Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Affecting Milk Market Supply and Level of Supply by Smallholder Milk Producers: The Case of Dessie Zuria District, South Wollo Zone, Ethiopia

The study was conducted in Dessie Zuria District of South Wollo Zone, Northern Ethiopia with the specific objectives of analyzing determinants of milk market supply. A two stage sampling procedure was applied to select sample milk producer households of the study area. In the first stage, 12 potential milk producer kebeles were purposively selected out of 37 administrative kebeles of the district based on their level of milk production. Then, a total of 6 sample kebeles were selected randomly. In the second stage, 100 sample smallholder milk producers were selected from those 6 randomly selected kebeles and both qualitative and quantitative types of data were collected. Secondary data were collected from journals, reports and documents used in the study area. Primary data were collected from individual smallholder milk producers, key informants and focus group discussions using both structured and semi-structured types of questionnaires. Data analysis was performed both by descriptive and econometric analysis employing STATA version 12 software. Factors determining participation of milk market supply was analyzed using Heckman two stage estimation model and the results of first stage/probit regression model showed that both decision of participation and level of participation of households in milk market supply were affected significantly by age of the household, educational level, number of milking cows owned, distance from market/urban centres and technical training. Decision of participation of households in milk market supply was also affected significantly by access to credit whereas level of participation was affected significantly by sex of the household, family size and access to market information. Thus, it is suggested that strengthening of participation of smallholder milk producers in milk market supply via capacity improvement and enhanced access of appropriate technical support service provision. Keywords: Heckman two stage model, Milk, Market supply
Critical Factors Predicting The Acceptance Of Digital Museums: User And System Perspectives

Digital museums are replacing traditional museums to inspire individual growth and promote culture exchange and society enrichment. However, the benefits of using the traditional museum to inspire visitors and promote the local economy may be compromised in the digital museum. This study attempts to offer insights on digital museum adoption from user and system perspectives. We extended the technology acceptance model (TAM) by incorporating computer self-efficacy and personal innovativeness as individual variables and media richness as a system characteristic. We launched a full-scale study with 441 users of 3 weather museums in Taiwan. We had 327 valid responses, a 74% response rate, from our target population. We conducted a regression analysis to investigate the potential influence of independent variables on the adoption of digital museums. Our results showed that both user and system characteristics have a positive influence on perceived usefulness (PU). A proper consideration of these three constructs can increase a user’s PU and perceived ease of use (PEOU), thereby establishing a more positive attitude regarding the use of digital museums. Academic and practical implications concerning their adoption from user and system perspectives were drawn from these findings.
Production and quality of Tifton 85 pastures overseeded with black oat: effects of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization on the bromatological quality, forage production, and botanical and structural composition of Tifton 85 (Cynodon sp.) pastures overseeded with black oat (Avena strigosa). Four treatments were evaluated in a 2 × 2 factorial scheme (irrigated and non-irrigated × fertilized and non-fertilized), with three replicates, in a completely randomized design. In irrigated paddocks, the irrigation system was activated when the soil matric potential reached a value equal to, or higher than, 10 kPa and 135 kg N ha-1 was applied to fertilized paddocks, divided into four applications. The forage mass pre- and post-grazing, total forage production, and the botanical, structural, and bromatological composition of the pastures were evaluated. No interaction was observed between the irrigation and nitrogen fertilization factors for any of the variables and no significant differences were observed in forage mass between pre- and post-grazing or in Tifton leaf and stem percentages. Nitrogen fertilization had a significant effect on forage production, which was 2626.41 kg dry matter (DM) ha-1 higher in fertilized pastures than in unfertilized pastures. In addition, fertilization resulted in a lower percentage of dead material (6.66%), higher percentage of oat leaves (30.84%), higher leaf:stem ratio (1:45), higher crude protein content (24.13%), lower levels of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (64.57%) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) (32.86%), and higher in vitro dry matter digestibility (73.01%) than in unfertilized pastures. The use of irrigation did not influence total forage production, however, it resulted in pastures with lower NDF (65.97%) and ADF (33.54%), and higher in vitro dry matter digestibility (73.48%) than unirrigated pastures. Nitrogen fertilization produced improvements in pasture structure, associated with higher dry matter yield and bromatological quality, while irrigation only produced pastures with lower fiber content and greater digestibility.
Modeling and Controlling Distribution Supply Chain Network: Conceptual Scor Simulation Approach

Nowadays, the concept of modeling the supply chain represents an important revolution and new approach to the development and evaluation of the complex supply chain systems. The proposed conceptual modeling approach especially tailored for describing the most important and active supply chain business processes and activities; it provides a systematic approach for generating executable model definitions from high-level modeling design. That captures effectively the complexity of the supply chain through depicting the internal supply chain business processes and activities structure, relationships, conversations, and commitments. Those provide starting point for developing the details of the supply chain models and implementations to satisfy the multiple objectives and requirements.
Data Processing based on Geometric Feature Detection

We report on novel ideas to support the equipment of technical systems with cognitive capabilities on the software side. We represent a given data set by points in some Euclidean space and search for certain properties of associated geometric objects, that are characteristic for the given data set concerning various aspects. In this paper, our focus is on symmetry detection in the context of identifying trafﬁc signs from visual data. Also, we present an algorithm which can be used to determine the direction of a sound source from head related impulse response (HRIR) data.
The Cyclical Behaviour of Employers' Monopsony Power and Workers' Wages

This paper investigates the behaviour of employers' monopsony power and workers' wages over the business cycle. Using German administrative linked employer-employee data for the years 1985-2010 and an estimation framework based on duration models, we construct a time series of the firm-level labour supply elasticity and estimate its relationship to the aggregate unemployment rate. In line with theory, we find that firms possess more monopsony power during economic downturns, which shows to be robust to controlling for time-invariant unobserved worker heterogeneity. We also document that cyclical changes in workers' entry wages are of similar magnitude as those predicted under monopsonistic wage setting, suggesting that monopsony power should not be neglected when analysing wage cyclicality.
Determination of the Transformation Temperature Ranges of Orthodontic Nickel-Titanium Archwires

Currently, manufacturers utilize no standard method for testing orthodontic Nickel-Titanium (Ni-Ti) archwires. The majority of published orthodontic studies use Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) to test the Transformation Temperature Range (TTR) of Ni-Ti wires, but the Bend and Free Recovery Test (BFR) method may be more clinically applicable. Objective: To compare the Transformation Temperature Range (TTR) values, As and Af, of thermoelastic Ni-Ti archwires between: (1) Bend and Free Recovery (BFR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) test methods, (2) two wire sizes, (3) two wire brands, (4) two lots, and (5) tested and manufacturer-listed values. Methods: Eighty orthodontic Ni-Ti archwires were divided into 2 groups tested using BFR or DSC. Groups were further divided based on manufacturer: Rocky Mountain Orthodontics (RMO) and Opal Orthodontics (Opal) and wire size: round (0.016 in.) and rectangular (0.019x0.025 in.), resulting in 8 subgroups. Each subgroup consisted of wires from two lots. Austenite start (As) and austenite final (Af) temperatures were recorded. Data analysis was performed using Student t-tests (α≤0.05). Results: Statistically significant mean differences were observed: (1) between BFR and DSC for all As values and most Af values; (2) between wire sizes for all BFR-tested wires; (3) between brands for half of the BFR-tested groups and half of the DSC-tested groups; (4) between most lots; (5) between all tested and listed Af values by Opal and RMO. Conclusions: TTR values are comparable between DSC and BFR, but BFR is a more economical and clinically relevant method, enabling testing on unmodified, as-received wires. All wires fully transitioned to austenite well before their manufacturer-listed temperatures.
Distribution of Two Mating Types of Cochliobolus miyabeanus in Field and a Laboratory Attempt to produce Hybrids between Isolates of Helminthosporium oryzae from the U.S.A. and Japan

The segregation and distribution patterns of the mating types of Cochliobolus miyabeanus were determined. The segregation ratio of the two types A, B, and C, D was about 1:1 in monoascosporic isolates and 35:49 in monoconidial isolates from field. In field, both mating types were distributed almost equally and moreover co-existence (sympatric distribution) of these types in the same localities or on the same rice plant was demonstrated. Over 60% of both monoconidial and monoascosporic isolates of the fungus were hermaphroditic. The remainder showed a loss of female character(s) in mating tests. Crosses between isolates of H. oryzae from Japan and U.S.A. were attempted. Fertile ascocarps were produced with the correct combinations. The identity of this fungus from both countries was confirmed by the formation of the perfect state.
Some integrability estimates for solutions of the fractional p-Laplace equation

For (α,p) ∈ (0, 1)× (1,∞), this note focuses on some integrability estimates for solutions of the following Dirichlet problem { Lα,pu(x) = g(x) as x ∈ Ω, u(x) = 0 as x ∈ Rn\Ω, where Lα,p is the fractional p-Laplace operator. c ©2017 All rights reserved.
A Comparison of Relationship Marketing in Public and Private Sector Banks in India

Relationship Marketing is a new phenomenon in marketing. It is a multifunctional approach, describing marketing as “an integrative activity involving functions across the organization, with emphasis on facilitating, building and maintaining relationship over time. ” This trend has been catalyzed by the general shift to information highway, IT, database management, whereby marketers have leveraged this new technology to create closer ties with their customers. The overall objective of relationship marketing is to build and facilitate long-term/life-time customer relationships. The present study examines Relationship Marketing in the context of banking. The primary objective of the study is to analyze customer perceptions of Relationship Marketing in public and private sector banks in India. It further discusses various barriers to the implementation of Relationship Marketing in Indian Banking Sector. The study is based on a survey of a random sample from the of customer databases of five public sector and five private sector banks. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire, pertaining to five dimensions of Relationship Marketing, viz. Trust, Bonding, Communication, Relationship Quality, and Conflict-handling, and the overall Customer Satisfaction with the service. The findings of the study indicate that Relationship Marketing in both public sector and private sector banks has to go a long way to go to become effective. There was found to be a significant gap between expectations and perceptions in the Bonding, Communication, and Conflict-handling aspects of Relationship Marketing. Further, Communication and Conflict-handling aspects were found to be significant drivers of overall Customer Satisfaction.
TOFtracker: gaseous detector with bidimensional tracking and time-of-flight capabilities

Particle identification by time-of-flight requires the simultaneous measurement of the passing time and the trajectory of particles. It may be usefull that each tracking station measures both quantities, providing better timing accuracy by redundancy and independence from an external initial time counter. In here we demonstrate a 5-gap timing RPC equipped with patterned electrodes coupled to both charge-sensitive and timing circuits, yielding a time accuracy of 77 ps along with a position accuracy of 38 mm.
Residual useful life prediction of large-size low-speed slewing bearings – a data driven method

In this paper, a data driven method based on Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition-Principal Component Analysis (EEMD-PCA) and Least Square-Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) is proposed to achieve residual useful life (RUL) prediction for slewing bearings. Firstly, life-cycle vibration signals are acquired and divided into several signal segments, and EEMD is then utilized to decompose each segment into Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs). Afterwards, PCA is introduced to illustrate the trends of each IMF across the life cycle, and some of the IMFs that contribute to reveal the performance degradation process of the slewing bearing are selected to reconstruct and de-noise the vibration signals. After that, continuous squared prediction error (C-SPE) and its features are presented as performance degradation indicators. Finally, an RUL prediction model is built on the basis of the indicators using LS-SVM. The results of a life-cycle experiment show that the C-SPE of the de-noised vibration signals can precisely explain the performance degradation process of the tested slewing bearing and that the established RUL prediction model is close to practice. Besides, a comparison study shows that the C-SPE based RUL prediction model is more efficient and accurate than the signal based model. Therefore, the proposed method ensures high-reliability slewing bearing prognostics.
Unconscious Influences on Discourses About Consciousness: Ideology, State-Specific Science and Unformulated Experience

Discussions about consciousness are complicated by the fact that participants do not share a common underlying “ordinary” consciousness. Everyday experience is founded on what Teasdale calls implicational cognition, much of which is not verbally formulated. An unacknowledged aspect of debate is individuals’ attempts to negotiate the expression of their unformulated experience. This is further complicated by the way in which a discourse, based on particular ontological assumptions, exercises an ideological control which limits what underlying aspects of experience can be formulated at all. Tart’s concept of state specific sciences provides a framework within which the role of unformulated experience can be acknowledged and taken into account. Unless this is done, debates will be vitiated by participants engaging in ideological struggles and talking at cross-purposes.
Monetary union for the development process in the East African community: Business cycle synchronization approach

This paper empirically examines the suitability of monetary union in East African community members namely, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, on the basis of business cycle synchronization. This research considers annual GDP (gross domestic product) data from IMF (international monetary fund) for the period of 1980 to 2010. In order to extract the business cycles and trends, the study uses HP (Hodrick-Prescott) and the BP (band pass) filters. After identifying the cycles and trends of the business cycle, the study considers cross country correlation analysis and analysis of variance technique to examine whether EAC (East African community) countries are characterized by synchronized business cycles or not. The results show that four EAC countries (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) among five countries are having similar pattern of business cycle and trend from the last ten years of the formation of the EAC. The research concludes that these countries, except Rwanda, do not differ significantly in transitory or cycle components but do differ in permanent components especially in growth trend. Key words: Business cycle synchronization, optimum currency area, East African community, monetary union, development.
Corporate Governance and the Performance of Seasoned Equity Offering Firms in Nigeria: The Mediating Effect of Agency Costs

The objective of this study is to implement Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) at the same time analysing the power of corporate governance on Post – Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEO’s) performance as well as in determining whether agency costs exist as a mediating variable between them. We conjecture that the mediating function of agency costs reduction is fundamental to the causal relationship between corporate governance and Post-SEO underperformance. Failure to tackle agency costs as a mediating variable may perhaps be one reason for the inconclusive findings in the allied literature. This study intends to focus on an SEO sample, for the reason that it is essential to evaluate how better corporate governance mechanisms can enhance SEO performance by estimating the relationship between different variables. To achieve this, the study will apply the approach and analyse SEOs in Nigeria from 2005-2015.
A pH-sensitive injectable nanoparticle composite hydrogel for anticancer drug delivery

According to previous reports, low pH-triggered nanoparticles were considered to be excellent carriers for anticancer drug delivery, for the reason that they could trigger encapsulated drug release at mild acid environment of tumor. Herein, an acid-sensitive β-cyclodextrin derivative, namely, acetalated-β-cyclodextrin (Ac-β-CD), was synthesized by acetonation and fabricated to nanoparticles through single oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion technique. At the same time, camptothecin (CPT), a hydrophobic anticancer drug, was encapsulated into Ac-β-CD nanoparticles in the process of nanoparticle fabrication. Formed nanoparticles exhibited nearly spherical structure with diameter of 209 ± 40 nm. The drug release behavior of nanoparticles displayed pH dependent changes due to hydrolysis of Ac-β-CD. In order to overcome the disadvantages of nanoparticle and broaden its application, injectable hydrogels with Ac-β-CD nanoparticles were designed and prepared by simple mixture of nanoparticles solution and graphene oxide (GO) solution in this work. The injectable property was confirmed by short gelation time and good mobility of two precursors. Hydrogels were characterized by dynamic mechanical test and SEM, which also reflected some structural features. Moreover, all hydrogels underwent a reversible sol-gel transition in alkaline environment. Finally, the results of in vitro drug release profile indicated that hydrogel could control drug release or bind drug inside depending on the pH value of released medium.
COMMISSIONING AND FIRST PERFORMANCE OF THE LHC BEAM CURRENT MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS

CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is equipped with three distinct types of intensity measurement systems: total intensity measurement using DC transformers (DCCTs) with a bandwidth up to a few kHz; total intensity measurements on a turn-by-turn basis for lifetime measurements using AC-coupled fast transformers (fast BCTs); bunch-by-bunch intensity measurements with a bandwidth up to a few hundred MHz also using the fast BCTs. In addition to providing intensity information these devices are part of the machine protection system, indicating whether or not there is beam circulating, transmitting intensity for evaluation of safe beam conditions and capable of triggering a beam dump if fast losses are detected. This paper reports on the commissioning of all these systems and their initial performance.
THE DETERMINANTS OF INTRAFIRM TRADE ∗

How well does the theory of the firm explain the choice between intrafirm vs arms’ length trade? Using import data from France we examine firm, country and product determinants of intrafirm imports at both the extensive (sourcing mode choice) and intensive (value of imports for a given mode) margin. By examining the extensive margin we find support for three key predictions of the property-rights approach. Intrafirm imports are more likely: (i) in capital, skill-, and headquarter services-intensive firms; (ii) in highly productive firms; (iii) from countries with well-functioning judicial institutions. On the other hand, we find that complex inputs are more likely to be sourced within firm boundaries which can be rationalized within the transaction-cost approach. We also find that earlier industryand product-level findings can be misleading, because some of these are driven by the intensive margin (on which theory is silent), and because of strong hidden within-sector heterogeneity in key covariates.
Changes in the Biochemical Composition of the Tataouine Virgin Olive Oils During Thermal Oxidation

An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the quality of virgin olive oils from varieties (Chemlali Tataouine, Fakhari Douirat, Zarrazi Douirat, and Dhokar Douirat) grown in the harsh conditions of the arid region of Tataouine, using accelerated oxidation and deep frying studies at 180 ˚C from 0 to 10h. The experimental data showed the resistance of the studied oils to the oxidation especially Chemlali Tataouine and Zarrazi Douirat who maintained their high stability and their natural biophenol contents during 2.5 and 5h, respectively, under frying temperature. A positive correlation was observed between the induction time and the total polar phenol contents during the thermal oxidation. The capacity of the heated and unheated oils to quench the free radicals has been also studied.
Measures of Perceived Credibility of Blogs: Construct Validation by Lisrel

Predictions are that blogs will be the promotional tool of the future, if not now. The question remains: how credible are blogs as a source of consumer informntion? How do consumers perreil'e the credibility of blogs from different sources wl1en making purchase deci s i o ns and product emluations? The primary objective of the presem study is to assess mlidity and reliability of a set of Semantic Differential scales purported to measure perceived credibility of different types of blogs. Confirm a to1y factor analysis via LISREL8.5 package was used to obtain appropriate statistics for convergent z•alidity, discriminant validity, and composite reliability. In general, the scales used to measure the two hypothesized factors (source credibility and content credibility) for each type of blog achieved a satisfactory level of construct mlidity. •••• •••• •••• MeosuJLes OtJ PeJLeeil! ed QJLedibi �it� OtJ 1? �ogs: Co�stJLutt CVa�tdatto� B� UsJLe-�