Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COVID Response: The Municipal Liquidity Facility

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local governments were among the sectors expected to experience the most severe distress. The combination of a sharply deteriorating revenue picture, a pressing need for additional expenditures, delays in the receipt of substantial taxes owed, and an inability to access the financial markets raised serious concerns among many observers about the ability of state and local governments to meet their public service delivery responsibilities. In April 2020, the Federal Reserve announced the establishment of the Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF) to help municipalities manage the cash flow challenges that the pandemic produced. The MLF ultimately offered three-year loans at penalty rates to a set of eligible municipal issuers that included states, large cities and counties, and a number of revenue bond issuers. Research suggests that the MLF, in spite of lending to only the State of Illinois and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, contributed to a healing in the municipal securities market as a whole. Effects on real economic outcomes like employment in the sector are harder to attribute to facility.
The potential of goat meat as a nutrition source for schoolchildren

The issue of rational nutrition of children is still extremely relevant and an effective factor in ensuring the preservation of the life and health of children. Pathological conditions associated with intolerance to certain components of food are increasingly common. Biologically complete products play an important role in the organization of rational nutrition of children, which can be created only in industrial production conditions. When assessing the chemical composition of experimental goat meat samples (Zaanenskaya, Alpine, Nubian), no abnormal deviations were detected, and all indicators were in the generally accepted contents of this type of animal muscle tissue. The mineral composition showed that goat meat is rich in such elements as potassium – 1693.22 – 4125.83 mg/kg; sodium – 852.27 – 1518 mg/kg, magnesium – 125.33 – 295.8 mg/kg; calcium – 79.27 – 160.79 mg/kg, iron 11.42-87.52 mg/kg. The vitamin composition of goat meat showed that the content of pantothenic acid (B5) was 0.53 – 0.62 mg / 100g, pyridoxine (B6) 0.52 – 0.64 mg/100g tocopherol 0.27 – 0.33 mg/100g. The mass fraction of goat meat proteins was 2.1 ±0.3 – 2.4 ±0.4%. The study of the dynamics of changes in the composition of protein fractions based on the results of comparative studies of the ratio of sarcoplasmic proteins showed the content of water-soluble (1.75 – 4.06%), salt-soluble (1.75 – 2.44%), alkali-soluble (11.15 – 15.10%) proteins. The salt-soluble fraction reflects the total changes in the state of protein fractions, the solubility of which was not the same for the rocks under consideration (the highest concentration was determined in the Nubian rock).
Speech Fluency, Depression, and Resilience in Chronic Aphasia

ABSTRACT Purpose Aphasia is a language disorder that generally occurs as a result of a stroke or other neurological causes. Depression is a widespread reaction to aphasia, and aphasia-related variables, sociodemographic factors, and psychological aspects such as personality traits have the potential to affect this reaction. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether depression or psychological resilience level varies between aphasia types (fluent or non-fluent) and whether resilience in chronic aphasia affects the level of depression between the two aphasia types. Method Twenty-one people with aphasia (10 non-fluent and 11 fluent) between the ages of 33 and 70 participated in this study. The type and degree of aphasia were assessed using the Test of Language Assessment in Aphasia. The psychological variables in this study were examined with the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia and the Brief Resilience Scale. The rater was blinded to the aphasia type while assessing the participants. Inter-group comparisons were examined with t-test, and inter-variable relationships were examined with both Spearman and covariance analyses. Results There was no significant difference between the fluent and non-fluent aphasic groups in terms of depression and resilience. Among all participants, there was a negative correlation between the total depression score and behavioral disturbances. Covariance analysis indicated that resilience had an effect on depression scores for both fluent and non-fluent aphasic participants. Conclusion The protective role of resilience in depression in a typical population may also be valid for aphasia. It is hence essential to approach depression by considering resilience.
COVID-19 and price stability in Eastern Africa: How effective were the governments’ policy response measures?

Abstract This study used monthly panel data for the period March 2020-April 2021 in analyzing the differences in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on price stability in the East Africa Community (EAC) region. We also sought to establish the effectiveness of the governments’ policy response measures in maintaining price stability. Estimates from the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) model revealed evidence of a long-run relationship between COVID-19 and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the EAC region. Secondly, COVID-19 significantly increased the CPI across the panel in the long run. In the short run, the impact was significant and positive for Kenya but negative for Rwanda and South Sudan. The question of whether government policy response measures were indeed effective in maintaining price stability posits a dilemma that is rather reminiscent of a paradoxical policy solution. On one hand, governments are concerned with the welfare of their citizens which was worsened by the inception of the pandemic, and thus roll out relief measures to help inject liquidity into businesses and households. Conversely, governments are also wary that their actions might actually increase the money supply and thus trigger inflation. Governments, therefore, need to step up their vaccination drive as this is critical in spearheading the economies’ re-opening and, thus, recovery in the long run. This is contrary to the long-term application of the relief measures. Further, governments within the region need to develop well-managed food reserves that can provide a cushion in the event of price fluctuations emanating from the effects of such economic shocks.
Estimation of fishing and natural mortality when a tagging study is combined with a creel survey or port sampling

If we consider a multi-year tagging study where tag returns are obtained from a recreational or commercial fishery it is possible to estimate total annual survival rate. The methodology has been described in detail by Brownie et al. (1985). Fishery biologists would also like to be able to estimate natural and fishing mortality rates from these data but this is not possible without the additional assumption that all tags are reported. Sometimes high reward tags are used in the hope of satisfying this assumption. In this paper we review the theory of the tagging models and then show how to estimate the reporting rate of tags by conducting a creel surveyor port sample in conjunction with the tagging study. It is then possible to partition total mortality into fishing and natural mortality. The question of additive versus compensatory mortality processes can then be addressed. 3 In recent years there has been a lot of work on the analysis of multi-year banding studies for migratory birds. The methodology has been described in detail by Brownie et al. (1985). Although this methodology has been developed in a wildlife context it is just as applicable to fisheries tagging studies. In fact, it was partly a study on lake trout (see Youngs and Robson 1975) that led to much of the recent work. Pollock and O'Connell (1989) apply the Brownie models to Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) tagging studies. In this paper we first review the Brownie models emphasizing model structure and assumptions. We then discuss the use of reward tags as a method of estimating reporting rate of regular tags; this allows conversion of recovery rates to fishing mortality rates. Following this, we consider the most important work in our paper which is how to use a creel surveyor port sample to estimate reporting rate as an alternative to use of reward tags. Finally we discuss the important implications of this approach which allows separate estimation of fishing and natural mortality rates. REVIEW OF TAGGING MODELS Concepts To begin our review of the tagging models described by Brownie et al. (1985) let us consider the possible fates of a fish tagged at the start of the year based on the diagrams in Brownie et al. (1985, p. 14) (Figure 1). Our notation for mortality rates follows Ricker (1975). We have: S = the finite survival rate or the probability of surviving the year, u = the finite exploitation rate or the probability of being harvested, and A = the tag reporting rate, or the probability that a tag will be found and reported to the fisheries biologist given that the fish has been harvested.
Village-Indigenous Chicken Bacterial Carriage after the Heavy Rains of 2018, Kenya: Indicator on Environmental Contamination with Pathogenic/Zoonotic Bacteria

Food borne diseases are one of the major human disease conditions worldwide. Most of them are of bacterial origin and chickens are a major source of such bacteria; they are consumed at high rate worldwide and tend to harbor the zoonotic bacteria without showing signs of illness. Running rain water tends to increase environmental contamination, since it carries various substances from one area to another; this results in village-indigenous chickens picking more bacteria from the environment as they roam/scavenge around for food. Thus, after the rain, the chickens' intestinal contents may contain more bacteria quantity-wise and type-wise. This study was carried-out to determine whether that was the case after heavy rains of 2018.120 intestine samples were collected from indigenous chickens from three slaughterhouses in Nairobi for bacterial quantification using the Miles and Misra technique; bacterial isolation and identification were carried out using standard bacteriological procedures. Intestines from the slaughterhouses had different mean bacterial counts: Kangemi had the highest (1.3 × 1012 colony-forming units per ml), followed by Burma (5.6 × 1011), then Kariokor (4.7 × 1011). E. coli was the most isolated at 85.8%, followed by genera Staphylococcus (55%), Streptococcus (43.3%), Bacillus (41.66%), Listeria (38.3%), Proteus (24.16%), Klebsiella (7.5%), Campylobacter (2.5%), Pseudomonas (6%), and Streptobacillus (0.83%). The study showed that the indigenous chickens carry a variety of bacteria in types and numbers, some of them being zoonotic. Apart from picking more bacteria as a result of environmental contamination during rainy season, the weather and bird-handling further stress the birds, thus contributing to higher bacterial multiplication and higher bacterial carriage. If slaughter is not done right, these intestinal bacteria can easily cause contamination of respective chicken meat; thus, if pathogenic, it can cause food poisoning to consumers of the meat. Therefore, it is recommended that precaution be taken while slaughtering chickens for consumption. In addition, where possible, free-range indigenous chickens be confined during rainy seasons to reduce their exposure to contaminated environment.
Women's Political Representation and Intimate Partner Violence

Recent studies demonstrate that female leaders can improve gender-specific outcomes along multiple dimensions through better provision of public goods and legislative changes that benefit women. Using quasi-random exposure to female leaders elected to state legislatures in India, this paper shows that there may also be an unintended effect: an increase in rural women’s reported experience of physical spousal abuse. We find that a plausible channel underlying this effect is an increase in women’s modern contraceptive use—potentially resulting from improvements in public provision of health services—which leads to marital conflict, especially when the husband’s son preference is stronger than the wife’s.
Analysis of Electrical Faults Caused by Natural Phenomena in the Distribution System of Lagos State, Nigeria

This paper analysed empirical system data of nature-induced electrical faults, its variation, and ratings in the distribution networks of Lagos State, Nigeria, which affect the power distribution system infrastructure, end-users of electricity, and the economic development of the distribution companies, consumers, and the nation at large. Fault-based outage data (at installed 11 kV and 33 kV nominal network voltages) were obtained and analysed by natural phenomena (NPs) using relative frequency, seasonal variation, and probabilistic statistics. From obtained results, the following were established: NP-induced electrical faults are prevalent in the distribution systems of Lagos State, and it is more towards or closer to the mainland; vegetation (67%) and birds/snakes (24%) are the most predominant fault-causing NPs in the distribution networks; floods (0.1%) rarely cause electrical faults in these distribution networks despite being a coastal region; and NP-induced electrical faults vary periodically throughout the year. It was recommended that existing maintenance policy must be enhanced to control vegetation, birds, and reptile incursions into Lagos DNs. Modern software-based sensor technologies for monitoring vegetation growth and repelling bird/snake incursions in the network should be explored. Existing protection scheme should be evaluated for effectiveness in view of ensuing short circuit events from incidents of these NPs at various hotspots.
Law, political stability, tourism management and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT This study complements the extant literature by assessing how the rule of law and political stability modulate tourism development dynamics (i.e. tourism receipts and tourism expenditure) to affect economic development in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The study focuses on 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with data for the period 2002–2018 and the empirical evidence is based on the Generalized Method of Moments. The study finds that: (i) the rule of law modulates both tourism receipts and tourism expenditure for overall positive effects on economic development and (ii) political stability modulates tourism receipts for an overall positive impact on economic development. Policy implications are discussed.
Adsorptive potential of synthesized sea urchin-based hydroxyapatite for Supranol yellow and nickel ion recovery from aqueous media: kinetics and thermodynamic studies

Locally affordable, eco-friendly and non-toxic biomaterial, sea urchin test ( Paracentrotus lividus ) as a precursor was converted in this investigation by simple and viable way into an efficient adsorbent for nickel ions and Supranol yellow dye removal from simulated wastewater. Powered urchin shell sea urchin test (SUT) and diammonium phosphate as sources of calcium and potassium, respectively, were used for hydroxyapatite synthesis by chemical precipitation route followed by calcination at 800°C. The resulting calcium phosphate based-adsorbent: hydroxyapatite urchin test (HAP-UT) was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and pH zpc to appraise its physicochemical characteristics as well as the mechanism of both pollutants adsorption. Effect of conventional parameters on both pollutants uptakes such as equilibrium time, adsorbent dose, pH and temperature were also performed. Well known adsorption isotherms, namely Langmuir and Freundlich were used for data fitting to describe the adsorption equilibrium of both pollutants The raw material conversion to HAP-UT enhances the removal capacities from 58.48 to 666.67 mg g –1 at pH 2–3 and from 1.49 to 29.50 mg g –1 at pH 5–5.4 for Yellow supranol and nickel ions respectively. From the perspective of higher R 2 values and the lower root mean square error values as an error indicator, Langmuir model is more representative for the experimental data predicting homogeneous surface coverage of the adsorbents. Thermodynamic analysis of the adsorption processes of both pollutants confirms their spontaneity and endothermicity. Adsorption mechanism found to obey to pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Obtained results showed that the synthetized hydroxyapatite from urchin shell as an adsorbent could prove to be very useful and efficient in removing toxic pollutants from industrial effluents.
Probabilistic Modeling And Analysis of A Cable Plant Subsystem With Priority To Repair Over Preventive Maintenance

– The paper presents probabilistic modeling and analysis of a cable plant subsystem with two identical machines operating in parallel. Seven years failure data of the cable plant depicts three types of maintenances for the subsystem: repair, minor preventive maintenance and major preventive maintenance. The subsystem undergoes repair upon failure while minor and major preventive maintenance is performed as per schedule. Priority is given to repair over preventive maintenance. Mean time to failure, availability, expected busy period and expected number of repairs have been estimated by analyzing the subsystem using semi Markov process and regenerative point technique. Graphs have been established to demonstrate simulated results.
Decoding Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Systems Biology Approach

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of upper and lower motor neurons in the motor cortex, brain stem, and the anterior horn of the spinal cord. The majority of ALS cases are classified as sporadic (sALS). There is a growing concern regarding the increased incidence in the number of sporadic ALS cases across the world, projected to increase by almost 70% in the next two decades. The etiology of sporadic ALS is currently unknown; however, epidemiological studies point to possible exposure of environmental triggers, including trauma and infections as risk factors for the development of motor neuron pathology. On a pathological basis, protein misfolding with the accumulation of cytoplasmic inclusions of TDP-43 are regarded as the hallmark feature of ALS pathogenesis. The cellular mechanisms that lead to protein aggregation are not completely understood, but appear to involve defects in autophagy, an intracellular autodigestive process that degrades misfolded proteins like TDP-43. This review will be split into two portions: (1) discuss the evidence regarding how various environmental risk factors, such as infections agents and physical trauma, can lead to neuropathological changes by disrupting autophagy in ALS; (2) discuss potential treatment options in the management of each environmental factor previously discussed.
Influence of the Use of Spent Mushroom Substrates of Pleurotus Eous var. on the Availability of Phosphorus in Acid Soils of Humid Forest Regions of Côte d'Ivoire

- Phosphorus (P) availability in acid soils of humid forest regions is a major constraint to the development of agriculture. In fact, the bonds between the orthophosphates and iron and aluminum oxides and hydroxides in quantity in these soils give to them abilities to fix P, reducing its availability for plant nutrition. The inputs of P in different forms actually contribute to meeting the needs of the crops, but remain under-exploited because of the very high P binding capacity of these soils, which further increases the acidity of the soils. The addition of organic matter contributes significantly to reduce the fixing power of P and increasing the availability of this nutrient ( Eastwood and Sartain, 1990 ). The residual substrates for mushroom production or spent mushroom substrates (SMS), in increasing quantity in the subregion due to the development of mushroom cultivation, may be an alternative. Indeed, rich in organic matter and with a near neutral pH, the add of these substrates to the soil makes it possible to reduce the sites of fixation of the metal ions, lowering the P fixation capacity and increasing its availability ( Sun and al. ., 2008). Experiment conducted for this purpose by application of two residual substrates S1 and S2 from fungi production on acid soils from two sites in the humid forest zone in Côte d'Ivoire, including Man and Abengourou respectively to the west and in the eastern part of the country has shown a decrease in the binding capacity of P. According to the results, the decrease in the fixing power of P depends on the characteristics of the substrate, including the pH but also the rate of incorporation of substrate into soil. Thus, the S2 substrate from a rice straw compost is more appropriate for lowering the ability or P-fixing ability of acid soils in moist forest regions. In fact, a contribution of 15p.c. by volume of this substrate suffices to impact the availability of P in the soils.
Moving towards smart mobility: Factors influencing the intention of consumers to adopt the bus rapid transit (BRT) system

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate factors determining the consumers’ intention to adopt the Rea Vaya; a smart transport system in an emerging market setting of Johannesburg, South Africa. The study followed a quantitative research design which entailed the collection of data from 250 respondents, using a self-administered questionnaire. The conceptual model and hypotheses proposed for the study were tested through structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings revealed that attitude was the largest influencer of intention to adopt the Rea Vaya. The managerial implications of the findings of this study include building positive consumer attitudes towards the Rea Vaya. A “Rea Vaya stories” marketing campaign is recommended, where consumers will be encouraged to share their positive experiences of the Rea Vaya on social media and radio.
Title: Methylated B3GAT2 and ZNF793 are potential detection biomarkers for Barrett’s esophagus

Background: Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is a pre-neoplastic condition in which normal esophageal squamous epithelium (SQ) is replaced by specialized intestinal metaplasia. It is the presumed precursor for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) as well as the strongest risk factor for this cancer. Unfortunately, many patients with BE go undiagnosed under the current BE screening guidelines. The development of noninvasive and accurate BE detection assays could potentially identify many of these undiagnosed BE patients. Methods: DNA methylation is a common epigenetic alteration in BE. Therefore, we conducted a genome-wide methylation screen to identify potential BE biomarkers. Samples from SQ (N=12), stomach (N=28), and BE (N=29) were analyzed and methylation levels at over 485,000 CpG sites were compared. Pyrosequencing assays were used to validate the results and MethyLight assays were developed to detect the methylated alleles in endoscopic brushings. We discovered that higher BE samples respectively) than control tissues P < 0.0001 both genes). BE Conclusion: B3GAT2 and ZNF793 are hypermethylated in BE, and the methylation status of these genes can be used to detect BE in tissue samples. Impact: These findings support the development of methylated B3GAT2 and ZNF793 as biomarkers for noninvasive assays for the detection of BE. support further investigation of methylated B3GAT2 and ZNF793 as cytology-related biomarkers for BE detection.