Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adoption of the National Health Insurance Scheme and Its Influence on Organizational Commitment

Purpose: The study examines the influence of the adoption of the National Health Insurance Scheme on organizational commitment with particular reference to Kwara State, Nigeria. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was adopted for the study. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select 350 civil servants from the Ministry of Health in Ilorin. Data were analyzed with the assistance of mean and ordinary least square method of estimation. Result: The results reveal that the adoption of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has a significant influence on organizational commitment. This indicates that the “modus operandi” of the scheme is a strong predictor of organizational commitment in Nigeria. Implication: Deduction to be made from this result is that the “modus operandi” of the scheme is a strong predictor of organizational commitment. This indicates that the sustainability of the NHIS is a guarantee in the country. This will pave the way to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ‘universal health coverage, such as financial risk protection, access to quality essential health care services, and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all by 2030.
EFFICACY OF SOME ORGANIC FUNGICIDES AGAINST ANTHRACNOSE AND POWDERY MILDEW OF MANGO

Mango (Mangifera indica L) is an important tropical fruit and is commonly grown in many countries of the world including Pakistan. It ranks as the fifth largest fruit produce in the world and universally considered as one of the delicious and finest fruits and widely consumed throughout world. Mango owes its development to Indo-Pak subcontinent where more than 250 improved, superior and delicious varieties have been evolved and grown for the last several decades. Some of the most famous and popular varieties in Pakistan are Sindhri, Dusehri, Summer Behisht Chaunsa, Anwar Ratual, Langra, Malda, Gulab Khas, Bagenpali, Neelum, Sufaida and Fajri; apart from some indigenous or local varieties. All these varieties at the time of flushing and flowering are highly susceptible to anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz) (Akhtar et al., 1998) and powdery mildew by Pseudoidium anacardii (F. Noack) U. Braun & R.T. A. Cook 2012 previously known as Oidium mangiferae Barthet (Akhtar et al., 1999; Gorter, 1988a; Gorter, 1988b). Both the diseases occur on foliage and blossom, but blossom infection is more serious (Prakash and Mishra, 1992; Darvas, 1992; Akhtar et al., 1998; Saleem, 1999) because it results in flower drop, poor fruit set and ultimately produces low fruit yields (Shridhar and Sohi, 1973; Fitzell, 1981; Prakash and Raoof, 1985; Tariq et al., 2008). It has been estimated that increase in the incidence of anthracnose from 31 to 40% and powdery mildew from 41 to 50% can cause 100% yield loss. Therefore, regular applications of suitable fungicides are required during the period of mango blossoming to effectively control anthracnose and powdery mildew (Ploetz, 1999). Many fungicides have been assessed against these diseases, but there has been tendency to concentrate on one disease at a time (Gafar et al., 1975; De Beer and Snyman, 1983; Prakash and Raoof, 1985; McKenzie, 1988). In practice, however, two or more diseases may occur in the same locality at the same time. It is therefore better to adopt a holistic approach. Present study deals with the identification of causal pathogens, description of symptoms at flowering and effectiveness of some fungicides against anthracnose and powdery mildew of mango.
Lake Phytoplankton Assemblage Altered by Irregularly Shaped PLA Body Wash Microplastics but Not by PS Calibration Beads

Microplastics are an emerging environmental pollutant, whose global ubiquity is becoming increasingly evident. Conventional wastewater treatment does not completely remove them, and there are growing concerns about microplastics in source water and post-treatment drinking water. Microplastics have been reported to alter the development, physiology, and behavior of various aquatic organisms; however, limited knowledge exists on their effect on natural phytoplankton communities. Many studies also use uniformly spherical plastic beads, while most scrub particles in consumer products and secondary microplastics in the environment have various shapes and sizes. We tested the effects of two types of microplastics, 50 µm polystyrene (PS) calibration beads and polylactic acid (PLA) plastic body wash scrub particles, and one type of plant-derived body wash scrub particle on a natural phytoplankton assemblage through a 7-day incubation experiment in a temperate, mesotrophic lake. The calibration beads and the plant-derived particles generally did not alter the taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton in the mesocosms, while the PLA body wash microplastics eliminated cryptophytes (p < 0.001) and increased chrysophytes (p = 0.041). Our findings demonstrate differential effects of irregularly shaped PLA body wash microplastics vs. PS calibration beads on lake phytoplankters and empirically support potential bottom-up alteration of the aquatic food web by secondary microplastics.
Behavioral strategies during incubation influence nest and female survival of Wild Turkeys

Abstract Females must balance physiological and behavioral demands of producing offspring with associated expenditures, such as resource acquisition and predator avoidance. Nest success is an important parameter underlying avian population dynamics. Galliforms are particularly susceptible to low nest success due to exposure of ground nests to multiple predator guilds, lengthy incubation periods, and substantive reliance on crypsis for survival. Hence, it is plausible that nesting individuals prioritize productivity and survival differently, resulting in a gradient of reproductive strategies. Fine‐scale movement patterns during incubation are not well documented in ground‐nesting birds, and the influence of reproductive movements on survival is largely unknown. Using GPS data collected from female wild turkeys (n = 278) across the southeastern United States, we evaluated the influence of incubation recess behaviors on trade‐offs between nest and female survival. We quantified daily recess behaviors including recess duration, recess frequency, total distance traveled, and incubation range size for each nest attempt as well as covariates for nest concealment, nest attempt, and nest age. Of 374 nests, 91 (24%) hatched and 39 (14%) females were depredated during incubation. Average nest survival during the incubation period was 0.19, whereas average female survival was 0.78. On average, females took 1.6 daily unique recesses (SD = 1.2), spent 2.1 hr off the nest each day (SD = 1.8), and traveled 357.6 m during recesses (SD = 396.6). Average nest concealment was 92.5 cm (SD = 47). We found that females who took longer recess bouts had higher individual survival, but had increased nest loss. Females who recessed more frequently had lower individual survival. Our findings suggest behavioral decisions made during incubation represent life‐history trade‐offs between predation risk and reproductive success on an unpredictable landscape.
From student to professional: recent conservatoire graduates’ experiences of instrumental teaching

Abstract This research, carried out across 2017–2018, investigated Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC) graduates’ experiences of working as instrumental teachers. A total of 31 participants (who graduated across 2012–2016 and studied an optional ‘Further Pedagogy’ module in their final year) responded to a questionnaire, and two were observed whilst teaching, and subsequently interviewed (2018). Results indicate that RBC students who chose to extend their pedagogical training beyond the core provision offered in the third year proved highly employable as instrumental teachers. Graduates considered teaching to be both fulfilling and challenging and were able to use insights gained ‘on the job’ to advise others. Whilst the sample was clearly limited, these findings contribute to an improved understanding of how instrumental teacher education in conservatoires might be further developed to effectively prepare students for the profession.
Saline water and nitrogen doses in the cultivation of West Indian cherry in the post-grafting phase

This study aimed to evaluate the photosynthetic pigments and growth of the West Indian cherry cv. BRS 366 Jaburu in the post-grafting phase as a function of the salinity levels of the irrigation water and nitrogen fertilization under greenhouse conditions, in the municipality of Campina Grande-PB. The study was performed in randomized blocks, consisting of two levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water ECw (0.8 and 4.5 dS m-1) and four nitrogen doses (70, 85, 100, and 115% of the recommended dose for the crop), with three replications. The synthesis of chlorophyll a and carotenoids in the West Indian cherry plants was inhibited with ECw of 4.5 dS m-1. Nitrogen fertilization in the estimated doses of 92 and 80% of N reduced the effects of salt stress on the contents of chlorophyll a and b in West Indian cherry plants, at 630 days after transplanting. The increment in nitrogen fertilization increases quadratically the absolute and relative growth rate of the diameter in the rootstock of the West Indian cherry plants under irrigation with saline waters.
Community structure and biovolume size spectra of mesozooplankton in the Pearl River estuary

The Pearl River estuary is the second largest estuary in China. This study reported the species composition and size structure of mesozooplankton in the upper and lower Pearl River estuary in the dry and wet seasons. The normalized biovolume size spectrum of mesozooplankton was constructed to analyze the trophic structure of the community. Copepods were the numerically predominant mesozooplankton group at all sampling stations. However, when converted into biovolume, medusae were dominant in the upper estuary in the dry season and Chaetognatha were dominant in the lower estuary in the wet season. There were apparent seasonal and spatial variations in the normalized biovolume size spectrum characteristics in the Pearl River estuary. In the dry season, the average fitted regression line of the normalized biovolume size spectrum had a slope of −1.02 in the upper estuary and −0.88 in the lower estuary. In the wet season, the average fitted regression line of the normalized biovolume size spectrum had a slope of −0.32 in the lower estuary, and no significant regression of the normalized biovolume size spectrum was found in the upper estuary. It is suggested that the mesozooplankton community was unstable in the upper estuary due to the strong freshwater perturbation in the wet season. The size diversity and normalized biovolume size spectrum slope indicated that the strength of top-down control and trophic efficiency was highest in the lower estuary in the wet season.
Mutation in DsbA signal sequence hampers the SRP mechanism: A new strategy to combat virulence factor

Disulphide bond (Dsb) protein, characterized as an important virulence factor in gram negative bacteria. In this study, amino acid mutations in DsbA signal sequence (ss) and its effect on translocation of recombinant Ovine growth hormone (rOGH) was observed. Eight constructs were designed on the basis of increased hydrophobicity and showed that hydrophobicity and specificity of amino acid plays a crucial role in translocation of rOGH. Two DsbAss with the same hydropathy (1.539), one had alteration at -13 and second at -11 position; alanine (Ala) to isoleucine respectively were designed. The former DsbAss translocated rOGH from membrane to cytoplasmic fraction in E. coli as confirmed by SDS-PAGE, Western blot and molecular modelling analysis. MD simulations and binding free energy calculations evidenced that, altering Ala changed the orientation of signal peptide in the Ffh-M domain binding groove and hampered the process of translocation while change at position -11 pointed it outward. We hypothesize, amino acid and position of mutations in DsbAss can hinder the translocation process of signal recognition particle system, thus affecting the virulence of bacteria.
Design and Implementation of A Test Device for Determining the Capacity of Industrial Battery Banks

In this study, a test device is developed to measure the capacities and performances of high capacity battery banks and to detect broken cells. Batteries lose their performance over time due to their chemical properties, storage and usage conditions, production technologies. Some batteries may even become completely unusable long before the promised life cycle. Through this test device, the instant capacity of the battery banks is measured. Based on the data obtained, quantitative data such as state of health and nominal energy of the battery bank are calculating. It is determined whether the battery bank will meet the need according to its intended use. In this way, it is ensured to prevent possible losses by determining the battery cells or groups that need to be changed.
Preparing for the Worst: Making Networks Less Brittle with Adversarial Batch Normalization

Adversarial training is the industry standard for producing models that are robust to small adversarial perturbations. However, machine learning practitioners need models that are robust to domain shifts that occur naturally, such as changes in the style or illumination of input images. Such changes in input distribution have been effectively modeled as shifts in the mean and variance of deep image features. We adapt adversarial training by adversarially perturbing these feature statistics, rather than image pixels, to produce models that are robust to domain shift. We also visualize images from adversarially crafted distributions. Our method, Adversarial Batch Normalization (AdvBN), significantly improves the performance of ResNet-50 on ImageNet-C (+8.1%), Stylized-ImageNet (+6.7%), and ImageNet-Instagram (+3.9%) over standard training practices. In addition, we demonstrate that AdvBN can also improve generalization on semantic segmentation.
Study on the DNA-protein crosslinks induced by chromium (VI) in SPC-A1

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the effect of chromium (VI) on DNA-protein crosslinks (DPC) of SPC-A1 cells. Methods: We exposed SPC-A1 cells were cultured in 1640 medium and treated with the SPC-A1 cells in vitro to different concentrations of Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) for 2h, the KC1-SDS precipitation assay were used to measure the DNA-protein cross-linking effect. Results: All the different concentrations of Cr(VI) could cause the increase of DPC coefficient in SPC-A1 cells. But this effect was not significant (P>0.05) at low concentrations; while in high concentration Cr(VI) induced SPC-A1 cells could produce DNA-protein cross-linking effect significantly (P<0.05). Conclusions: chromium (VI) could induce DNA-protein crosslink.
Ornithodoros sawaii (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae) collected from nest soil/litter of Synthliboramphus antiquus, Synthliboramphus wumizusume, and nest soil/litter and nestlings of Hydrobates monorhis on Gugul and Sogugul Islands, Jeollanam Province, Republic of Korea

Abstract The 65th Medical Brigade and Medical Department Activity-Korea, in collaboration with the Migratory Birds Research Center, National Park Research Institute, conducted a migratory bird tick-borne disease surveillance program on Gugul and Sogugul Islands, two small, remote, uninhabited islands in southwestern Jeollanam Province, Republic of Korea (ROK) from 2015–2016. Ticks were collected from nest soil/litter of the Ancient Murrelet, Synthliboramphus antiquus, Japanese Murrelet, Synthliboramphus wumizusume, and Swinhoe's Storm Petrel, Hydrobates monorhis, using Tullgren funnels. A total of 100 Ornithodoros sawaii (25 females, 56 males, 17 nymphs, and 2 larvae) were collected from 2/33 (6.1%) Ancient Murrelet, 3/11 (27.3%) Japanese Murrelet, and 23/94 (24.5%) Swinhoe's Storm Petrel nest sites. In addition, 3 larvae were collected from Swinhoe's Storm Petrel nestlings. Ticks were identified morphologically and species determination was confirmed using polymerase chain reaction techniques. This is the first record of O. sawaii collected from nest soil/litter of the Japanese Murrelet during this bird's nesting season in the ROK.
Cross-Culture Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of Duke Health Profile

Background: Duke health profile (DHP) is a 17-item questionnaire that measures six health scales (physical, mental, social, general, perceptual, and self-confidence) and four dysfunction scales of anxiety, depression, pain, and disability. Objectives: To systematically translate DHP to Persian language and measure the validity and reliability of the translated version. Methods: We used the forward-backward method for translation of DHP from English to Persian. After linguistic matching and pilot review, a cross-sectional study was carried out on 239 individuals aged over 18 to measure the psychometric characteristics of the Persian version of DHP. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest analysis. Content validity, face validity, and construct validity were evaluated by an expert panel, interviewing a sample of the general population, and confirmatory factor analysis, respectively. Results: Item content validity indexes (I-CVI) for relevance and clarity were between 88 and 100. Scale content validity index (S-CVI) for relevance and clarity were 96% and 94%, respectively. The calculated item content validity ratio (I-CVR) was between 0.78 and 1.0. The confirmatory factor analysis showed that the data fit the model, and the indicators of fitness were acceptable. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.77 for the total tool and varied between 0.47 and 0.69 for different subscales. The reliability of the test-retest was 0.64 - 0.88, which was good after two weeks. Conclusions: The Persian version of DHP is a valid and reliable tool for measuring health profile.
Early Childhood Education in Indonesia; A Primary Study on The Beneficiary Family of International Non-Government Organization

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of parental understanding on the Early Childhood Education in the beneficiary family of programs held by the International Non-Government Organization. The research participants were the beneficiary family listed and provided by World Vision Indonesia and Child Fund Indonesia. The research used a quantitative research approach with self-administered survey instruments. The sample used for the present research is the beneficiary of the programmes that had been implemented by INGO, which includes 325 research participants located in Jakarta and Banten. The data collection took place on March 2020 using online media survey, with validity test have been done before the research instruments shared to all the participants. There were nine questions in the survey with nominal data value for every question rated on a 5-point Likert scale and the ratings summed into items corresponding to early childhood education. The analysis of the research instrument was using SPSS series 25 and the all of items being tested were valid with reliability statistic number 896 on Alpha Cronbach scale. The result shown that the child’s education perceiving by the parents falls under the upper-class category with total score 16,341 out of 19,500 perfect score limit.
Robust Singular Value Decomposition Method on Minor Outlier Data

Article history: Received : 26-08-2020 Revised : 08-09-2020 Accepted : 09-09-2020 In multivariate statistics, Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) for a data matrix containing outliers does not provide data that can be analyzed optimally. This study aims to overcome outlier data using the Robust Singular Value Decomposition (RSVD) method and compare it with the SVD method. The analysis using the RSVD method includes several steps, namely determining the initial predictive value of the vector u and regressing it then normalizing the estimator vector β and carrying out the iteration process until convergent results are obtained. The results of this study indicate that the RSVD for dealing with minor outliers data is not influenced by initial estimates. The RSVD method is strongly influenced by the large amount of outliers data, the more extreme outliers data, the more iterations are.
TOPOGRAPHICALLOCATION OF ORCHARDS MODULATES THE BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ESSENTIAL OILS IN CITRUS FRUIT PEEL

Essential oil is one of the citrus by-products enticing keen interest of people (Njoroge, 2005). Fruit peel, flowers and leaves of citrus are used for the medicinal purpose (Moraes et al., 2009). Citrus processing industries left a large quantity of peels, seeds and pulps of citrus after juice extraction that can be used as a likely source of valuable by-products (Silalahi, 2002; Saidani et al., 2004). In recent years, the citrus essential oil has been identified in different parts of fruits (preferably in fruit flavedo) as well as in leaves, showing that dllimonene, β-myrcene, α-pinene, sabinene, Δ-3-carene, αterpinolene and other elements are the major aromatic compounds of many citrus species (Stashenko et al., 1996; Caccioni, 1998; Lota et al., 2001, Minh et al., 2002). These aromatic compounds are relatively inexpensive and abundant raw materials with applications in flavor and food industries (Reische et al., 1998). They can also serve as an excellent starting material in the synthesis of fine chemicals and of new fragrances for the cosmetic industry (Lis and Hart, 1999). The peel and leaf of citrus fruits is a potential source of essential oils (Braddock, 1999) and yield essential oil in the range of 0.50-3.0 kg ton (Sattar and Mahmud, 1986). Essential oils sometimes called volatile oil are concentrated aromatic compounds (Arce et al., 2007; Lucchesi et al., 2004) that represent a small fraction of plant’s composition which can be found mostly in leaves and flowers (Roldan-Gutierrez et al., 2008; Bousbia et al., 2009). These oils have natural antioxidant and antimicrobial properties (Tepe et al., 2005; Jayaprakasha et al., 2008; Viuda-Martos et al., 2008). Citrus peels which are considered as agro industrial waste are potential source of plant secondary metabolites in the form of essential oils (Andrea et al., 2003). These essential oils have a wide range of potential activities in food, perfumery, sanitary, cosmetics and pharmaceutics (Mondello et al., 2005). The important application of citrus peel essential oils is due to some bioactive compounds in them which serve as alternatives to the synthetic antioxidants (Tepe et al., 2006; ViudaMartos et al., 2008; Choi et al., 2000). Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 54(3), 635-643; 2017 ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906 DOI: DOI: 10.21162/PAKJAS/17.6417 http://www.pakjas. com.pk