Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF NETWORKING COMPETENCY ON THE SURVIVAL OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN KENYA

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the key drivers of economic growth in almost all economics of the world. Efforts directed towards enhancing their survival and eventual growth has been a concern to researchers, policy makers and governments. This is out of the realization that there is a high mortality rate of SMEs within the first three years of operation. The collapse ration of SMEs is alarming for developing countries as well as developed countries and Kenya is no exception. Many SMEs encounter problems that limit their survival. The threat to survival is real and requires a concerted effort from both policy makers and the entrepreneurs themselves. This study, therefore, seeks to investigate the effect of networking competency on the survival of SMEs in Kenya. The study is about the prospects of survival of SMEs in Kenya should they opt to use appropriate networking competency. The study was guided by the research objective as finding out what role is played by networking competency on the survival of SMEs in Kenya. The study reviewed past activities and this was explained by the literature review. The literature review evaluated the relationship between networking competency on the one hand and survival of SMEs on the other hand. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was 268,100 registered SMEs who are operating under single business permit (SBP) in Nairobi City County where a stratified random sampling was applied to identify 400 SMEs. Data analysis was by way of descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages), tables and graphical presentations, and a linear regression model where survival was regressed against networking competency to make statistical reference. The findings revealed that networking competency has a positive and significant effect on the survival of SMEs in Kenya thereby increasing their chances of survival. The study, therefore, recommends that SMEs through the management should embrace networking competency as a way of gaining competitive advantage and widening their customer base.
A Comparison of Their Actions in Rat Arteries and in Human Coronary Arteries

Among the large number of compounds which inhibit the contraction evoked by calcium in depolarized smooth muscle, calcium entry blockers are those that specifically block calcium entry during muscle activation. They affect neither Ca efflux nor intracellular Ca release. A comparative study of the diphenylpiperazines, cinnarizine and flunarizine, with the dihydropyridine, nifedipine, allows conclusions to be drawn as to their specificity of action. We have also examined the action of calcium entry blockers, considering tissue and stimulus selectivity. The inhibition of smooth muscle contraction can be quantitatively related to blockade of Ca influx. In rat aorta and mesenteric arteries, the potency of Ca entry blockers depends on the stimulus in the following order of sensitivity: K depolarization > norepinephrine > PGF2a. As far as flunarizine, but not nifedipine, is concerned, the activity is higher in mesenteric arteries than in aorta. This raises the possibility that calcium channels have receptor and organ specificity, a hypothesis which is supported by the observation that the order of potency of several calcium entry blockers is different in various vessels including human coronary arteries, and that the action of the blockers increases with the age of the patient. (Circ Res 52 (suppl I): 81-91, 1983)
Efficacy of bio-pesticides against larvae of Trogoderma granarium (Everts) (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) on maize.

Khapra beetle, {Trogoderma granarium (Everts) (Coleoptera: Dermestidae} is considered as one of most threatened insect pests around the world because of its rapacious feeding on almost all kind of the food stuffs (Sarmamy et al., 2011). The areas with low humidity and high temperature are more preferred by this insect pest (Ghanem and Shamma, 2007). The high economic significance of T. granarium can be well understand by considering that it has attained the prominence of quarantine pest so far (OEPP/EPPO, 1981) and is still under attention. The damage becomes intensifying when it is following up by attack of some secondary pests like Aspergillus flavus and Ephestia cautella (El-Nadi et al., 2001). The larval stage of this insect is severe pest of oil seeds, cereals and to some extent pulses (El-Nadi et al., 2001). The adult does not damage the food and only lay eggs while the larvae of T. granarium causes real damage (Musa et al., 2010). The losses caused by the attack of this beetle ranges 0.2– 2.9% during time duration of 1 month to 10.05 months (Irshad and Iqbal, 1994). Conventionally synthetic fumigants and chemicals have been used mostly to keep safe stored grains and their products from the insect pests, but unfortunately extensive use of these measures has resulted in development of resistance in insects as well as problem of chemical residues in the products (Michalaki et al., 2006). Consequently, controlling insect by using traditional chemicals is become harmful ecologically and is expensive. Therefore, it has been created a developing quest for naturally ascending, globally safe and more economical means (Majumder et al., 2005). Biocides that are derived from plants or microorganisms have a significant prospective to be used as reduced risk insect pests control tactic (Regnault-Roger et al., 2002) as they are biodegradable, there action is selective, they are comparatively safer to non-target organism and finally have no negative impact on environment (Isman, 2001). Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 57(2), 439-445; 2020 ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906 DOI: 10.21162/PAKJAS/19.8523 http://www.pakjas. com.pk
Factors That Influence Employee Performance: The Case of Fairmont Norfolk Hotel

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence employee performance at the Fairmont Norfolk Hotel. The following research questions guided this study: To what extent does remuneration impact employee performance at the Fairmont Norfolk Hotel? To what extent does creativity impact employee performance? To what extent does training and development impact employee performance at the Fairmont Norfolk Hotel? A descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. A sample size of 74 was drawn from the targeted population using a stratified random sampling technique. Moreover, a selfadministered structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Further, statistical methods such as, descriptive statistics; mode, median and mean as a measure of central tendency and measures of dispersion such as quartiles, percentiles, variance, standard deviation and range were used to analyze the data. Moreover, inferential statistics T-test was used to determine the factors that influence employee performance. The findings regarding the impact of remuneration on employee performance showed that, employees generally agreed that if they are given good salaries and bonuses plus their remuneration being paid on time, their performance at the organization is positively impacted.
Profitability of Corporate Acquisitions and the Acquisition Premium and Goodwill

We examine the unresolved questions of whether corporate acquisitions create synergistic gains in the form of post-merger abnormal operating performance and whether the accounting goodwill is associated with post-merger operating performance. By disentangling the purchase accounting effect, we propose an adjusted cash flow performance measure to be used consistently over the preand post-merger periods. Using the adjusted performance measure and difference-in-difference approach, we reconcile the conflicting results from prior studies (Healy, Palepu, and Ruback, 1992; Ghosh, 2001). We document evidence that post-merger operating cash flow performance of the merged firms increases in comparison with the control firms matched by pre-merger performance and size. We also find that the size of the accounting goodwill and acquisition premium varies directly with post-merger operating performance. Such evidence suggests that acquiring firms which pay higher acquisition premium experience a corresponding higher cash flow return following the corporate acquisition and that the accounting goodwill represents future benefits.
CNN-LSTM Architecture for Action Recognition in Videos

Action recognition in videos is currently a topic of interest in the area of computer vision, due to potential applications such as: multimedia indexing, surveillance in public spaces, among others. In this paper we propose a CNN–LSTM architecture. First, a pre-trained VGG16 convolutional neuronal networks extracts the features of the input video. Then, a LSTM classiﬁes the video in a particular class. To carry out the training and the test, we used the UCF-11 dataset. Evaluate the performance of our system using the evaluation metric in accuracy. We apply LOOCV with k = 25, we obtain ∼ 98% and ∼ 91% for training and test respectively.
Studied using combinations of remote sensing and in-situ data

Cloud droplets never form in the atmosphere without a seed in the form of an aerosol particle. Changes in number concentrations of aerosol particles in the atmosphere can therefore affect the number of droplets in a cloud. Higher concentrations of aerosol particles in the atmosphere lead to clouds with more droplets and if the amount of liquid water in the clouds stay the same, the droplets become smaller. Clouds with more, smaller droplets reflect more sunlight and may take longer to produce precipitation. In the research presented in this thesis, satellite data of clouds are combined with a range of other datasets to investigate how sensitive the cloud properties are to changes in the concentration of aerosol particles. Cloud droplets were found to be smaller in low-level clouds formed in air with higher aerosol number concentrations over the ocean north of Scandinavia. This was also true for low-level and convective clouds over land in Sweden and Finland. The results regarding cloud optical thickness (COT), which is a measure of how much light a cloud reflects, was not as conclusive. For the low-level clouds over the ocean, the COT was higher in air masses with higher aerosol number concentrations. Differences in meteorological conditions in the clean and polluted air masses may however explain some of the differences in COT. The low-level and convective clouds over land did not show any significant changes in COT with varying aerosol number concentrations. This may be caused by changes in cloud dynamics due to the smaller droplets in the clouds. Hence, the indirect aerosol effect could not be observed for clouds studied over land. The precipitation intensity from the clouds over land and how this varied with changing aerosol loading was also investigated. For both low-level and convective clouds, the precipitation was found to decrease somewhat with increasing aerosol number concentrations. However, for the convective clouds, this relationship only appeared when the clouds were sorted according to vertical extent, as higher convective clouds tend to produce heavier precipitation. How cirrus clouds at midlatitudes in the northern hemisphere are affected by the mass concentration of particulate sulphate present in the lowermost stratosphere (LMS) was investigated using satellite data. Changes in the LMS particle levels were caused by explosive volcanos that emit gases and particles into the stratosphere. Due to subsidence in the stratosphere at midlatitudes, the volcanic sulphate eventually enters the upper troposphere, increasing its sulphate concentration. The reflectance of the cirrus clouds decreased when there were more sulphate particles present in the LMS. Cirrus clouds warm the climate and a decrease in their reflectance hence cools the climate.
Effects of Professional Attitude of Teachers on their Teaching Performance: Case of Government Secondary School Teachers in Malakand Region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

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The Challenges and Prospects of Using E-learning among EFL Students in Bisha University

This study attempts to find out the challenges students' face in learning English as a foreign language when using E-learning system at University of Bisha. It also investigates whether using E-learning is beneficial to EFL students in their learning English to the degree anticipated. There are many challenges face both teachers and students during use E-learning. These challenges include academic, technological; and administrative challenges. The study sample included 36 teaching staff and 261 EFL students at University of Bisha - English department. To collect data required, the researcher developed questionnaires that consist of three domains for both teaching staff and students separately. The study results show that there are no significant differences between EFL students (males and females) of E-learning activities. Therefore, it argued that all domains of teaching staff and students' challenges could not predict academic achievement. The findings reveal that some factors such as academic, administrative, and technical challenges regarding E-learning were the main challenges of E-learning at University of Bisha. The results also show that students aware of the benefits of using E-learning. They perceive themselves as having a highly positive attitude towards E-learning in English. However, the main advantage can be used anywhere, anytime, and the E-learning system can adapt to the aims of improving communication and enriching students' learning experiences
Understanding The Concept Of Visualization Phase Student In Geometry Learning

This study aims to analyze the concept understanding of junior high school students in the visualization phase in geometry learning using van Hiele's models assisted by manipulative media of the rotary wheel. The research design used experimental teaching with descriptive type and there are 26 students of VII grade of Junior High School 4 as research subjects. Data were collected by observation, VHGT, tests and analyzed descriptively. The results showed that student's understanding of concepts in quadrilateral and triangle materials were good. At each stage of the van Hiele learning model, students can understand various indicators of understanding concepts. Furthermore, learning the geometry of van Hiele's model assisted by the manipulative media of the rotary wheel improves student thinking from the visualization phase to the analysis phase.
Oral health-related quality of life in patients presenting with dentine hypersensitivity: A randomized controlled study of treatment effect

Objective: Dentine hypersensitivity (DH) remains a common chronic dental pain affecting the daily life of sufferers. Patients' perception of the impact of oral conditions on their quality of life as well as treatment outcome has become popular. Little is however known about the impact of DH on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among these patients. The aim of this study was therefore to assess and compare the OHRQoL before and after treatment among patients presenting with DH. Materials and Methods: Conducted as a randomized, controlled study, the patients were randomized into experimental (n = 51) and control groups (n = 17) for the application of three in-office desensitizing agents: copal fluoride; 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and glutaraldehyde (Gluma desensitizer); arginine-calcium carbonate (Pro-Argin); and distilled water. The English version of the Oral Health Impact Profile with 14 items (OHIP-14) was administered to all patients before treatment and afterward at 1, 2, and 4 weeks to assess the OHRQoL. Results: Prevalence of impact (24.7%), extent of impact (12.9 ± 4.1), and severity of impact (10.56 ± 5.55) all revealed impact on the OHRQoL. The OHIP-14 scores reduced significantly among the patients treated with the desensitizing agents (P = 0.000), with no significant reduction in patients treated with the placebo (P = 0.901). There were no gender differences in the overall OHIP-14 scores. Regression analysis revealed age and number of hypersensitive teeth as predictors of pretreatment impact of DH on OHRQoL. Conclusions: DH had a significant impact on the OHRQoL of patients suffering from the condition. Treatment resulted in significant improvement in OHRQoL.
Corporate Social Responsibility Marketing Practices, Technological Environmental factors and Performance of NGOs in Nairobi Kenya

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Corporate social responsibility (CSR) marketing on performance of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) moderated by technological factors. The study collected data from 122 NGOs operating in Nairobi City County in Kenya. Data was analyzed using regression analysis. The study revealed that there is a statistically significant positive linear relationship between corporate social responsibility marketing practices and performance of NGOs, r adjusted =0.398 and p value of 0.0005. However, technological factors did not have significant moderating effect on this relationship. The joint effect of corporate social responsibility marketing and technological factors was more significant than their individual effects r adjusted =0.426 with a p value 0.0005. The study concludes that NGOs managers would improve their performance significantly if they adopted corporate social responsibility marketing practices in their strategy without ignoring the effect of technological factors.
Accuracy comparison of accounting-based bankruptcy prediction models of Springate (1978), Ohlson (1980) and Altman (2000) to US manufacturing companies 1990-2018

The importance of corporate bankruptcy has risen to ever more prominence since the recent financial crisis. The field of bankruptcy prediction has become even more popular among academics and is considered to be an industry itself. It is estimated that at least 40,000 people are dealing with corporate distress. The estimation of bankruptcy is intriguing but still a bankruptcy prediction model with high accuracy rate remains a challenge since the models are based on certain industries and tend to be sample specific. Recently, market-based bankruptcy prediction models have gained popularity among researchers in the field, however, there is no supportive evidence of their superiority compared to accounting-based models that aim to predict financial distress using financial accounting data. Although new complex models e.g. neural network techniques have emerged to the literature, the accounting-based techniques are still most popular in the research. This paper attempts to add finding to the literature by comparing three accounting-based bankruptcy prediction models of Altman (2000), Ohlson (1980) and Springate (1978) in order to present comprehensive computational comparison of methodologies to fulfil the strategic information needs of investors and other stakeholders. The aim is to statistically show that the models differ in accuracy rates in US manufacturing industry. The sample of the study consists of thirty-three bankrupt and 414 non-bankrupt United States manufacturing companies that were listed in either NYSE, Nasdaq or American Stock Exchange in 1990-2018. The result of one, two and three years prior to bankruptcy indicates that the three accounting-based bankruptcy prediction models of Altman (2000), Ohlson (1980) and Springate (1978) have different predicting power to bankruptcy in US manufacturing companies. Furthermore, the results show that the Altman ́s (2000) model performs better than the models of Ohlson (1980) and Springate (1978) when predicting bankruptcy in US manufacturing companies but the differences in the accuracy rates are all not statistically significant.
Effect of Different Processing Routes on the Power Factor of the Filled Skutterudite

1 Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genova, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy 2 National Research Council, Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Technologies for Energy, CNR-ICMATE, Via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy 3 Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka 804-8550, Japan 4 Toyota Technological Institute, 2-12-1 Hisakata, Tempaku-ku, 4688511 Nagoya, Japan 5 Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, Viale Taramelli 12, Pavia, Italy 6 SIT Research Laboratories, Shibaura Institute of Technology, 3-7-5 Toyosu, Koto-ku, 135-8548 Tokyo, Japan *E-mail: artini@chimica.unige. it 1,2* 1 1 3 4 4 5 Cristina Artini, Giovanna Latronico, Riccardo Carlini, Shrikant Saini, Tsunehiro Takeuchi, Seongho Choi, Angelica Baldini, 5 2 6 Umberto Anselmi-Tamburini, Fabrizio Valenza and Paolo Mele View Article Online
Agro-Economic Assessment of Maize-Soybean Intercropping System

Intercropping increases the agronomic productivity along with economical proficiency of any cropping system through efficient utilization of resources compared to monocropping system. Intercropping of soybean in maize improves the net income, benefit cost ratio (BCR) of the system and help to overcome the scarcity of oilseeds in Pakistan as sowing times of both crops coincide. Economic feasibility associated with different maize-soybean intercropping systems has been evaluated by growing soybean as intercropping in maize. Field experiment was directed to assess the impacts of maize and soybean intercropping on its yields and monetary aspects at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan during autumn 2014. The trial was organized in a randomized complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. Treatments were comprised of sole maize at 60 cm spaced single row, sole soybean at 30 cm spaced single row, sole maize at 90 cm spaced double row strips, maize at 90 cm spaced double row strips + 1 row of soybean, maize at 90 cm spaced double row strips + 2 rows of soybean and maize at 90 cm spaced double row strips + 3 rows of soybean. In crux, maize-soybean intercropping system with double rows strips of maize + 2 rows of soybean performed with maximum net income, benefit-cost ratio (BCR) and land equivalent ratio (LER) associated with all other intercropping treatments.
Preferences for rank in competition: Is first-place seeking stronger than last-place aversion?

The use of gamification to motivate engagement has greatly increased the number of ways in which people compete. Many of these competitions allow individuals to see how they rank as a competition progresses. Our work aims to provide a better understanding of how individuals feel about different rank outcomes in competitions. We do this by applying the principles of expected utility theory to elicit utility curves for over 3,000 people across three studies using hypothetical competition scenarios. We find consistent support for the following generalizations: 1) individuals are risk-seeking when in second place, 2) they are risk-averse when in second-to-last place, and 3) the utility decrease going from first to second place is greater than their decrease going from second-to-last to last place. Our results suggest individuals are both last-place averse and first-place seeking, with an even stronger inclination towards the latter.