Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Welfare state winners and losers in ageing societies

In this paper, we analyse the impact of population ageing on the sustainability and the intergenerational fairness of public fiscal policy in three selected European countries (Austria, France, and Spain). We use NTA and NTTA data, and introduce these data into a large-scale general equilibrium OLG model with realistic assumptions regarding demographic trends and changes in population structure. The results for sustainability show a sharp increase in the share of public expenditure to GDP for the main programmes of the welfare state. In the three countries analysed, public policies (e.g. education, health care, and pension benefits) redistribute income from younger individuals to older individuals. Our findings indicate that these policies redistribute more resources to older individuals in Spain and fewer resources to older individuals in Austria. We consider the effects of several reform scenarios, including simulations in which the statutory retirement age is raised and the tax base for financing health care expenditures are changed. We also describe the consequences of the population having a fixed level of educational attainment.
The Effect of Adult Entertainment Establishments on Sex Crime: Evidence from New York City

In this paper we study how the presence of adult entertainment establishments affects the incidence of sex crimes. We build a high-frequency daily and weekly panel that combines the exact location of non-self-reported sex crimes with the day of opening and exact location of adult entertainment establishments in New York City. We find that these businesses decrease sex crime by 13% per police precinct one week after the opening, and have no effect on other types of crime. The results suggest that the reduction is mostly driven by potential sex offenders frequenting these establishments rather than committing crimes.
The numerical study on the boundary layer flow and heat transfer over a vertical slender cylinder using RBF collocation method

In this study, the effects of blowing/injection and suction on the steady mixed convection boundary layer flows over a vertical slender cylinder have been considered. It is assumed that the mainstream velocity and the wall surface temperature of the cylinder are proportional to the axial distance along the surface. The governing equations of motion, energy, and nanoparticles are simplified by applying appropriate boundary layer approximation. These partial differential equations are reduced to highly non-linear ordinarily differential equations, by using similarity transformation. The resulting differential system is solved by employing the meshfree method for the first time. The convergence of the obtained series solution is carefully checked and comparison with other algorithms shows an excellent agreement. The physical behavior of the different parameters involved in these equations is discussed in details and presented graphically.
DOES MARKET REACT TO TAX REDUCTION NEWS? AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON CORPORATE TAX REDUCTION OF BANGLADESH IN 2017-18

Purpose – This study tries to investigate the capital market reaction to the corporate tax reduction announcement (37.5% from 40%) in Bangladesh for publicly listed Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions of 2017-18. Methodology – This study applied an event study approach to identify any significant average abnormal returns as well as cumulative average abnormal returns of all the publicly listed Banks, Insurances and Financial institutions around the announcement period. Findings – Insignificant average abnormal return (AAR) experienced in case of Banking and Insurance industry on event day, except the financial institutions which have generated a statistically significant abnormal negative return on announcement day. The combined AAR of all three sectors has also generated statistically insignificant return around event windows which suggest that investors did not consider tax reduction news as valuable information for investment decision nor considering it as an essential factor of share value. Limitation – The study did not consider any possible extraneous variable that could result in insignificant reactions. Practical Implication – The findings of this research would considerably contribute to the financial and economic policy formulation while taken into consideration the possible impact of the policy over the capital market of Bangladesh. Originality – This study makes a considerable input to the research in the area of taxes linked to the behavioural finance applying the unique variable of investor’s reactions.
On Global Feature Pooling for Fine-grained Visual Categorization

Global feature pooling is a modern variant of feature pooling providing better interpretatability and regularization. Although alternative pooling methods exist (e.g. max, lp norm, stochastic), the averaging operation is still the dominating global pooling scheme in popular models. As fine-grained recognition requires learning subtle, discriminative features, is average pooling still the optimal strategy? We first ask: “is there a difference between features learned by global average and max pooling? ” Visualization and quantitative analysis show that max pooling encourages learning features of different spatial scales. We then ask “is there a single global feature pooling variant that’s most suitable for fine-grained recognition? ” A thorough evaluation of nine representative pooling algorithms finds that: max pooling outperforms average pooling consistently across models, datasets, and image resolutions; it does so by reducing the generalization gap; and generalized pooling’s performance increases almost monotonically as it changes from average to max. We finally ask: “what’s the best way to combine two heterogeneous pooling schemes? ” Common strategies struggle because of potential gradient conflict but the “freeze-and-train” trick works best. We also find that post-global batch normalization helps with faster convergence and improves model performance consistently.
Prevalence, clinicopathological features, and prognosis in upper tract urinary carcinoma patients with severe preoperative chronic kidney disease.

Background Studies regarding the prevalence and factors associated with severe pre-operative chronic kidney disease (CKD) in upper tract urinary carcinoma (UTUC) patients were rare due to the low prevalence of UTUC. We conducted the present study to investigate the prevalence, clinicopathological features, and prognosis in UTUC patients with severe preoperative CKD. Methods The study included 731 patients with UTUC treated with radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) in a large Chinese center. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated by re-expressed Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formulas for the Chinese population. Severe preoperative CKD was defined as CKD stage 4-5 (eGFR <30 mL/min). Relationships of CKD stage 4-5 with clinicopathological characteristics, overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), contralateral recurrence-free survival and intravesical recurrence (IVR)-free survival were analyzed. Results A total of 73 (10.0%) patients presented severe preoperative CKD in this cohort. Multivariate logistic analysis indicated that female gender (OR =1.791; 95% CI: 1.018-3.150; P=0.043), lower BMI (OR =0.452; 95% CI: 0.262-0.778; P=0.004), concomitant bladder tumor (OR =2.944; 95% CI: 1.360-6.373; P=0.006), lower pathological T stage (OR =0.578; 95% CI: 0.339-0.984; P=0.043), tumor necrosis (OR =2.764; 95% CI: 1.411-5.416; P=0.003), and exposure of aristolochic acid (AA) (OR =3.115; 95% CI: 1.536-6.316; P=0.002) were significantly related to severe CKD. Multivariate Cox's regression analysis showed that severe preoperative CKD was significantly associated with worse OS (HR =1.840; 95% CI: 1.150-2.944; P=0.011) and worse contralateral recurrence-free survival (HR =3.269; 95% CI: 1.607-6.650; P=0.001), while no statistical difference in terms of CSS or IVR-free survival were noticed. Conclusions Female gender, lower BMI, concomitant bladder tumor, lower pathological T stage, exposure of AA, and tumor necrosis were independently associated with severe preoperative CKD in UTUC patients. UTUC patients with severe preoperative CKD possess worse OS and higher possibility of contralateral upper urinary tract recurrence.
Germinated Legumes (Mung Bean and Cowpea) as Potential Commodities for Preparing Complementary Baby Foods

Legumes and pulses have high nutritive values and functional properties that exert positive effects on health and nutrition. This study developed a novel complementary baby food using germinated mung bean and cowpea as sources of extra nutrients supplemented to the infants (aging 6-12 months). The carbohydrate contents of mung bean and cowpea showed 64.3 and 64.0% reduction, respectively, during 48 h of germination. However, phosphorous and zinc contents and antioxidant activities of mung bean and cowpea and the iron content of cowpea increased over the same period of germination. Five baby food formulations were prepared and evaluated according to a standard formula for a commercial baby food which was also used as the control. The finalized formula had higher protein (22.4%), calcium (6,100 mg kg‐1), phosphorus (5,133 mg kg ‐1) and vitamin D (329 IU in 100 g) contents but lower contents of iron (55.5 mg kg ‐1), vitamin C as ascorbic acid (0.1 mg in 100 g) and vitamin B12 (1.2 mg in 100 g) than the control. A finalized formula with good appearance, flavor and taste as well as an overall general acceptance was obtained that can be used to fight mal-nutritional issues in certain developing countries.
Main Problems in the School Administration and Solutions Proposed: A Qualitative Study Okul Yönetiminde Karşılaşılan Temel Sorunlar ve Çözüm Önerileri:

This study aims to determine the main problems faced in administration by the school principals of kindergartens, primary, secondary and high schools, stemming from teachers, school personnel other than teachers, students, parents, etc.; and to identify the solutions proposed for these main problems. The research is a qualitative research modeled in the screening model and case study. Study group of the research consisted of 12 school principals selected through maximum sampling method, and working in state kindergartens, primary, secondary and high schools in the central district of Siirt in 2017-2018 school year. Research data was analysed through descriptive analysis and content analysis by utilizing semi-structured interview method. According to the research results, it was found out that school principals face with problems such as “teachers’ disregard and negligence of their tasks, low qualifications of the school personnel other than teachers, disobedience to school and classroom rules by the students, accusatory and biased attitudes of the parents, under-allocation of funds to schools”. Moreover, it was determined that in relation to these main problems, school principals suggested to “introduce a payment system based on performance and career, to outsource cleaning services, to make home visits to meet the parents, to organize guidance and training activities for parents, and to allocate a separate budget for each school”, as solutions proposed.
Culturally responsive teaching in special education for ethnically diverse students: Setting the stage

Two major premises are developed in this discussion. One is that many students of color are disproportionately assigned to special education because educators lack knowledge about or appreciation for their cultural values and socialization, and how these affect learning behaviors. The other premise is that the educational quality of students of color in both special and regular education can be improved significantly by using instructional programs and practices that reflect their cultural heritages, experiences, and perspectives. Several components of this ''culturally responsive teaching'' are explained, along with some research findings about its effects on student achievement. These include critical cultural consciousness of teachers; culturally pluralistic classroom climates; diverse communities of learners; and multicultural curriculum and instruction. The author concludes that without culturally responsive teaching education can never be the best it should be for students who are not part of the majority and mainstream of schools and society.
Prevalence and multidrug resistance profiles of several bacterial pathogens isolated from hospital inanimate surfaces in Faisalabad, Pakistan

Hospital environment and inanimate surfaces are considered as potential sources of opportunistic and nosocomial pathogens. Indirect transmission of microbes from the hospital surfaces has a major role in hospital acquired nosocomial infections and their colonization. The present study was designed to investigate the prevalence of major pathogenic bacteria isolated from hospital inanimate surfaces. Random swab samples were taken from inanimate surfaces and apparatus used in daily treatment of patients from the major hospitals in district of Faisalabad, Pakistan. These swab samples were cultivated on suitable culture media including; nutrient agar, MacConkey’s agar and blood agar to isolate the bacterial pathogens. Identification of the bacterial cultures was carried out by observing the cultural and macroscopic characteristics including Gram staining. Further verification of these bacterial cultures was carried out using appropriate biochemical assays. The biochemical assays were performed for characterization of Staphylococcus aureus, Staph. epidermidis, Staph. saprophyticus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli. These pure cultures were then tested for resistance to different antibiotics using the Kirby–Bauer method. The prevalence of Gram positive bacteria (60.83%) was more than that of Gram negative bacteria (24.13%). The results of antibiotics susceptibility tests were analyzed statistically.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE STUDENTS IN SURAKARTA IN CHOOSING ISLAMIC BANKS

The purpose of this research is to analyze the influence of sharia compliance, availability of ATMs and E-Banking, and profit sharing on customers’ decision to open account at the bank. Sharia compliance does not have a significant and positive influence on consumers’ decision in opening an account at the Islamic banks. The availability of ATM and E-banking and profit sharing have a significant and positive influence on consumers’ decision in opening an account at the Islamic banks.
University of Groningen Evaluation of an accelerated workflow for surveillance of ESBL (CTX-M)-producing Escherichia coli using amplicon-based Next-Generation Sequencing and automated analysis Peker,

Outbreak management of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing pathogens requires rapid and accurate diagnosis. However, conventional screening is slow and labor-intensive. The vast majority of the screened samples are negative and detection of non-outbreak-related resistant micro-organisms often complicates outbreak management. In a CTX-M-15-producing Escherichia coli outbreak, 149 fecal samples and rectal eSwabs were collected by a cross-sectional survey in a Dutch nursing home. Samples were processed by routine diagnostic methods. Retrospectively, ESBL-producing bacteria and resistance genes were detected directly from eSwab medium by an accelerated workflow without prior enrichment cultures by an amplicon-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) method, and culture. A total of 27 (18.1%) samples were positive in either test. Sensitivity for CTX-M detection was 96.3% for the phenotypic method and 85.2% for the NGS method, and the specificity was 100% for both methods, as confirmed by micro-array. This resulted in a positive predictive value (PPV) of 100% for both methods, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 99.2% and 96.8% for the phenotypic method and the NGS method, respectively. Time to result was four days and 14 h for the phenotypic method and the NGS method, respectively. In conclusion, the sensitivity without enrichment shows promising results for further use of amplicon-based NGS for screening during outbreaks.
Complexity of Unconstrained L2-Lp Minimization

We consider the unconstrained L2-Lp minimization: find a minimizer of ‖Ax−b‖2+λ‖x‖p for given A ∈ Rm×n, b ∈ R and parameters λ > 0, p ∈ [0, 1). This problem has been studied extensively in variable selection and sparse least squares fitting for high dimensional data. Theoretical results show that the minimizers of the L2-Lp problem have various attractive features due to the concavity and non-Lipschitzian property of the regularization function ‖ · ‖p. In this paper, we show that the Lq-Lp minimization problem is strongly NP-hard for any p ∈ [0, 1) and q ≥ 1, including its smoothed version. On the other hand, we show that, by choosing parameters (p, λ) carefully, a minimizer, global or local, will have certain desired sparsity. We believe that these results provide new theoretical insights to the studies and applications of the concave regularized optimization problems.
Ethanolic leaf extract from Strophanthus gratus (Hook.) Franch. (Apocynaceae) exhibits anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities

Abstract Chronic inflammation is associated with many diseased conditions. In particular, free radicals and oxidative stress play a major role in the development of tissue damage and some pathological events which result in inflammation. Plant extracts have widespread folkloric use in the management of various diseased conditions. One of such plants used in Ghana for managing inflammation-related conditions is Strophantus gratus. This study evaluated the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Strophantus gratus. Crude ethanolic leaf extract was obtained by Soxhlet extraction. The crude extract was then fractionated to obtain hexane, ethyl acetate, and butanol fractions. Anti-inflammatory activity of the extract and fractions were evaluated using carrageenan-induced paw edema model in 7-day old chicks. Phosphomolybdenum assay was used to assess the total antioxidant activity of the extracts. The concentration of the crude extract required to reduce the induced inflammation by 50% (ED50) was determined to be 129.7 ± 10.5 mg/kg. The ethyl acetate fraction produced a similar ED50 value (133.5 ± 14.7 mg/kg). The ED50 values of the hexane and butanol fractions were however greater than 1000 mg/kg, indicating that the activity of the crude extract was concentrated in the ethyl acetate fraction. The total antioxidant capacity of the crude extract and the ethyl acetate fraction was determined to be 6.7 ± 1.0 g/100g and 8.3 ± 1.4 g/100g ascorbic acid equivalent respectively. Taken together, the results provide scientific validation for the use of Strophantus gratus in managing inflammation associated ailments in traditional herbal medicine.
Effect of Audit Committee Independence on the Financial Performance of Insurance Firms in Kenya

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of audit committee independence (ACI) on the financial performance of insurance firms in Kenya. The study analyzed data from the 55 insurance firms licensed by the Insurance Regularity Authority (IRA) in Kenya. ACI was operationalized by the number of independent directors serving on the boards of insurance firms operating in Kenya. Primary data was collected from a sample of 412 board directors, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Chief Finance Officers (CFOs), Audit Committee members (AUDIND) and Internal Auditors (INAUD) using a questionnaire instrument while secondary data was retrieved from audited financial reports of the year 2017. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Firm performance was measured by the two accounting-based measures Return On Assets (ROA) and Return On Equity (ROE). The findings from the regression analysis indicate that audit committee independence significantly and positively affects the financial performance of insurance firms in Kenya.
Comparative bio efficacy of weed extracts against tomato fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera) on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

Repeated application of synthetic insecticides has resulted into the pest resistance and resurgence of minor pests. Thus, aroused the quest for the search of highly selective and bio-degradable pesticides to solve the problem of long-term toxicity to mammals and techniques to be developed to reduce pesticides use while maintaining crop yield. The present investigation entitled “Comparative bio efficacy of weed extracts against tomato fruit borer (Helicoverpa armigera) on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)” was carried out in Department of Entomology, SHUATS, Naini, Prayagraj (211007) U.P during the rabi season 2018-2019. Field studies were conducted by incorporating 10% aqueous extracts of some weeds and weed parts viz. Parthenium hysterophorus, Lantana camera, Ageratum conyzoides, Calotrophis gigantea, Argemone mexicana, Acyranthes aspera and Emamectin benzoate 5 SG. The plant extracts were found effective in reducing the percentage of infestation of target pest (Helicoverpa armigera) with the least (5.19%) in C. gigantea and highest (15.04%) in Acyranthes aspera extracts. Apart from reducing the H. armigera’s percentage infestation, weed leaf extracts also proved to yield higher cost benefit ratio, highest (1:2.38) in Calotropis leaves and lowest (1:1.51) in Acyranthes aspera. Reduced percentage infestation of H. armigera in plots treated with leaf extracts were reflected in their resultant parallel action of significantly lower fruit damage (5.19 to 15.04%) than untreated control (35%). Subsequently, the impact of reduced fruit damage by H. armigera larvae was observed in proportionate increase in fruit yield of tomato (35 to 55.60 q/ha), significantly higher than untreated control (6.6 q/ha).
Corporate Governance and Compliance of Integrated Reporting: Evidence from Malaysian Listed Companies

Integrated reporting is an emerging practice progressively catching the consideration of organizations.The idea of sustainability reporting increased more significance in the companies’ annual report, a patternthat is implanted likewise in integrated reporting. The governance structure all the more precisely the boardof director is the main role to decide whether the company will issue an integrated report. Hence, thepurpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate governance (managerial ownership,family ownership, institutional ownership and government ownership) and consistence of coordinatedintegrated reporting elements disclosure. To achieve this objective, we analysed the way in whichintegrated reports of 30 companies are following the guidance provided by the International IntegratedReporting Framework (IIRF). As a result, we noticed that most annual report scored the highest compliancelevel and consistence with the guidance of the IIRF. In addition, the result also demonstrated institutionalownership and government ownership positively affect and significance integrated reporting elementsdisclosure. Our findings contribute to comprehend the practice of integrated reporting and may havesuggestions for regulators in emerging countries for company sustainability reporting. Keywords: Integrated reporting; Sustainability reporting; Listed companies, Corporate governance