Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cash Management Techniques Adopted By Small And Medium Level Enterprises In Eldoret Town, Kenya

The purpose of this paper was to examine the cash management techniques adopted by small and medium level enterprises in Eldoret town. The study was carried out in 17 selected SMEs all capturing 108 personnel distributed among the said SMEs equitably. The researcher sampled 52 respondents through simple random sampling and stratified sampling to help arrive at better results and minimize research cost. Data from primary sources were then analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The study concluded that cash management is a working capital management component that contributes to a great extend on survival or failure of SMEs in Kenya. Among the cash management techniques commonly used are speeding cash collection and delayed payment of creditors and they did not have a direct significance with SME performance. However optimum cash held significantly, and positively influenced SMEs performance, SMEs used cheques, cash receipt, and petty cash to control cash movement and finally non financial measures of performance did not have a significant relationship with SME performance. Key Words: Cash Management, Techniques, Small and Medium Entreprises
Towards a Transformative Digital Literacies Pedagogy

here is a pedagogic chasm between monomodal literacy practices of the past, still dominating most children’s school experience, and the multimodal, dynamic publishing practices that children increasingly routinely engage in with new media and online spaces. This paper will utilise the findings of three case studies, drawing from them the implications each has for developing a pedagogy that best reflects new kinds of practices within digital and multimodal literacies. Using the knowledge gleaned from each of the case studies, this paper will begin to explore what is required for a meaningful transformative pedagogy of digital literacies: a pedagogy which offers students opportunities to use learning to become active citizens beyond the classroom and into their future lives.
Giving Miss Marple a Makeover: Graduate Recruitment, Systems Failure, and the Scottish Voluntary Sector

The voluntary sector in Scotland, as in many other countries, is becoming increasingly business like. Resultantly, there is an increasing demand for graduates to work in business and support functions. In Scotland, however, despite an oversupply of graduates in the labor market, the voluntary sector reports skills shortages for graduate-level positions. Through exploratory, mainly qualitative research, this article demonstrates that one reason for this mismatch between the supply of and demand for graduates is a systems failure within the sector. Many graduates and university students remain unaware of potentially suitable paid job opportunities, in part because of the sector’s voluntary label. To rectify this systems failure, thought needs to be given to the sector’s nomenclature and the manner in which voluntary sector organizations attract graduate recruits, for example, through levering value congruence in potential recruits.
Does Trichomes on the Plant Epidermic Surface Disturb Ants Locomotion

Problem Statement: Many morphological characteristics, both physical and chemical, are used in the defense against herbivores on plants. Trichomes are structures used by plants as physics defense and when associated with glands combine physics and chemistry defense. Many species of ants are herbivores and use leaves and seeds, others ants use Extra Floral Nectars as a food resource, and the majority of the species are predators of other ants and other insects, and use plants as foraging substrate in search of prey. Likewise, on the assumption that ants feed preferentially in plants free of trichomes, we tested the hypothesis that trichomes plants clouded locomotion of ants. Approach: Experiments were carried out in the field using cotton to mimic the plants surface. Thirty traps for the treatment were assembled with cotton as well as other 30 experiments for the control (treatment without cotton). Each trap consisted of Petri dishes of 14,5 cm diameter with bait (sardine and honey) in a disc (3 cm diameter) in the center of the plate. Around the bait, 10 grams of cotton prepared uniformly were placed. Furthermore, morphometric analysis on the length of body and legs of ants was performed. Results: The number of ants which accessed baits in the center of Petri dishes in treatment with cotton was not statistically different of the number of accesses in the control treatment without cotton. The trichomes do not cloud locomotion of ants and that leg length is equal to or greater than body length. Conclusions/Recommendations: Data revealed that the trichomes do not cloud locomotion of ants; this allows the free walking of ants on the plants surface. However, glandular trichomes that combine physics and chemistry defense with release toxic and adhesives compounds when mechanically stressed may be more efficient in the defense against these insects.
Analysis of Symmetric Key Establishment Based on Reciprocal Channel Quantization

Analysis of Symmetric Key Establishment based on Reciprocal Channel Quantization David M. Wagner Supervising Professor: Dr. Gill R. Tsouri Methods of symmetric key establishment using reciprocal quantization of channel parameters in wireless Rayleigh and Rician fading channels are considered. Two important aspects are addressed through generic analysis: impact of a proximity attack by a passive eavesdropper and achievable key establishing rates. The analysis makes use of the National Institute of Standards and Technology statistical test suite applied to the channel quantization bits as the outputs of a random number generator. For proximity attacks, a passive mobile eavesdropper with an ability to approach one of the communicating parties and a possible signal-to-noise ratio advantage is assumed. The minimal required distance from the eavesdropper in order to maintain perfect secrecy during key establishment is evaluated as a function of the Rician factor and quantization depth. For key establishing rates, the maximal rates are evaluated while ensuring that the generated secret key bits pass the entire statistical test suite. The generic analysis is applied to channel-phase quantization and performance in practical systems is considered as well.
Fears of Compassion in a Depressed Population Implication for Psychotherapy

Background: While psychological therapies for depression have advanced in the last 20 years, still many people respond only partially and remain vulnerable to relapse. Insight into the limitations of our psychological therapies might be obtained from recent research that has revealed, in nonclinical populations, that some people can be fearful of positive emotions especially affiliative and compassion-focused ones. Method: 53 depressed patients completed a series of self-report scales. Results: Fears of compassion, particularly for oneself and from others, were strongly linked to self-criticism, depression, anxiety and stress, and negatively associated with self-compassion and self-reassurance. Conclusions: Since compassion and the affiliative emotions associated with compassion play a fundamental role in emotion regulation, individuals who are blocked or fearful of accessing these emotions are likely to be struggle with emotional regulation and the psychotherapeutic process. Research on the fears of compassion and affiliative emotions suggests these are important therapeutic targets.
Randomized Controlled Trial of mHealth Telemonitoring with Enhanced Caregiver Support for Diabetes Self-management

Objective: To determine the benefits of a mobile health (mHealth) telemonitoring and self-management support program for diabetes that includes feedback to a patient-selected support person. Methods: Participants are patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 7.5%) who nominate a close friend or adult relative from outside their home (“CarePartner;” CP) who is willing to support their diabetes selfmanagement. Patients are then randomized to receive one year of usual care alone or the mHealth+CP program. In the program arm: (a) patients receive weekly automated diabetes telemonitoring calls that include self-management guidance, (b) their CPs receive emailed updates on the patient’s diabetes that include guidance on supporting their self-management, and (c) their primary care teams receive faxed notifications about medically urgent issues that they report. Assessments are being performed at Baseline, Month 6, and Month 12. The primary outcomes are 12- month glycemic control and diabetes distress, and we are also exploring secondary effects upon diabetes selfmanagement behaviors, health-related quality of life, systolic blood pressure, and relationship quality. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the only mHealth intervention for any condition that involves a patientsselected support person. If it proves effective, then a new, low-cost, sustainable intervention would be available to improve diabetes outcomes, especially for patient who are medically underserved or socially isolated.
Translation under pressure and the web : A parallel corpus-study of Obama ’ s inaugural speech in the online media

During the last decade, the effects of time pressure in translation have been studied from an empirical-experimental approach (Jensen, 1999, 2000; De Rooze, 2003, 2008; Sharmin, Spakov, Räihä, and Jakobsen, 2008). At the same time, the immediacy of the WWW has contributed increasing time pressures for some translation processes, especially those associated with web digital genres. This paper researches this issue following a product-based corpus methodology: in the twelve hours after President Obama’s inaugural speech, a parallel corpus of ten different translations into Spanish was collected from online media outlets around the world. The analysis concentrates on the effects on quality through a combination of errorbased metrics and a corpus-based analysis of creativity. The results were later contrasted with the empirical process-oriented data from professional translators obtained by De Rooze (2003). Despite the difficulties in inferring cognitive processing from translation products, the objective of this analysis is to attempt to map certain features of translations under pressure that might appear in actual published translations, thus shedding some light into strategies and procedures in the professional world to deal with time pressure.
Sorting Out Accountability Systems

75 Accountability has been a catchword in education for decades, for who could be against it? It has not been a reality, however, because accountability threatens many and because, even when desired, it is difficult to implement. There are signs, however, that times are changing. Today, accountability is not only taken more seriously but also sometimes promises to have real teeth. Yet the future is far from certain. Although many states and districts are moving forward with accountability schemes, they are likely to run into real problems that compromise and distort these programs’ impact. Though it seems natural to measure outcomes and hold schools responsible for them, the mechanics of how to do that appropriately are complicated. Creating effective accountability schemes will require a deeper understanding of how these programs alter incentives in schools and in turn the dynamics of accountability.1 Understanding these issues is important because many people tend to generalize erroneously from problems imbedded in specific accountability systems to assertions of inherent weaknesses in all accountability systems.
Real exchange rates,domestic and foreign savings: the missing link

This paper provides theoretical and empirical elements to the analysis of the relationship between real exchange rates and domestic savings. We show from a theoretical perspective how a competitive exchange rate may stimulate domestic savings by avoiding consumption booms based on currency overvaluation and by increasing profits in the tradable sector. Our baseline model shows from a short run perspective how a competitive exchange rate may stimulate investment, exports, profits and thus domestic savings. Our theoretical model is supported by empirical evidence using panel data econometric analysis, which shows a robust connection between real exchange rates and domestic savings as a share of GDP.
The Value of Analysts’ Recommendations and the Organization of Financial Research

Brokerage houses usually organize their research activities by country or economic sector. We evaluate which research structure provides most value to investors. To do so, we study the relative information content of recommendations issued by country-specialized analysts and sector-specialized analysts. Our findings show that the former issue more valuable recommendations. The strength of country-specific commonalities explains at least part of the better performance of country-specialized financial analysts. Surprisingly, although analysts’ geographic location has been shown in the literature to be a determinant of earnings forecast accuracy, it is not a source of a comparative advantage when it comes to stock recommendations.
Testing the Application of the Personalized Recommendation Method for Artworks

Rapid development of information technology is affecting not only business organizations but also museums of art as well. Many museums are trying to adopt new technologies so that the museums can enhance their interaction and shorten the distance with customers. Among various technologies, this research focuses on collaborative filtering which is one of the widely used methods of making personalized recommendation of products to customers online based on their preferences. While the technology has been successfully used in the e-commerce field for a decade, it is hard to find actual cases of its application in museums. Hence, this paper presents an effort to investigate whether collaborative filtering can be used effectively for fine art, and if so, what factors affect the effectiveness of its application. A survey was conducted to collect data about the participants’ preferences of a range of fine art paintings. The data then were used to create preference estimations using the mechanism of collaborative filtering. The estimations were compared using different subsets of the data to identify which factors affect the accuracy of the preference estimation. It was found that collaborative filtering can successfully estimate the preference of the participants, and that the level of knowledge in art, prominence of artwork, and gender have significant effect on the accuracy of estimation. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015. v6n6s2p433
Nomination Committees, Pension Funds and Board Turnover: Evidence from the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance

It is a general belief that pension funds influence corporate governance. However, the corporate setting is likely to determine the extent of their influence. In this thesis, we study the characteristics of the Swedish code of corporate governance and if its implementation has increased the power of pension funds. Specifically, we study nomination committees and the effect from the presence of Swedish AP funds on board turnover. We find that controlling owners and use of dual class shares increases the probability that firms do not comply with the code. Most importantly, our results suggest that the presence of AP funds in committees increases board turnover in small firms. We find no effect on large firms. This is possibly due to the limited financial resources of AP funds. As another explanation, we stress that it is easier for AP funds to affect corporate governance in small firms after the code since these firms may need to make more changes to comply with the rules. Furthermore, we find no indication that ownership changes from AP funds affect board turnover. This, we argue, indicates that the power of pension funds increases when they acquire large stakes and are active owners. Overall, we confirm the conventional wisdom that pension funds influence corporate governance.
Hot Topic Propagation Model and Opinion Leader Identifying Model in Microblog Network

As the network technique is fast developing, the microblog has been a significant carrier representing the social public opinions. Therefore, it is important to investigate the propagation characteristics of the topics and to unearth the opinion leaders in Micro-blog network. The propagation status of the hot topics in the Micro-blog is influenced by the authority of the participating individuals. We build a time-varying model with the variational external field strength to simulate the topic propagation process. This model also fits for the multimodal events. The opinion leaders are important individuals who remarkably influence the topic discussions in its propagation process. They can help to guide the healthy development of public opinion. We build an AHP model based on the influence, the support, and the activity of a node, as well as a microblog-rank algorithm based on the weighted undirected network, to unearth and analyze the opinion leaders’ characteristics. The experiments in the data, collected from the Sina Micro-blog from October 2012 to November 2012 and from January 2013 to February 2013, show that our models predict the trend of hot topic efficiently and the opinion leaders we found are reasonable.
Aerosol characteristics and aerosol radiative forcing over Maitri, Antarctica

During the 20th Indian Antarctic expedition conducted in January-February 2001, a detailed study on the aerosol spectral optical depth, mass concentration and size-distribution along with columnar ozone and water-vapour concentrations was made from the Indian station, Maitri (70.77°S, 11.73°E). A low aerosol optical depth of about 0.03 at 400 nm wavelength and a dry aerosol mass concentration of about 7 μg/m 3 for the PM 1 0 particles are found for this anthropogenically least-affected continent on the earth. The aerosol size-distribution reveals that about 63% of the total aerosol mass comes from particles of size greater than 1 μm, which are of mainly natural origin. Average columnar ozone and total precipitable water-vapour content during the observation period were found to be 271.6 DU and 0.147 cm respectively, and the observed day-to-day variations are explained using air back-trajectory analysis. Estimation of aerosol radiative forcing over Maitri reveals a positive forcing of 0.95 W/m 2 at the top of the atmosphere and -0.83 W/m 2 at the surface. Using model calculations, it is shown that these forcing values can have large annual variation both in magnitude and sign due to variation in the sun-earth geometry, typical of a polar region, even if we assume a constant aerosol amount throughout the year.
LAKE ICE MONITORING WITH WEBCAMS

Abstract. Continuous monitoring of climate indicators is important for understanding the dynamics and trends of the climate system. Lake ice has been identified as one such indicator, and has been included in the list of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs). Currently there are two main ways to survey lake ice cover and its change over time, in-situ measurements and satellite remote sensing. The challenge with both of them is to ensure sufficient spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we investigate the possibility to monitor lake ice with video streams acquired by publicly available webcams. Main advantages of webcams are their high temporal frequency and dense spatial sampling. By contrast, they have low spectral resolution and limited image quality. Moreover, the uncontrolled radiometry and low, oblique viewpoints result in heavily varying appearance of water, ice and snow. We present a workflow for pixel-wise semantic segmentation of images into these classes, based on state-of-the-art encoder-decoder Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). The proposed segmentation pipeline is evaluated on two sequences featuring different ground sampling distances. The experiment suggests that (networks of) webcams have great potential for lake ice monitoring. The overall per-pixel accuracies for both tested data sets exceed 95 %. Furthermore, per-image discrimination between ice-on and ice-off conditions, derived by accumulating per-pixel results, is 100 % correct for our test data, making it possible to precisely recover freezing and thawing dates.
Supplementary effect of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) Silage on Growth Performance and Carcass Traits of Local Lambs Grazing Natural Pasture in Tembaro District, Southern Ethiopia

Effect of supplementing Hawassi-83 sweet potato silage (SPS) containing 70% vine and 30% tub er on growth performance and carcass traits of grazing la mbs were evaluated through on-farm feeding trial in Tem baro district, SNNPR, Ethiopia. Treatment diets formulat ed were: T1= grazing alone; T2, T3 and T4 were grazing plus SPS supplemented (DM basis) at 1, 2 and 4% of lamb' s body weight, respectively. At the age of 120 days a fter planting, vine cuttings were harvested at 3 cm abov e the ground and wilted under sunlight for 12 hrs. The tu bers and vines were then chopped and mixed at the ratio of 70%:30% ( vine:tuber) and put in an air tight linen sack lined with plastic sheet, compacted with wooden sti ck, tightened with a rope and covered with plastic shee t to ensure anaerobic fermentation and ensiled for 30 da ys. Samples of natural pasture (NP) from the grazing ar ea were harvested at the beginning and end of the tria l. Five lambs (5-6 month-old; 14.3±0.5kg) were randomly ass igned to each of the four treatment diets and fed for 84 days. Crude protein content of SPS was 14.07% and that of the NP at the beginning and end of the trial were 10.73 and 8.13%, respectively; and in-vitro DM digestibility of SPS was 84.74% and that of NP at the beginning and end of the trial were 65.4 and 51.77%, respectively. The DM in takes of lambs significantly (p<0.05) increased from 151. 4 to 620.2g/head/d as the level of supplementation incre ased from T2 to T4. Average daily body weight gain (36.7 , 60.5, 87.1 and 119.5 g/head/d) among treatments (T1<T2<T3<T4) were significantly different (P<0.05) . Higher (P<0.05) slaughter (23.3kg) and hot carcass weights (11.5kg) and thus higher dressing percentag e (49.4%) were obtained from T4 than those of the oth er treatments. As the level of SPS supplementation inc reased body weight gain and dressing percentage improved. Therefore, supplementing local lambs that are grazi ng the NP with sweet potato silage up to 4% of body weight (DM basis) is recommended.
Nutritional quality of kermes oak ( Quercus coccifera L.) acorns as affected by altitude in a typical Mediterranean area

Abstract. The impact of altitudinal zone on the nutritional quality of kermes oak (Quercus coccifera L.) acorns was assessed in Xirovouni Mountain shrublands in northwestern Greece. Whole acorns were collected during autumn 2011 from 15 sites located at three altitudinal zones (i.e. lower, middle, upper). Kermes oak acorn samples were manually separated into kernel and hull and analysed for chemical composition (crude protein, CP; neutral detergent fibre, NDF; acid detergent fibre, ADF; lignin), in vitro dry matter (DM) digestibility (IVDMD), in vitro NDF digestibility (IVNDFD), digestible energy (DE), and minerals (i.e. Ca, P, K, Mg, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu). Altitude had a negative correlation with CP, IVDMD, and IVNDFD and positively correlated to cell wall contents in both kernel and hull. Acorns growing under higher temperatures (at lower altitude) have more digestible cell wall compared to acorns growing under lower temperatures (at higher altitude) due to increased CP content and decreased cell wall content. It seems that environmental factors affect the nutritional value of acorns. Thus, goat farmers should take this into account when collecting acorns to feed their animals.