Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Revenue maximising combination of rice monocrop and cassava-based farm enterprises in the Central Niger Delta: a linear programming solution

The study focuses on empirical analysis of the optimum combination of rice monocrop and cassavabased cropping systems consistent with revenue maximisation, and the identification of limiting resources in the target cropping systems in the Central Niger Delta of Nigeria. It was based on a cost-route study of 100 small-holder crop farmers throughout an entire farming season spanning 15 months. A linear programming model, with five crop production activities and 10 resources constraints, was employed in analysing the data obtained from the field survey. Results indicate that, of the five crop production activities, only the mixed cropping enterprise, cassava/maize, entered the feasible plan at an hectarage of 2 with a programme value of N124,000.00. Crop production activities not included in the feasible plan are cassava, yam, swamp rice, and cocoyam. The shadow price of land indicates that it is the only limiting resource to surveyed crop farmers in the area. It has been argued that rice cassava-based farmers in the area should cultivate about 2 ha of cassava/maize in order to maximise farm revenue. To ensure that cassava-based farmers are encouraged to adopt the optimal farm plan, it has been suggested that government evolves appropriate farm credit policy to enable them have easier access to finance with which to acquire more farm land for cultivation. Land consolidation and reform policies and programmes on the part of government have also been advocated, as well as the evolution of an effective marketing arrangement to forestall anticipated price risks associated with increased production and supply of cassava and maize. Also advocated is the boosting by government of its rural development activities so as to encourage non-farm activities to which the quarterly excess family labour of cassava-based farmers in the area could be profitably re-deployed.
Effect of Instant Messaging Advertising on the Hierarchy‐of‐Effects Model Amid Teenagers in South Africa

The rapid growth of social media has resulted in digital information and communications technology (ICT) channels for individuals, especially the youth, to connect with each other and the rest of their world. Consequently, instant messaging (IM), social network sites (SNS) and other mobile applications have become an integral part of life, as well as a daily destination for billions of young individuals, offering them a novel and instant means of communication in this interactive ICT space. The increase of social media adoption has captured the attention of marketers and consumers alike on a global scale, and with the fast changing communication environments, marketers now confront new challenges in terms of understanding consumer behavior, attitudinal responses and consumption patterns in the new millennium. However, there is a lack of research into young consumers’ attitudes towards advertising on IM platforms in emerging nations. Mxit is the largest locally founded IM channel in South Africa (SA) and, hence, this inquiry examines the effect of IM (Mxit) advertising on the hierarchy‐of‐effect model attitude stages among teenagers in SA. The results of the investigations found favorable attitudes towards IM advertising among teenagers, which makes an important contribution to the deficiency of IM inquiry in developing economies. This study should also aid organizations and their brands to comprehend what makes teenagers develop positive attitudes as a result of IM advertising, thereby assisting with the improvement of promotion strategies on this expansive and predominantly mobile IM platform landscape in SA.
Marginal Abatement Cost Curves in General Equilibrium: The Influence of World Energy Prices

Marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs) are a favorite instrument to analyze international emissions trading. This paper focusses on the question of how to define MACCs in a general equilibrium context where the global abatement level influences energy prices and in turn national MACCs. We discuss the mechanisms theoretically and then use the CGE model DART for quantitative simulations. The result is, that changes in energy prices resulting from different global abatement levels do indeed affect national MACCs. Also, we compare different possibilities of defining MACCs - of which some are robust against changes in energy prices while others vary considerably.
Selective detrending method for reducing task‐correlated motion artifact during speech in event‐related FMRI

Task‐correlated motion artifacts that occur during functional magnetic resonance imaging can be mistaken for brain activity. In this work, a new selective detrending method for reduction of artifacts associated with task‐correlated motion (TCM) during speech in event‐related functional magnetic resonance imaging is introduced and demonstrated in an overt word generation paradigm. The performance of this new method is compared with that of three existing methods for reducing artifacts because of TCM: (1) motion parameter regression, (2) ignoring images during speech, and (3) detrending time course datasets of signal components related to TCM (deduced from artifact corrupted voxels). The selective detrending method outperforms the other three methods in reducing TCM artifacts and in retaining blood oxygenation level dependent signal. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Are Foreign Firms More Productive and Export- and Technology-intensive than Local Firms in Kenyan Manufacturing?

This paper uses the technological capabilities framework for examining differences in technological intensities and economic performance between foreign and local food and beverage, and textile and garment firms and metal engineering firms in Kenya. Foreign firms had statistically significant higher labour productivity means than local firms in textile and garment manufacturing. Foreign firms were also more export- and technology-intensive than local firms in textile and garment (process technology and R&D) and metal engineering (HR). Foreign firms had higher and statistically significant skills and overall technology (TI) means than local firms in food and beverages. The econometric exercise showed that foreign ownership had a statistically significant and positive relationship with overall technological and HR intensities. In labour productivity, the coefficient of TI was higher in the foreign firms' sample than in the local firms' sample. Local firms had higher value added in domestic than export markets. Export intensity had a positive relationship in the process technology regressions, but an inverse relationship in the HR regressions in the foreign firms' sample. Overall, the statistically significant results suggest that foreign firms' technology, productivity and export intensity levels in economies with weak institutions tend to be superior to local firms.
Word sense disambiguation for arabic text categorization

In this paper, we present two contributions for Arabic Word Sense Disambiguation. In the first one, we propose to use both two external resources Arabic WordNet (AWN) and WN based on term to term Machine Translation System (MTS). The second contribution consists of choosing the nearest concept for the ambiguous terms, based on more relationships with different concepts in the same local context. To evaluate the accuracy of our proposed method, several experiments have been conducted using Feature Selection methods; Chi-Square and CHIR, two machine learning techniques; the Naïve Bayesian (NB) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). The obtained results illustrate that using the proposed method increases greatly the performance of our Arabic Text Categorization System.
Medication adherence of patients with chronic diseases: a study in the Black Sea region of Turkey -

Chronic diseases are among the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Chronic diseases can be controlled and their frequencies can be reduced through fight against risk factors such as obesity, smoking, and insufficient physical exercise; early diagnosis, and appropriate treatment. In this study, we aim to assess the medication adherence of individuals with chronic diseases. In this descriptive study, the sample includes individuals who have been diagnosed with chronic diseases and who have applied to a public hospital. The data collection is performed with a questionnaire form with questions on socio-demographic features and on the chronic illness, and with the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8. 68% of the patients who participated in the study were female and 32% of them were male. It has been found that 51.4% of the patients (5.35±2.5) had low medication adherence. For those patients who have stated that they got information regarding the treatment and who had high levels of belief that the treatment could help them control the disease, the medication adherence score was significantly higher (p
Interactions between Bovine Serum Albumin and Oxidized Sodium Alginate in Solution

This paper focuses on the interactions between oxidized sodium alginate (OSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) at the molecular level with the purpose to provide basic information for optimizing the biological utilization and pharmaceutical applications of OSA. The results revealed that OSA could strongly quench the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA through a static quenching procedure. The thermodynamic parameters, enthalpy change (H) and entropy change (S), were also calculated. The process of binding was a spontaneous process in which Gibbs free energy change was negative. The distances between donor (BSA) and acceptor (OSA) were calculated to be 2.41, 2.54 and 2.84 nm for SA–BSA, 10% OSA–BSA and 30% OSA–BSA systems, based on Förster non-radiative energy transfer theory, respectively. The results of synchronous fluorescence spectra showed that binding of OSA with BSA cannot induce conformational changes in BSA. Meanwhile, the OSA with low degree of oxidization (DO% 30%) was non-cytotoxic. Therefore, OSA could be promising as a bioactive compound carrier.
The role of intermediaries in the small business transfer process

This paper contributes to the emerging field of business transfer studies by providing qualitative, in-depth evidence on the role of intermediaries at different stages of the transfer process. Building on the resource-based view of the firm and agency theory, this paper identifies the specific resources different types of intermediaries offer small businesses in the transfer process. Further, it explores the role of intermediaries in managing risk and uncertainty in the interaction between buyer and seller. The results suggest that small business owners may need to navigate the use of a variety of intermediaries throughout different times leading-up-to and throughout the business transfer process. Finally, opportunities for further research are explored.
Improved speech recognition using discriminative integration of multiple local classifiers in lattice rescoring

Model combination is a popular technique to integrate several knowledge sources into automatic speech recognition for better system accuracy. In this paper, we report our recent work on the integration of the hidden Markov model based acoustic model, the multi-layer perceptron based phoneme classifier and Gaussian mixture model based tone classifier in lattice rescoring. Moreover, we use discriminative model weight training to tune the impact of the heterogeneous models according to different phonetic contexts for better model interpolation. Experimental results on continuous mandarin speech recognition show a 8.2% improvement can be obtained using the combination of the three models. We have also evaluated four context dependent weighting schemes using discriminative trained scaling factors. It is also shown by introducing left final dependent contexts, a 4.1% further recognition error reduction can be further obtained.
Agreement between Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Measures from Spectralis and Cirrus Spectral Domain OCT

Purpose. An assessment of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) provides important information on the health of the optic nerve. There are several non-invasive technologies, including spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT), that can be used for in vivo imaging and quantification of the RNFL, but often there is disagreement in RNFL thickness between clinical instruments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of scan centration, ocular magnification, and segmentation on the degree of agreement of RNFL thickness measures by two SD OCT instruments. Methods. RNFL scans were acquired from 45 normal eyes using two commercially available SD OCT systems. Agreement between RNFL thickness measures was determined using each instrument's algorithm for segmentation and a custom algorithm for segmentation. The custom algorithm included ocular biometry measures to compute the transverse scaling for each eye. Major retinal vessels were identified and removed from RNFL measures in 1:1 scaled images. Transverse scaling was also used to compute the RNFL area for each scan. Results. Instrument-derived global RNFL thickness measured from the two instruments correlated well (R2 = 0.70, p < 0.01) but with significant differences between instruments (mean of 6.7 &mgr;m; 95% limits of agreement of 16.0 &mgr;m to −2.5 &mgr;m, intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.62). For recentered scans with custom RNFL segmentation, the mean difference was reduced to 0.1 &mgr;m (95% limits of agreement 6.1 to −5.8 &mgr;m, intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.92). Global RNFL thickness was related to axial length (R2 = 0.24, p < 0.01), whereas global RNFL area measures were not (R2 = 0.004, p = 0.66). Major retinal vasculature accounted for 11.3 ± 1.6% (Cirrus) or 11.8 ± 1.4% (Spectralis) of the RNFL thickness/area measures. Conclusions. Sources of disagreement in RNFL measures between SD-OCT instruments can be attributed to the location of the scan path and differences in their retinal layer segmentation algorithms. In normal eyes, the major retinal vasculature accounts for a significant percentage of the RNFL and is similar between instruments. With incorporation of an individual's ocular biometry, RNFL area measures are independent of axial length, with either instrument.
Implementing service recovery through customer relationship management: identifying the antecedents

Purpose – This study seeks to combine components of service failure recovery and customer relationship management. It aims to develop a model of the antecedents of successful service recovery that proposes relationships between employee empowerment, job satisfaction, self‐efficacy, employee ratings of the service firm's service recovery practices, and service technology usage.Design/methodology/approach – An online survey tool was used to collect data. The hypothesized model was tested utilizing structural equation modeling.Findings – Results support the hypothesized relationships between the empowerment of employees and their job satisfaction and perceived self‐efficacy, as well as the relationships between job satisfaction and self‐efficacy and service recovery.Practical implications – Managers may improve the implementation of service technology and service recovery strategies by increasing employee empowerment.Originality/value – The paper addresses a significant gap in the current literature by linki.
How reliable is secondary risk stratification with stimulated thyroglobulin in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma?

Summary Objective: Primary risk factors in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) are well established. In our institution, secondary risk stratification has been performed with stimulated Thyroglobulin (sTg; TSH > 30 mIU/l) within six months after primary therapy since 2001. In this study, we evaluated the predictive value of sTg for long-term disease- free survival (DFS). Patients, methods: Data of 202 consecutive patients with DTC were analyzed retrospectively. Median follow-up time was 6.4 years (12 months to 16.2 years). Patients were staged according to Union International Contre le Cancer (UICC) criteria. Primary risk stratification was carried out according to European Thyroid Association criteria. Initially, 134 patients (66%) were classified as low-risk and 68 patients (34%) as high-risk. The influence of established risk factors and sTg on DFS was analyzed at three different time points, up to 36 months after initial therapy. Results: In total, 169 (84%) of all patients remained in complete remission after surgery followed by radioiodine-therapy. Six patients (3%) developed tumour recurrence after initial complete remission. Primary risk factors for persistent disease were male sex, follicular or oncocytic tumour, primary tumour > 4 cm in diameter, initial lymph node involvement, initial metastatic disease and microscopic or macroscopic residual tumor. sTg ≤ 0.3 ng/ml measured within six months after initial therapy was a highly significant predictor (p ≤ 0.001) for lasting DFS, 99% of patients with sTg ≤ 0.3 ng/ml were in complete remission 36 months after initial therapy. Conclusions: A stimulated Tg ≤ 0.3 ng/ml within six months after initial therapy is a reliable predictor for long-term disease- free survival independent of primary risk stratification.
Antigen heterogeneity among isolates of Mycoplasma bovis is generated by high-frequency variation of diverse membrane surface proteins

The protein and antigen profiles of 11 isolates of Mycoplasma bovis were compared by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis of whole organisms. The isolates examined included the type strain PG45 and 10 other filter-cloned strains or purified isolates both from animals without clinical signs and from clinical cases of bovine mastitis, arthritis, or pneumonia. While the overall protein patterns visualized by silver staining were very similar, marked differences in the antigen banding profiles were detected by rabbit antiserum prepared against whole organisms from one of the strains analyzed. This antigenic heterogeneity was shown to be independent of the geographical origin, the type of clinical disease, and the site of isolation and was also observed among serial isolates from a single animal. Antigen profiles were further monitored throughout sequentially subcloned populations of the PG45 strain. This clonal analysis revealed a high-frequency variation in the expression levels of several prominent antigens. All of these variable antigens were defined by detergent-phase fractionation with Triton X-114 as amphiphilic integral membrane proteins. A subset of different-sized membrane proteins was identified by a monoclonal antibody raised against a PG45 subclone expressing a 63- and a 46-kDa variant antigen within that set. The selective susceptibility of these proteins to trypsin treatment of intact organisms and their ability to bind the monoclonal antibody in colony immunoblots demonstrated that they were exposed on the cell surface. In addition, their preferential recognition by serum antibodies from individual cattle with naturally induced M. bovis mastitis or arthritis confirmed that they were major immunogens of this organism. These studies establish that the apparent antigenic heterogeneity among M. bovis isolates reported here does not represent stable phenotypic strain differences generated from accumulated mutational events but reflects distinct expression patterns of diverse, highly variable membrane surface proteins.
Investment, Capacity Choice and Outsourcing Options under Uncertainty

: In this paper, we formulate the investment of a ﬁrm in a production facility with maximum capacity and outsourcing strategy. Previous research on capacity selection has resulted in explosive capacity and long delay in investment. The possibility that a ﬁrm will install a facility with an explosive capacity is slight, and ﬁrms can generally outsource production when the demand exceeds the capacity of a facility. The outsourcing strategy is expected to inhibit capacity, accelerate investment, and increase value. In this paper, we simultaneously investigate the optimal investment timing, the size of a facility, and the outsourcing strategy.
Performance evaluation and tuning of a fuzzy control strategy for a fuel cell hybrid electric auto rickshaw

One of the most important factors that determine the performance of hybrid vehicles is the energy management and power distribution between the different energy sources. This paper reports on a project whose objective is to examine the potential and compare the performance of intelligent control strategies as applied to a fuel cell/battery hybrid electric auto rickshaw. A previous study found that a novel fuel cell load following strategy (FCLS) showed better results when compared to an equivalent consumption minimization strategy. In this paper, a fuzzy control strategy (FCS) is benchmarked against FCLS using a realistic drive cycle. It was found that after careful tuning, FCLS and FCS were equivalent in terms of achievable fuel economy.
Control of Inter-Organizational Relationships: Evidence on Coordination Requirements and Appropriation Concerns

This paper presents a framework of the control of inter-organizational relationships. Building on transaction cost economics and organizational theory, two control problems are identified that arise when firms engage in inter-organizational relationships: the management of appropriation concerns and the coordination of tasks. The control mechanisms used to manage these control problems and their interrelationships with informal (trust-based) mechanisms are discussed. The explanatory power of the framework is assessed by a case study of a strategic alliance between a buyer and a supplier of railway safety equipment.
Studying early stages of fibronectin fibrillogenesis in living cells by atomic force microscopy.

Fibronectin (FN) is an extracellular matrix protein that can be assembled by cells into large fibrillar networks, but the dynamics of FN remodeling and the transition through intermediate fibrillar stages are still incompletely understood. Here we have used a combination of fluorescence microscopy and time-lapse atomic force microscopy (AFM) to visualize initial stages of FN fibrillogenesis in living fibroblasts at high resolution. Initial FN nanofibrils form within <5 min of cell-matrix contact and subsequently extend at a rate of 0.25 μm/min at sites of cell membrane retraction. FN nanofibrils display a complex linear array of globular features spaced at varying distances, indicating the coexistence of different conformational states within the fibril. In some cases initial fibrils extended in discrete increments of ∼800 nm during a series of cyclical membrane retractions, indicating a stepwise fibrillar extension mechanism. In presence of Mn2+, a known activator of integrin adhesion to FN, fibrillogenesis was accelerated almost threefold to 0.68 μm/min and fibrillar dimensions were increased, underlining the importance of integrin activation for early FN fibrillogenesis. FN fibrillogenesis visualized by time-lapse AFM thus provides new structural and mechanistic insight into initial steps of cell-driven FN fibrillogenesis.