Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IMPACT OF MAIZE LETHAL NECROSIS DISEASE ON MAIZE YIELD: A CASE OF KISII COUNTY, KENYA

The study aimed at determining the level of Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease and its effect on maize yield in Kisii County and come up with a document showing the prevalence and distribution of the disease across the nine Sub-counties in the region. A simple random sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 172 respondents from a target household population of 10,000 maize farmers. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data that was subjected to Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (Version 20) for analysis. The findings indicated that the mean age of the respondents was 41.5 years and the average proportion of land allocated for maize production was 1.25 acres. Majority of the respondent had secondary education as their highest level of education. The findings further showed that, Masaba South was the most affected Sub-County by Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease at 74.8%, followed by Bobasi at 74% while Kitutu Chache South was the least affected at 31.2%. The correlation between maize yields and Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease revealed a negative weak relationship of r= 0.277 at a p value of 0.000. It is recommended that farmers should avoid growing maize in consecutive seasons, movement of affected crop debris or materials from one region to another should be stopped to minimize the incidence rates; diversify crops planted and practice crop rotation with non-cereal crops, formulation of extension policy and implement them in all counties to ensure that farmers get necessary information on how to mitigate Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease hence improved maize yield.
Comparative biochemical and pathological studies between Toltrazuril and garlic supplementation in chickens experimentally infected with coccidiosis *Shahira

C occidiosis is one of the significant problems in the poultry industry throughout the world. It is responsible for 6–10% of all broiler mortality. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of combination between garlic powder and half therapeutic dose of to Toltrazuril for controlling clinical cecalcoccidiosis, based on clinical signs, mortality rate, oocysts counting, hematological, biochemical parameters of blood and pathological examination. One hundred at one day-old chicks were randomly divided into 5 equal groups. The1 group (A) was kept uninfected (control negative group). The next B, C, D and E groups were infected with 20,000 sporulated oocysts per chicken at the 20 daysold. Group (B) was infected but non treated (control positive). Group (C) was treated with 7 mg/kg Toltrazuril 3day P.I. which is the commercial therapeutic dose. Group (D) was fed on ration containing garlic powder 8 gm /kg ration as a prophylaxis. Group (E) was administered garlic powder 8gm/kg ration from the 1 day age then given 3.5 mg/ kg toltrazuril (half the therapeutic dose) at the 3 rd day post infection (P.I.). In general the clinical signs were huddling ,severe depression, chilling, reduction in feed intake, then profuse bloody dropping which decrease gradually by the11 day P.I. The mortalities were recorded in groups (B, C and D) (35%, 10% and 20% respectively). The hemato-biochemical parameters were significantly decreased in Hb, RBCs, PCV, serum protein level and significantly increased in TLC, AST and ALT levels. The pathological findings showed severe hemorrhagic enteritis, severe leucocytic infiltration and necrotic cecal glands. The birds in group (E) showed milder symptoms with improvement of clinical signs, averages feed intake, as well as hematological, biochemical parameters and pathological lesions with decreasing the oocyst number than in-group (B). It could be concluded that the combination between garlic powder as prophylaxis and half dose of Toltrazuril as treatment prevent the mortalities with reduction of the number of Eimeria oocysts and improve hematobiochemical and pathological results in the affected birds
Age-related Macular Degeneration and Antioxidant Status in the POLA Study

Objective: To give the levels of antioxidant nutrients in relation to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: Pathologies Oculaires Lie´es a` l’Age is a popu-lation-based study on cataract and AMD and their risk factors, carried out on 2584 inhabitants of Se`te, France. Age-related macular degeneration was defined by find-ings from fundus photographs according to an international classification. Biological measurements were taken from fasting blood samples. Results: After multivariate adjustment, plasma a -to-copherol levels showed a weak negative association with late AMD ( P = .07). Lipid-standardized plasma a -tocoph-erol levels showed a significant negative association with late AMD ( P = .003): the risk of late AMD was reduced by 82% in the highest quintile compared with the low-est. Similarly, lipid-standardized plasma a -tocopherol levels were inversely associated with early signs of AMD (odds ratio, 0.72 [95% confidence interval, 0.53-0.98]; P = .04). No associations were found with plasma retinol and ascorbic acid levels or with red blood cell glutathione values. Comment: These results suggest that vitamin E may pro-vide protection against AMD. Only randomized interventional studies could prove the protective effect of vitamin E on AMD. Ophthalmol.
Molecular Cloning of Two Human Cellular Retinoic Acid-binding Proteins (CRABP)

Cellular retinoic acid binding proteins (CRABP) are low molecular weight proteins whose precise function remains unknown. To investigate the role of CRABP in human skin we have cloned the human CRABP-I1 cDNA as well as the coding region of human CRABPI. The predicted amino acid sequences of human CRABP-I and CRABP-I1 demonstrated a 99.3 and 93.5% identity to mouse CRABP-I and CRABP-11, respectively. CRABP-I transcripts were undetectable in adult human epidermis by RNA blot hybridization, while the CRABP-I1 cDNA probe detected an approximately 1.2-kilobase mRNA transcript. External application of 0.1% retinoic acid cream in vivo for 16 h resulted in a 16-fold induction of CRABP-I1 transcripts, while CRABP-I mRNA remained undetectable. Expression of CRABP-11, but not CRABP-I mRNA, was also markedly increased (>15-fold) by retinoic acid treatment of fibroblasts cultured from human skin, whereas no significant induction of CRABP-I1 mRNA was observed in human lung fibroblasts. Human CRABP-I1 but not CRABP-I mRNA was significantly increased by agents which are known to induce keratinocyte differentiation in vitro. The marked inducibility of the CRABP-I1 gene is compatible with the idea that this isoform is important in retinoic acidmediated regulation of human skin growth and differentiation.
(Never)mind the Evidence: Evidence-Based Law-Making in Croatian Regulation on Migration

O policy documents) is grounded on evidence and builds on empirical data drawn from the processes and draft legislation, public consultations, impact assessment, parliamentary discussions, parliamentary questions of members of parliament, and evaluation reports. In this way, the paper also provides a deeper insight into the development of migration regulation, from agenda-setting to the adoption of regulation. Research has enabled us to discuss the possibilities to improve migration law-making by means of evidence-based law-making techniques and other better regulation instruments. It is argued that the use of better regulation instruments in developing migration regulation might contribute to more transparency and accountability, as well as to the reduction of arbitrary use of power by public authorities, and thus foster the standards and principles of the rule of law. in complex issues such as migration; that evidence should be primarily used in the legislative process at the EU level in the areas that fall under the EU competences; that evidence is most beneficial in the early, preparatory phases of law-making; that it is necessary to connect the assessment of the relevance and adequacy of empirical data used and their linkage to the effectiveness of migration legislation. The use of better regulation instruments in developing migration regulation might contribute to more transparency and accountability, as well as to the reduction of arbitrary use of power by public authorities, and thus foster the standards and principles of the rule of law.
E3-Electronic education for English: developing mobile learning and teaching in Saudi Arabia

Mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs), with advanced capabilities, have created new prospects and opportunities, for both students and faculty who are learning and teaching English as a foreign language, in higher education in Saudi Arabia. Technology acceptance theories and models have been widely developed, used and extended to determine the factors related to the acceptance of such technologies in specific national and subject contexts. However, there have been very few studies of the acceptance of new ICTs in teaching and learning in the higher education context of Saudi Arabia, in general; and none that relate to the teaching of English as a foreign language. To examine the readiness for, and acceptance of, mobile learning and teaching among students and faculty at Taibah University in Saudi Arabia, a theory of technology acceptance, developed for a consumer context, was used as the framework for this study; considering the participants as consumers of mobile technologies within an organization. This study utilised the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model to identify the factors responsible for use behaviour and the behavioural intention to use mobile technologies in learning and teaching English as a foreign language. The research model hypothesized that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation, Price of Devices, Price of Services, and Habit will predict Behavioural Intentions to use mobile technologies in learning and teaching EFL and Use Behaviour. It was also hypothesized that Age, Gender, and Experience will moderate the impact of the eight factors included in the research model. This model was empirically tested using data collected from 878 students and 65 faculty members by two cross-sectional surveys at Taibah University in Saudi Arabia. The results of regression analyses indicated that the research model was partially confirmed, and highlighted key variables as the driving forces of use behaviour and behavioural intention to use mobile technologies in learning and teaching English as a foreign language. The findings of this empirical research provide crucial information that can guide the implementation of proactive interventions to widely improve the practices of learning iii and teaching; and greatly increase our understanding of the reasons for, and effectiveness of, the adoption of mobile technologies in higher education in Saudi Arabia. More importantly, as English continues to develop as the global language of business and commerce, and the lingua franca of academic and social media networks, the increased effectiveness of the use of mobile ICTs in teaching and learning English that results from this research will enable Saudi students to operate as global citizens within the emerging world knowledge economy, and increase significantly the human capital return on the substantial investments in such mobile technologies by the government of Saudi Arabia and its universities.
When we feel that we are doing things: The pupil of the eye as a window to experiences of self-agency

Previous research shows that people experience more self-agency when an outcome is in line with their goal, or with a subtly presented cue. The present study combined those findings by focusing on the effect of such subtle environmental cues on the experience of self-agency in goal-directed behavior. Participants had the goal to produce a certain color in a computer task containing no primes, goal-consistent primes and goal-inconsistent primes. They indicated whether they felt they were the cause of the outcome color or the computer was. Pupil dilation was used as a measurement of arousal resulting from inconsistencies between goals and primes, and primes and outcomes. Results showed people felt more self-agency when the outcome matched their goal; additional effects of primes were not found. Pupil dilation results did not indicate increased arousal of the sympathetic nervous system as a response to inconsistencies of goals and primes, or primes and outcomes.
Band Offset Models of 3 D-Bonded Semiconductors and Insulators

The band offsets of heterojunctions of three-dimensionally (3D) bonded semiconductors lie between two limits, the electron affinity rule (unpinned limit) and the matching of the charge neutrality levels (CNLs), equivalent to the pinned limit. It is shown that it has been difficult to compare the validity of these cases because most experimental and theoretical tests require a lattice-matching across the heterojunction, and most semiconductors with the same lattice constant have similar average band energies referred to the vacuum level. A second point is that the CNL when referenced to the vacuum level varies surprisingly weakly with the midgap energy with respect to the vacuum level. A calculation of band offsets for heterojunctions with larger lattice mismatch provides a stronger test, and this result is found to favour the CNL matching model. This result is important for many practical device heterojunctions, where unmatched interfaces are common. Introduction Most semiconductor devices require knowledge of the band alignment at the interfaces within them, whether these are between two semiconductors, between a semiconductor and an insulator, or the Schottky barrier interface between a metal electrode and a semiconductor. For many years, the only inorganic semiconductor interfaces that could be modelled were the epitaxial heterojunctions, such those in quantum well lasers or high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Nowadays, there is an expectation to model more complex systems, such as solar cells, light emitting diodes, catalytic systems, or chemical sensors, which might be polycrystalline, multilayered or with functionalised surfaces. This leads to a desire for more general models of band offsets. The band offsets can be found by density functional calculations on supercell models of the heterojunctions. This is aided if the two components are well lattice-matched, otherwise this requires large supercell periodicities along the interface to ensure commensurate lattices, or interfaces with mismatch defects like dangling bonds. Thus, there is also a desire for simplifying principles able to predict band offsets under more general situations of poor lattice-matching. In broad terms, there are two limiting cases for the band offset. The first ‘natural’ band offset where there is no charge transfer across an interface and so the conduction band offset is simply the difference between the electron affinities of the two semiconductors, as in the electron affinity model. The second case is where there is significant charge transfer across the interface, so that the ‘bare’ band offset is screened by the charge transfer across the interface. This case applies to interfaces between the inorganic 3-dimensionally bonded semiconductors. To these limits can be added the effects of any dipole layers.
Simulation of spatial variation of plankton communities in the South Central Vietnam sea by ROMS model

This study preliminarily applies the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) in the two major monsoon seasons (Northeast and Southwest monsoons) for the South Central Vietnam sea (9–14.5 o N, 105–112 o E), in which the hydrodynamic and ecological modules are coupled. The results show that the plankton only develop in 200 m water on the top, concentrated mainly in the 0–70 m layer and in maximum biomass of 15–40 m layer. In the Northeast monsoon season, the plankton are concentrated mainly in the northern part and open seas of the area, while in the Southwest monsoon season, they are concentrated in the upwelling and adjacent southern areas. These results correctly reflect the basic law of the development of plankton communities in the sea area.
Influence of Inner/Outer Stator Pole Ratio and Relative Position on Electromagnetic Performance of Partitioned Stator Switched Flux Permanent Magnet Machines

— Based on the 6-pole outer stator (armature winding-stator), the influence of inner (permanent magnet-stator)/outer stator pole ratio n ( n = N IS / N OS ), stator relative positions and rotor pole number combinations on electromagnetic performance of partitioned stator switched flux permanent magnet (PM) machines (PS-SFPMMs) is investigated in this paper. Since the armature windings and PMs are located in two separated stators and PMs are stationary, PS-SFPMMs have high fault tolerance capabilities. To maximize the torque performance, the PM of inner stator pole should be aligned with outer stator pole when n is odd while the iron rib of inner stator pole should be aligned with outer stator pole when n is even. No matter what n is selected, the rotor pole number N R can be any integers except the phase number and its multiples. The analysis results indicate that the optimal N R is closed to ( N IS + N OS )/2 and it is odd when n is odd while it is even when n is even. Meanwhile, symmetrical phase back-EMF waveform will be obtained when the ratio of Min ( N OS , N IS ) to the greatest common divisor of Min ( N OS , N IS ) and N R is even. Based on the optimal rotor pole numbers for 6-pole outer stator with different n and corresponding optimal relative position together with same rated copper loss, the average torque is improved by 18.4%, 25.1% and 25.7% respectively in PS-SFPMMs with n equal to 2, 3 and 4 when compared with PS-SFPMM with n equal to 1. The analyses are validated by experiment results of the prototype machine.
Cloning and Expression of Acetylcholinesterase from Bungarus fasciatus Venom A NEW TYPE OF COOH-TERMINAL DOMAIN; INVOLVEMENT OF A POSITIVELY CHARGED RESIDUE IN THE PERIPHERAL SITE*

As deduced from cDNA clones, the catalytic domain of Bungarus fasciatus venom acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is highly homologous to those of other AChEs. It is, however, associated with a short hydrophilic carboxyl-terminal region, containing no cysteine, that bears no resemblance to the alternative COOH-terminal peptides of the GPI-anchored molecules (H) or of other homomeric or heteromeric tailed molecules (T). Expression of complete and truncated AChE in COS cells showed that active hydrophilic monomers are produced and secreted in all cases, and that cleavage of a very basic 8-residue carboxyl-terminal fragment occurs upon secretion. The COS cells produced Bungarus AChE about 30 times more efficiently than an equivalent secreted monomeric rat AChE. The recombinant Bungarus AChE, like the natural venom enzyme, showed a distinctive ladder pattern in nondenaturing electrophoresis, probably reflecting a variation in the number of sialic acids. By mutagenesis, we showed that two differences (methionine instead of tyrosine at position 70; lysine instead of aspartate or glutamate at position 285) explain the low sensitivity of Bungarus AChE to peripheral site inhibitors, compared to the Torpedo or mammalian AChEs. These results illustrate the importance of both the aromatic and the charged residues, and the fact that peripheral site ligands (propidium, gallamine, D-tubocurarine, and fasciculin 2) interact with diverse subsets of residues.
Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM): an empirical analysis of the UK automotive industry

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has garnered increasing attention from both academics and practitioners in the past two decades. However, a number of new debates have recently been opened up, throwing doubt on whether the adoption of SSCM practices really pays, and thus the commercial benefits of ‘going green’ in the context of SCM remain open to question. This thesis attempts to investigate whether SSCM practices can be both environmentally beneficial and commercially viable. In light of this, this research develops and empirically assesses a comprehensive SSCM drivers-practices-performance model. Data was collected from 186 UK automotive manufacturing firms, and analysed using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) method. The complementary driving force of organisation environmental management (OEM), was identified as a necessary precursor to the successful SSCM adoption. The findings further suggest that while SSCM implementation delivers environmental improvements, it does not necessarily lead to improved cost performance, as only sustainable procurement was found to have a positive effect on cost performance. This research contributes to the existing knowledge by asserting that the implementation of SSCM practices leads to improved environmental performance, while the economic performance is partially compromised, sustaining a negative trade-off in terms of cost performance. Lastly, this research provides useful insights for both managers seeking to adopt SSCM practices and policy-makers and regulators seeking to further promote an SSCM agenda.
Comparison of Measured and Calculated Values for the Indoor Environment in One of the First Danish Passive Houses

Energy savings in the residential area are essential in order to achieve the overall goal for energy savings outlined in the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. This was adopted by the European Parliament in 2010. Unfortunately, the large focus on energy performance has reduced the focus on indoor environment. This has, among other problems, resulted in problems with overheated buildings. Therefore, a need for a simple and cheap method for evaluation of possible problems with overheating has arisen among the designers. A method which can be used early in the design process. The paper compares the measured indoor temperatures of a Danish passive house with results of both a simple prediction of the 24-hour average and maximum indoor temperature during summer and a dynamic simulation of the indoor conditions in the building in order to find a useable method for prediction of problems with overheating.
DETAILED OFF DESIGN FLOW MEASUREMENTS IN A CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSOR VANED DIFFUSER (cid:9)

Three component hot wire measurements in the vaneless space and vane region of a low speed centrifugal compressor vaned diffuser are presented. These comprise mean velocity and turbulence level distributions for a below and above design flow rate tor three vane-to-vane locations at each of five radial measurement stations. The flow entering the diffuser closely resembles the classic jet-wake flow characteristic of centrifugal impeller discharges. A strong upstream influence of the diffuser vanes is observed which results in significant variations in flow quantities between the vane-to-vane locations. The circumferential variations due to the passage and blade wakes rapidly mix out in the vaneless space, although some variations are still discernible in the vaned region. Comparison with results in a vaneless diffuser suggest that the presence of the vanes accelerates this mixing out process.