Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Institutional Governance on Economic Growth in Developing Countries: An Econometric Analysis in Panel Data

The relationship between governance and economic growth is the subject of several controversial theoretical developments. The purpose of this paper is to test some basic assumptions in a group of developing countries. First, we develop a theoretical and empirical analysis grid around the issue in the light of different currents of economic thought. Then, we approach our problematic in its empirical dimension. Using statistical and econometric tools, we propose, using the Arrelano and Bond [1991] model in a dynamic framework on panel data, using the generalized moment’s method (GMM) to the direct impact of institutional governance on macroeconomic variables, as well as the indirect impact of interactions between governance components and foreign direct investment in relation to economic growth. From this model, we can deduce that the direct impact of the indicators of governance is statistically significant and positively affect economic growth. But once these indicators, especially political stability and the quality of regulation, interact with the foreign direct investment of the countries in our sample, the indirect effect becomes significant and acts negatively on the level of economic growth. This confirms that institutional governance has an isolated effect rather than complementarity with foreign direct investment in stimulating economic growth.
Feed intake, growth and nutrient utilization of West African dwarf sheep fed differently processed Gmelina arborea Roxb. leaves based diets: performance of WAD sheep on differently processed Gmelina arborea leaves

This study was conducted to determine the effect of differently processed Gmelina arborea leaves (GAL) on growth and nutrient utilization of West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep. Forty WAD sheep of age 6-8 months, weighing 7-9 kg were assigned to five treatments of eight sheep per treatment in a completely randomized design. Feed and potable water were supplied daily for the 90-day period of the study. The treatments corresponded to five diets containing 50% fresh GAL: 50% elephant grass Pennisetum purpureum (T1), 60% chopped GAL: 40% elephant grass (T2), 60% air-dried GAL: 40% elephant grass (T3), 60% sun-dried GAL: 40% elephant grass (T4), 60% boil-dried GAL: 40% elephant grass (T5). Daily weight gain was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in boil-dried treated group compared to other treatments but with lower daily dry matter intake (DMI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Lower digestibility of DM and crude protein were observed for sheep on T3, T4, and T5 compared to T1 and T2. Sheep on T5 had higher nitrogen intake and nitrogen retention compared to others. It was concluded that boiled-dried GAL improved weight gain, feed conversion ratio and nitrogen retention when offered to sheep in combination with elephant grass.
Developing a Mind-Body Connection in Teaching Dance History

As a tertiary dance educator, I want to transmit dance knowledge to students in a manner in which they feel engaged and empowered. I want them to learn the material deeply and multi-dimensionally, combining theory and practice in teaching strategies and student learning activities in subjects that have traditionally been thought of as either wholly theoretical or practical in their teaching methods. The focus on theory and practice occurring concurrently within subjects has important pedagogical implications for both teaching strategies and student learning activities. I recognise that dance students want to learn from what they already know: moving and dancing. I want to tap into that desire within the rigorous tertiary academic environment. My expectation is that students engage with the material as dancers, choreographers, educators and researchers simultaneously. This encourages deep learning and provides them with the tools to engage with dance knowledge and skills for successful careers in the field of dance. This research project has grown out of two successive years teaching Dance 107: Dance History and Contexts to Year 1 students in the Dance Studies Program at the University of Auckland, (which covers 20 century American modern and European contemporary dance history). In refining and developing teaching strategies and student learning activities, two major pedagogical issues have arisen which are addressed in this paper. The first is dualist thought versus mindbody unity and the second is the introduction of a choreological approach in the teaching of dance history. These two issues are investigated through the Dance 107 subject within the Dance Studies Program at The University of Auckland, and the Master of Creative and Performing Arts research project, Teaching Dance History Through a Choreological Approach.
Total Quality Management, Firm Performance, and The Moderating Role Of Competitive Intensity

By integrating resource-based view and theory of quality management we evaluated the moderating role of competitive intensity on the link between total quality management (TQM) implementation and SME performance. Using a stratified random sampling, 357 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to owner‐managers of SMEs operating in Kano and Kaduna in the north-west geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Of the 714 questionnaires distributed, 440 unusable questionnaires with 57 percent responses were returned and further analysed. The hypotheses were tested using Partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results supported the hypothesised main effect of TQM implementation on SME performance. However, our empirical study revealed that competitive intensity does not moderate positive relationship between TQM implementation and SME performance.
Educators’ perceptions of inclusive education for learners with physical disabilities in mainstream classrooms

While the practice of inclusive education has recently been widely embraced as an ideal model for education, the acceptance of inclusive education practices has not translated into reality in most mainstream classrooms. Even though education policies in South Africa stipulate that all learners should be provided with the opportunities to participate as far as possible in all classroom activities, the implementation of inclusive education is still hampered by a combination of a lack of resources and the attitudes and actions of the educators in the classroom. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a deeper understanding of educators' personal understanding of the barriers to learning and how their understanding relates to their consequent actions to implement inclusive education in mainstream classrooms. A qualitative research approach was used to establish their perspectives and to frame questions regarding their perceptions and understanding. The findings, in this paper, indicate that the way in which educators understand the diversity of learning needs is based on the training that they received, which focused on a deficit, individualised approach to the barriers that encounter learning and development.
ASSESSING COLIFORM RATIOS IN DEPRESSIONAL WETLANDS AS POTENTIAL INDICATORS OF HYDROLOGIC CONNECTIVITY

Depressional wetlands occur in dense clusters on the Dougherty Plain, a physiographic province of Georgia dominated by agricultural land use. These wetlands represent a major potential storage of surface water in southwest Georgia. Hydrologically, these systems are primarily driven by precipitation and evapotranspiration, but a substantial subset are connected to episodic storm flows. The water quality of wetlands connected to episodic flows (recurrence interval <2 years) differ from those that are more isolated from flows (recurrence interval >2 years). However, the extent and / or source water of wetland connectivity is unknown. It may be possible to determine these wetland characteristics through water quality methods. In ecological water quality studies, Esherichia coli and total coliform ratios can indicate wildlife presence or the influence of agricultural stormwater / anthropogenic contamination depending on landscape context. The objectives of this study are to: 1) analyze coliform ratios from an episodic flow event for potentially identifying source waters; 2) analyze coliform ratios in a subset of depressional wetlands with regard to episodic flow connectivity; and 3) determine additional water quality variables that may be associated with coliform ratios in depressional wetlands. Water quality data were collected from seven sites along an episodic flow path during an episodic flow event (February-March 2014). Data were also collected through monthly monitoring of 31 depressional wetlands on the Dougherty Plain (March 2014 March 2015). A suite of biological (coliforms), chemical (nutrients, dissolved carbon), and physical (conductivity, turbidity, dissolved solids) water quality parameters were measured. Preliminary analysis indicates that greater ratios of E. coli to total coliforms were observed in wetlands connected to episodic flows and in depressional wetlands isolated from flows. Results are directly applicable to determining depressional wetland source waters as well as source water signals in episodic flows.
Negativity Bias, Political Parallelism, Media Ownership: Findings from Turkish parliamentary elections

This study analyses the potential link between negativity bias and political parallelism in the Turkish press and correlates this connection with media ownership patterns during the election news coverage in 2015 and 2018. We conduct a quantitative media content analysis based on the front pages of six newspapers. The results show a significant relationship between negativity and partisanship: Newspaper negativity is not distributed equally in all directions; instead, the papers are more negative towards their political opponent and more positive towards the party they endorse. The newspapers support their endorsed party mostly by “attacking others”, through criticism of the respective opposition. In sum, the number of negative references on front pages are predominantly negative (up to 80.8% in 2015 and up to 68.2 % in 2018). Directly generated messages by journalists exceed the positive references by a factor of six (2015) or almost five (2018), and neutral appeals by a factor of almost five (2015) or even nine (2018). Furthermore, we investigate the impact of media ownership structure on the relationship between negativity and partisanship. The results reveal a newspapers’ tendency to be either pro-incumbent or pro-challenger depending on their ownership structure: For newspapers that are part of conglomerate or cross-media ownership structures, negatitve messages towards the main opposoitional party (CHP) are 22 (2015) or 67.5 (2018) times higher than positive messages. Independent owned newspapers vice versa display 31.5 (2015) or 140 (2018) times more negative messages towards the ruling AKP than positive messages. This significant difference is evidence of pronounced political parallelism in Turkish news media outlets. We offer a number of possible explanations, inter alia in light of the supply-driven perspective on media bias. The results are most likely attributable to the media outlets’ organizational ties with the parties, to profit considerations and to direct political and ideological preferences. The findings shed some light on the current (political) media situation in Turkey and they illustrate implications of acutal media activity in connection with the rise of populist parties.
ESTIMATING THE YIELD CURVE FOR SOVEREIGN BONDS: THE CASE OF TURKEY

In this study, we estimate the yield curves for Turkish sovereign bond market for each month of the 2005-2018 period utilizing two common methods used in the literature; namely Extended NelsonSiegel (ENS) and Dynamic Nelson-Siegel (DNS) models. Within our sample period, the Turkish sovereign bond market gradually becomes more liquid and the introduction of the 10-year fixed-rate coupon bonds after 2010 makes it possible to reliably estimate yield curves with up to 10-year maturities. Given the findings of our analyses and considering the sum of squared errors, we conclude that DNS performs slightly better than ENS in estimating the shapes of the yield curves. This can be partly due to the „local optima‟ problem that is common in the non-linear optimization approach utilized in ENS methodology.
Using Early Warning Score for vital signs analysis in IoT healthcare environment.

The ability to monitor vital signs in a hospital environment can be improved by information technology, speciﬁcally by IoT for healthcare. This technology allows services ranging from monitoring and analysis of vital signs in various environments and times of everyday life. This paper presents patient scenarios associated with data on heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and peripheral oxygen saturation. By monitoring these data it is possible to calculate the risk score using the EWS (Early Warning Score), assisting health teams, reducing intervention times and improving data accuracy. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that individual monitoring and risk analysis, in hospital or other settings, besides improving the quality of care, can reduce the time to identify which patients are at risk, increasing the accuracy of the monitored signals.
Do Welfare Benefits Pay Electoral Dividends? Evidence from the National Food Stamp Program Rollout

Growing evidence suggests that pocketbook considerations influence voting behavior in the United States and other developed countries and that incumbents can use targeted government benefits to win voter support. It remains unclear whether the general relationship between government spending and incumbent support also holds for means-tested welfare programs, however. I contribute to this empirical literature by taking advantage of the decade-long rollout of the American Food Stamp Program. The staggered timing of local program implementation allows me to credibly estimate the causal effect of this new benefit on election outcomes. Overall, I find that Democrats—at the center of the program’s enacting coalition—gained votes when the program was implemented locally, apparently through mobilization of new supporters rather than the conversion of political opponents.
Chemical characterisation of corn plant compounds by different extraction techniques and the role of potent chemicals in the re- productive behaviour of the corn stalk borer Sesamia nonagrioides

Plant chemistry is probably the most important source of information contributing to the final decision by an insect to select a host and it is actually the balance of opposing positive and negative cues evoked by phytochemicals that determines whether a plant is accepted or rejected by a herbivore. Two different techniques, a modified steam distillation extraction and a solid phase microextraction (SPME) technique for the extraction of plant volatile chemicals from different corn hybrids were utilised and the extracts were analysed and characterised by GC-MS. For the steam distillation technique, plant material was steam distilled for 4 h in a modified apparatus with a water-cooled oil receiver, to reduce hydrodistillation overheating artifacts and the extract after appropriate treatment was analysed by GC-MS. The SPME fibre was introduced in a 40ml vial that contained plant material and left to collect analytes for 60 min. Following collection, analytes were chromatographed and analysed by GC-MS. The two techniques are compared in terms of extraction efficiency and for both qualitative and quantitative differences in the chemical profile of the extract. The oviposition preference of the corn stalk borer, Sesamia nonagrioides, was evaluated in bioassays using artificial substrates impregnated with the steam distillation extract. The chemical composition of the steam distillation extract of different corn hybrids obtained is correlated to the egg laying behaviour of the insect and the role of potent chemicals on this behaviour is discussed.
Cool Skin Effect and its Impact on the Computation of the Latent Heat Flux in the South China Sea

State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, Sout h China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engine er g, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangzhou Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, and Sc hool of Marine Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), China, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian
Attention-based Multi-Encoder-Decoder Recurrent Neural Networks

With the rising number of interconnected devices and sensors, modeling distributed sensor networks is of increasing interest. Recurrent neural networks (RNN) are considered particularly well suited for modeling sensory and streaming data. When predicting future behavior, incorporating information from neighboring sensor stations is often beneﬁcial. We propose a new RNN based architecture for context speciﬁc information fusion across multiple spatially distributed sensor stations. Therefore, latent representations of multiple local models, each modeling one sensor station, are jointed and weighted according to their importance for the prediction. The particular importance is assessed depending on the current context using a separate attention function. We demonstrate the eﬀectiveness of our model on three diﬀerent real-world sensor network datasets.
An End-to-End Learning Framework

5 Abstract— Traditional video compression approaches build upon the hybrid coding framework with motion-compensated prediction 6 and residual transform coding. In this paper, we propose the ﬁrst end-to-end deep video compression framework to take advantage of 7 both the classical compression architecture and the powerful non-linear representation ability of neural networks. Our framework 8 employs pixel-wise motion information, which is learned from an optical ﬂow network and further compressed by an auto-encoder 9 network to save bits. The other compression components are also implemented by the well-designed networks for high efﬁciency. All 10 the modules are jointly optimized by using the rate-distortion trade-off and can collaborate with each other. More importantly, the 11 proposed deep video compression framework is very ﬂexible and can be easily extended by using lightweight or advanced networks for 12 higher speed or better efﬁciency. We also propose to introduce the adaptive quantization layer to reduce the number of parameters for 13 variable bitrate coding. Comprehensive experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework on the 14 benchmark datasets. 15
Commit protocols in mobile databases

A mobile database is a database that is installed on a mobile device, and a mobile device is able to communicate and share data over wireless networks with ﬁxed devices and other mobile devices. Complications in database transactions occur, perturbations occur which can leave the data in an inconsistent state. In this paper, we explore three atomic perturbation-resistant commit protocols that address perturbations in three types of mobile database environments, one based on improving partition tolerance in mobile ad-hoc environments, another aimed at decreasing node and communication failures in infrastructure based environments, and one at improving fault tolerance in hybrid mobile environments. Simulation results indicate that each of these three commit protocols reduce inconsistency caused by perturbations.
Audit Firm Factors, and External Environment Audit Factors: Effects on Audit Quality in Libya

Quick Response Code Abstract: Purpose – This paper investigates in the relationship between the audit firm factors; i.e., planning, supervision, specialization in the industry, and audit firm size and audit quality. This study examines the moderating effect of the external environment audit i.e., professional bodies, laws and regulations, and recognized standards in the relationship between audit firm factors and audit quality. Design/methodology/approach – The sample comprises the external auditors from Libyan Association of Accountants and Auditors (LAAA). Data was collected 253 auditors by personally administered questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis is applied to examine the association between audit office factors and external environment audit, and audit quality. Findings – The regression analysis supported a postulate that the audit firm factors have significant positive relationship with the audit quality. But the results indicate that the external environment audit factors cannot moderate the relationship between the audit firm factors and audit quality. Originality/value – This is the first study examining the impact of external environmental factors moderating between audit firm factors and audit quality.
Chapter 1 Developments in Artificial Intelligence

Thus it is highly appropriate that, since the invention of the digital computer in the mid-1940s, the discipline of AI has been characterized by a similar cycle of mania followed by depression. There have been several bouts of excessive enthusiasm (as one generation of workers overturned the ideas of their predecessors) followed by disillusionment (as the limitations of the new approach became clear).
Impact of Microfinance on Poverty and Microenterprises: A Meta-analysis

We conduct a meta-analysis to review 25 empirical studies with a total of 595 estimates of the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction and microenterprise performance. We consider four proxies for poverty and three for microenterprise performance in order to examine the empirical evidence, and to provide a general conclusion on the impacts of microfinance, while addressing issues of within and between-study variations. The proxies for poverty include consumption/expenditure, assets, income and income growth while those for microenterprise performance include labour supply, business profits and revenue. Overall, we find no robust evidence of any significant impact on the performance of microenterprises. With regards to impact on poverty, there is no evidence of any strong positive, impact especially on consumption/expenditure, as the evidence mainly suggests an insignificant impact. However, we find a significant impact of microcredit on assets, which is positive but weak and thus is of no practical economic relevance. Evidence also indicates a negative impact on income growth.
Rapid Detection of Bacterial Growth by Infrared Spectrophotometry

A rapid and sensitive method based on measurement of carbon dioxide released from a culture medium as a result of bacterial metabolism of glucose is reported. The rate of release of carbon dioxide was measured by recording the absorbance at 2353 cm−1 (4.25 μm) against time using a standard infrared spectrophotometer. Detection of growth from only five organisms of Salmonella typhosa was significant after just fifteen minutes. In about three hours a clear pattern of growth was obtained by this method. The results are reproducible with a standard deviation around ±0.5%.