Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The investigation of resveratrol with conventional and ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy techniques

An ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy experiment was developed in order to investigate the fast photoinduced isomerization reaction of the molecule resveratrol. Characteristics of the resveratrol molecule are discussed, including the photoisomerization reaction from transto cis-resveratrol. The experimental setup for the conventional spectroscopy measurement was developed and characterized in order to investigate and understand the conventional absorption and uorescence spectroscopy of resveratrol thoroughly. The absorption spectra for both transand cis-resveratrol, as well as the uorescence spectra were measured, discussed and explained. This therefore forms a foundation and serves as an initial step to develop a pump-probe spectroscopy experiment for resveratrol. A general overview of ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy is presented, as well as an explanation of the nal developed experimental setup. The principles and characteristics of the chirped pulse ampli cation (CPA) femtosecond laser source and the tunable noncollinear optical parametric ampli er (NOPA) employed as the pump pulse are discussed. The process of white light continuum (WLC) generation was investigated to utilize as the ultrashort probe pulse. Two white light continuum generation experimental setups were developed and characterized for WLC generation in a transparent medium with the fundamental CPA laser light at 775 nm (in sapphire) and with the second harmonic (SH) of the CPA light at 387 nm (in quartz). A spectrometer was designed, built and characterized in conjuction with a line focus, for simultaneous measurement of the absorption in the pumped, unpumped and reference regions in the sample. In this way the photoisomerization of resveratrol could be measured with temporal resolution as a transient absorption signal. A 420 μg/ml resveratrol solution in ethanol was investigated in this pump-probe spectroscopy experiment and the results obtained are discussed accordingly.
A cultural approach to study customer relationship management (CRM) systems

As this paper takes new approach to defining and studying CRM, it defines CRM as a business strategy that seamlessly integrates every aspect of business that touches customer. Going through CRM literature, the authors notice that, there are different objectives for CRM systems i.e. retains customers for long, increase sales to existing customers and candidate customers, and others. Over the last decade there has been a dramatic growth in the acquisition of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems. However more recently, there has been an increase in reported CRM failures, suggesting that the implementation issues are not just technical, but encompass wider behavior and cultural factors. Multinational organization is faced by that problem, how they build a relationship with different customer in different culture contexts. The literature on culture provides a set of general concepts and ideas as a way of looking at the world. However, the typologies of culture have inherent weaknesses e.g. they do not reflect the variety of values and attitude that may exist in a country, nor do they explain how cultures have developed over time. These limitations will need to be borne in mind, as we consider potential culture impact on the use of information systems, particularly customer relationship management systems. The authors try to highlight the interaction between cultures in macro and micro level in the context of CRM systems. The authors conclude that social and cultural issues of the main area related to studying of CRM.
Human Resource Management Practices Creating High Performance WorkPlace : Literature Review

Human resource management has gained strategic importance in corporate, both big and small, and the impact of HR practices on total organisation performance is recognised. Academia and the corporate sectors realised the contribution of human resource practices to the success of an organisation in the recent times, and there is wide spread discussion in conferences, workshops and academic circles. There is abundance of literature on the impact of different HR practices on individual motivation to work and their contribution to the organisation’s bottom line. Every organisation is interested in creating high performing workplaces where there is a pervasive performance work culture – people perform because they would like to perform better, and the organisational policies and practices help them in aligning their individual goals to organisational goals. This paper examines recent theoretical and empirical developments in the area of creating and sustaining high performance workplaces and the role of human resource practices on achieving the same. Performance management is a growing topic in today’s highly competitive, global market. This paper will highlight the literature published in the recent times in the area of HR practices and tools that may have a direct/indirect impact on total organisation performance, and provide directions towards creating high performance workplaces (HPW) in different types of organisations.
Antioxidant Response of Indian Wild Rice Exposed to Different Concentration of Chromium for Phytoremediation

The present study was conducted to evaluate the phytotoxic effects induced by hexavalent chromium (Cr) on germination and antioxidant response in Indian wild rice ( Oryza nivara and Oryza rufipogon ). After exposure to varying concentration of Cr, two varieties of wild rice O. nivara and O. rufipogon showed significant changes in growth and physiological parameters. Higher concentration of chromium resulted in significant reduction of germination, fresh weight, dry weight and dry matter accumulation in both the wild rice seedlings compared to the control plants. In low concentration of Cr (25; 50 μM) the activities of antioxidative enzymes were significantly increased in both the varieties over control and the activities were significantly decreased under high concentration of Cr (75; 100 μM). The results from the present experiments suggest that high concentrations of Cr caused oxidative damage as evidenced by increased anti-oxidative enzymes and the induction of antioxidative enzymes could be the reason for tolerating higher levels of metals by wild rice. The findings suggest that phytoremediation of Cr from soil by application of weeds like Indian wild rice.
A feasibility study of the implementation of total quality management based on soft factor

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine the feasibility of implementing TQM based on soft factors, which can influence the successful implementation of TQM. Design/methodology/approach: A framework has been developed for the TQM soft factors based on literature review and respectively, questionnaires which are directly related to the addressed factors have been designed and distributed to the employees of an engineering service company as the main enablers of improving the effectiveness of TQM. Findings: The findings imply that committed leadership, closer customer relationship, benchmarking and process improvement have the most correlations amongst the TQM soft factors. Training is the only factor which is not correlated to other soft factors. Leadership has also the highest value among the soft factors. Research limitations/implications: The proposed framework is costly and time consuming due to the large number of questions it holds. In this study, it is assumed that sub factors have the same importance. But there is a possibility in which these subdivisions do not have the same relative importance weight. The study is also limited to one company and therefore, the findings should not be generalized. Practical implications: The proposed TQM soft factors framework can be useful for those organizations which consider TQM as an integrated quality management system as the major foundation for achievement of competitive advantage. Originality/value: A comprehensive framework for TQM soft factors has been presented since it involves almost all of the soft factors addressed in the literature.
The Cochrane Library and Procedural Pain in Children: An Overview of Reviews

Background Procedural pain in children is highly prevalent, a major source of pain, stress and anxiety, and can have negative short- and long-term effects. Research addressing effective pain management strategies is complex, presenting challenges for clinically relevant synthesis. Objective To summarize Cochrane reviews assessing the effects of various interventions used for pain in non-neonatal children undergoing painful medical procedures. Methods The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was systematically searched for reviews of interventions for pain in children outside of the neonatal period, undergoing painful medical procedures. The type of data to be extracted was determined a priori, and a single author performed data extraction. The Cochrane Library was searched using the terms ‘procedural pain’ and ‘procedures’. Reviews examining acute procedural pain in older infants, children and adolescents were included. Interventions included topical anaesthetics (eutectic mixture of local anaesthetics and amethocaine), sweet tasting substances, cognitive therapy, behavioural therapy and combined cognitive-behavioural therapy(CBT). Data on self-reported, behavioural and observer pain intensity and pain distress were extracted. Main results Four systematic reviews were included in the overview. There was evidence that self-reported pain [risk ratio (RR) 0.63; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.45–0.87], behavioural measures of pain (RR 0.71; 95% CI 0.52–0.96) and all pain scales combined (RR 0.69; 95% CI 0.55–0.87) were significantly less with amethocaine than with eutectic mixture of local anaesthetics. Results of trials of other interventions are reported in this article but heterogeneity of the combined effects is high. Authors' conclusions Amethocaine provides superior pain relief when compared with eutectic mixture of local anaesthetics for the procedure of intravenous cannulation. From the data contained in this overview, there is no current evidence of benefit supporting the use of 12% sucrose for older infants and toddlers or sweet gum for toddlers undergoing needle pain. Potentially efficacious nonpharmacological interventions may include distraction, hypnosis, combined cognitive-behavioural interventions, non-nutritive sucking and video distraction; however, further research is required as results are mixed. An integrated approach using multiple modalities encompassing both the physiological and psychological aspects of pain is compelling and warrants further study in paediatrics. Copyright © 2012 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The Cochrane Collaboration
Severity of pedestrian injuries due to traffic crashes at signalized intersections in Hong Kong: a Bayesian spatial logit model

Summary The present study intended to (1) investigate the injury risk of pedestrian casualties involved in traffic crashes at signalized intersections in Hong Kong; (2) determine the effect of pedestrian volumes on the severity levels of pedestrian injuries; and (3) explore the role of spatial correlation in econometric crash-severity models. The data from 1889 pedestrian-related crashes at 318 signalized intersections between 2008 and 2012 were elaborately collected from the Traffic Accident Database System maintained by the Hong Kong Transport Department. To account for the cross-intersection heterogeneity, a Bayesian hierarchical logit model with uncorrelated and spatially correlated random effects was developed. An intrinsic conditional autoregressive prior was specified for the spatial correlation term. Results revealed that (1) signalized intersections with greater pedestrian volumes generally exhibited a lower injury risk; (2) ignoring the spatial correlation potentially results in reduced model goodness-of-fit, an underestimation of variability and standard error of parameter estimates, as well as inconsistent, biased, and erroneous inference; (3) special attention should be paid to the following factors, which led to a significantly higher probability of pedestrians being killed or sustaining severe injury: pedestrian age greater than 65 years, casualties with head injuries, crashes that occurred on footpaths that were not obstructed/overcrowded, heedless or inattentive crossing, crashes on the two-way carriageway, and those that occurred near tram or light-rail transit stops. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Congruence between nurse managers' and nurses' competence assessments: A correlation study

Background/objective: Nurse managers have an important impact on nurses’ competence. However, research on managers’ and nurses’ competence assessments using the same criteria is scarce. For quality care it is important that these assessments align. This study compared nurses’ and their managers’ competence assessments. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, comparative correlation design was applied. Participants were 1656 manager-nurse pairs conducting self-assessments and manager assessments respectively in a university hospital in Finland. The Nurse Competence Scale which measures nurses’ generic level professional competence was used to collect the data. Means, range, frequencies, and standard deviations, and Mixed Models with Repeated Measures were used in data analysis. Results: Both managers and nurses assessed the competence level as good, but managers assessed the level significantly higher than nurses themselves. However, the overall competence profiles between the groups aligned. Higher competence level and smaller Visual Analogy Scale (VAS) score differences between the groups were related to individualized patient care, and ethically committed and flexible action in care situations. Lower competence level and bigger VAS score differences between groups concerned consultation, guiding, and evaluation activities within care team, developmental tasks, and use of research knowledge. Conclusions: Although the difference between managers’ and nurses’ competence assessments was significant in favour of managers, there is a strong congruence between the groups concerning core tasks of nursing. Competences with low scores, differences between groups, management’s support, and factors influencing competence need further research for planning interventions to enhance competence development. Use of multiple assessment methods is recommended to add validity and reliability of the measurements.
Growth and Fluctuation of Productivity of Total Food Grain for the State of Assam VIS-A-VIS All India since 1950-51 to 2009-10

The paper makes an attempt to estimate the nature of growth, break and fluctuation of productivity of total foodgrain in Assam as compared to all India, in the period 1950-51 to 2009-10. Breaks in the growth paths have been evaluated by the modified Bai-Perron methodology and fluctuations around the growth path have been decomposed into year to year fluctuation and cyclical fluctuation by using modified Cuddy-Della Valle and modified Coppock methodologies. The entire research work is based on secondary data of productivity of total foodgrain in India collected from “Directorate of Economics and Statistics”, Ministry of Agriculture, and different issues of Statistical Abstract, Govt. of India.
Scale-related seabird-environmental relationships in Pacific equatorial waters, with reference to El Niño-Southern Oscillation events

We assessed the spatial scales at which variability in ocean climate could affect habitat associations of tropical seabirds and whether species-environmental variable relationships at the smallest scale provide insight into occurrence patterns at larger scales. In the eastern tropical Pacific (lOON to 10" S and 140" to 90°W), seabirds were censused on 16 cruises that followed the same tracks every spring and autumn, 1984 to 1991. T h ~ s tudy area possesses closely spaced, well-defined water types and the time period was sufficient to include 2 ENSOs (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) and 1 cold water event (LNSO), thus insuring maximum environmental variability. On the cruises, we measured physical features such as sea-surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS) at a coarse scale (1 to 100 km) as well as, at the large scale, the identity of surface water masses and current systems. During spring, at the coarse scale, seabirds were associated mainly with a canonical axis consisting of SST and SSS. During autumn, coarse scale seabird/environment associations were defined by a canonical axis composed of SST and thermocline depth; SSS was of secondary importance. Using SST and SSS optima from the coarse scale analysis, we could predict only the water mass associations for lnd~vidual species during spring. Consistent between-year associations with water masses were not found In either season. Regardless of season, seabirds at the large scale were associated most consistently w ~ t h current systems rather than water masses. At the coarse scale, neither the canonical axes nor the seabird associatlons wlth these axes were affected by ENSO/LNSO events. At the large scale, seabird associations with currents remained the same during the ENSO/LNSO events for sooty tern, black-winged and white-w~nged petrels, and wedge-tailed shearwater. Juan Fernandez petrel, wedge-rumped stormpetrel, and Leach's storm-petrel had different associations with currents during the ENSO/LNSO events. We hypothesize that the effect of ENSO/LNSO events on individual species is mitigated by the ability of species to persist in low productivity waters during the non-ENSO/LNSO years.
Timing of leaf removal modifies chemical and phenolic composition of Sauvignon Blanc wine

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different defoliation times on the chemical and phenolic composition of Sauvignon Blanc wine in high altitude regions of Santa Catarina - Brazil. The experiment was conducted in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, in a vineyard located in the city of Sao Joaquim – Santa Catarina State. The defoliation was carried out during phenological stages: full bloom, berries pepper-corn size, pea-sized berries, veraison, 15 days after veraison and control without leaf removal. During harvest, severity of Botrytis cinerea was assessed by visual evaluation through a diagrammatic scale. For the wine samples from each season, total acidity (meq L−1 ), pH, total polyphenol content (mg L−1 of gallic acid) and color (Abs 420nm) were performed. For the wines of the 2015 harvest, phenolic compounds were analyzed: gallic acid, catechin, vanillic acid, P-coumaric acid and rutin. The chemical composition of Sauvignon Blanc wine was affected as a result of leaf removal timing, defoliation carried out in full bloom, berries pepper-corn size and pea-sized berries reduced total acidity and increased pH of the wines in both seasons. For wine color, in both seasons, it was found a greater yellow coloration in wines originated from grapes where the plants were not defoliated. The increase of yellow coloration is due to the oxidation of catechins and epicatechins, which is related to the increase of botrytis bunch rot. In the 2015 season there were no influence of leaf removal timing in total polyphenols, however, in the 2016, the defoliation performed in full bloom resulted in lower polyphenols contents. Wines from non-defoliated plants presented higher values of catechin, rutin, P-coumaric acid and gallic acid, related to yellow coloration of wines and greater susceptibility to darkening and oxidation. For vanillic acid, wines from non-defoliated plants have the lowest values, this compound is important in wine preservation. Leaf removal is an important management technique in high altitude regions of Santa Catarina - Brazil, it improves wine chemical composition, and if carried out during the stages of full bloom, pepper corn berries and pea-sized berries can reduce the severity of Botrytis bunch rot; and avoid the formation of phenolic compounds related to the processes of oxidation and darkening.
Gross and Histomorphological Studies of the Oviduct of Native Chicken of Bangladesh

The present study was carried out on the oviduct of laying native chicken of Bangladesh at the age range of 8-12 months old. After dissection, morphological parameters such as total length and weight of oviduct, length and weight at the age range of 8-11 months were determined. For the histological study, after preparation and staining with hematoxylin and eosin, histological layer of oviductal tissues were recognized. The mean length and weight of total oviduct of native chicken were 7.18±4.22 cm and 24.45±1.81 gm respectively. The mean length and weight of oviductal segments, infundibulum (7.18±4.22 cm and 7.18±4.22 gm), magnum (18.40±6.75 cm and 18.40±6.75 gm), isthmus (7.68±3.46 cm and 7.68±3.46 gm), uterus (6.10±2.80 cm and 6.10±2.80 gm) and vagina (6.83±2.82 cm and 6.83±2.82 gm) were measured. Both the length and weight of oviductal segment was progressively increasing from 8-10 months and was decreased at 11 months age. Histological features of oviductal segments varied in regards to the distribution of gland, connective tissues arrangement and mucosal folding. Particularly, the distribution of tubular glands among the segments of oviduct was significantly different. In the magnum and isthmus, populations of tubular glands were higher whereas other segments had limited glands. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/bjvm.v12i1. 20458 Bangl. J. Vet. Med . (2014). 12 (1): 9-15
Seasonal precipitation forecast skill over Iran

This paper examines the skill of seasonal precipitation forecasts over Iran using one two‐tiered model, three National Multi‐Model Ensemble (NMME) models, and two coupled ocean–atmosphere or one‐tiered models. These models are, respectively, the ECHAM4.5 atmospheric model that is forced with sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies forecasted using constructed analogue SSTs (ECHAM4.5‐SSTCA); the IRI‐ECHAM4.5‐DirectCoupled, the NASA‐GMAO‐062012 and the NCEP‐CFSv2; and the ECHAM4.5 Modular Ocean Model version 3 (ECHAM4.5‐MOM3‐DC2) and the ECHAM4.5‐GML‐NCEP Coupled Forecast System (CFSSST). The precipitation and 850 hPa geopotential height fields of the forecast models are statistically downscaling to the 0.5° × 0.5° spatial resolution of the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) Version 6 gridded precipitation data, using model output statistics (MOS) developed through the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) option of the Climate Predictability Tool (CPT). Retroactive validations for lead times of up to 3 months are performed using the relative operating characteristic (ROC) and reliability diagrams, which are evaluated for above‐ and below‐normal categories and defined by the upper and lower 75th and 25th percentiles of the data record over the 15‐year test period of 1995/1996 to 2009/2010. The forecast models' skills are also compared with skills obtained by (a) downscaling simulations produced by forcing the ECHAM4.5 with simultaneously observed SST, and (b) the 850 hPa geopotential height NCEP‐NCAR (National Centers for Environmental Prediction‐National Center for Atmospheric Research) reanalysis data. Downscaling forecasts from most models generally produce the highest skill forecast at lead times of up to 3 months for autumn precipitation – the October‐November‐December (OND) season. For most seasons, a high skill is obtained from ECHAM4.5‐MOM3‐DC2 forecasts at a 1‐month lead time when the models' 850 hPa geopotential height fields are used as the predictor fields. For this model and lead time, the Pearson correlation between the area‐averaged of the observed and forecasts over the study area for the OND, November‐December‐January (NDJ), December‐January‐February (DJF) and January‐February‐March (JFM) seasons were 0.68, 0.62, 0.42 and 0.43, respectively.