Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of the Diagnostic Capability of SERVQUAL Model to an Estimation of Service Quality Gaps in Nigeria GSM Industry

This study assessed the quality of service by GSM service providers in Nigeria from the consumer’s point of view, and ascertained current overall level of service quality and the existing gaps in service dimensions. The study objective was to ascertain the overall service quality gap and the gaps that may exist in the service quality dimensions. This becomes necessary as a result of the plethora of complaints from GSM subscribers which are symptomatic of an unhealthy service environment requiring some level of diagnosis, hence this study. The primary data used for the study were collected through the adoption of a questionnaire prototype designed a priori by Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml (1988). Purposive, quota and accidental sampling methods were used by dividing Nigeria along the six geo-political zones from where the South-Western zone comprising Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti, Osun and Lagos States was selected. Three states within the zone; Lagos, Oyo and Osun, were selected based on convenience. Tertiary institutions within the selected states were purposively targeted with equal number of respondents, bringing the total number of respondents sampled to 300. Tertiary institutions were targeted because of their highly enlightened community of students, staff and other visitors who were able to assess their level of satisfaction with GSM services provided. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including tables, frequencies, percentages, and the application of the five dimensionality principle of the SERVQUAL model which has diagnostic capabilities. The study found that the magnitude of the gap between what consumers expect and what they perceive as received is -1.48 (a negative outcome). ‘Responsiveness’ had the widest gap of -35.93 among the five dimensions, while ‘Empathy’ had the least gap with a score of -22.15. The study concludes that consumers are dissatisfied with the services received from the GSM service providers and recommends that network providers should work hard to narrow or eliminate the gap observed in the overall quality by improving their service delivery and training their staff. Keywords: service quality gap, dimensions of service, diagnostic capability, GSM industry, SERVQUAL model.
FACIA: A Fully Automatic Change Impact Analysis Method for Large Scale Requirements

The blooming change of requirements poses a challenge for change impact analysis (CIA), especially in large scale software development. Existing CIA techniques exploiting manual analysis and automatic methods suffer from high cost, low accuracy and expert dependence in current industrial practice. Therefore, this paper proposes a fully automatic change impact analysis (FACIA) method to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings. We consider the requirement changes generally happen as the form of phrases. The impact units for the changed phrases may contain the changed phrases (CP1), the co-occurrence phrases of CP1(CP2), the tokens of CP1 in the changed requirement, the similar phrases of CP1 and the similar phrases of CP2 in the whole requirements. Then five algorithms are designed based on the combinations of those impact units, so as to get a more precise change propagation and generate the lists of change impact automatically. We conduct extensive evaluations for the proposed approach with two different industrial data sets. The results show that compared with the method of expert depended, our approach can get a reliable sorted list for CIA more quickly with lower cost.
Impact of riparian land-use patterns on Ephemeroptera community structure in river basins of the southern Western Ghats, India

Key-words: Ephemeroptera, riparian land use, bioindicators, KMTR, Western Ghats This study analysed the impact of riparian land use in structuring the larval ephemeropteran communities from 25 sites in streams and rivers of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) of the southern end of the Western Ghats, India. A total of twenty-eight species belonging to twentyfour genera of six families were collected across all the sites. Baetidae and Leptophlebiidae were the most numerous and ubiquitous families, comprising eight genera in each family and eleven and nine species, respectively. The physico-chemical parameters and species richness and abundance of mayflies varied across streams and rivers with different riparian land-use types. Species distribution was influenced by the environmental gradients. Canonical Correspondence Analysis revealed a clear separation of the mayfly assemblages along water quality and riparian landuse gradients. The results of this study suggest that Ephemeroptera taxa can be potentially used as sensitive indicators of riparian land use in lotic ecosystems.
Generalized Invariants of a 4th order tensor: Building blocks for new biomarkers in dMRI

This paper presents a general and complete (up to degree 4) set of invariants of 3D 4th order tensors with respect to SO3. The invariants to SO3 for the 2nd order diffusion tensor are well known and play a crucial role in deriving important biomarkers for DTI, e.g. MD, FA, RA, etc. But DTI is limited in regions with fiber heterogeneity and DTI biomarkers severely lack specificity. 4th order tensors are both a natural extension to DTI and also form an alternate basis to spherical harmonics for spherical functions. This paper presents a systematic method for computing the SO3 invariants of 3D 4th order tensors, derives relationships between the new (generalized) invariants and existing invariants and shows results on synthetic and real data. It also present, hitherto unknown, new invariants for 4th order tensors. Analogously to DTI, these new invariants can perhaps form building blocks for new biomarkers.
DO AGROECOLOGY PARTICES HELP SMALL COFFEE PRODUCERS IN INCOME GENERATION? A CASE STUDY IN MINAS GERAIS

In this paper, a cost benefit analysis has been developed to compare 14 farms in the East Region of Minas Gerais (Brazil) to analyse whether agroecology can stabilize farmers’ incomes in comparison with conventional practices. Three price scenarios have been used in order to consider coffee price fluctuations. The study shows that agroecological farms, on average, have a value of Net Present Value (NPV) twice bigger than conventional farmers (US$ 54,060/ha against US$ 19,034/ha) for the average price scenario. For the low price scenario, the conventional small farmers show negative values of NPV, whereas agroecological producers still show positive results (US$ -9,8975/ha against US$ 20,479/ha). Then, four farms with different level of production diversification were compared. Results show diversification matters in generating income with bad market conditions, underlining the agroecological practices could be beneficial for small farming in the entire region of study.
The Adoption of Process Writing To Develop Learners' Competence in the Use of More Refined Forms of "But.".

This paper examines the effectiveness of process writing instruction in English as a second language to foster contextualized situated learning of adverbial clauses of contrast (e.g., "although, even though, however, nevertheless, in spite of, despite, on the other hand"), as demonstrated in a group of six Brazilian upper-intermediate students of English for Special Purposes (ESP), all executives at a multinational company. The students' objective was better use of alternatives to "but" in written business communication. The report chronicles the development of a needs assessment form and elicitation of student views and goals, describes the process writing approach and its use in second language learning, compares Portuguese and English use of adverbial subordinate clauses of contrast, describes classroom procedures and activities, and evaluates results. Students pointed to the consistency of this approach with the principles underlying the ESP program (situated learning and communicative language teaching), and were able to identify their own progress. Their speech was found to be better organized and their ideas were expressed more accurately, appropriately, and coherently. The method is recommended. Materials documenting the classroom approach are appended. Contains 33 references. (MSE) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** 00 V') The adoption of process writing to develop learners' competence in the use of m re refined forms of 'but' Maria Alice Capocchi Ribeiro
Lending Structure and 3-Factor CAPM Risk Exposures: The Case of Malaysia

This study addresses the linkages between lending structure and bank risk exposures via the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Based on the 3-factor CAPM, five risk measures are examined; namely, the market, interest rate, exchange rate, total and unsystematic risk exposure. The influence of lending structure is analysed via four measures, the real estate lending, the specialisation index, the short-term lending stability, and the medium-term lending stability. Our findings show that the lending structure affects the market, interest rate, and unsystematic risk exposures. The stability of lending structure in both the short-term and medium-term period positively influence the market and interest rate risk exposure. On the other hand, the medium-term lending structure stability negatively affects the unsystematic risk exposure. Thus, the policy makers, bankers, and investors should not ignore the significant role of the lending structure when developing a strategic risk management framework. ABSTRAK Kajian ini melihat hubungan antara struktur pinjaman dengan risiko bank menggunakan pendekatan Model Peletakan Harga Aset Modal (CAPM). Berdasarkan 3-faktor CAPM, lima jenis risiko telah dikaji; iaitu, risiko pasaran, risiko kadar faedah, risiko kadar tukaran asing, risiko sistematik dan risiko keseluruhan. Kesan pengaruh struktur pinjaman terhadap risiko dikaji menggunakan empat ukuran, iaitu pinjaman kepada sektor hartanah, indeks konsentrasi, kestabilan struktur pinjaman bagi jangka pendek dan kestabilan struktur pinjaman bagi jangka masa sederhana. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa struktur pinjaman mempengaruhi risiko pasaran, risiko kadar faedah dan risiko sistematik. Kestabilan struktur pinjaman bagi jangka pendek dan jangka sederhana mempengaruhi risiko pasaran dan risiko kadar faedah secara positif. Manakala, kestabilan struktur pinjaman jangka sederhana mempengaruhi risiko sistematik secara songsang. Oleh itu, para penggubal polisi, pengurus sektor perbankan dan pelabur seharusnya mengambil kira kepentingan peranan struktur pinjaman dalam membangunkan kerangka strategik bagi pengurusan risiko bank.
Toward Image Restoration Based on Neural Network and Similarity Comparison

This paper presents a method to fill in missing data in an image. If the missing data are clustered in forms of an empty shape, then a similarity pattern searching and filling iis performed. The missing data areas are devided into set of windows of equals size. Each windowed area will be compared with every other non-missing data area of the original image to find the area that is most similar to the missing area. The experimental results show that in several cases our proposed algorithms outperform traditional methods.
Optimal Dietary Protein and Lipid Levels for Juvenile Yellowstripe Goby (Mugilogobius Chulae), a Proposed Laboratory Fish

Mugilogobius chulae is a small euryhaline or estuarine goby recently proposed as an ideal species for use in ocean environmental toxicology studies. However, the nutritional requirements of M. chulae remain unknown. Eight experimental diets at one of four protein levels (35%, 40%, 45%, or 50%) and two lipid levels (5% or 10%) were formulated to investigate the effects of differing dietary protein and lipid levels on the growth performance, body composition and liver morphological condition of M. chulae. Juvenile gobies (1760 individuals, 0.011±0.001 g fish-1) were randomly allotted to 32 tanks (four replicates of each of the eight treatments) and fed twice a day for 9 weeks. Weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) increased significantly with increasing dietary protein from 35% to 45% (P 0.05). Whole-body crude lipid and linoleic acid (C18:2n-6) contents in juvenile M. chulae increased significantly with increasing dietary lipid content (P 0.05), and no pathological changes were observed in the liver, lipase activity significantly decreased (P < 0.05). The dietary protein level driving optimal WG and SGR also led to the highest trypsase activity. Thus, 45% crude protein and 5% lipidis sufficient to ensure good growth performance in juvenile M. chulae, and this diet appears to have no substantial adverse effects.
Political models of macroeconomic policy and fiscal reform

The author explains how recent developments in political economics improve our understanding of macroeconomic policy - especially the timing, design, and likelihood of stabilization's success through monetary and fiscal reform. The author reviews the literature on political business cycles and emphasizes several issues involving the relationship between the timing of elections and the timing of macroeconomic policies and outcomes. He also addresses how models can be useful in studying non-democratic systems. Two forces are crucial factors in both democratic and dictatorial systems, although they may manifest themselves differently: (1) the policymakers' incentive to retain power; and (2) society's polarization and the degree of social conflict. The author then analyzes why economic stabilization is delayed, even when it is obvious that sooner or later a stabilization program will have to be adopted. Some points made in the paper follow. Certain institutional characteristics make quick and successful stabilization more or less likely. The more unequal the distribution of stabilization's costs, the more likely that stabilization will be delayed. An increase in the cost of postponing stabilization reduces the delay. Political institutions that make it easier for small interest groups to veto legislation make delay more likely. If political and economic resources are unequally distributed, and it is obvious which group is stronger and has resources to wait longer, a war of attrition ends immediately, as there is no uncertainty about who will win it. Delay is more likely when information about who will bear the cost of delays is uncertain or unevenly distributed. Delay is also more likely when there is agreement about the need for fiscal change but a political stalemate about distribution - about how the burden of higher taxes or spending cuts should be allocated. Stabilization usually occurs when there is political consolidation. The burden of stabilization is sometimes unequal, with the politically weaker group (often the lower classes) bearing a larger burden (often regressive measures). If it is in the interest of the current government to do nothing for fear of failure because of government incompetence, the public may have no incentive to vote for the opposition because the opposition may also do nothing; the crucial factor here is how aware the government is of its own incompetence and thus its reasons for not attempting reform. Successful stabilization usually comes after several failed attempts, and the successful program is often very much like one that failed.
Semi-controlled rectifier for output power regulation of series-series compensated inductive power transfer systems

In this work, a semi-controlled rectifier is proposed for the secondary side of a series-series compensated inductive power transfer system, in order to regulate the power provided to the load. The control strategy is based on dynamic mode change between the conventional full-wave rectification and asymmetric loading, in order to reach and maintain the desirable output power. The asymmetric loading mode of operation leads to up to four times higher output power than conventional full-wave rectification. This allows for a wide range of output power regulation. Simulation results show a good response to pre-set values or characteristics and steady output power. The proposed rectifier is suitable for wireless chargers with wide output power specifications.
APPLICATION OF PREFERENCE RANKING ORGANIZATION METHOD FOR ENRICHMENT EVALUATION METHOD IN ENERGY PLANNING - REGIONAL LEVEL

Nowadays energy is one of the most essential needs of human being and it can be considered as the basic prerequisite of social and economic development. Hence, many of the correlations and legislations of a country are aected by it. Since Iran has huge source of gas and oil, it has turned to a fossil fuel oriented county. But as oil and gas sources are non-renewable ones and cannot be replaced, it is essential for every country to focus on Renewable Energy Sources (RES). So today is the time of studying and investing on RES to be able to exploit them in the time of oil and gas crisis. In the past, the choice among alternative sources was based on the cost minimization, but ranking the RES options is a complex task. The objective of this paper is determining the best renewable energy alternative for Sistan & Baluchestan province of Iran by using interval Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) method. In the application of the proposed methodology the most appropriate renewable energy alternative is determined fuel cell and biomass for the mentioned province.
Dynamic tracking of lung deformation during breathing by using particle method

To reduce the side effects and to improve the efficiency of radiation therapy in lung cancer, a pinpoint radiation therapy system is under development. In the system, the movement of lung tumor during breathing could be estimated by employing a suitable numerical modeling technique. This paper presents a gridless numerical technique called Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method to simulate the lung deformation during breathing. The potential of the proposed method to employ in the future pinpoint radiation therapy system has been explored. Deformation of lung during breathing was dynamically tracked and compared against the experimental results at two different locations (upper lobe and lower lobe). Numerical simulations showed that the deformation of lung surface ranged from less than 4 mm to over 20 mm depending on the location at the surface of lung. The simulation showed that the lower section of lung exhibited comparatively large displacement than the upper section. Comparing with the experimental data, the lung surface displacement during inspiration process was predicted reasonably well. Comparison of numerical prediction with experimental observations showed that the root mean squared error was about 2 mm at lower lobe and less than 1 mm at upper lobe at lung surface.
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF OPEN CHANNEL STEADY GRADUALLY VARIED FLOW USING THE SIMPLIFIED SAINT-VENANT EQUATIONS

For one-dimensional open-channel flow modeling, the energy equation is usually used. There exist numerous approaches using the energy equation for open-channel flow computations, which resulted in the development of several very efficient methods for solving this problem applied to channel networks. However, the dynamic equation can be used for this purpose as well. This paper introduces a method for solving a system of non-linear equations by the discretization of the one-dimensional dynamic equation for open-channel networks. The results of the computations using the dynamic and energy equations were compared for an arbitrarily chosen problem. Also, the reasons for the differences between the solution of the dynamic and energy equation were investigated.
Demixing and nematic behaviour of oblate hard spherocylinders and hard spheres mixtures: Monte Carlo simulation and Parsons–Lee theory

Parsons–Lee approach is formulated for the isotropic–nematic transition in a binary mixture of oblate hard spherocylinders and hard spheres. Results for the phase coexistence and for the equation of state in both phases for fluids with different relative size and composition ranges are presented. The predicted behaviour is in agreement with Monte Carlo simulations in a qualitative fashion. The study serves to provide a rational view of how to control key aspects of the behaviour of these binary nematogenic colloidal systems. This behaviour can be tuned with an appropriate choice of the relative size and molar fractions of the depleting particles. In general, the mixture of discotic and spherical particles is stable against demixing up to very high packing fractions. We explore in detail the narrow geometrical range where demixing is predicted to be possible in the isotropic phase. The influence of molecular crowding effects on the stability of the mixture when spherical molecules are added to a system of discotic colloids is also studied.
Peer Networks and Tobacco Consumption in South Africa

This paper deepens the empirical analysis of peer networks by considering simultaneously their effects smoking participation and smoking intensity. Peer network is key in determining the smoking behaviour of youths, but the magnitude of the effects is still debated, questioned and inconclusive. I used a control function approach, a two-step least square and the fixed effect method to address the potential endogeneity of peer network. The results suggest positive and signicant peer effects on smoking participation and intensity. While the magnitude of the estimates of smoking participation varies across methodological approaches (ranging between 4 and 20 percent), that of smoking intensity ranges between 3 and 22 percent. Including older adults in the peer reference group increases the peer eects. The findings suggest that policies (excise tax) that directly aect the decision to smoke and the smoking intensity of the peer reference group are likely to aect own smoking behaviour.
Effect of preservation on dinoflagellate and diatom cell volume, and consequences for carbon biomass predictions

Plankton biomass estimates are often made using cell size measurements from samples preserved with fixatives such as Lugol's or glutaraldehyde. However, preservation of plankton sam- ples can introduce artifacts to species abundance and cell volume estimates. The goal of this study was to quantify the extent of fixation-induced cell volume change in 18 species of dinoflagellates and 8 species of diatoms in order to provide correction factors to improve biomass estimates. Highly vari- able and species-specific cell volume changes were found with respect to cell covering, fixative type and strength, time of storage and analysis method (light vs epifluorescence microscopy). Both swelling and shrinking were observed with both fixatives in dinoflagellates and diatoms. Dinoflagel- late cell volume changes ranged from over 60% shrinkage to 30% swelling. Cell volume of some diatom species shrank over 30% and swelled almost 30%. These results contradict the common assumption that diatoms are not affected by preservation due to their silica frustule. The observed cell volume changes for both dinoflagellates and diatoms differed from those reported for ciliates and other flagellates. Therefore, application of previously reported correction factors would lead to in- accurate estimates of biovolume and thus carbon biomass. Fixation caused significant changes in biomass predictions of individual dinoflagellate and diatom species. However, biomass estimates for samples containing several species were not significantly different whether based on live or fixed cell volumes.