Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Repurchase intention: the effect of similarity and client knowledge

PurposeThe objective of this study was to investigate the effect of appearance, lifestyle and status similarity on interaction intensity, satisfaction with a banker and repurchase intention. Also examined was the moderating effect of client knowledge in the enhancement of customer satisfaction with a banker.Design/methodology/approachA total of 800 questionnaires using the snowball sampling technique were performed to distribute the questionnaires to bank customers at different ethnic community centers in New Zealand. A total of 377 useable questionnaires were collected for further analysis.FindingsThe findings indicated that the three types of similarity affect interaction intensity differently. Lifestyle similarity was found to positively influence interaction intensity. The similarity constructs of appearance and status were found to have an insignificant relationship with interaction intensity. The findings show that appearance similarity and interaction intensity are able to enhance customer satisfaction with a banker. Customer satisfaction with a banker has a significant relationship with repurchase intention. Client knowledge influences the degree of interaction intensity and satisfaction with a banker.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study help bankers to understand the importance of their similarities with a customer and to design recruitment strategies and training sections to improve customer satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the body of knowledge by incorporating interaction intensity, similarity and satisfaction with a bank into the repurchase intention model.
Assessment of temperature and rainfall trends in Punjab province of Pakistan for the period 1961-2014

The objective of this study was to assess trends in maximum and minimum temperatures and total monthly rainfall in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Non parametric Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope techniques were employed to find trend strength and magnitude. Serial correlation in data was removed by using TFPW (Trend Free Pre-Whitening) approach. Monthly data of maximum and minimum temperatures and total rainfall was obtained from Regional Meteorological Office (Lahore) for nine districts of Punjab for the period 19612014. The maximum temperature showed a significant increasing trend at Rawalpindi and Faisalabad with a Sen Slope of 0.010°C /year, while significant increasing trends at eight stations were observed in minimum temperature on annual basis. All stations have experienced increasing trends in rainfall out of which only two stations have shown significant trend annually. Overall in Punjab, maximum temperature has shown a significant upward trend in spring (0.028°C /year) and downward trend in summer season (-0.013°C /year). While in minimum temperature, significant increasing trends were observed in all seasons excluding summer. A significant increasing trend in rainfall was observed in summer (1.79 mm/year), autumn and on annual basis (3.23mm/year). The results indicate that spring season is warming and the decreasing trend in summer temperature is caused by increasing trend of rainfall in the province.
Fighting for Power: Class Conflicts in Political Participation

FIGHTING FOR POWER: CLASS CONFLICTS IN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION David Foley Old Dominion University, May 2020 Director: Dr. Randy Gainey The purpose of this study is to examine the effect that socioeconomic status has on political participation in the United States. The elite of the United States have been able to amass incomprehensible amounts of power and wealth. From a C. Wright Mill’s conflict theory perspective, those who are in power seek a continuation, and those not in power seek to flip the scales—or at least get even. Using socioeconomic status as focal point of conflict, this study completed varying models of binary logistic regression to unfold the relationship present between socioeconomic status—educational attainment, student status, and household income— with political participation. Political participation is measured through two dichotomous variables, voting and voluntary participation. In order to best predict the relationship, control variables have been utilized. Results show that being a student in the past year had the most significant effect on political participation in both measures. Educational attainment was significant for voting, but not for voluntarily participating. Income was not significant for any of the regressions completed.
Markups, Quality, and Trade Costs, WP/20/36, February 2020

We investigate theoretically and empirically how exporters adjust their markups across destinations depending on bilateral distance, tariffs, and the quality of their exports. Under the assumption that trade costs are both ad valorem and per unit, our model predicts that markups rise with distance and fall with tariffs, but these effects are heterogeneous and are smaller in magnitude for higher quality exports. We find strong support for the predictions of the model using a unique data set of Argentinean firm-level wine exports combined with experts wine ratings as a measure of quality. JEL Classification Numbers: F12, F14, F31
Studies on Germination Behaviour of Respective Seed Sources of Azadirachta indica

Azadirachta indica commonly known as neem belong to the family of Meliaceae. It is a valuable medicinal tropical tree species with many uses. Germination of neem seed is in the initial circumstance critical step in afforestation programmes or naturally conditions seed quality at the physiological level includes seed viability. Neem seed International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 8 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
GORENSTEIN FLAT AND GORENSTEIN INJECTIVE DIMENSIONS OF SIMPLE MODULES

Let R be a right GF -closed ring with finite left and right Gorenstein global dimension. We prove that if I is an ideal of R such that R/I is a semi-simple ring, then the Gorenstein flat dimension of R/I as a right R-module and the Gorenstein injective dimension of R/I as a left R-module are identical. In particular, we show that for a simple module S over a commutative Gorenstein ring R, the Gorenstein flat dimension of S equals to the Gorenstein injective dimension of S.
The extracellular calcium-sensing receptor evokes MAPKmediated proliferation in insulin-secreting cells: an effect dependent on cell architecture.

Background/Aims: Evidence supports a role for the extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) in regulating proliferation in a variety of cell types, including pancreatic β-cells. The present study examines the mechanism by which CaR activation augments β-cell proliferation and determines the extent by which cell-cell contact modifies this response. Methods: Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry confirmed CaR expression within MIN6 and primary mouse β-cells. DNA synthesis was used as a marker of cell proliferation by measuring the incorporation of ALEXA-tagged-5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU) in individual cells. Results: Expression of CaR-protein increased in MIN6 monolayer cells compared to passage-matched 3dimensional pseudoislets. Activation of CaR using calcimimetic R568 (1μM) enhanced proliferation in MIN6 monolayers at physiologically appropriate concentrations of extracellular calcium (0.5mM). Pseudoislet formation reduces CaR-evoked proliferation compared with monolayers counterpart (P<0.001). CaR-evoked proliferation was significantly inhibited by PD98059 and SU1498 (1-100μM), suggesting that CaR-stimulated β-cell turnover was dependent both on the MAPK/ERK pathway. Cell proliferation was also inhibited in cells lacking E-cadherin ligation. Proliferation was recovered by addition of R568 to ECAD-neutralized cells (P<0.01, n=3) but was unable to fully regain the R568-evoked effect when applied to cells that retain Ecadherin ligation. Conclusion: These studies support a role of the CaR in p42/44 MAPK-mediated proliferation within pancreatic β-cells. The extent of CaR-activated proliferation depends upon the degree of cell-to-cell contact. Running head: CaR and proliferation in β-cells
Modeling for Micro Traffic Flow with the Consideration of Lateral Vehicle’s Influence

In order to make the car-following model describe the driving behavior of vehicle on urban road more accurately, existing car-following models are simulated using measured traffic data. According to the analysis of the simulation result, two new improved car-following models based on the optimal velocity model (OVM) are proposed in this paper. The lateral vehicle’s influence is introduced as the influence factor of driving behavior. By using of linear stability analysis, stability conditions of improved car-following models are obtained. Nonlinear analysis is carried out to investigate the traffic performances near the critical point. The result of numerical simulation indicates that stability of traffic flow is under the influence from lateral vehicle; the lesser the influence, the greater the stability. New cooperative car-following models are verified by the traffic flow data collected in Xi’an city. It is shown that compared with the optimal velocity model, the simulation result of the second cooperative model, respectively, gets 62.89% unbiased variance reduction, 66.39% maximum absolute error reduction, and 33.4% minimum absolute error reduction. Therefore, the second cooperative model is more suitable to describe the vehicle’s actual behavior in car-following state.
Effects of Seasonal Moderate Grazing on Plant Community of Alpine Meadow

The effects of different seasonal grazing(i.e.summer grazing or winter grazing)on plant composition and diversity in Kobresia humilis alpine meadow were investigated from 2007 to 2011 on the Tibetan plateau using the quadrat method.This study shows that:(1)After long-term different seasonal grazing, the proportion of gramineous functional group reduced and the proportion of the forb functional group increased under both summer grazing and winter grazing;(2)Grazing in different seasons had significant influence on the proportion of different species in the plant community.Compared with no grazing,summer grazing increased the proportion of K.humilis,Taraxacum mongolicum and Potentilla anserina in thecommunity 151.38%,318.87% and 344.15%,respectively,but decreased the proportion of Stipa aliena 41.16%;winter grazing increased the proportion of P.anserina124. 08%,but decreased the proportion of Poa pratensis 45.99%. However,they had no significant influence on the proportion of,Scirpus distigmaticus,Festuca rubra,Elymus nutans,Trigonella ruthenicaand Thalictrum alpinum. (3)Generally,the influences of grazing in different seasons on the species richness,diversity index and evenness index of plant communities were not significant but varied with the year.
Gibberellin Synthesis Inhibitor Effects on Submersed Aquatic Weed Species

A laboratory bioassay showed that inhibitors of gibberellin synthesis (flurprimidol, paclobutrazol, and uniconazole) reduced plant height but did not affect physiological parameters such as photosynthesis, respiration, and chlorophyll content in two weedy submersed aquatic plants, hydrilla and Eurasian watermilfoil. Eurasian watermilfoil was sensitive to these compounds at concentrations as low as 0.75 μg L−1. Hydrilla sensitivity was in the range of 75 to 750 μg L−1. The three compounds reduced main and lateral stem lengths in hydrilla; however, at 75 μg L−1 the number of lateral stems and roots was greatly increased over untreated controls resulting in a stoloniferous growth habit. Dominant growth form of treated Eurasian watermilfoil was a single shortened stem with numerous compacted buds. Photosynthesis, respiration, and chlorophyll content were not affected in either plant at nontoxic dosages in which stem reduction was obtained. Both plants required only a 24-h exposure to maintain main stem length reduction for 6 wk after transfer to untreated medium. Our results indicate that these gibberellin synthesis inhibitors would be effective in reducing plant height in aquatic systems.
Shoreline variability at a low-energy beach: Contributions of storms, megacusps and sea-breeze cycles

The temporal and spatial variations in shoreline position were analysed at a low-energy beach in southwestern Australia fronted by an offshore reef to examine the relative contributions of storm events, megacusps and diurnal sea-breeze cycles to the beach morphologic response. The shoreline position did not exhibit a seasonal sinusoidal erosion/accretion pattern as often observed at open coast sandy beaches, but instead a dynamic morphology dominated by storm and recovery cycles that generated fluctuations of ~10m in the shoreline position. During low swell recovery periods, the beach rapidly developed megacusps (wavelength ~100m, amplitude ~5m), which despite generating local erosive changes within the megacusps embayments, the beach still tended to accrete during these low swell conditions. In most cases, the embayments coincided with locations of rip currents suggesting that rip currents might contribute to the formation of the megacusps. Additionally, high-frequency measurements collected over a series of diurnal sea-breeze cycles typical of the site during summer months demonstrated that the erosive impact due to sea breezes was much smaller than that observed during storms, despite wave heights often being similar during these events. While the beach eroded during intensification of the diurnal sea-breeze, the beach mostly exhibited net daily accretion due to the low-energy swell that dominated the wave spectrum during the overnight and morning hours. The formation and alongshore migration of megacusps during sea-breeze cycles also contributed to beach accretion, overwhelming the erosion due to the consecutive sea-breezes events after a few days.
Role of Catalase as Semen Additive in Cryopreservation of Cattle Bull Semen

Artificial insemination (AI) is the most important single technique devised for the genetic improvement of animals. This improvement has been exponential in dairy cattle, in which use of frozen semen is most common. A prerequisite for the best use of this genetic material is to obtain acceptable fertility after AI apart from achieving a high International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 8 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Coordination and Continuous Choice

We study a coordination game where players choose what information to acquire about payo¤s prior to the play of the game. We allow general information acquisition technologies, modeled by a cost functional de ned on information structures. A cost functional satis es continuous choice if players choose a continuous decision rule even in a decision problem with discontinuous payo¤s. If continuous choice holds, there is a unique equilibrium in the coordination game; if continuous choice fails, there are multiple equilibria. We show how continuous choice captures the idea that it is su¢ ciently harder to distinguish states that are close to each other relative to far away states. JEL: C72 D82
Performance of CAMS Radiation Service and HelioClim-3 databases of solar radiation at surface: evaluating the spatial variation in Germany

Abstract. The present work deals with the spatial consistency of two well-known databases of solar radiation received at ground level: the CAMS Radiation Service database version 3.2, abbreviated as CAMS-Rad and the HelioClim-3 database version 5, abbreviated as HC3v5. Both databases are derived from satellite images. They are validated against 10 min means of irradiance for the period 2010–2018 recorded in a network of 26 ground stations in Germany operated by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). For the CAMS-Rad database, the correlation coefficient between ground measurements and estimates ranges between 0.83 and 0.92 for all sky conditions. The bias ranges from −41 and 32 W m −2 ( −11 % and 10 % of the mean irradiance). The standard deviation ranges between 89 and 129 W m −2 (25 % and 39 %). For the HC3v5 database, the correlation coefficient ranges between 0.90 and 0.95. The bias and the standard deviation are comprised between −22 and 16 W m −2 ( −6 % and 5 %), and between respectively 70 and 104 W m −2 (20 % and 31 %). For the CAMS Rad database, overestimation is observed in the South, and underestimation in the North with a faint tendency of the bias to increase from East to West. For the HC3v5 database, the bias is fairly homogeneous across Germany. For both databases, there is no noticeable spatial trend in the standard deviation.
Size-limited predation on tadpoles of three Australian frogs

Larvae of three southeastern Australian anurans, Pseudophryne bibroni, Ranidella signifera, and Litoria ewingi, were tested for their ability to escape predation from larvae of the odonate Hemicordulia tau. In each species larger tadpoles were less likely to be captured than small tadpoles, despite equal frequencies of strikes against all size classes. Larger tadpoles escaped more quickly from simulated strikes, probably reducing the opportunity for predators to grasp them successfully.
Sorption Studies on Sulphur in Cultivated Soils of Himachal Pradesh

Sulphur (S) is recognized as a key plant nutrient and is essential for the synthesis of the amino acids like cystine, cysteine and methionine, a component of vitamin A and activates certain enzyme systems in plants. S deficiencies in India are widespread and scattered throughout 120 districts out of 400 districts (Ghosh and Dash, 2012). Removal of Sby crops in India is about 1.26 mt whereas its replenishment through fertilizers is only about 0.76 mt (Tiwari and Gupta, 2006). Further, the recovery of added S through external sources is also very low, being only 8 to 10 per cent (Hegde and Murthy, 2005). The demand of S by plants is not persistent with time because it is regulated internally in response to the environmental conditions and stage of plant development. Spools in the soil are extremely dynamic. Available S content in the soil is used as an index to evaluate soil S fertility status and its involvement towards nutrition of plant. However; understanding of different forms of Sis of much significance in measuring the long-term availability of nutrients and in formulating strong fertilizer recommendations. Both the availability of Sto International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 8 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
MULITVARIATE CRASH RISK

This paper investigates whether multivariate crash risk is priced in the crosssection of expected stock returns. Motivated by a theoretical asset pricing model, we capture the multivariate crash risk of a stock by a combined measure based on its expected shortfall and its multivariate lower tail dependence with the systematic risk factors of the Carhart (1997) model. We find that stocks with a high exposure to joint crashes of the market and the momentum factor bear a risk premium which is not explained by traditional linear factor models or by other downside risk measures. Our results indicate that accounting for the multivariate crash risk of established state variables helps to understand the cross-section of expected stock returns without further expanding the factor zoo.
Unearthing the Past and Present of a Semi-fossorial Lizard: Conservation Genetics, Phylogeography, and Taxonomy of Plestiodon egregius

Characterizing an organism’s evolutionary history and population structure as well as understanding the forces shaping that divergence is crucial to conservation biology. A clear understanding of the patterns of diversity and divergence are imperative for the best management of the organism, while an awareness of what drives these patterns can lead to better predictions of how organisms will respond to future climate change. Historical climate changes and associated sea level change are among the main forces driving divergence in many species. To examine how effects of climate changes may have driven patterns of intraspecific divergence, I examined Mole Skinks, Plestiodon egregius, a semi-fossorial lizard of conservation concern. First, I characterized P. egregius evolutionary history and population structure using multiple data sources: morphological characters, mitochondrial sequences (mtDNA), and genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). I determined that SNP data distinguished population structure at a finer resolution than morphology or mtDNA. From these data, I defined six conservation units within P. egregius, three of which are consistent with current subspecific taxonomy. Next, I used statistical phylogeography to examine how the effects of historical climate change in the southeastern United States (US) may have driven patterns of intraspecific divergence in P. egregius. I devised a set of alternative hypotheses regarding the historical distribution and dispersal of P. egregius to test using genome-wide SNP markers. I found support for a historical refugia within the southern scrub ridges in Florida followed by expansion into the Florida peninsula and mainland US. Synthesizing the results from both studies, I evaluate the current subspecific taxonomy and discuss the conservation of P. egregius. Overall, I conclude that P. egregius evolutionary history has been driven by historical sea level changes in the southeastern US, and that insular populations should be the focus of conservation efforts.
Statistical Models for Inclusive Measurements of Student Engagement

In the technology industry and in academia, technologists frequently use the term "engagement" as one metric to measure a user’s experience. Within the sub-ﬁeld of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), recently-published papers do not all agree on their deﬁnitions of this term. However, recent HCI research has realized some success in measuring and modelling student engagement. In this thesis, I survey the variety of approaches taken in such work. I also discuss how these studies surprisingly do not take into account students who use assistive technologies despite these technologies’ notorious tendencies towards user disengagement. Ultimately, I propose future research towards modelling and quantifying engagement of all students in a way that takes into account the differences in the experiences of learning with and without assistive devices.
Evaluation of Soil Health and Soil Quality Analysis of Different Blocks of Bundi District, Rajasthan, India

“Dokuchaev defined soil as an independent natural body developed over time under the influence of five soil-forming factors: parent rock, living organisms, climate, relief and time” (Dokuchaev, 1948). “Soil is more or less a loose and crumby part of the outer earth crust in which, by means of their roots, plants may or do find foot hold and nourishment as well as other conditions essential to their growth” (Hilgard, 1892). Agriculture is one of the world’s most important activities supporting human life. Potential land use assessment is likely to the prediction of land potential for productive land use type (Dadhwal et al., 2011). Land productivity capacity or land quality is a comprehension, at the same time a precise concept in terms of agricultural activities (Dengiz and Saglam, 2012). Agricultural intensification and massive infrastructure development in the recent years without considering the variability of entire International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 8 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com