threat. The results show that about one-third of the participating healthcare workers experienced mild generalized anxiety, and about one-fifth of them, moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety. Health professionals with the highest generalized anxiety were younger, with deteriorated physical and mental health (not only subjectively estimated by the participants but also objectively diagnosed health workers with coronavirus), less religious, having an intimate partner. More perceived threat of coronavirus was associated with increased generalized anxiety in healthcare professionals. Healthcare workers with a higher level of generalized anxiety were more likely to have difficulties doing their jobs, taking care of things at home, or getting along with other people. The anxiety experienced is of immense importance for the functioning of the individual. It is recommendable for healthcare specialists to feel that they receive social support to reduce their anxiety levels and to better balance their work and personal life, having more free time to take care of themselves and their close relationships.
Difficult Times: The Division of Domestic Work under Lockdown in France

The lockdowns enforced in many countries to contain the spread of COVID-19 had important consequences for the domestic sphere. This paper analyzes the division of domestic work among heterosexual couples in France during the lockdown. In particular, we analyzed the role of time constraints and availability and expected to find a more egalitarian division of domestic work among couples in which the man had more time than his partner due to not working or working from home. We used data from the ELIPSS panel, a representative survey of the French population, and ran OLS regressions on the division of domestic work among 406 couples. The results show that men’s time availability was associated with a more egalitarian division of domestic work, even if gender inequalities persisted. However, we did not find any clear differences between men who did not work and men who worked from home, leading us to hypothesize that men’s presence at home is an important factor.
The Phenomenon of Diurnal Variations for Summer Deep Convective Precipitation over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Its Southern Regions as Viewed by TRMM PR

This study analyzed the diurnal variations of summer deep convective precipitation (DCP) over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and its southern region. The results show that DCP is the main type of precipitation over the QTP. The precipitation intensity of DCP is less than 3 mm/h over the QTP, which is much lower than the precipitation intensity in non-plateau regions. DCP over non-plateau regions is related to the convergence of surface wind, but that over the QTP are not. The mean maximum echo of DCP is less than 26 dBZ over the QTP, less than in non-plateau regions. The mean altitude of maximum echo decreases from about 7.5 km in the western plateau to 6 km in the eastern plateau, while it reaches only 4.5–5 km in the non-plateau region. The DCP frequency peak occurs in the afternoon in the major area of the QTP including valley region. The peak time of DCP frequency is different from its intensity, and the former is 1 to 2 h earlier. Study also indicates strong diurnal variations in frequency, intensity, and the maximum echo over the QTP, which is consistent with diurnal changes of geopotential height fields of 500 hPa and 200 hPa.
Ambivalence in Volunteer Tourism: Toward Decolonization

Combining leisure, travel, and voluntary work, volunteer tourism’s popularity as an alternative travel option is undeniable. Yet postcolonial critiques plague the marketplace and those involved in these aiding efforts. In this article, which is based on consumer interviews involving a photo-elicitation component, we reveal increased presence of consumer reflexivity over neo-colonial aspects of the marketplace in comparison with the findings of past studies. However, great variability marks these consumer responses and the majority attempt to justify the potential harm of their activities abroad to cope with the ambivalence felt about such contradictory outcomes. We suggest closer attention be paid to decolonization theory as an approach to delivering these volunteering interventions in a more holistic and sensitive manner.