Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Governance and Social Media in African Countries: An Empirical Investigation

This study assesses linkages between social media and governance dynamics in 49 African countries for the year 2012. The empirical evidence is based on ordinary least squares and quantile regressions. Ten bundled and unbundled governance dynamics are used, notably: (i) political governance (entailing “voice & accountability” and political stability/no violence); (ii) economic governance (involving regulation quality and government effectiveness); (iii) institutional governance (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control) and (iv) general governance (entailing political, economic and institutional governance). Social media is measured with Facebook penetration. The findings show that Facebook penetration is positively associated with governance dynamics and these positive nexuses differ in terms of significance and magnitude of significance throughout the conditional distribution of the governance dynamics.
Institutions, distributed cognition and agency: rule-following as performative action

Aoki recently proposed the concept of substantive institutions, a concept that relates the outcomes of strategic interaction with public representations of the equilibrium states of games. I argue that the Aoki model can be grounded in theories of distributed cognition and performativity, which I put into the context of Searle's philosophical account of institutions. Substantive institutions build on regularized causal interactions between internal neuronal mechanisms and external facts, shared in a population of agents. Following Searle's proposal of conceiving rule-following as a neuronally anchored behavioral disposition, I show that his corresponding notion of collective intentionality can be grounded in recent neuroscience theories of imitation as the primordial process in human learning. I relate this to Searle's concept of status function and the neuronal theory of metaphors. This results in a precise definition of rule-following as performative action. I present two empirical examples of this: (1) the institution of money, and (2) status hierarchies in markets.
Neuronal and Glial Localization of NR 1 and NR 2 A / B Subunits of the NMDA Receptor in the Human Cerebral Cortex

cortical functions and are implicated in several neuropsychiatric diseases. In this study, the cellular expression of the NMDAR1 (NR1) and NMDAR2A and B (NR2A and B) subunits was investigated in the human cerebral cortex by immunocytochemistry with antibodies that recognize the NR1 or the NR2A and B subunits of the NMDA receptor. In frontal (areas 10 and 46) and temporal (area 21) association cortices and the cingulofrontal transition cortex (area 32), NR1 and NR2A/B immunoreactivity (ir) were similar and were localized to numerous neurons in all cortical layers. NR1and NR2A/B-positive neurons were mostly pyramidal cells, but some nonpyramidal neurons were also labeled. Electron-microscopic observations showed that NR1 and NR2A/B ir were similar. In all cases, labeling of dendrites and dendritic spines was intense. In addition, both NR1 and NR2A/B were consistently found in the axoplasm of some axon terminals and in distal astrocytic processes. This investigation revealed that numerous NMDA receptors are localized to dendritic spines, and that they are also localized to axon terminals and astrocytic processes. These findings suggest that the effects of cortical NMDA activation in the human cortex do not depend exclusively on the opening of NMDA channels located at postsynaptic sites, and that the localization of NMDA receptors is similar in a variety of mammalian species.
Community and International Nutrition Growth Indices , Anemia , and Diet Independently Predict Motor Milestone Acquisition of Infants in South Central Nepal 1 , 2

The acquisition of bipedal locomotion is an important aspect of gross motor development that ultimately affects the cognition of young children. Evidence for associations between nutrition-related variables and walking acquisition exist; however, questions remain about the importance of weight-for-length and dietary factors and the independent contribution of anemia and growth to walking. We examined the effect of nutritional factors on the acquisition of walking in a cross-sectional cohort of 4to 17-mo old Nepali children (n 485) adjusting for age, sex, caste, and socioeconomic status (SES). Participants were identified from census data collected in 1 village development committee in Sarlahi District and enrolled in a cross-sectional, community-based study between January and March 2002. Hemoglobin and erythrocyte protoporphyrin (EP) were measured at baseline using a heel-prick technique. The mean hemoglobin concentration was 101 12.5 g/L; 58% were anemic (hemoglobin 105 g/L), 2.1% were severely anemic (hemoglobin 70 g/L), and 43% of the children had iron-deficiency anemia (hemoglobin 105 g/L; EP 90 mol/mol heme). Growth was delayed, i.e., 33.7% were stunted and 20.6% were wasted. Multivariate logistic models that controlled for age, sex, caste, and SES revealed that children with higher length-for-age and weight-for-length Z-scores, no anemia, and meat consumption walked at an earlier age than children with lower scores, anemia, and no meat consumption. We conclude that growth, anemia, and diet are independently associated with delays in the onset of bipedal locomotion among young Nepali children. J. Nutr. 135: 2840–2844, 2005.
Credit Relationships in the Great Trade Collapse. Micro Evidence From Europe

Using a rich sample of small and medium-sized European manufacturers, we investigate the nexus between banks’ relationship lending technologies and firms’ export activities during the 2009 great trade collapse. We find that the contraction of firms’ export was milder when banks had access to up-to-date “soft” information on firms’ export prospects. However, we find no evidence of an association between the resilience of firms’ export and banks’ experience on firms’ past activities. The nexus between export resilience and banks’ access to soft information is especially tight for young and small exporters and for firms at an early stage of internationalization.
Lower crust indentation or horizontal ductile flow during continental collision ?

Conditions for indentation and channelised flow are investigated with two-dimensional thermomechanical models of Alpine-type continental collision. The models mimic the development of an orogen at an initial central portion of weakened lithosphere 150 km wide, coherent with several geological reconstructions. We study in particular the role of lower crustal strength in developing peculiar geometries after 20 Ma of shortening at 1 cm/year. Crustal layers produce geometries of imbricate layers, which result from two contrasted mechanisms of either channelised ductile lateral flow or horizontal rigid-like indentation: – Channelised lateral flow develops when the lateral lower crust has a viscosity less than 10 Pa s, exhibiting velocities opposite to the direction of convergence. This mechanism of deformation produces subhorizontal shear zones at the boundaries between the lower crust and the more competent upper crust and lithospheric mantle. It is also associated with a topographic plateau that equilibrates with a wide (about 200 km) but quasi-constant crustal root about 50 km deep. – In contrast, indentation occurs with lateral lower crust layers that have a viscosity greater than about 10 Pa s, producing significant shortening and thickening of the central crust. In this case topography develops steep and narrow (around 100 km wide), associated with a thickened crust exceeding 60 km depth. A crustal-scale pop-up forms bounded by subvertical shear zones that root into the mantle lithosphere. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Worldwide distributions of tuna larvae: revisiting hypotheses on environmental requirements for spawning habitats

Instituto Espanol de Oceanografia, Centre Oceanografic de les Balears, Moll de Ponent s/n, 07015 Palma de Mallorca, Spain United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK Microsoft Research Computational Science Laboratory, Cambridge CB3 0FB, UK Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax B3H 4R2, Canada SOCIB, Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Aggregate patterns of macrofaunal diversity: An interocean comparison

Aim While geographical patterns of species richness are reasonably well explored for single well-studied taxa, less is known about aggregate patterns of total richness for major biomes and their environmental correlates. Here we analyse continental-scale aggregate patterns of macrofaunal diversity for sandy beaches, a dominant habitat along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America. Location South American coastlines. Time period Present day (data amassed from studies performed since 1971). Major taxa studied Benthic macrofauna, including crustaceans, polychaetes and molluscs. Methods We compiled richness information for all macrofaunal groups on 263 sandy beaches in South America using standard criteria. We further matched these data with environmental variables including sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll a, grain size, beach slope, tide range and various morphometrics. We used generalized linear mixed models to relate environmental factors to observed variation in total macrofaunal richness across all beaches, testing competing hypotheses about environmental correlates and possible drivers of latitudinal diversity. Results Macrofaunal richness decreased from tropical to temperate beaches in the Pacific and followed a parabolic trend in the Atlantic, with the highest biodiversity found at tropical and mid-latitudinal bands. Beach slope, tidal range and chlorophyll a mostly explained latitudinal trends in macrofaunal richness, followed by grain size, SST and ocean basin. Main conclusions This study indicates that richness of macrofaunal species at a given beach is most closely related to characteristics of the physical habitat, such as beach slope, area and grain size. At this scale, planktonic food supply also appeared to be more important than temperature, which is a dominant explanatory variable of global-scale variation in species richness.
Measurement errors in forest inventories and comparison of biomass estimation methods

Accurate quantification of above-ground biomass (AGB) in managed forests requires: consideration of inventory errors and the use of local or large-scale allometric models. In this study we focus on the measurement errors, data collection errors and we compared different methods to estimate AGB in managed tropical forest. The data were collected in 15 plots of 100 x 100 m. We evaluated the errors of the forest inventory of 8.898 trees. We used four methods to estimate AGB: three methods which use a pan-tropical equation, which depends on wood density data, with different ways of integrating the wood density data (obtained from dataset of the Brazilian Forest Service, Jari and Global Wood Density Database - GWDD); and one local equation. The main inventory errors were: problems with the same tree being identified as a different tree in consecutive measurements (16% of the trees). AGB estimates using each of the four methods were significantly different.
Design and Implementation of a Hybrid Fuzzy Logic Controller with Thermal Energy Storage System for Reference Power Tracking in a Large-Scale Solar Chimney Power Plant

Solar Chimney Power Plant (SCPP) is known as a relatively new technology for electrical power generation from solar thermal energy in a relatively simple structure and reliable operation. SCPP would be one of the main competitors with traditional power generation technologies for the present time and near future. Considering the variable nature of solar radiation and ambient temperature during a day and different days of a year as the main plant's excitation factors, it is essential to control the power output of solar chimney power plant to meet the various demands of local and national electrical grids. The design and implementation of a Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) system for a large-scale solar chimney power plant equipped with natural or artificial thermal storage to meet various base to peak demand patterns studied in this paper. The power error between actual power generation and the reference value and the rate of change in that error are defined as the controller inputs. A knowledge base of IF-THEN rules is generated based on expert knowledge and the dynamic behaviour of the plant. The output of the controller, the opening of the turbine inlet gate, will impose on the plant. Simulation results show that SCPPs equipped with an integrated active and passive control system, including FLC and thermal energy storage, can track daily reference profiles in various grid demand patterns and different ambient conditions.
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY ANALYSIS OF AN ENDANGERED MEDICINAL PLANT, SARCOSTEMMA VIMINALE (L.) R.BR. FROM THAR DESERT, RAJASTHAN (INDIA)

Â Â Objective: Sarcostemma viminale (L.) R. Br. is one of the important endangered medicinal plants belonging to the family Asclepiadaceae. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the possible bioactive phytochemicals from stem of S. viminale (L.) R. Br. using methanol, chloroform, and hexane as solvents.Methods: Plant material was collected from typical conditions of Indian Thar Desert in the month of July-September, 2016. This plant always grows in association with the congeneric plant, Euphorbia caducifolia. The phytochemical compounds were investigated using Perkin-Elmer gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, while the mass spectra of the compounds found in the extract were matched with the National Institute of Standards and Technology library.Results: Maximum % area is found for Lup-20-(29)-en-3-yl acetate is present maximum amount (40.85%) with reaction time (RT)=43.787 minutes, followed by 4, 4, 6A, 6B, 8A, 11, 11, 14B-octamethyl-1, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 8A, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12A, 14, 14A, 14B-octadecahydro-2H-picen-3- one$$olean-12-en-3-one# (13.74%) with RT=44.420 minutes in the methanolic extract; acetic acid 4, 4, 6A, 8A, 11, 12, 14B-octamethyl-1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 8A, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12A, 14, 14A, 14B-eicosahydro-picen-3-yl ester $$ urs-12-en-3-yl acetate is present maximum amount (44.98%) with RT=48.265 minutes, followed by. beta. -amyrin (18.51%) with RT=40.580 minutes in the chloroform extract; acetic acid 4, 4, 6A, 8A, 11, 12, 14B-octamethyl-1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 8A, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12A, 14, 14A, 14B-eicosahydro-picen-3-yl ester $$ urs-12-en-3-yl acetate is present maximum amount (45.47%) with RT=48.514 minutes, followed by. beta. -amyrin (19.21%) with RT=40.555 minutes in the hexane extract of stem of S. viminale (L.) R. Br.Conclusion: Medicinal plants contain one or more substances that can be used for therapeutic purpose; they are used by the world population for their basic health needs. The importance of the study is to investigate the pinpoint biological activity of some of these compounds so that they can be used by pharma or some other drug designing industry to find a novel drug.
Comparative Study of Passive and Active Islanding Detection Methods for PV Grid-Connected Systems

Photovoltaic (PV) power grid-connected systems have the advantages of being prompt and reliable supplies of electrical power. Nevertheless, the installation and operation requirements from the grid side have to be fulfilled in order to guarantee the security of the PV system technicians and the efficiency of the power system. Particularly, the potential for “islanding” is one of the dreads that are brought about by PV grid-connected systems. To be able to tackle these concerns, this paper investigates recent islanding detection techniques and topologies for PV systems. Active islanding detection techniques apply regular disturbances to the inverter system and then analyze the output voltage or frequency to investigate the islanding and stability of the grid. If the injected disturbances influence the load voltage or frequency, the controller forces the intermediate inverter to stop sending power to the connected load. In addition, several islanding detection techniques that inject a periodical signal to the reference current that causes a change in the magnitude of inverter output voltage when islanding happens in a three-phase photovoltaic grid-connected system are discussed. The validity of the proposed technique is tested and verified through PSIM software.
A Study on Larval Indices of Aedes and Risk for Dengue Outbreak in a Rural Area of Thrissur District, Kerala

Background: Mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world. Their ability to carry and spread disease to humans’ cause millions of deaths every year. Knowledge regarding the bionomics of mosquito is utmost important for developing control measures. Dengue is one of the most important and fastest re-emerging arboviral diseases, with 2.5 billion people living in areas of risk. The larval indices are easy to assess and gives the mosquito density. Objective: This study was done to calculate standardized larval indices over a period of 5 months, to determine the major breeding sources for mosquitoes, to study the seasonal trends in larval indices in a rural residential area under Kaiparambu Panchayat of Thrissur district, Kerala. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted over a period of 5 months (June-October) in the houses under ARCH (Amala Rural Community health) programme of Amala Institute of Medical Sciences- Kaiparambu panchayat of Thrissur district. A house to house survey was done and every water holding container-indoor and outdoor were counted, searched for larval presence, collected and assessed. Each Larvae collected was examined and species identified. Descriptive statistics was done manually to quantify the percentage of positive containers obtained. Result: A total of 581 houses were surveyed, 223 had larval presence. The entomological indices were respectively accounted as Container Index=29.03; House Index=49.1; Breteau Index=80.3 in June and CI=19.8; HI=32.6; BI=34.7 in October. There was seasonal variation in the indices. The commonest species of mosquito identified was Aedes albopictus. Conclusion: The area has high risk for mosquito borne disease outbreaks, with seasonal variations and rainfall patterns. With adequate preventive measures, it can be avoided. How to cite this article:Anna SP, Vincent J, Saju CR, Rafi MM. A Study on Larval Indices of Aedes and Risk for Dengue Outbreak in a Rural Area of Thrissur District, Kerala. J Commun Dis 2020; 52(1): 1-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/0019.5138. 202001
A model of the Jovian internal field derived from in-situ and auroral constraints

The internal magnetic field of Jupiter is known to be highly multi-polar, not only from the direct measurements performed by the Voyager and Pioneer probes but also from the unusually complex shape of the northern auroral oval. The limited amount of data obtained from the Voyager and Pioneer flybys do not permit accurate determination of the topology of the magnetic field, as they barely constrain, even the octupole contribution to the field. This does not allow one to reproduce the position of the auroras nor satisfactorily explain the shape and frequency range of the Jovian radio arcs. Successive attempts have been made to constrain the higher– degree field using the position of the Io auroral footprint where the auroras are due to currents generated close to Io and carried along the magnetic field lines. Thus, the auroral spots should map to Io’s orbit. VIPAL, the latest model of this kind is a 5th degree model. However, the VIPAL model was limited by three factors: the main constraints come from a unique L-shell, the difficulty of mixing Jovigraphic and magnetic data, and the non-linearity of the problem. These issues lead to numerically demanding computations, with the scale of computation increasing as the square of the model degree. We have developed a new method for computing the magnetic field using in-situ and auroral constraints (ISaAC) which we have applied to the computation of the Jovian magnetic field, based on Voyager, Pioneer, Galileo magnetic measurements and constrained by Io’s, Europa’s and Ganymede’s auroral footprint locations.
Electrospun nanofibrous composites of polystyrene and cellulose nanocrystals: manufacture and characterization

An electrospinning process was successfully utilized to manufacture polystyrene/cellulose nanocrystal (PS/CNC) nanofibrous mats. Morphology, crystallinity, thermal behavior, as well as mechanical and hydrophobic properties of electrospun PS/CNC nanofibrous mats were investigated. Morphological analysis of the obtained nanofibrous mats demonstrated that fine nanofibers with smooth and smaller diameter could be obtained with increased CNC contents. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed that PS and CNCs were physically mixed and CNCs were probably distributed on the surface of the electrospun nanofibers. The structural property e.g. crystallinity of the electrospun nanofibers was examined using wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). It was indicated that crystallinity could be increased as a result of the increased addition of CNCs and aligned nanofiber orientation. Thermal properties of electrospun PS/CNC nanocomposites were enhanced by increasing CNC loading levels. The tensile strength of electrospun PS/CNC nanofibrous mats was elevated 170% by incorporating 7 wt% CNCs in PS matrix, while the ductility was decreased from 60 to 25%. The hydrophobic property could be increased to 138° when 1 wt% CNCs was incorporated.
Efficient Forecasting of Electricity Spot Prices with Expert and LASSO Models

Recent electricity price forecasting (EPF) studies suggest that the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) leads to well performing models that are generally better than those obtained from other variable selection schemes. By conducting an empirical study involving datasets from two major power markets (Nord Pool and PJM Interconnection), three expert models, two multi-parameter regression (called baseline) models and four variance stabilizing transformations combined with the seasonal component approach, we discuss the optimal way of implementing the LASSO. We show that using a complex baseline model with nearly 400 explanatory variables, a well chosen variance stabilizing transformation (asinh or N-PIT), and a procedure that recalibrates the LASSO regularization parameter once or twice a day indeed leads to significant accuracy gains compared to the typically considered EPF models. Moreover, by analyzing the structures of the best LASSO-estimated models, we identify the most important explanatory variables and thus provide guidelines to structuring better performing models.