Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Financial Inclusion Strategies and Performance of Commercial Banks in Rwanda; A Case of I&M Bank in Rwanda

The research intended to analyze the effect of financial inclusion strategies on performance of commercial banks in Rwanda, a case of I&M Bank Rwanda Ltd. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the effect of agency banking, financial innovation and loan products on financial performance of commercial banks in Rwanda and guided by three theories which are agency theory, constraint-induced theory and innovation theory. A sample size of 92 employees among 1,232 was taken and data was collected through questionnaires and interview guide. SPSS 23, descriptive research design, correlation and regression statistic were used in the analysis of collected data. The results of the study indicated that agency banking application is the important driver to facilitate people to get banking services form banks. The results established that agency banking and financial inclusion are satisfactory in explaining the performance of commercial banks. The coefficient of determination, also known as the R square, was 0.594 (59.4%). This implied that agency banking and financial inclusion strategies explain 59.4% of the variations in the performance of commercial banks. As conclusions, financial inclusion strategies analysed in this research play an important role in the performance of commercial banks in Rwanda. Financial institutions in Rwanda use financial inclusion strategies to boost their financial performances. Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is important and very effective because it facilitates the customers the access of their accounts to withdraw or deposit money as it is for digital banking, debit cards and smart cards. This enables banks to increase sales and influence its financial performance. For loan product, it is concluded that this is an important strategy of I&M Bank to attract customers thus affect the financial performance of the bank. The study recommended that I&M Bank has to improve its agency banking by increasing their number and location. I&M Bank has to extend its branches to remote areas and increase the number of ATMs so that people in remote areas get different financial services easily. Keywords: financial inclusion strategies, agency banking, financial performance, I&M Bank, Rwanda
The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Partial Leasing of Agricultural Water Rights

Balancing out‐of‐stream water demands and ecological instream flows is a difficult challenge in watershed‐scale management. Many watersheds already experience acute and chronic water shortages during average runoff years and may face more frequent and severe droughts in some locations due to climate and demographic change. Water markets may mitigate the economic consequences of shortages, but their potential is limited by the prevalence of all‐or‐nothing irrigate‐or‐fallow crop water use strategies. Irrigation water generally provides diminishing returns for crop productivity, so it may be possible to reduce water application at the margin with only a small loss in crop production, creating water savings that could be leased for other uses. We explore this scenario by combining a crop growth and hydrology (CropSyst) model with an economic model of farm profits and water trading, and apply it to the Walla Walla Basin in Washington State. Our results suggest that partial leasing of water rights through a deficit‐irrigation strategy could economically benefit annual crop growers while meaningfully increasing water availability for stream flow augmentation.
The importance of professional based questionnaire in the dog’s acute and chronic pain evaluation

The measurement of pain levels is made differently depending if acute or chronic pain is diagnosed, objective (e.g. cortisol, prolactin, serotonin, catecholamines, or the cardiac frequency and arterial pressure evaluation) or subjective methods being imagined. All subjective methods are including questionnaires and specific additional methods. The aim was the verifying the effectiveness of drug and physiotherapy combinations by using an owner based questionnaire for the chronic patients and a veterinary professional based questionnaire for the acute pain patient group. In this study a total of 20 dogs with observable pain were selected and two groups (n = 10 / group), constituted: G1 - chronic pain, and G2 - acute pain. The treatment of dogs with acute signs of pain was made oral or injectable with NSAIDs administration and for dogs with signs of chronic pain, physiotherapy treatment and drug therapy was administered. The owners of the dogs with chronic pain received the HCPI questionnaire in order to evaluate their dog’s pain level subjectively. For the dogs with acute pain the veterinarian filled out the short form of Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS-SF). After initiating a Paired t-test in Excel 2010 with the scores obtained with HCPI and CMPS-SF, there was observed a significant reduction of pain after associated drug administration and physiotherapy and no significant evidence of acute pain after drug therapy. The used physiotherapy and drug combinations delivered a significant reduction of chronic pain, both clinically and visually mirrored in score reduction after treatments. The HCPI questionnaire could be considered a valuable tool for evaluating chronic pain in patients in the clinic environment. The CMPS-SF has also proven to be a very useful questionnaire in diagnose of acute pain and evaluation of the effectiveness of drug therapy used.
Interferon Lambda Regulates Cellular and Humoral Immunity in Pristane-Induced Lupus

A pivotal role of type I interferons in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is widely accepted. Type III interferons (IFN-λ) however, the most recently discovered cytokines grouped within the interferon family, have not been extensively studied in lupus disease models yet. Growing evidence suggests a role for IFN-λ in regulating both innate and adaptive immune responses, and increased serum concentrations have been described in multiple autoimmune diseases including SLE. Using the pristane-induced lupus model, we found that mice with defective IFN-λ receptors (Ifnlr1−/−) showed increased survival rates, decreased lipogranuloma formation and reduced anti-dsDNA autoantibody titers in the early phase of autoimmunity development compared to pristane-treated wild-type mice. Moreover, Ifnlr1−/− mice treated with pristane had reduced numbers of inflammatory mononuclear phagocytes and cNK cells in their kidneys, resembling untreated control mice. Systemically, circulating B cells and monocytes (CD115+Ly6C+) were reduced in pristane-treated Ifnlr1−/− mice. The present study supports a significant role for type III interferons in the pathogenesis of pristane-induced murine autoimmunity as well as in systemic and renal inflammation. Although the absence of type III interferon receptors does not completely prevent the development of autoantibodies, type III interferon signaling accelerates the development of autoimmunity and promotes a pro-inflammatory environment in autoimmune-prone hosts.
Quantitative and qualitative application of clinical drawings for image-guided brachytherapy in cervical cancer patients

Purpose Clinical drawings are integral part of image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) of cervical cancer. It was used in EMBRACE study protocol as a useful tool. In our study clinical drawings from EMBRACE study were modified to include scales in all the dimensions for more accurate representation of various tumor related volumes. The aim of the present study was to understand patterns of tumor regression and relationship between gross tumor at diagnosis (GTVD) and high-risk clinical target volume (CTV-THR)/intermediate-risk clinical target volume (CTV-TIR) in brachytherapy (BRT), using modified clinical drawings. Material and methods 42 cervical cancer patients, staged as FIGO IIB-IIIB according to EMBRACE study, were enrolled. Advanced schematic 3D mapping diagram (3D-MD) in axial, coronal, and sagittal orientations, with a measurement scale (grid with 10 mm distance) for precise assessment and documentation was applied (through MRI at diagnosis and during brachytherapy). Dimensions, including height, width, and thickness as well as volumes (GTVD, CTV-THR and CTV-TIR) were compared both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results and conclusions We found qualitative and quantitative correlation of the dimensions of final CTV-THR with initial GTVD. Meticulous mapping of tumor volumes can provide useful insights to CTV-THR volume during brachytherapy.
Pediatric Hypothermia: An Ambiguous Issue

Hypothermia in pediatrics is mainly about small body size. The key thermal factor here is the large surface-to-volume ratio. Although small mammals, including human infants and children, are adapted to higher heat losses through their elevated metabolic rate and thermogenic capacity, they are still at risk of hypothermia because of a small regulatory range and an impending metabolic exhaustion. However, some small mammalian species (hibernators) use reduced metabolic rates and lowered body temperatures as adaptations to impaired energy supply. Similar to nature, hypothermia has contradictory effects in clinical pediatrics as well: In neonates, it is a serious risk factor affecting respiratory adaptation in term and developmental outcome in preterm infants. On the other hand, it is an important self-protective response to neonatal hypoxia and an evidence-based treatment option for asphyxiated babies. In children, hypothermia first enabled the surgical repair of congenital heart defects and promotes favorable outcome after ice water drowning. Yet, it is also a major threat in various prehospital and clinical settings and has no proven therapeutic benefit in pediatric critical care. All in all, pediatric hypothermia is an ambiguous issue whose harmful or beneficial effects strongly depend on the particular circumstances.
Leveraging Automatic High-Level Synthesis Resource Sharing to Maximize Dynamical Voltage Overscaling with Error Control

Approximate Computing has emerged as an alternative way to further reduce the power consumption of integrated circuits (ICs) by trading off errors at the output with simpler, more efficient logic. So far the main approaches in approximate computing have been to simplify the hardware circuit by pruning the circuit until the maximum error threshold is met. One of the critical issues, though, is the training data used to prune the circuit. The output error can significantly exceed the maximum error if the final workload does not match the training data. Thus, most previous work typically assumes that training data matches with the workload data distribution. In this work, we present a method that dynamically overscales the supply voltage based on different workload distribution at runtime. This allows to adaptively select the supply voltage that leads to the largest power savings while ensuring that the error will never exceed the maximum error threshold. This approach also allows restoring of the original error-free circuit if no matching workload distribution is found. The proposed method also leverages the ability of High-Level Synthesis (HLS) to automatically generate circuits with different properties by setting different synthesis constraints to maximize the available timing slack and, hence, maximize the power savings. Experimental results show that our proposed method works very well, saving on average 47.08% of power as compared to the exact output circuit and 20.25% more than a traditional approximation method.
Occupational Self-Efficacy as a Mediator in the Reciprocal Relationship between Job Demands and Mental Health Complaints: A Three-Wave Investigation

The most recent version of the job demands-resources (JD–R) theory proposes that demanding working conditions and employee strain form a self-perpetuating loss cycle. By acknowledging that such cycles are detrimental for both employees and organizations, the present study aimed to contribute to enhancing the current scarce understanding regarding their explanatory mechanisms. For this purpose, it applied social cognitive theory to propose that occupational self-efficacy mediates the effects of two role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) on employee mental health complaints and vice versa. The hypothesized reciprocal mediation effects were tested using a three-wave full panel research design and a dataset of 917 (NT1 = 513, NT1+T2 = 122, NT1+T3 = 70, NT1+T2+T3 = 212) Croatian employees working in heterogeneous private sector industries. The results demonstrated that role conflict, but not role ambiguity, undermined employees’ beliefs in their capabilities to successfully master their jobs which, in turn, led them to experience more mental health complaints over time. Contrary to expectations, poor mental health did not lead to diminished efficacy beliefs nor, in turn, more job demands over time. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated an additional mechanism in the job demands-strain relationship and, at the same time, shed new light on the role of personal resources within the JD–R theory. Accounting for the malleable nature of employee efficacy beliefs, the study proposes several ways in which organizations can enhance occupational self-efficacy and thereby curb the causal chain linking job demands and employee strain reactions.
The long-term effects of the Amoco Cadiz oil spill

The supertanker Amoco Cadiz wrecked on the coast of northern Brittany in April 1978. The resulting spill of 223000 t of crude oil polluted some 360 km of rocky or sandy shores, salt marshes and estuaries. An immediate mortality impact was observed. Populations of bivalves, periwinkles, limpets, peracarid crustaceans, heart urchins and sea birds were the most severely affected. Populations of polychaete worms, large crustaceans and coastal fishes were less affected. Three to six generations (5-10 years for bivalves but up to 60 years for birds) may be necessary before populations retrieve their stable age distribution. Delayed effects on mortality, growth and recruitment were still observed up to 3 years after the spill. Estuarine flat fishes and mullets had reduced growth, fecundity and recruitment ; they were affected by fin rot disease. Populations of clams and nematodes in the meiofauna declined one year after the spill. Weathered oil is still present in low-energy areas. Species with short life cycles tend to replace long-lived species. A fauna of cirratulid and capitellid polychaete worms now prevails in sandy to muddy areas. For several clam populations, recruitment remains unstable. Three years after the spill it is still premature to decide how long it will take before populations and ecosystems reach their former or new equilibria. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
Data Imputation in Trials with Genotype by Environment Interaction: an Application on Cotton Data (In Portuguese)

A common problem in multienvironment trials are the missing genotype-environmental combinations. Recently, Bergamo proposed a distribution-free multiple imputation method in the interaction matrix. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the new development and compare it with methodologies that have success in the genotype-environmental trials with missing data, like the alternating least squares (ALS) and the robust estimates, using the Additive Main effects and Multiplicative Interaction Models (AMMI). Was made an simulation study based in real data, doing missed random considering different percentages, imputing the observations and comparing the methodologies through three criteria: the square root of the mean predictive difference, the Procrustes statistic and the Spearman's rank correlation coeficient. Was concluded that the multiple imputation is not better than the imputation based in a additive model without interaction, and the best results for the variance are obtained with robust sub-models. All the considerated methods in this study have a high correlation between the true and the imputed missing values.
A Comparative Evidence of Income Levels Reflecting Gen Z's Digital Payments Intention and Usage

The study investigating e-payment services intention and use behavior of generation Z – knowing as the digital native cohort. To better understand the effect of financial volatility, the present study has categorized the study groups into low-income and high-income levels in accordance with Thai minimum wages. The UTAUT theory has been adopted to examining Gen Z’s intention and behavior toward using e-payment services. The factors comprising of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence expectancy, facilitating conditions affecting behavioral intention and use behavior. Thus, there was five main hypothesizes have developed based on the utilized theory. The findings illustrate the significant differences between the two study groups. The behavior of using e-payment services is significantly distinct by the high-income level of Gen Z would rather using the services than the low-income. For Gen Z who earn a low income, there is one hypothesis that is rejected – effort expectancy affecting behavioral intention. On the other hand, for the higher-income, two hypotheses have not been confirmed which are performance expectancy and social influence expectancy positively influence behavioral intention. Among those supported hypotheses, the effect of intention on use behavior is the strongest path relationship for both low-income (β = 0.761) and high-income levels (β = 0.576).
An integration model for identifying the determinants of the adoption and implementation level of HRIS applications and Its effectiveness in business organisations in Jordan

This thesis investigates the influence of firms’ internal and external environmental factors upon their adoption of HRIS behaviour (i.e., the variation between adopters and non-adopters) and the level of implementation of HRIS applications and its effectiveness. An integrated conceptual framework was developed for the factors that determine the organisation’s adoption and the level of practice of HRIS applications. This framework integrates ideas and elements from the Diffusion of innovation Theory (DOI) and technology organization environment (TOE) model, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the IT studies in the area of HRM. Data were collected through structured-directed interviews with 236 respondents. The survey units were the shareholding companies in Jordan, and the key single respondents approach was employed. The findings of the study support that internal and external environmental factors are related not only to adoption of HRIS behaviour (i.e., the difference between adopters and nonadopters), but also to the level of implementing of HRIS applications. In comparison to each environmental dimension acting alone, the integration approach of the two internal and external dimensions gives better explanation not only of the prediction of the level of implementing of HRIS applications, but also of the prediction of adoption behaviour. Therefore, a better understanding of adoption of HRIS behaviour and the level of implementing of HRIS applications requires that firms’ environmental factors be viewed as whole (i.e., the interaction of the internal and external dimension) rather than being isolated fragments (i.e., only a single dimension). The current research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by enhancing current understanding of the organisational adoption of HRIS, which is an under-researched area in Jordan as a developing country. By employing analytical tools based on Rogers’s Innovation Diffusion Theory , UTAUT, TOE , and the findings of empirical studies of IT adoption, evidence confirms that the adoption of HRIS in the business organisations depends largely on interaction of internal and external environmental factors and the findings support the need for an integrated view of the adoption phenomenon. In that respect, this study also attempts to make an important theoretical contribution towards articulating differences in the determinants of adoption and the level of implementations of HRIS applications and its effectiveness.
Effect of IBA, NAA and their Combination on Rooting and Biochemical Parameters of Stem Cuttings in Barbados Cherry

An investigation was to assess the influence of growth regulators IBA, NAA and their combination on rooting and biochemical parameters of stem cuttings in Barbados cherry. It was observed that, the least number of days (21.33) taken for root initiation, maximum percentage of rooting (80.00) was observed in cutting treated with IBA 5000 ppm followed by IBA 4500 ppm over other treatments. Significantly highest Chlorophyll-a (1.26), Chlorophyll –b (0.55) and total chlorophyll content (1.82 mg/g of fresh weight) of leaves and C : N ratio (8.74) was observed in cuttings treated with IBA 5000 ppm followed by IBA 4500 ppm over all other treatments.
Intangible Assets of a Trade Organization in the Context of Digital Transformation

The paper explores the aspects of formation, valuation and developmental resource of intangible assets in trade amid the growing role of online sales channels. The existing criteria of categorising the resources of trade companies as intangible assets are analysed with a focus on their suitability for the established practices. The structure of intangible assets is analysed for online and offline trade. The relevant types of intangible assets are identified and valuation problems are described.
Clinical and Molecular Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Staging of NAFLD

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common hepatic pathology in industrialized countries, affecting about 25% of the general population. NAFLD is a benign condition, however, it could evolve toward more serious diseases, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, cirrhosis, and finally, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Liver biopsy is still the gold standard for NAFLD diagnosis. Due to the risks associated with liver biopsy and the impossibility to apply it on a large scale, it is now necessary to identify non-invasive biomarkers, which may reliably identify patients at higher risk of progression. Therefore, several lines of research have tried to address this issue by identifying novel biomarkers using omics approaches, including lipidomics, metabolomics and RNA molecules’ profiling. Thus, in this review, we firstly report the conventional biomarkers used in clinical practice for NAFL and NASH diagnosis as well as fibrosis staging, and secondly, we pay attention to novel biomarkers discovered through omics approaches with a particular focus on RNA biomarkers (microRNAs, long-noncoding RNAs), showing promising diagnostic performance for NAFL/NASH diagnosis and fibrosis staging.
Hardware-in-the-Loop Modeling of an Actively Fed MVDC Railway Systems of the Future

This paper presents an averaged real-time model of an arbitrary size MVDC railway system. In contrast to references already available in the literature, focusing mainly on specific parts of such a railway network (e.g. power converter installed in a locomotive), this paper offers a thorough insight into the modeling of every part belonging to it. Through a set of reasonable assumptions, the concept of a sector is presented allowing for a straightforward synthesis of any MVDC railway network. Thereafter, real-time models of catenaries, rails, trains, as well as power converters supplying the system are presented in a comprehensive manner. Without loss of generality, the system analyzed hereafter represents a 200km section of a double-track EuroCity line powered by an actively fed electrification system with three transformer-rectifier groups and two modular multilevel converters. The proposed modeling approach was verified on a large-scale hardware-in-the-loop system comprising one RT Box 3, hosting the model of the exemplary railway network, and two modular multilevel converter digital twins relying on the use of industrial ABB PEC800 controllers.