Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Factors Influencing Caterers of the Ghana School Feeding Programme to Purchase Rice from Local Farmers in the Tamale Metropolis, Tolon-Kumbungu and Karaga Districts

The Ghana School Feeding Programme is the local version of the Home Grown School Feeding. Launched in 2005, the programme has three basic objectives; Poverty Reduction and Food Security, Reducing Hunger and Malnutrition and Boosting Domestic Food production in Ghana. Studies have shown that the programme have had tremendous impact on school enrolment, retention and malnutrition but the same cannot be said about its agricultural portfolio. Indications are that the programme has not succeeded in boosting domestic food production. Over the years no clear procurement procedures relating to the purchase of foodstuff have been followed. Linkage between the Ghana School Feeding Programme and local farmers is a subject matter that is under-researched. This study therefore seeks to assess the factors that influence Ghana School Feeding Programme caterers to buy rice from local farmers in the Tamale metropolis, Tolon-Kumbungu and Karaga districts of the northern of Ghana. The findings will be useful to policy makers and rice farmers in generally especially with regard to agricultural marketing opportunities created by the School Feeding Programme. Analysis of the Ghana School Feeding Programme’s procurement of rice from local farmers was conducted using a probit regression model. The willingness of caterers to buy rice from the local farmer which is a binary choice is the dependent variable and the factors which are hypothesized to influence the decision of the caterer are the independent variables. The results show that majority of caterers buy rice from local millers and the market and very little from local farmers. The factors which had significant influence on the caterers to buy from the local rice farmer include, availability of storage facility, other jobs done by caterers, price of milled rice, easy location of rice farmers and delays in the payment of feeding bursaries. The Ghana School Feeding Programme Secretariat should employ caterers who are unemployed and do not have any other jobs doing. Also the provision of adequate storage facilities in schools and the early disbursement of feeding bursaries to caterers are essential in solving the problem of buying foodstuffs directly from farmers.
Antimicrobial Activity of Oleanolic and Ursolic Acids: An Update

Triterpenoids are the most representative group of phytochemicals, as they comprise more than 20,000 recognized molecules. These compounds are biosynthesized in plants via squalene cyclization, a C30 hydrocarbon that is considered to be the precursor of all steroids. Due to their low hydrophilicity, triterpenes were considered to be inactive for a long period of time; however, evidence regarding their wide range of pharmacological activities is emerging, and elegant studies have highlighted these activities. Several triterpenic skeletons have been described, including some that have presented with pentacyclic features, such as oleanolic and ursolic acids. These compounds have displayed incontestable biological activity, such as antibacterial, antiviral, and antiprotozoal effects, which were not included in a single review until now. Thus, the present review investigates the potential use of these triterpenes against human pathogens, including their mechanisms of action, via in vivo studies, and the future perspectives about the use of compounds for human or even animal health are also discussed.
SINGING-VOICE SEPARATION USING DEEP RECURRENT NEURAL NETWORKS

In this paper, we explore using deep recurrent neural networks for singing voice separation from monaural recordings in a supervised setting. We propose jointly optimizing the networks for multiple source signals by including the separation step as a nonlinear operation in the last layer. Discriminative training objectives are further explored to enhance the source to interference ratio. The algorithm has been tested against the MIREX 2014 singing voice separation task.
Research Design: Creating Robust Approaches for the Social Sciences

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION - 'DESIGN' AS DISTINCT FROM METHODS What Is Research Design? Introducing Designs in the Cycle of Research PART TWO: THE PRELIMINARIES OF RESEARCH DESIGN Identifying Researchable Questions Warranting Research Claims The Nature of Causal Claims PART THREE: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Identifying the Sample or Cases Comparing for Comparative Claims Matters of Timing and Sequence Evaluating Controlled Interventions PART FOUR: MORE ADVANCED CONSIDERATIONS Further Designs for Evaluation Challenges for Validity How Big Is a Difference? A Second Principle of Ethics PART FIVE: CONCLUSION Revisiting the Need for Robust Design
Design of broadband beamformers robust against gain and phase errors in the microphone array characteristics

Fixed broadband beamformers using small-size microphone arrays are known to be highly sensitive to errors in the microphone array characteristics. The paper describes two design procedures for designing broadband beamformers with an arbitrary spatial directivity pattern, which are robust against gain and phase errors in the microphone array characteristics. The first design procedure optimizes the mean performance of the broadband beamformer and requires knowledge of the gain and the phase probability density functions, whereas the second design procedure optimizes the worst-case performance by using a minimax criterion. Simulations with a small-size microphone array show the performance improvement that can be obtained by using a robust broadband beamformer design procedure.
The Estrogen-Related Receptor Alpha Upregulates Secretin Expressions in Response to Hypertonicity and Angiotensin II Stimulation

Osmoregulation via maintenance of water and salt homeostasis is a vital process. In the brain, a functional secretin (SCT) and secretin receptor (SCTR) axis has recently been shown to mediate central actions of angiotensin II (ANGII), including initiation of water intake and stimulation of vasopressin (VP) expression and release. In this report, we provide evidence that estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα, NR3B1), a transcription factor mainly involved in metabolism, acts as an upstream activator of the SCT gene. In vitro studies using mouse hypothalamic cell line N-42 show that ERRα upregulates SCT promoter and gene expression. More importantly, knockdown of endogenous ERRα abolishes SCT promoter activation in response to hypertonic and ANGII stimulations. In mouse brain, ERRα coexpresses with SCT in various osmoregulatory brain regions, including the lamina terminalis and the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, and its expression is induced by hyperosmotic and ANGII treatments. Based on our data, we propose that both the upregulation of ERRα and/or the increased binding of ERRα to the mouse SCT promoter are two possible mechanisms for the elevated SCT expression upon hyperosmolality and central ANGII stimulation.
Maximum likelihood source localization using the EM algorithm to incorporate prior parameter distributions

We introduce a new algorithm for the estimation of source location parameters from array data given prior distributions on unknown nuisance source signal parameters. The conditional maximum-likelihood (CML) formulation is employed, and ML estimation is obtained by marginalizing over the nuisance parameters. In general, direct solution of this marginalization ML problem is intractable. We introduce an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm solution, which is applicable to any prior distribution.
The Relationship between Social Capital and Quality of Life Among Rural Households in Terengganu, Malaysia

Social capital has been widely recognised in the recent development literature to have positive consequences on societal well being. However, most studies examine the impact of social capital on some narrow indicators of well being such as income, poverty, education and health. While these indicators do measure and represent the standard of living of the society, and are important development objectives, they focus only on the material aspect of well being. Therefore, it does not really shed light on whether social capital is associated with quality of life which is the subjective aspect of well being. This gives rise to the question on whether social capital also leads to better quality of life. This paper attempts to fill this gap by extending the analysis not only on the impact of social capital on income, but also on quality of life. Empirical evidence on the links between social capital and quality of life is provided by performing regression analysis. The analysis is carried out using primary data obtained from a survey of 2500 rural households in Terengganu, Malaysia. The results show that social capital has a significant impact not only on household income but also on quality of life. These results imply that investment in social capital is crucial to achieve development objectives.
Correlation between Trichomonas vaginalis and Concurrency: An Ecological Study

Objective. There is a large variation in the prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) between different countries and between racial groups within countries. Sexual partner concurrency may play a role. We investigate the correlation between the prevalence of sexual partner concurrency and TV prevalence. Methods. Spearman's correlation to assess relationship between TV prevalence in women and point prevalence of concurrency in men in (1) 11 countries with comparable data (concurrency data from WHO Survey and TV prevalence data from Global Burden of Disease estimates) and (2) three racial groups in the United States (Add Health Study). Results. The prevalence of TV and concurrency was positively correlated in the international (rho = 0.84, P = 0.001) and USA study (rho = 1.0, P < 0.001). Conclusion. Prospective longitudinal studies that include measures of partner behavior are required to definitively establish the role of concurrency in the spread of TV.
Satisfaction and company loyalty as expressed by non-industrial private forest owners towards timber procurement organizations in Finland

The satisfaction and company loyalty as expressed by non-industrial, private forest (NIPF) owners towards timber procurement organizations were clarified via a mail questionnaire. The results denoted that there is a positive correlation between the levels of forest owners’ expectations (EXP) and perceived performance (PERF). In addition, the lower EXP and the higher PERF were, the greater was the overall satisfaction index (SAT). About two thirds of forest owners were characterized by a negative SAT value or then they were dissatisfied with the performance of the procurement organization in their last timber-sales transaction. Furthermore, the results obtained indicated that the SAT index significantly influences the company loyalty expressed by NIPF owners – their willingness to give favourable reports of the company to the others, and their willingness to engage in future timber-sales transactions with the same company. Nonetheless, the SAT index did not affect the market share of a particular company, and this could be partly accounted for by the similar level of performance among the companies and the lack of competition in the timber trade. Finally, the results revealed several dimensions of timber procurement, and some seller segments to which companies could pay more attention to in order to be able to achieve better satisfaction levels and the loyalty of NIPF owners in the future. One approach to successfully addressing these challenges could be the adopting of a satisfaction decision support system (SatDSS).
Global roaming in next-generation networks

Next-generation mobile/wireless networks are already under preliminary deployment. Mobile/wireless all-IP networks are expected to provide a substantially wider and enhanced range of services. However, an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach to the deployment of a global all-IP wireless/mobile network is expected. To support global roaming, next-generation networks will require the integration and interoperation of mobility management processes under a worldwide wireless communications infrastructure. In this article global roaming is addressed as one of the main issues of next-generation mobile networks. Apart from the physical layer connectivity and radio spectrum allocation plans, mobility in a hierarchical structured scheme is discussed. An all-IP wireless/mobile network combined with inherited mobility schemes of each network layer and Mobile IP extensions is proposed. In this respect the mobility management mechanisms in WLAN, cellular, and satellite networks are analyzed, and an all-IP architecture is described and an enhanced roaming scenario presented.
The Performance Characteristics of MapReduce Applications on Scalable Clusters

Many cluster owners and operators have begun to consider MapReduce as a viable processing paradigm for its ability to address immense quantities of data. However, the performance characteristics of MapReduce applications on large clusters are generally unknown. The purpose of our research is to the characterize and model the performance of MapReduce applications on typical, scalable clusters based on fundamental application data and processing metrics. We identied ve fundamental characteristics which dene the performance of MapReduce applications. We then created ve separate benchmark tests, each designed to isolate and test a single characteristic. The results of these benchmarks are helpful in constructing a model for MapReduce applications.
Cytoarchitectonic and Dynamic Origins of Giant Positive Local Field Potentials in the Dentate Gyrus

To determine why some pathways but not others produce sizable local field potentials (LFPs) and how far from the source can these be recorded, complementary experimental analyses and realistic modeling of specific brain structures are required. In the present study, we combined multiple in vivo linear recordings in rats and a tridimensional finite element model of the dentate gyrus, a curved structure displaying abnormally large positive LFPs. We demonstrate that the polarized dendritic arbour of granule cells (GCs), combined with the curved layered configuration of the population promote the spatial clustering of GC currents in the interposed hilus and project them through the open side at a distance from cell domains. LFPs grow up to 20 times larger than observed in synaptic sites. The dominant positive polarity of hilar LFPs was only produced by the synchronous activation of GCs in both blades by either somatic inhibition or dendritic excitation. Moreover, the corresponding anatomical pathways must project to both blades of the dentate gyrus as even a mild decrease in the spatial synchronization resulted in a dramatic reduction in LFP power in distant sites, yet not in the GC domains. It is concluded that the activation of layered structures may establish sharply delimited spatial domains where synaptic currents from one or another input appear to be segregated according to the topology of afferent pathways and the cytoarchitectonic features of the target population. These also determine preferred directions for volume conduction in the brain, of relevance for interpretation of surface EEG recordings.
Adaptive anchor detection using online trained audio/visual model

An anchor person is the hosting character in broadcast programs. Anchor segments in video often provide the landmarks for detecting the content boundaries so that it is important to identify such segments during automatic content-based multimedia indexing. Previous efforts are mostly focused on audio information or visual information alone for anchor detection using either model based methods via off-line trained models or unsupervised clustering methods. The inflexibility of the off-line model based approach and the increasing difficulty in achieving detection reliability using clustering approach lead to a new approach proposed in this paper. The goal is to detect an arbitrary anchor in a given broadcast news program. The proposed approach exploits both audio and visual cues so that on-line acoustic and visual models for the anchor can be built dynamically during data processing. In addition to the capability of identifying any given anchor, the proposed method can also be used to enhance the performance by combining with the algorithm that detects a predefined anchor. Preliminary experiment result are shown and discussed. It is demonstrated that this proposed new approach enables the flexibility of detecting an arbitrary anchor without losing the performance.
Carbohydrate loading and supplementation in endurance-trained women runners.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of carbohydrate (CHO) augmentation on endurance performance and substrate utilization in aerobically trained women. Eight endurance-trained women completed a 24.2-km (15 mile) self-paced treadmill performance run under three conditions: CHO supplementation (S), CHO loading and supplementation (L+S), and placebo (P). Dietary CHO was approximately 75% of energy intake for L+S and approximately 50% for both S and P. A 6% CHO-electrolyte solution (S and L+S) or placebo (P) was ingested preexercise (6 ml/kg) and every 20 min during exercise (3 ml/kg). Blood glucose was significantly higher at 40, 60, and 100 min during L+S, and at 60, 80, and 100 min during S compared with P (P < 0.05). Blood lactate was significantly higher (P < 0.05) during L+S than S and P. Blood glycerol was significantly lower (P < 0.05) at 20, 80, and 100 min during L+S, and at 80 and 100 min during S than P. The proportion of CHO (%) utilized during exercise was significantly higher (P < 0.05) during L+S (71.3 +/- 3.8%) and S (67.3 +/- 4.3%) than P (59.2 +/- 4.6%). Performance times (P > 0.05) were 132.5 +/- 6.3 min (S), 134.4 +/- 6.3 min (L+S), and 136.6 +/- 7.9 min (P). In conclusion, it appears that when CHO availability in women is increased through CHO loading and/or CHO supplementation, there is a concomitant increase in CHO utilization. However, this may not necessarily result in significantly improved performance.
Commodities Prices Modeling Using Gaussian Poisson-Exponential Stochastic Processes, A Practical Implementation In The Case Of Copper

The price adjustment mechanism is accounted for by market forces, in that –leaving aside speculative movements in financial markets, which in specific cases can be the cause of price volatilitythe market adjusts itself in periods of strong demand and rising prices through an increase in the offer, e.g. by opening up closed mines, by extending the life span of mines scheduled to be shut down, etc. Following this increase in the offer, prices tend to fall. In periods when prices are low, the opposite occurs, so that the offer decreases and prices tend to go up.
Computational Statistics and Data Analysis Em Vs Mm: a Case Study

The celebrated expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm is one of the most widely used optimization methods in statistics. In recent years it has been realized that EM algorithm is a special case of the more general minorization–maximization (MM) principle. Both algorithms create a surrogate function in the first (E or M) step that is maximized in the second M step. This two step process always drives the objective function uphill and is iterated until the parameters converge. The two algorithms differ in the way the surrogate function is constructed. The expectation step of the EM algorithm relies on calculating conditional expectations, while the minorization step of the MM algorithm builds on crafty use of inequalities. For many problems, EM and MM derivations yield the same algorithm. This expository note walks through the construction of both algorithms for estimating the parameters of the Dirichlet-Multinomial distribution. This particular case is of interest because EM and MM derivations lead to two different algorithms with completely distinct operating characteristics. The EM algorithm converges quickly but involves solving a nontrivial maximization problem in the M step. In contrast the MM updates are extremely simple but converge slowly. An EM–MM hybrid algorithm is derived which shows faster convergence than the MM algorithm in certain parameter regimes. The local convergence rates of the three algorithms are studied theoretically from the unifying MM point of view and also compared on numerical examples.
Project flexibility, agency, and competition : new developments in the theory and application of real options

1. (Introduction) Real Options Analysis: Development and New Contributions PART I: OPTIMAL CONTINGENT POLICIES AND THE VALUE OF FLEXIBILITY 2. Real Options and Rules of Thumb in Capital Budgeting 3. Investment in Flexible Technologies under Uncertainty 4. Expandability, Reversibility, and Optimal Capacity Choice 5. Entry and Exit Strategies under Non-Gaussian Distributions 6. Evaluating Research and Development Investments PART II: AGENCY, CONTRACTS, AND INCENTIVES 7. A Self-Enforced Dynamic Contract for Processing of Natural Resources 8. Bidding for the Antamina Mine: Valuation and Incentives in a Real Options Context 9. Agency, Costs, Underinvestment, and Optimal Capital Structure: The Effect of Growth Options to Expand PART III: FLEXIBILITY IN NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE INVESTMENTS 10. Valuation of Natural Resource Investments with Stochastic Conscience Yields and Interest Rates 11. A Compound Option Model for Evaluating Multi-Stage Natural Resource Investments 12. Optimal Extraction of Nonrenewable Resources when Costs Cumulate 13. Real Options and the Timing of Emission Limits under Ecological Uncertainty PART IV: STRATEGIC OPTIONS AND PRODUCT MARKET COMPETITION 14. Competitive Investment Decisions: A Synthesis 15. Equilibrium Time To Build: A Real Options Approach 16. Strategic Sequential Investments and Sleeping Patents 17. The Ship Lay-Up Option and Equilibrium Freight Rates
Should a skeptical portfolio insurer use an optimal or a risk-based multiplier?

Following recent evidence of out-of-sample stock market return predictability, the authors aim to evaluate whether the potential benefits suggested by asset allocation theory can actually be captured in the real world using expected return estimates from a predictive system. The question is addressed in the context of an investor maximizing the long-term growth rate of wealth under a maximum drawdown constraint, and compare the optimal strategy using the predictive system with a similar risk-based allocation strategy independent of expected return estimates. The authors find that the risk-based strategy implies nonetheless very variable and relatively high expected returns, and report important potential benefits in using the expected return estimates of the predictive system they used.