Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Free Cash Flow, Dividend Policy and Leverage: Do Growth Opportunities Matter? Empirical Evidence From Egyptian Stock Exchange

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between free cash flow and dividend policy in an emerging capital market Egypt. Design/Method – Using pooled cross-sectional data from the top 50 listed Egyptian companies during 2013 2016, this study examines the relationship between free cash flow and dividend policy as well the moderating role of growth opportunities. Findings – An insignificant association was found between free cash flow and dividend size as well with dividend payouts after controlling for several firm-level characteristics that could influence corporate’s dividend policy. The study also found that, in the presence of growth opportunities, the relationship of free cash flow and dividend size was not affected, suggesting that growth opportunities did not play a moderating role, same conclusion for dividend payouts. Further, the study found significant positive association between the level of free cash flow and financial leverage. Overall, the results suggested that financial leverage is a better control mechanism than dividends to reduce the agency costs of free cash flow in the Egyptian companies.
Ozdogan & Tosun: Effects of Different Polishing Procedures on the Surface Roughness and Hardness of Polyether Ether Ketone

This study aimed to evaluate the fracture resistance of teeth restored with conventional, bulk-fill, and fiber-reinforced composite materials regarding intact teeth. Standard cavities were prepared on 70 sound third molar teeth. The teeth were randomly divided into six groups: intact teeth, conventional Bis-GMA based composite, fiber-reinforced composite, Bis-GMA based bulk-fill composite, ormocer based bulk-fill composite, glass containing resin-based bulk-fill composite. The data was obtained by a Universal Testing Machine and analyzed statistically. Fracture resistance of the teeth restored with conventional composite was significantly lower than the other groups (p<0.05). The teeth restored with fiber-reinforced composite showed the highest fracture resistance; however, there were no statistically significant differences between intact teeth and teeth restored with fiber-reinforced composite, Bis-GMA based bulkfill composite, and glass containing resin-based bulk-fill composite (p>0.05). The obtained data showed that restoring teeth with bulk-fill and fiber-reinforced composites could be recommended in Class II cavities.
Effect of foliar application of humic acid, salicylic acid and novel liquid on fruit drop and yield of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Amrapali

An experiment was carried out to study the “Effect of foliar application of humic acid, salicylic acid and novel liquid on fruit yield and quality of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Amrapali” at Horticultural Research Farm, and P.G. Laboratory, Department of Horticulture, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, during March to June, 2018. Treatments comprised foliar application (At 50% flower opening stage, pea stage and marble stage) of humic acid @ 1, 1.5 and 2%, salicylic acid @ 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/l and novel liquid @ 1, 1.5 and 2% along with control. The experiment was carried out in completely randomized design with three repetitions. Among all the treatments T2 (Humic acid @ 1.5%) treatment was found most effective treatment and recorded significantly minimum fruit drop (at marble and harvest stage), While maximum in number of fruits/tree, fruit weight, fruit diameter, fruit volume and fruit yield.
Multiple Morphologies in Aqueous Solutions of Aggregates of Polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) Diblock Copolymers

Aggregates of various morphologies formed from PS-b-PEO diblock copolymers in dilute aqueous solutions were observed by TEM. The morphologies are a function of the soluble block (PEO) length, and, with decreasing PEO content, one obtains progressively, as the dominant morphologies, normal spherical micelle-like aggregates, rods, lamellae and vesicles. The main reason for the morphological transitions is believed to be related to changes of the degree of stretching of the PS blocks in the core regions
The Optimal Extraction of Non-Renewable Resources under Hyperbolic Discounting

In this paper, we investigate the effects of a declining social discount rate (SDR) on the optimal extraction of non-renewable resources and economic growth. For this purpose, we introduce time-consistent hyperbolic utility discounting into models of resource extraction. First, we investigate a small model of pure resource extraction holding constant the magnitude of discounting for hyperbolic and exponential discounting. We show that resource use is more conservative under hyperbolic discounting resulting in a permanently higher resource stock. Second, we introduce hyperbolic discounting into the seminal Dasgupta-Heal-Solow-Stiglitz (DHSS) model and derive analytically that positive long-run consumption growth requires a lower rate of technological progress under hyperbolic discounting. We show numerically that resource use is more conservative under hyperbolic discounting in the mediumand long-run.
Solubility of carbon dioxide in aqueous mixtures of monoethanolamine with methyldiethanolamine

Solubility data of carbon dioxide in aqueous mixtures of monoethanolamine (MEA) with methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) have been measured at 40, 60, 80, and 100 o C and at partial pressures of carbon dioxide between 1.0 and 2000 kPa. The mixtures of alkanolamines studied are 30 wt% MDEA, 12 wt MEA+18 wt% MDEA, 24 wt% MEA+6 wt% MDEA, and 30 wt% MEA aqueous solutions. The solubility of carbon dioxide in aqueous solutions are reported as functions of partial pressures of carbon dioxide at the temperatures studied
Service quality Augments Brand Loyalty: Mediating Role of Brand Trust and Moderating Impact of Corporate Image (Empirical Evidence among Customers from Bangladeshi Ready Made Garments- RMG Industry)

Brad management is one of the primary task of the management that brings popularity, sales enhancement, team morale, competitive advantage and standalone sign which keeps firm at the abreast of the industry. With an aim to testify the mediating role of brand trust on the relationship between service quality and brand loyalty, a sample of 384 customers were collected through incept approach through structured and self administrated questionnaire. SPSS and SmartPLS have been implied for the analysis purposes and structural equation modeling was considered to testify the developed hypotheses. It was found that the service quality has significant positive impact on both brand trust and brand loyalty. Brand trust found mediator between service quality and brand loyalty while brand trust is found moderating the relationship between brand trust and brand loyalty. From the academic perspective, this study contributed towards the theory of planned behavior in the context of Ready Made Garments branding. Specifically, this study had expanded the knowledge of brand trust by providing empirical evidence on the influence of the emotional and rational components of trust to bridge the gap between branding strategies and brand loyalty in the presence of service quality among Ready Made Garments brands of Bangladesh.
Homeownership and happiness: evidence from Canada

This study used panel data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey to examine the impact of homeownership on individual happiness. The study utilized a number of estimation methods, namely Ordered Probit, Ordinary Least Squares and panel data Fixed Effects. The Ordered Probit and the Ordinary Least Squares methods do not control for unobserved individual specific heterogeneities that may impact happiness. On the other hand, the panel data allowed this study to use a fixed effects method that controls for unobserved individual specific fixed effects. The results of the fixed effects method for the overall sample suggest that owning a home has no significant impact on happiness. However, the sub-sample analysis based on income levels suggests that owning a home negatively impacts happiness of individuals in the lowest income category. Citation: Ehsan Latif, (2021) ''Homeownership and happiness: evidence from Canada'', Economics Bulletin, Volume 0, Issue 0, pages 1-17 Contact: Ehsan Latif elatif@tru.ca. Submitted: August 10, 2019. Published: January 01, 2021.
Assessing the statistical effectiveness of ecological experiments: utility of the coefficient of variation

The coefficient of variation (C.V.) is a statistic often used to assess the effectiveness of ecological experiments. Characteristics of C.V. behavior over time are illustrated with examples of a chemical variable (pH) and species density measurements. The ratio s/|xi — xj| is introduced, and a “quick‐and‐dirty” rule for a two‐sample t‐test is illustrated with data from microcosm experiments. Relationships among the C.V. , minimum detectable distances between means, and statistical power of a test of hypothesis are discussed. Tabular and graphical results are presented for selected small sample sizes. Several examples with data from microcosm experiments are also given. The utility of the C.V. is considerably enhanced by the use of these statistical relationships.
Arrhenius And Absolute Reaction Rate Models for Thermodynamic Characterization of Linamarase (Β-Glucosidase) using Linamarin Substrate

Thermodynamic characterization of linamarase (β-glucosidase)influenced by linamarin substrate purification, pH and temperature were investigated. In the study, recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells at the stationary phase of growth were recovered, homogenized and centrifuged to obtain crude extracts designated as GELIN 0 . Carboxy methyl cellulose, diethyl amino-ethyl-sephadex and diethyl amino-ethyl-cellulose were used to purify the crude extracts resulting in GELIN 1 , GELIN 2 and GELIN 3 , respectively. Commercial native linamarase (CNLIN) was purchased and used as control. The ability of the GELIN extracts(β-glucosidase) and the commercial native linamarase (CNLIN) to hydrolyse cyanogenic glucosides was challenged using linamarin extracted from cassava as substrates. Degradation of linamarin was evaluated at optimum pH 6.8 using a 4 × 6 × 8 between and within factorial design comprising of 4 enzyme types (GELIN 0 , GELIN 1 , GELIN 2 and GELIN 3 ), and 6 temperatures (25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 o C, respectively) and 8 time intervals (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 min.). Data obtained from residual hydrocyanic acid with time were fitted with zero, first and second order kinetics, respectively, to determine the best fit order (based on r 2 and linearity). Arrhenius and absolute reaction rate models were applied to obtain activation energies (E a ), frequency factor (K 0 ) and enthalpy (ΔH # ), entropy (ΔS # ), respectively, that characterized the reactions. The results indicated that the degradation of linamarin by GELIN at the optimum pH 6.8 was best described by first order kinetics, Arrhenius and absolute reaction rate models showing high coefficient of linear regression (r 2 >0.996) with reaction rate constant increasing from 0.0252 -0.0923 min -1 with enzyme purification ranging for GELIN 0 – GELIN 3 . Frequency factor (K o ), E a , ΔH # and ΔS # values decreased with enzyme purification. Activation energy (E a ) values for the degradation of linamarin (GELIN 0 – GELIN 3 ) ranged from 60.9 to 91.7 kJ/mol. Enthalpy values varied from 58 to 89 kJ/mol while ΔS # values varied from -92.8 to 4.1 J/mol. deg. ) indicating spontaneous and irreversible degradation reactions which suggest a possible use of the purified linamarase (β-glucosidase) in detoxification process for foods containing linamarin. Keywords: purified linamarase, rate models, linamarin, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, cassava
Spontaneous magnetization above TC in polycrystalline La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 and La0.7Ba0.3MnO3

In the present work, spontaneous magnetization is observed in the inverse magnetic susceptibility of La0.7Ca0. 3MnO3 and La0.7Ba0. 3MnO3 compounds above TC up to a temperature T ∗. From information gathered from neutron diffraction, dilatometry, and high-field magnetization data, we suggest that T ∗ is related to the transition temperature of the low-temperature (high magnetic field) magnetic phase. In the temperature region between T ∗ and TC , the application of a magnetic field drives the system from the high-temperature to low-temperature magnetic phases, the latter possessing a higher magnetization.
S EMI - SUPERVISED DOMAIN ADAPTATION WITH PRO - TOTYPICAL ALIGNMENT AND CONSISTENCY LEARN - ING

Domain adaptation enhances generalizability of a model across domains with domain shifts. Most research effort has been spent on Unsupervised Domain Adap-tion (UDA) which trains a model jointly with labeled source data and unlabeled target data. This paper studies how much it can help address domain shifts if we further have a few target samples (e.g., one sample per class) labeled. This is the so-called semi-supervised domain adaptation (SSDA) problem and the few labeled target samples are termed as “landmarks”. To explore the full potential of landmarks, we incorporate a prototypical alignment (PA) module which calculates a target prototype for each class from the landmarks; source samples are then aligned with the target prototype from the same class. To further alleviate label scarcity, we propose a data augmentation based solution. Speciﬁcally, we severely perturb the labeled images, making PA non-trivial to achieve and thus promoting model generalizability. Moreover, we apply consistency learning on unlabeled target images, by perturbing each image with light transformations and strong transformations. Then, the strongly perturbed image can enjoy “supervised-like” training using the pseudo label inferred from the lightly perturbed one. Experiments show that the proposed method, though simple, reaches signiﬁcant performance gains over state-of-the-art methods, and enjoys the ﬂexibility of being able to serve as a plug-and-play component to various existing UDA methods and improve adaptation performance with landmarks provided.
Surgical residents' challenges with the acquisition of surgical skills in operating rooms: A qualitative study

Introduction: Training in operating rooms is challenging. Specifically, surgical residents often experience a stressful environment in training arenas that, in turn, might affect their ability in the acquisition of the required qualifications. This study aims at the qualitative explanation of how the surgical residents acquire the surgical skills in operating rooms. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in 2019-2020 using the conventional content analysis method. Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected through 25 semi-structured in-depth interviews. Then, the interview transcriptions were analyzed in MaxQDA2 software using the content analysis method. Results: The data were classified into two main categories, namely challenges/obstacles and strategies for dealing with the challenges. The data in the first category were further classified into four subcategories, including burnout, confusion in technique selection, unequal learning opportunities, ignorance, and responsibility misassignment. Similarly, four subcategories of establishing communication channels with chief residents and faculty members, learning by the non-surgeon pathway, covert progress in the learning path, and taking advantage of force from a position of power in the learning path were considered for the second category. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the study, surgical residents face serious challenges and obstacles in their training course. To address these challenges, the curriculum of the surgical course needs to be improved with the emphasis on the balanced responsibility assignment and enhanced human communication.
Prediction of the nutrient content of botanical fractions from annual legumes by near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopy

Procedures used to determine chemical composition and digestible organic matter in dry matter (DOMD) are slow and expensive. The possibility of using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) as an alternative procedure was investigated with annual legumes. Material from cultivars of Medicago murex, Trifolium balansae, T. resupinatum and T. subterraneum was harvested soon after plants had matured. Samples were sorted into stem, leaf and burr fractions and analysed chemically and by NIRS. Data were then sorted into two similar sets, one of which was for calibration and the other for validation. Data for each chemical fraction, in samples used for calibration, were regressed sequentially against the corresponding reflectance spectral data, the log of there reciprocal of which was transformed to first or second derivatives. Equations of best fit were then used to predict the composition of samples in the validation set. Standard errors of calibration and validation respectively, expressed as percentages of the mean, were 0·5 and 0·6 for dry matter (DM), 2·0 and 2·6 for organic matter (OM), 4·8 and 4·3 for DOMD, 6·0 and 7·2 for crude protein, 4·1 and 4·4 for acid-detergent fibre (ADF), 2·5 and 3·1 for neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) and 8·9 and 10·9 for lignin.
Extended x‐ray absorption fine structure study of bond lengths in epitaxially grown (Ga,In)(As,P) alloys from dilute limit to concentrated

Extended x‐ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurement is the technique to measure nondestructively the nearest‐neighbor distance, to the accuracy within 0.01 A or better, coordination number, and atomic species. Especially, fluorescence‐detected EXAFS is best suited to characterize the atomic scale microstructure of epitaxially grown thin layers on a thick substrate. We have investigated the microstructure for each atomic pair of Ga‐P, Ga‐As, and In‐As in (Ga,In)(As,P) alloys lattice‐matched with InP, over a wide range of composition from dilute limit, through quaternary, to ternary. Constant atomic distances over the wide range were revealed when the average lattice parameter was kept constant.
Nitrogen mineralization of sewage sludges in soils

In order to profit from recycling sewage sludge through the soil-plant system, it is necessary to know the amount of mineralizable organic-N from sludge. The purpose of this study was to determine N-mineralization of two sewage sludges in two different soils, comparing leached and nonleached incubation procedures. The cumulative N mineralized during successive incubation periods increased linearly with incubation time and sludge incorporation rate. The mineralization process was more influenced by soil type than by rate and kind of sludge applied. The amount of mineralized-N was higher for the leaching procedure. This cumulative-N expressed as the percentage of applied organic-N was inversely dependent on sewage sludge rate added for the leached procedure and is independent of the rate for the nonleached. The N-mineralization rate was 0.0202 ± 0.0011 and 0.0650 ± 0.0068 d⁻¹, respectively, for leached and nonleached procedures. The potentially mineralizable N increased with the sludge rate applied and was higher for aerobic sludge and neutral soil. In general, the leached method gave twofold higher vlaues than the nonleached method. The net percentage of potentially mineralizable N vs. organic-N added was 43.0 ± 7.8 and 27.7 ± 4.0, respectively, for leached and nonleached procedures.
Influência dos estádios de maturação na qualidade do suco do maracujá-amarelo

This work evaluated the influence of the ripening stages on the chemical characteristics of the yellow passion fruit juice (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa Degener.), during the period that precedes the peel color change until the period of fruits abscission, when they show the peel totally yellowish. During the ripening of the fruits was observed a progressive increase in the Hunter L and b parameter, in a way that the lower area of the fruit presented higher brightness and yellowing indexes than the upper area. The content of SST showed a progressive increase from an immature condition of the fruits (52 DAA) until a ripening stage with 65% of yellowish peel, in 76 DAA, staying constant after this period. The measures of total acidity and pH indicated a small accumulation of organic acids in the immature fruits (60 DAA) and, later, it occurred a partial consumption of these acids, as showed by the decreasing of titrable acidity and the increasing of pH during the ripening of the yellow passion fruit. The TSS/TA ratio also increased progressively in this period.
Bioactive Components and Volatile Compounds According to Illite Addition in Saururus chinensis Baill Cultivation

*Geumsan Ginseng & Medicinal Crop Experiment Station, CNARES, Geumsan 312-823, Korea. **Yeongdong Agriculture Technology Center, Yeongdong 370-702, Korea.ABSTRACT : This study was carried to investigate the effect of illite addition on the growth, bioactive components andvolatile compounds of leaf on Saururus chinensis Baill cultivation in greenhouse. Illite addition on Saururus chinensis Baillcultivation resulted no significant effects on the aerial part. However, the root part was highest in 5% illite addition group.Crude oil and ash amount increased as illite additives was increased. Ca of inorganics and free sugars contents were highestin 5% and 20% illite addition, respectively. Hyperoside and isoquercetin of available component on leaf were highest in 5%illite addition group, 4.02㎎/g and 4.31㎎/g, respectively. The volatile compounds in Saururus chinensis Baill leaf culturedwith illite addition amounts were isolated by solid-phase microextraction fiber (polydimethysiloxane 65 ㎛) and identifed bygas chromatogtaphy mass spectrometry. As the results, the 22 volatile compounds were identified from in Saururus chinen-sis Baill leaf and major volatile compounds were the α-cadinol (18.50%), myristicin (16.46%), methyl-9-methyl-tetrade-canoate (10.22%), and γ-muurolene (9.75%). Especially, the content of α-cadinol was highest in 5% illite addition group andγ-muurolene on overall illite addition group was lower than no addition group.Key Words : Saururus chinensis Baill, Illite, Quercetin, Volatile Compounds, α-Cadinol
The Safe Administration of Remdesivir in a Patient with Acute Kidney Injury Requiring Hemodialysis

Remdesivir is a nucleoside analog prodrug with broad-spectrum antiviral activity, including against coronaviruses. This has prioritized the inclusion of remdesivir in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) clinical trials. The United States Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization for remdesivir. This emergency use authorization does not recommend the use of remdesivir in patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) less than 30 mL/min unless the benefits outweigh the risks. To date, there are no studies and scant information in the literature evaluating remdesivir utilization in patients with eGFR less than 30 mL/min or receiving hemodialysis. With little utilization data for patients with acute or chronic kidney injury, remdesivir may not be considered, leaving this patient population without the opportunity of a potentially beneficial treatment option. We present a case of one patient with eGFR less than 30 mL/min that required hemodialysis in which remdesivir was safely initiated, with therapy completed without any serious adverse events.