Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conceptual Modelling of Supplier Loyalty and Buyer-Supplier Relationship for Mediation: A Case Study in Plywood Industry

Supplier is a very valuable asset, not only where the company gets the raw materials needed but also sources of information that can help the company. Suppliers can be mutually beneficial partners if the company can work well together. Loyalty from suppliers is an important key in company productivity. Focus on how supplier can be loyal to a manufacture with buyer-supplier relationship as mediation. This study aims to model the important factors in buyer-supplier relationship (BSR) to achieve the supplier loyalty, there are communication, payments, logistics and trust. Sampling are taken from supplier of raw material conducting by using questionnaires as an measurement instrument in the form of several questions distributed to 112 respondents representing each supplier. This research uses component or variance based structural equation modeling where in processing data using partial least square is a method of variance based SEM. The existence of buyer-supplier relationship in the relationship of trust with supplier loyalty gives partial effect and is a connecting variable between both endogenous and exogenous variables. This research can be explained by exogenous variables of 56% (0.564). While endogenous supplier loyalty variables in this study can be explained by exogenous variables of 77% (0.775). The results of the analysis can show how the mediating role carried out by buyer-supplier relationships in communications, payments, logistics, trust and supplier loyalty relationships. From the results of testing the hypothesis shows that of the thirteen hypotheses tested, seven hypotheses were accepted and six hypotheses were rejected.
Driving Factors Analysis of Mobile Game In-app Purchase Intention in Indonesia

The online game is one of many mobile applications that becomes very popular in the past five years. The game industry market has grown rapidly and has earned a lot of fortune. Indonesia, as the country with the highest number of game players in South East Asia, is very potential for mobile game developers to produce and promote their game products. Nevertheless, local mobile developers still struggle to compete for Indonesian user's loyalty. The purposes of this study are to develop a conceptual model about factors that drive Indonesian gamers to continuously play a mobile game and make in-app purchases. The proposed model was evaluated with an online questionnaire filled by 132 paying customers, using partial least square (PLS) SEM to analyze the data. The result shows that all perceived values (game quality, game social aspect, and monetary value) were positively influenced continuance intention, while only two of them (game quality and monetary value) drive Indonesian gamers to pay for items in the game. This study provides a research model of how values on mobile game drive people to be loyal, by continuously plays and regularly does in-app purchases.
The Equal-Sacrifice Social Welfare Function with an Application to Optimal Income Taxation

We propose and axiomatically characterize a family of welfare criteria that prioritize individuals making larger sacrifices. By combining efficiency with a concern for equality of sacrifice, our criteria avoid serious shortcomings of utilitarianism. We illustrate our results within the Mirrleesian optimal taxation framework. Our simulated equal-sacrifice optimal tax schedule for the US has marginal tax rates in line with the US tax system and about 20 percentage points lower than the utilitarian recommendation.
From pregnancy to early childhood: early interventions to enhance the mental health of children and families

The Mental Health Foundation commissioned this report on the basis of its National Enquiry into the Mental Health of Children and Young People, ‘Bright Futures’. It aims to summarise a variety of interventions designed to improve parenting, family functioning and young children’s mental health and to promote thinking about future work rather a definitive summary of existing knowledge. This summary defines the key points from the full report, which comprises two volumes. Volume 1 is a written report and Volume 2 summarises the research in a number of tables.
Covid-19: Hong Kong scientists report first confirmed case of reinfection

A 33 year old man from Hong Kong is reported to have the first confirmed case of covid reinfection. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong’s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine Department of Microbiology found that the patient’s two episodes were caused by virus strains with clearly different genome sequences. Their findings have not yet been published but were accepted for publication in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases on 24 August. “The man first acquired this infection in March, locally, probably from a colleague who travelled from London to work with him. At that time he had very mild symptoms and tested positive for covid-19,” said Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung, research team member and clinical …
Dendroecological Analysis of Successional Dynamics for a Presettlement- Origin White-Pine-Mixed-Oak Forest in the Southern Appalachians, USA

1 Prior to European settlement, Quercus alba, Castanea dentata, Carya spp. and Pinus strobus dominated Ridge and Valley forests in southern West Virginia. Dendroecological techniques were used to study the disturbance history and successional dynamics of one of the few remaining valley-floor remnants of this primary forest type. 2 The uneven-aged forest is presently dominated by P. strobus, Acer rubrum, Q. alba, Q. rubra and Q. velutina. Quercus alba and P. strobus represented most of the oldest and largest trees in the forest, while Acer, Fagus and Tsuga were the youngest and smallest. Maximum age was 295 years for Q. alba and 231 years for P. strobus. 3 There was continuous recruitment of Q. alba trees from 1700 to 1900. The abundance of P. strobus increased between 1830 and 1900, with a peak in the 1870s associated with releases in radial growth. The subsequent peak recruitment of Q. rubra and Q. velutina from 1880 to 1900 is suggestive of possible facilitation of these species by P. strobus. Following the cessation of Pinus and Quercus recruitment in 1900, Acer, Fagus and Tsuga abundance increased, particularly A. rubrum. 4 Radial growth chronologies across all species and age classes exhibited a series of major or moderate releases at regular intervals (typically every 20-30 years). However, the asynchronous nature of these releases suggests that they were caused by a series of small-scale disturbances, such as fire and wind-throw, each of which had localized impacts within the stand. 5 We believe that Pinus and Quercus were maintained in this stand during the 18th and 19th centuries by periodic disturbance, in particular fire, which would have eliminated later successional species. The lack of Pinus and Quercus recruitment after 1900 and the subsequent increase in Acer, Fagus and Tsuga indicates the transitional nature of this forest in the absence of fire. 6 Coupling of tree-ring chronologies and species establishment dates greatly increased our understanding of the disturbance history and dynamics of this old-growth forest, and we believe this represents an important approach to the study of species lifehistory attributes and ecological history in general.
FruGar: Exploiting Deep Learning and Crowdsourcing for Frugal Gardening

To make smart cities more sustainable, and technologies and smart services accessible to a broader range of people, the frugal innovation paradigm comes in handy. In such a scenario, an interesting issue to investigate is gardening (both home and community gardening), considered a possibility toward sustainable development and environmental resilience. Following this line of thought, in this paper, we present our system, called FruGar (frugal gardening), designed and developed to facilitate casual citizens while gardening. In particular, our approach takes advantage of machine learning and crowdsourcing to provide casual citizens with a frugal tool for plant disease detection.
The Role of Explicit Instruction on Students Learning their Second Programming Language

Students are expected to move from one programming language (PL) to another in their computer science education. Recent work has proposed a model of PL transfer to explain how students transfer conceptual knowledge between languages. This model suggests that during the transition, learners automatically effect a transfer of semantics between languages based on syntax similarities. The semantic transfer can be positive for learning when the syntax and semantics of the new PL are similar to the prior PL (True Carryover Constructs) and becomes negative when the syntax of the prior PL is similar to the new PL but the semantics are different (False Carryover Constructs). To avoid negative semantic transfer during learning, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of explicit instruction in teaching a second PL by conducting two empirical studies. Study 1 was a within-subject study that investigated undergraduate students transitioning from procedural Python to object-oriented Java. Study 2 was a between-subject study that investigated undergraduate students transitioning from object-oriented Python to object-oriented Java at a different university. The results of both studies show that students benefited significantly more on interventions on the False Carryover Constructs categories than the True Carryover Constructs. These findings can help teachers interpret and improve their own classroom practices when teaching second PLs.
“Stick to Sports” is Gone: A Field Theory Analysis of Sports Journalists’ Coverage of Socio-political Issues

ABSTRACT Sports journalists in the ‘60s and ‘70s had a seat to sports icons who changed the social status quo and some reporters wrote freely about those issues. But as top athletes took a nearly 40-year hiatus from standing for socio-political causes, sports journalism, too, became apolitical. Now with the re-introduction of activist-athletes, how sports journalists cover these issues can affect how society views these social and political causes. Using Bourdieu’s field theory, this study examined why sports journalists cover these social and political topics, and the contexts and conditions that make this reporting more or less likely to happen. Responses show they want to be seen as more than a sports reporter, cover these topics when they occur on the beat, cultural capital is a predictor in how much they cover the topic, and sports reporters appear to be moving towards an issue-based approach to coverage. A lack of resources may hinder their efforts to cover these topics.
An Exploration of LGBTQ+ Community Members’ Positive Perceptions of LGBTQ+ Culture

Although a large body of literature addresses sexual and gender identity development, little research has focused on definitions, conceptualization, and identification with LGBTQ+ culture. Fourteen LGBTQ+ emerging adults (age 20–25 years) with a diverse array of intersecting identities participated in semi-structured individual interviews aimed at exploring the construct of LGBTQ+ culture. Five of the 14 participants also participated in focus groups to further explore the conceptualization of LGBTQ+ culture that was identified in the individual interviews. Participants described the LGBTQ+ culture as a culture of survival, acceptance, and inclusion. Most participants reported a sense of pride and importance in identifying with the broader LGBTQ+ culture and believed it was beneficial in their identity development. A multidimensional conceptualization of LGBTQ+ identity development was proposed to understand the multiple levels of identifying as a marginalized sexual and/or gender diverse individual. We discuss implications for practice, education, and training.
Subjective and Objective Assessments of Post-traumatic Olfactory Dysfunction

Introduction: Traumatic brain injuries are the most common cause of olfactory dysfunction. Deficits in olfaction may be conductive or neurosensory in nature, with varying degrees of impairment resulting in a diminished quality of life and an increased risk for personal injury among patients. The aim of this research is to evaluate the results of the subjective and objective quantitative examinations of olfactory function in a group of patients with post-traumatic anosmia in order to predict its value in identifying olfactory deficits in clinical practice. Materials and Methods: The present study included 38 patients who reported anosmia or hyposmia caused by a traumatic head injury, and a group of 31 age- and sex-matched controls without olfactory dysfunction or prior history of head injury. The comparison of odor perception and identification of two oils (mint and anise) was assessed with the use of blast olfactometry with cortical olfactory event-related potentials. Results: Subjective olfactory tests revealed anosmia or hyposmia in 94% of patients with head injury-related olfactory dysfunction. Objective tests revealed olfactory event-related potentials from cranial nerve I produced by the stimulation with both mint and anise in 20 patients (52.6%). Olfactory event-related potentials from cranial nerve V produced by the stimulation with mint were registered in 26 patients (68.4%). The lack of any responses, from both cranial nerve I and V, was found in 12 patients (32% of cases). Conclusions: Findings from our study indicate the application of both subjective and objective examinations in the evaluation of patients with olfactory impairment. In the diagnosis of post-traumatic anosmia or hyposmia, objective examinations are particularly useful when the patients' level of cognition may be impaired or when subjects may be exaggerating their olfactory defects for a secondary gain. The diagnosis of damage to the olfactory system, specifically in the receptive part of the olfactory pathway, can be established in patients who showed reduced amplitudes or absent cortical responses in addition to absent odor identification and perception threshold in the subjective examination.
Human Health Risks Related to Penicillin G and Oxytetracycline Residues Intake Through Beef Consumption and Consumer Knowledge About Drug Residues in Maroua, Far North of Cameroon

In Cameroon, a leading livestock production country, previous study highlighted the extensive misuse of veterinary drugs in the Far North Region, where we found the second cattle population of the country. Based on former work describing the presence of penicillin G (PEN) and oxytetracycline (OTC) residues in beef sold for human consumption in Maroua, the capital city of the Far North Region, this study was designed to determine the risk of PEN and OTC residue intake via beef consumption by the population of Maroua and to evaluate the consumer's knowledge on drug residues. Dietary exposure determined here was based on the average consumption of beef (found during a survey of 202 households randomly selected in Maroua) and the average concentration of the two antibiotic residues in beef (obtained after liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis of samples of liver and muscle collected from 202 cattle selected randomly in all the slaughterhouses of Maroua) found in our previous studies. The estimated daily intakes per capita of OTC and PEN residues from beef consumption were 22.81 and 2.37 μg, respectively. The risk was then assessed as high [9.6%; range from 6.4 to 15.4% of acceptable daily intake (ADI)] and considerable (2.2% range from 1.5 to 3.5% of ADI) for PEN and OTC residues, respectively. Based on the mean value, it can be concluded that the estimated risk of antibiotic daily intake through beef in Maroua is high (5.9% of ADI). Also, 98% of the surveyed population is not aware that meat can be contaminated by residues of veterinary drugs administered to slaughter animals. This ignorance would also increase the risk of contamination of the population of Maroua with antibiotic residues. This work clearly highlights the high risk of consuming beef by the population of Maroua. Taking into consideration the evidence of the intake of antibiotic residues from others sources, it is therefore very imperative that measures be taken by the government to ensure food safety in order to guarantee the health of the populations of this region in particular and Cameroon in general, hence the need for the establishment of a national food safety plan.
Synergistic Interaction Between High Bioactive IL-17A and Joint Destruction for the Occurrence of Cardiovascular Events in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains a cause of morbidity and mortality in many patients while new treatments have changed the face of the disease. Despite the emergence of these new drugs, cardiovascular (CV) diseases remain more frequent in RA patients compared with the general population. However, predictive biomarkers of RA severity and precise guidelines to manage the CV risk in these patients are still lacking. Pro-inflammatory cytokines contribute both to RA and CV pathogenesis. Focusing on IL-17A, high levels of bioactive IL-17A were associated with destruction in RA but also during myocardial infarction. The study aimed to assess the relationship between bioactive IL-17A, destruction and the occurrence of CV events (CVE) in RA patients with a very long follow-up. Thirty-six RA patients were followed between 1970 and 2012 in Lyon, France. They were tested for bioactive IL-17A and clinical and biological characteristics were recorded at baseline. Then, the occurrence of CVE was registered during the follow-up. To study the bioactive fraction of IL-17A, the bioassay used the ability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells to produce IL-8 in presence of RA plasma samples with or without an anti-IL-17A antibody. Bioactive IL-17A level at baseline was higher in RA patients who later experienced a CVE compared to those without (0.77 vs 0.21 ng/ml, p-value = 0.0095, Mann-Whitney test) and synergized with joint destruction (p-value = 0.020, Kruskal-Wallis test). Through its effects on vessels and thrombosis, high levels of bioactive IL-17A could represent a long-term marker of CV risk.
Testing a Self-Determination Theory Model of Healthy Eating in a South African Township

Introduction The burden of type 2 diabetes is growing rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa. Healthy eating has been shown to prevent the disease but is challenging to maintain. Self-determination theory offers a motivational framework for maintaining a healthy diet based on evidence from western settings. This study aims to assess whether self-determination theory can explain healthy diet behavior in a disadvantaged urban South African population. Methods Cross-sectional data from a South African township population (N = 585; pre-diabetes = 292, diabetes = 293, age 30–75) were analyzed using structural equation modeling, while controlling for socio-demographic factors. Measures included self-reported autonomous and controlled motivation, perceived competence (measured through barrier self-efficacy), perceived relatedness (measured through perceived participation of significant others) and, as indicator for healthy diet, frequency of fruit, vegetable, and non-refined starch intake. Results Healthy eating was positively associated (β = 0.26) with autonomous motivation, and negatively associated (β = −0.09) with controlled motivation. Perceived competence and relatedness were positively associated with healthy eating (β = 0.49 and 0.37) and autonomous motivation (β = 0.65 and 0.35), and negatively associated with controlled motivation (β = −0.26 and −0.15). Autonomous motivation mediated the effect of perceived competence and relatedness on healthy eating. The model supported a negative association between controlled and autonomous motivation. Conclusion This is the first study providing evidence for self-determination theory explaining healthy eating in a disadvantaged sub-Saharan African setting among people at risk of or with diabetes type two. Our findings suggest that individuals who experience support from friends or family and who feel competent in adopting a healthy diet are more likely to become more motivated through identifying the health benefits of healthy eating as their goal. This type of autonomous motivation was associated with a healthier diet compared to individuals whose motivation originated in pressure from others or feelings of guilt or shame. Our recommendations for public health interventions include: focus on the promotion of diet-related health benefits people can identify with; encourage social support by friends or family; reinforce people’s sense of competence and skills; and avoid triggering perceived social pressure or feelings of guilt.
Disrupted Rich Club Organization of Hemispheric White Matter Networks in Bipolar Disorder

Neuroimaging studies suggest disrupted connections of the brain white matter (WM) network in bipolar disorder (BD). A group of highly interconnected high-density structures, termed the ‘rich club,’ represents an important network for brain functioning. Recent works have revealed abnormal rich club organization in brain networks in BD. However, little is known regarding changes in the rich club organization of the hemispheric WM network in BD. Forty-nine BD patients and fifty-five age- and sex-matched normal controls (NCs) underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Graph theory approaches were applied to quantify group-specific rich club organization and nodal degree of hemispheric WM networks. We demonstrated that rich club organization of hemispheric WM networks in BD was disrupted, with disrupted feeder and local connections among hub and peripheral regions located in the default mode network (DMN) and the control execution network (CEN). In addition, BD patients showed abnormal asymmetry in the feeder and local connections, involving the hub and peripheral regions associated with emotion regulation and visuospatial functions. Moreover, the clinical symptoms of BD showed a significant correlation with the aberrant asymmetry in the regional degree of peripheral regions. These findings reveal that BD is closely associated with disrupted feeder and local connections but no alteration in rich-club connections in the rich club organization of hemispheric WM networks and provide novel insight into the changes of brain functions in BD.