Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Grumpy Cat On Hump Day: Animals' Effects On Mind, Body, and Spirit--And What We Ought to Do About It

Considered fundamental human emotions, compassion and empathy are essential in society. Therefore, it is important to find ways to increase these emotions. Although correlational and anecdotal research suggest that human-animal interaction (HAI) increases empathy and compassion, few, if any, studies experimentally assess the effects of HAI on these emotions. Our study aimed to experimentally determine if petting rats increases humans’ compassion and empathy, how treatment duration [(petting a rat every day (longer-term intervention group) or petting a rat once (immediate intervention group)] affects these results, and how long these effects last. We expected that HAI would increase compassion and empathy in both groups, but that only the longer-term intervention group would have long-term changes. We found a significant interaction between day of testing and group for compassionate love of humanity, compassionate love of specific close others, and empathic concern such that these measures increased in the longer-term, but not the immediate, intervention group. We also assessed the effects of consistent and inconsistent HAI on rats’ anxiety levels as measured in an elevated plus-maze, expecting HAI to decrease rats’ anxiety. Although we did not find a significant effect for amount of HAI (minimal, consistent, or inconsistent), we found a significant interaction between HAI and day of testing such that only consistent HAI rats had low anxiety the first day of testing and increased anxiety the last day of testing. Application of these results to societal systems, including animal research and social work, can improve human and animal life. PETTING ON COMPASSION AND RATS’ ANXIETY 2
Administrative Support, Remuneration Policy and Faculty Teaching Efficacy in Vietnamese Higher Education

The study aims to analyze the efficiency of training programme at POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited with a special reference to academic parameters, and to find out if there is any improvement required to make the training programme more effective. Descriptive research design has been used in the study. The sample size is 127. A survey was carried out to obtain the feedback of the trainees. About 93.70% of the respondents are of the view that initial class room training is sufficient. About 96.06% of them are of the view that the post On Job Training (OJT) is constructive and indispensable. About 89.76% of the respondents said that the rotational OJT is valuable. The findings show that the trainees were satisfied up to a large extent with the training programme. To improve the training programme; module should be updated on yearly basis, period of training should be less than one year and there should be more industry visits on time to time basis.
Empirical Analysis of Persistence and Dependence Patterns Among the Capital Markets

This paper investigates dependence structures on selected world stock markets. Firstly, a non-parametric univariate measure of a persistence concerning capital markets efficiency is derived and computed. Secondly, we focus on computing of a non-parametric multivariate measure of the persistence indicating an ability of the price mechanisms to hold capital market efficiency under interaction of shocks.
Thermostable a-amylase from moderately halophilic Halomonas sp. AAD21

The moderately halophilic Halomonas sp. strain AAD21, which produces extracellular thermostable a-amylase, was isolated from the Camalti Saltern area located in Izmir, Turkey. NaCl, carbon, and nitrogen sources in the growth medium were optimized to enhance a-amylase yield. The highest enzyme yield was measured in the presence of 20% NaCl with peptone as the nitrogen and starch as the carbon sources in the fermentation broth. This microorganism was also found to utilize waste potato peel as a carbon source for a-amylase production. Concentrations of carbon and nitrogen sources were optimized using a statistical approach, and a-amylase activity increased from 4.07 U mL-1 min-1 to 26.25 U mL-1 min-1. Maximum a-amylase production was achieved at the end of 48 h of growth in the presence of 20% NaCl, 4.12% starch, 1.0% peptone, 0.2% KCl, 2% MgSO4.7H2O, and 0.03% trisodium citrate pentahydrate. The optimum pH and temperature of the a-amylase were found to be 7.0 and 50 °C, respectively. The a-amylase synthesized by Halomonas sp. AAD21 was also thermostable. Crude a-amylase did not lose its original activity after 2 h of incubation at 50 °C and 60 °C, and it retained 70% of its original activity after 120 min of incubation at 90 °C.
Improving Conflict Resolution in Version Spaces for Precision Agriculture

We developed a plant monitoring system that uses machine learning to classify environment conditions as favorable or not for plant development. The decision is taken based on six features whose values are measured from sensors: light, temperature, vibrations, soil humidity, rain quantity and vertical distance. Aiming to assure transparency in the classification decision, we used a modified version of the version space algorithm. We adapted the version space algorithm to deal with situations when hypotheses do not agree on a single decision. As a result, 20% from the instances unclassified by the version space were classified by our enhanced version space algorithm. The developed tool is available online as an open-source project.
Morphology of Lung of Rana ridibunda With Observations on Changes Occurring Under Different Conditions

263 Abstract: The frogs used in this study were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of frogs collected from their natural habitat, and these animals were dissected immediately. The bodies of the frogs in the second group were totally submerged in water at +4 °C, and the third group of frogs was kept in a dry environment. The lung sections were examined under a light microscope after being stained. The lungs were found to have three folds: the primary, secondary and tertiary septa. Goblet cells were not only found among the ciliated cells but were also seen among pneumocytes. In particular, the goblet cells found among the pneumocytes were seen to form Òmucous doorsÓ. The pneumocytes and goblet cells in the second group of animals were characterized by coarse granular areas in dark-stained nuclei, and the cytoplasm of the goblet and neuroepithelial endocrine cells also contained numerous scattered secretory granules. The pneumocyte nuclei in the third group of animals were lightly stained and possessed large nucleoli. The goblet and neuroepithelial endocrine cells of this group exhibited different stages of secretion and production. Therefore, this implies that the third group of frogs used their lungs during respiration, but a dry environment was not suitable for their survival. In contrast, the second group of frogs were in hibernation and did not use their lungs.
Effect of Conducting Materials on UV-Vis Spectral Response Characteristics

Spectroscopic analysis is recently being employed to measure furan concentration in transformer oil. Light absorbance and spectral bandwidth are used as indicators to estimate furan concentration level in transformer oil. However, the possibility of dust and other conducting materials that might exist in transformer oil sample need to be considered as it may influence the spectroscopic performance. In this paper, series of tests are carried out to investigate the impact of dust on the transformer oil spectral response characteristics. Oil sample with various furan concentrations along with certain amount of copper powder are examined. Experimental results show that the spectral response characteristics only affected by dust at the beginning of mix process. However, the characteristic returns to the original one within a few minutes.
A Macroeconomic Experiment in Mass Immigration

The paper studies the effects of mass immigration from the former USSR to Israel in the 1990s on the employment of the native-born. The exogeneity and the size of this inflow make it a "natural experiment'' of macroeconomic proportions. An open-economy model is used to analyze this experience, focusing on the differential entry of immigrants into the labor and goods markets and the ensuing dynamic implications for labor demand. The reduced form of the model---consisting of two equations for native employment and the relative price of domestic goods---is estimated, finding negative effects of immigration on native employment a year and a half after arrival.
EFFECTS OF SIMVASTATIN AND LEVO-CARNITINE ON PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR INHIBITOR-1 LEVELS IN OBESE INSULIN RESISTANT RATS

Insulin resistance is considered to be the underlying pathophysiology of the obesity-related cardiovascular risk factors in metabolic. The role of lipid lowering drugs in the treatment of insulin resistant states and metabolic syndrome is significant. Objective of the present study was to determine the effects of Simvastatin and L carnitine, individually and in combination, on plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 levels as Cardiac Risk Factor in obese insulin-resistant Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Methods: Eighty healthy SD rats were divided into 5 groups of 16 rats each. Group-1 was given normal pellet diet and served as control while the rest were given high fat diet (HFD) to induce obesity. After two months of HFD, insulin resistance was confirmed and drug administration was carried out for one month in groups 3, 4 and 5 while group-2 served as control for them. At the end of this period, Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 level was measured. Results: Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) levels were raised significantly in the group given HFD (11.78Â±3.58 I·g/ml from 2.66Â±1.80 I·g/ml in Group 1, p<0.001). Compared to HFD group 2, PAI-1 levels were significantly decreased in both simvastatin (5.80Â±1.65 I·g/ml, p<0.05) and combination therapy group (6.315Â±1.88 I·g/ml, p<0.05) but decrease was statistically insignificant in carnitine monotherapy group (10.20Â±1.8 I·g/ml). Conclusion: The combination therapy of simvastatin and levo-carnitine resulted in greater improvement in plasma PAI-1 levels as a cardio vascular disease risk factor in diet induced obesity than either of the drugs alone.
Monitoring Disease Activity in Asthma

Asthma is characterized by waxing and waning episodic wheezing, reversible airway obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and chronic inflammation of the airways. It is often considered a gene-environment interaction. This means that, even with a genetic predisposition toward asthma, development of disease may not occur without proper environmental priming or exposure (1,2). In all likelihood, asthma consists of many genetic diseases that interact with many environments, with only some of the gene-environment interactions resulting in the constellation of findings consistent with the asthma syndrome. Without thinking, we label this syndrome a disease because it has many characteristics consistent with a disease.
GIS Mapping of Basal Stem Rot Disease in Relation to Soil Series Among Oil Palm Smallholders

Basal Stem Rot (BSR) is a disease caused by fungus which affect oil palm tree. This study aims to visualize the geographical distribution of BSR incidence among oil palm smallholders in Selangor using Geographical Information System (GIS) and its relationship to the type of soil series. The geographical distribution of BSR incidence of smallholders in Selangor were mapped using 168 Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinate of possible infected area. The methodology followed in finding the relationship between BSR and soil series by assigning percentage of BSR incidence based on type of soil series. Majority of the BSR incidences were found to be confined to the Selangor-Kangkong (Aeric Tropic Fluvaquent-Typic sulfuric tropic fluvaquent) soil series followed on Peat (Typic Fibric Tropohemist) soil then Kranji (Typic Sulfaquents) soil series and finally the Briah-Organic Clay and Muck (Typic Tropic Fluvaquent) soil series. Distribution pattern of the BSR revealed that most of the incidences were confined along the coastal area which might be due to the planting of oil palm in previous coconut stands. Low pH of Selangor (Aeric Tropic Fluvaquent) and Peat (Typic Fibric Tropohemist) soil series shows a higher BSR incidence while high pH of Kranji (Typic Sulfaquents) and Briah (Typic Tropic Fluvaquent) soil series shows slightly lower BSR incidence. From this study, it can be concluded that the distribution of BSR were mostly confined to the coastal areas which might be due to the planting of oil palm in previous coconut stands rather than any relationship with the type of soil series. This distribution map of BSR incidence can be used to deliver effective extension services regarding BSR to smallholders with a specified target based on location and soil series.
Aerosol Optical Depth, Ozone and Water Vapor Measurements over Gadanki, A Tropical Station in Peninsular India

This paper reports the results of a study related to the optical and physical characteristics of columnar aerosols and variation in total column ozone (TCO) and precipitable water content (PWC) over Gadanki (13.45°N, 79.18°E), a tropical station in peninsular India, for the first time, using MICROTOPS-II (Microprocessor-based Total Ozone Portable Spectrometer), comprising of both sun photometer and ozonometer. Results show wavelength dependence of AOD, having mean value of ~0.4 (±0.09) at 500 nm optical channel. Daily mean aerosol size spectra shows, most of the time, power-law distribution. However, its diurnal variations show significant changes in aerosol size spectra modulated by a combination of both power-law and bi-modal distributions. To characterize AOD, the Angstrom parameters (i.e., α and β) were used. The day-to-day variations in TCO were found to be in fair agreement with that derived from TOMS satellite data for all the experimental days, having mean observed value of ~253 (±8) DU over the station. Interestingly, an inverse relationship between TCO and AOD or PWC was observed over the station, on some times of the day, which could be attributed to the mixing of significant fraction of ozone with aerosol and water vapor-rich air mass. However, a significant positive correlation was observed between AOD and PWC.
Effects of Activated Lactoperoxidase System on Microbiological Quality of Raw Milk

The poor microbiological quality of raw cow milk in Turkey is a major concern. It has been speculated that less activation of naturally present lactoperoxidase system in the milk is the reason for its poor microbiological quality. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of activation of the lactoperoxidase (LP) system on microbiological quality of the raw milk. The milk samples collected from a dairy farm were analyzed in the laboratory by dividing into two equal parts as activated (experimental) and control group. The experimental group was activated by treatment with equal concentration of sodium thiocyanate and hydrogen peroxide (20:20 mg/kg) whereas the control sample remained unactivated. All samples were stored at 4°C during 12 h. The microbial load in all the samples was quantitatively determined at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 h. The quantitative changes in each microbial species in both growth were recorded and statistically analyzed. The initial count of total mesophilic aerobic bacteria, psychrotroph bacteria, Pseudomonas spp. , Enterobacteriaceae and yeast number were 7.10, 5.14, 6.42, 5.93 and 4.31 log cfu/mL, respectively, and at the end of 3 h the counts were 0.43, 2.23, 1.09, 0.93 and 0.37 log cfu/mL, respectively, were lower than controls. Significant (P<0.05) differences were observed for microbial count of activated and control samples except in case of lactic acid bacteria. The results of this study indicate that the addition of thiocyanate and hydrogen peroxidase to the milk activated lactoperoxidase enzyme already present in the milk and slowed down the microbiological growth, especially of the reducing proteolytic Pseudomonas spp. On comparison, the results for total mesophilic aerobic bacteria, psychrotroph bacteria, Pseudomonas spp. , Enterobacteriaceae and yeast were statistically significant (P<0.05) and no significant change was observed in case of lactic acid bacteria.
An investigation into E-business service in the UK telecommunication manufacturing industry

Abstract Nowadays, suppliers’ product and service quality has risen in importance with a manufacturer’s push to develop core competencies and capitalise on global operations and markets. However, due to the complex features of business service, suppliers are facing significant challenges in providing service effectively and developing business collaboration. This is further complicated by the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This paper thus attempts to investigate the factors influencing buyers’ e-service (EBS) requirements and the impact of these requirements on business collaboration. Based on a questionnaire survey with 500 UK telecommunication manufacturers, this research identifies buyers’ different EBS requirements for different types of suppliers and the impact of ICTs on EBS requirements. While for suppliers our findings provide insights into buyers’ EBS requirements, they can help buyers to develop appropriate supplier selection criteria. The findings also contribute to a better understanding of the development of buyer and supplier business collaboration.
CROWDSOURCING AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Nowadays, crowd sourcing becomes trend that eventually affects the way of a project is managed. The success stories of crowd sourcing are noticeable, and so are the failures. Crowd sourcing provides access to diverse and abundant talent pools with relatively low cost. A project manager can easily recruit a geographically separated unknown individual or group to perform a task. However, a project manager should understand the benefits and risks of crowd sourcing as the considerations for adopting it. Moreover, the position of recruited individual or group should be clear, whether they are part of virtual project team or just another form of outsourcing. This research reviews the current literatures on crowd sourcing and project management to study the benefits and risks of crowd sourcing, its relation to project management and how the recruited workers should be positioned in the project. The discussions of crowd sourcing and project management are specifically focused on project attributes.
Competition in the Courtroom: When Does Expert Testimony Improve Jurors' Decisions?

Many scholars lament the increasing complexity of jury trials and question whether the testimony of competing experts helps unsophisticated jurors to make informed decisions. In this paper, we analyze experimentally the effects that the testimony of competing experts has on 1) sophisticated versus unsophisticated subjects' decisions and 2) subjects' decisions on difficult versus easy problems. Our results demonstrate that competing expert testimony, by itself, does not help unsophisticated subjects to behave as though they are sophisticated, nor does it help subjects make comparable decisions on difficult and easy problems. When we impose additional institutions (such as penalties for lying or a threat of verification) upon the competing experts, we observe such dramatic improvements in unsophisticated subjects' decisions that the gap between their decisions and those of sophisticated subjects closes. We find similar results when the competing experts exchange reasons for why their statements may be correct. However, these additional institutions and the experts' exchange of reasons are much less effective at closing the gap between subjects' decisions on difficult versus easy problems.
Bribing Behaviour and Sample Selection: Evidence from Post-Socialist Countries and Western Europe

Summary We study the individual-level determinants of bribing public officials. Particular attention is paid to the issue of respondents’ non-random selection into contact with public officials, which may result in biased estimates. Data come from the 2010 Life in Transition Survey, covering 30 post-socialist and five Western European countries. The results suggest that the elderly tend to be less likely to bribe public officials, while people with higher income and, especially, low trust in public institutions are more likely to bribe. Several determinants of bribery - ethnic minority status, the degree of urbanisation, social trust - are context specific, i.e. they change signs or are statistically significant according to the geographical region or the type of public official. The results show that not accounting for sample selection effects may produce a bias in estimated coefficients.
EXPERIMENTAL AND CFD STUDY OF THE TUBE CONFIGURATION EFFECT ON THE SHELL-SIDE THERMAL PERFORMANCE IN A SHELL AND HELICALLY COILED TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

Despite numerous studies of shell and helically coiled tube heat exchangers, a few investigations on the heat transfer and flow characteristic consider the geometrical effects like coil pitch. Moreover, this scarcity is highlighted for the shell side of this type of heat exchangers. This study reports experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) investigations on heat transfer and flow characteristics of a shell and helically coiled tube heat exchanger. The experiments were carried out using a helically coiled tube, which was placed in a cylindrical shell. Hot and cold water were used as the process fluids on the tube and shell side, respectively. The CFD modeling technique was employed to describe the experimental results, fluid flow pattern, and temperature profiles as well as dead zones in the heat exchanger. Quantitative predicted results of CFD modeling show a good agreement with the experimental data for temperature. The effect of the coil pitch on heat transfer rate was numerically studied and it was found that the heat transfer coefficient intensifies with an increase in coil pitch. The average turbulent kinetic energy (k) for the old coil tube and twice coil pitch heat exchanger was computed as 2.9×10 -3 and 3.3×10 -3 m 2 /s 2 , respectively. This indicates an increase of about 14% in flow turbulent kinetic energy. Nusselt numbers were compared with those estimated using published correlation and a mean relative error (MRE) of 14.5% was found between the experimental and predicted data. However, a good agreement was obtained in lower shell Reynolds numbers (lower than Re=200).
The Performance Of SISO In Wireless Open-Access Research Platform (WARP) Using QAM Modulation

This paper shows the implementation of SISO communication system using QAM modulation in WARP. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated in terms of Bit-Error-Rate (BER) for different M-array level: 4, 8, and 16 in indoor and outdoor environments, both using LOS condition. In the analysis results, SISO performance with 4-QAM modulation achieves better performance compared to 8-QAM and 16-QAM for both environments. Meanwhile, SISO performance with QAM modulation in outdoor environment achieves better results compared to indoor environment for different M-array level. In indoor environment with transmitted power -26 dBm, BER achieved for 4-QAM, 8-QAM, and 16-QAM are 1.33 × 10−4, 2.078 × 10−2, and 8.76 × 10−2, respectively. While in outdoor environment with the same transmitted power, BER achieved for 4-QAM, 8-QAM, and 16-QAM are 0, 1.497 × 10−2 and 5.928 × 10−2, respectively. SISO performance using M-QAM modulation is better than using M-PSK modulation.