Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Financial inclusion of rural households in the mobile money era: insights from Ghana

ABSTRACT This paper explores the financial inclusion prospects of mobile money by drawing on the experiences of rural households in the Sunyani West District of Ghana. By employing a qualitative approach, we argue that the suitability of mobile money to financial inclusion in rural areas has a checquered outlook. This is because although the platform ensures ease, nearness, and speedy transaction, digital illiteracy, irregular service delivery, and poor network connectivity question the goodness of fit between mobile money and the rural environment. While mobile money provided transfer and savings services, the persistence of these constraints negatively influenced these financial inclusion potentials.
Fungal growth model based on logistic regression

The decomposition of plant materials and wood fibers is an important part of the carbon cycle, and some of the key components of this decomposition are fungi. Our aim was to explore the relationship between the rate of decomposition and the growth rate and moisture tolerance of a variety of fungi. The logistic growth model of a single fungus was established to explore its growth mechanism, and the influencing factors of humidity and temperature were introduced to modify it.
Creative Collaborations in Adult ESL Classrooms: Three Community Language Tutors’ Pre-Understandings, Contradictions, and Growth Points

Author(s): Shufflebarger, Amanda | Abstract: This study draws upon Mindful L2 Teacher Education (Johnson a Golombek, 2016) to explore how volunteer community tutors of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) conceptualize and enact their roles as creative teachers. Through three case studies, I explore community language teachers’ pre-understandings, contradictions, and growth points. Findings revealed that tutors felt obligated to use survival ESL and grammar-based frameworks for teaching. Contradictions included their frustration with inconsistent student attendance, their fatigue creating lessons, and their feelings of isolation. Research on teacher education for community volunteers is important so that volunteers feel emotionally and pedagogically supported as they commit to teaching learners who otherwise might not have access to language instruction, including adults with immigrant and refugee backgrounds.nn
Variable effects of protected areas on long‐term multispecies trends for Australia's imperiled birds

Protected areas are important for preventing biodiversity declines, yet indicators of species' trends in protected areas rarely include threatened species. We use data from the first national Threatened Species Index developed in Australia to report on trends for threatened and near‐threatened birds inside and outside terrestrial and marine protected areas. We adopted the Living Planet Index to calculate trends for 39 bird taxa at 16,742 monitoring sites (11,539 inside and 5,203 outside PAs) between 1985 and 2016. At a continental scale, the overall decline in the national index was smaller inside protected areas (66% decrease in average population abundance) than outside (77%), although after 2000 declines were greater within (36%) versus outside (26%) protected areas. Five out of seven jurisdictions showed similar switching in patterns over time. Protected areas initially had a greater net positive effect on trends of more imperiled birds than less imperiled birds, but between 2000 and 2016 declines of the most imperiled birds were greater inside protected areas than outside. Our analyses suggest that the effectiveness of Australia's protected area network at improving trends in threatened species has weakened, and support the hypothesis that trends for terrestrial birds outside PAs might be improving due to increased conservation efforts on private land. Although this study represents the most comprehensive collation of threatened species population time series and trends ever for Australia, the number of monitoring sites inside PAs was double that outside PAs, even though on average, more than 70% of threatened bird distributions occur outside PAs, with important gaps in monitoring across space, time and taxa that need to be filled to fully understand the effectiveness of public and private conservation actions at a national level. The results underline the importance of active management plus monitoring to track and report on long‐term trends across species.
Evaluation of symptoms, radiological findings, laboratory data and outcome in COVID-19 patients with chronic kidney disease at Tehran, Iran

Aim: The present study seeks to provide insight into the management of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) infected with COVID-19.Material and methods: Patients with COVID-19 were included in the study if they met the inclusion criteria. 78 eligible patients were divided into four groups. After reviewing clinical charts, nursing records, laboratory findings, radiological reports and other medical records of CKD patients with COVID-19 confirmed infection, clinical presentation, laboratory data, radiology findings, and results were extracted from documented medical records using data collection forms. laboratory tests were performed again before discharge. Independent t-test, paired t-test, and chi-square were used to compare the clinical features of patients with COVID-19. A P< 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. All the statistical analyses were performed by the SPSS. v 26.0. Results: Hypertension (72.5%), diabetes (63.8%), and Cardiovascular disease (38.2%) were the most common among patients, respectively. Among all participants, 40 (52.6%) patients died. The most common symptom was dyspnea (56.6%), followed by dry cough (38.7%). Comparison of blood, inflammatory, biochemical, and clinical indices between the four groups in patients show that LDH (P=0.022), AST (P=0.038), and ALT (P= 0.004) indices were significantly different between groups of patients. According to the results in Table 3, Unilateral ground-glass opacity (GGO) in the radiological findings of the Non-dialysis CKD group was significantly (P=0.50) higher than the other groups.Conclusion: It can be concluded that CKD is an important factor that can cause poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients.
Understanding the decision-making structures, roles and actions of village-level water committees in Fiji

ABSTRACT As part of a community-based project on water-related disease in Fiji, we conducted a qualitative study to assess the decision-making structures, roles and actions of village-level water committees. Village water committees played a role in the management, operation and maintenance of water and sanitation infrastructure. Reactive and proactive management approaches were both present. The water committees had clear processes in place for decision-making and membership and were influenced by social and cultural norms. Men dominated water committee membership, roles and decision-making. Knowledge about governance structures and processes can be used to strengthen systems for water committees to effectively manage water access and security.
Design of a novel flat-cloth airway in powder tank based on Taguchi optimization

The fluidized bed is a key structure in the field of material transportation and is widely used in special automobile and construction powder transportation. A novel flat-cloth airway structure for powder unloading was proposed based on the traditional fluidized bed in this study. To analyze the uniformity of the velocity distribution (Vu) in the fluidized bed and clarify the interaction mechanism between the geometric structure of the fluidized bed and airflow, 16 geometric structures of the fluidized bed for powder unloading were designed. Different schemes of the fluidized bed were numerically calculated by computational fluid dynamics, and the advantages of each scheme were analyzed by the Taguchi method and multiple regression. The length of the annular vortexes at the inlet of the airways becomes shorter than before as the number of airways increases. Airway height (H), airway angle (θ) and airway arc length (L) exert statistically significant effects. Specifically, H (Delta = 6.45 rank =1) has the greatest effect on signal-to-noise ratios, L (Delta = 2.60 rank =2) has the second greatest effect and θ (Delta = 1.82 rank =3) has the least effect. The optimal combination of geometrical parameters of the fluidized bed is 15 mm H, 51° θ and 200 mm L.
Supervisory Career Support and Workplace Wellbeing in Chinese Healthcare Workers: The Mediating Role of Career Commitment and the Moderating Role of Future Work Self-Salience

In the context of the sustainability goals of organizations, there is a dilemma regarding enhancing healthcare workers’ career commitment and wellbeing, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. This study focuses on the underlying mechanism in the relationship between supervisory career support and employee wellbeing. Drawing upon the career motivation perspective, we investigate the mediating role of career commitment and moderating effect of future work self-salience (FWSS) in this relationship. Two-wave data were collected from a sample of 213 full-time healthcare workers from three public hospitals located in Southern China. Results in this study revealed that supervisory career support influences career commitment in health workers, which in turn enhances their wellbeing at the workplace. Moreover, the effect of supervisory career support on career commitment was found to be stronger for individuals with low FWSS compared to those with high FWSS. These findings also enlighten us on how to enhance employees’ career commitment and workplace wellbeing.
Evaluation of clinical features and treatment responses in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia: A single center experience

Amac: KML periferik kanda miyeloid hucreler, eritroid seri ve trombositlerin artmasina yol acan, kemik iliginde de belirgin miyeloid hiperplazisine neden olan klonal hematopoetik bir kok hucre hastaligidir. KML tanili hastalarin tedavi ve takip kriterleri son yillarda onemli oranda degismistir. Imatinib oncesi donemde KML hidroksiure, interferon, kemoterapi ve en etkili sekilde de allojenik kok hucre nakli ile tedavi edilmistir. Tirozin kinaz inhibitoru imatinib mesilatin tedaviye eklenmesi onceki standart tedavilere kiyasla daha ustun bir genel sag kalim saglamistir. Bu calismadaki amacimiz, klinigimizde tedavi edilen KML hastalarinin demografik ozelliklerini, klinik ozelliklerini, tedavi ve izleme stratejilerini, yanit durumlarini ve genel sag kalim oranlarini belirlemektir. Materyal ve Metod: 2003 ve 2019 tarihleri arasinda kronik faz KML tanisi koyulan ve dosya kayitlarina ulasilabilen 110 hasta calismaya dahil edildi. Hastalarin demografik ozellikleri, klinik bulgulari, laboratuvar degerleri, ultrasonografi bulgulari ve kemik iligi patoloji sonuclari degerlendirildi. Bulgular: 110 tane hastanin 59 (%53.6) tanesi erkek, 51 (%46.4) tanesi kadindi. Tani anindaki medyan yas 49.5 (18-82) saptandi. Tani aninda sadece 32 (%29.0) hasta semptomatikti. Hastalarin tani aninda 71 (%64.5) tanesinde splenomegali ve 51 (%46.4) tanesinde hepatomegali vardi. Tum hastalara ilk basamakta imatinib 400 mg verilmisti. Imatinib tedavisi ile 12. ayda THY orani %100, TSY orani %72.5 ve MMR orani ise %69.6 saptandi. Takiplerde 3 (%2.7) hastanin blastik faza progrese oldugu goruldu. Tum hastalarin OS orani %86.4 saptandi. Sonuc: KML hastalarinin ilk basamak tedavisinde imatinib tolere edilebilir, etkili ve guvenli bir ajan oldugunu kanitlamistir. Imatinib sonrasi tedavi degisikligi yapilirken hastalarin komorbiditeleri goz onunde bulundurulmalidir.
Effect of Financial Restriction on Sticky Costs: Empirical Evidence from Brazil

This research aimed to investigate the impact of financial constraint on asymmetric cost behavior in companies listed on B3 (Brazil). For that, a descriptive, documentary and quantitative study were developed with the use of multiple linear regression, totaling a sample of 834 observations. The results show that companies with and without financial restrictions present an asymmetrical behavior of costs, ie, the increase in total costs in the face of an increase in sales revenue is higher when compared to the reduction of costs due to a proportional reduction in the recipe. However, the findings have shown that financially constrained firms better adjust total costs to the company's situation and decreases in revenue. In other words, it can be seen that these companies make more drastic cuts in total expenses due to the reduction of sales revenue, however, increasing the asymmetry of costs. On the other hand, when the economy returns, it loses due to the low investment capacity for growth, because they are experiencing difficulties in obtaining resources. It is concluded that the behavior of costs is adapted to the conditions of companies that are financially constrained.The evidence found in the study contributes to creditors and regulators, who can support new financing policies and risk monitoring for companies with financial constraints, since they aim to adopt the asymmetry in costs due to a fall in revenue, which reveals that they seek exit from the financial situation, with a view to improving the company's overall capacity.
Risk Perception and Equity Returns: Evidence from the SPX and VIX

We use the semi‐nonparametric (SNP) model to study the relationship between the innovation of the Volatility Index (VIX) and the expected S&P 500 Index (SPX) returns. We estimate the one‐step‐ahead contemporaneous relation subject to leverage GARCH effect. Results agree with a body of newly established literature arguing non‐linearity, and asymmetries. In addition, the risk‐return behaviour depends on the signs as well as magnitudes of the perceived risk. We conclude that influence of fear or exuberance on the conditional market return is non‐monotonic and hump‐shaped. Very deep fear does not necessarily mean huge losses, instead, the loss may not be as bad as fears of normal levels. Results pass the robustness tests.
Zur Entstehung der NaiS-Standorttypen

In der traditionellen Pflanzensoziologie werden die Pflanzengesellschaften rein floristisch definiert. Insbesondere im naturnahen Waldbau genügen diese Definitionen nicht, da aus ihnen oft nicht genau auf den Standort und das Wuchsverhalten der Bäume in einem einzelnen Bestand geschlossen werden kann. Im Gegensatz dazu verwendet das im Rahmen der Vorarbeiten zu den NaiS-Projekten (NaiS für «Nachhaltigkeit im Schutzwald») entwickelte System der Standorttypen floristische, standörtliche und waldbauliche Merkmale. Ein Standorttyp entspricht dabei einem mehr oder weniger engen Bereich auf den verschiedenen Standortgradienten beziehungsweise in den herkömmlichen Ökogrammen mit den Dimensionen Bodenfeuchte und Bodenreaktion. Seine Beschreibung umfasst auch den Baumbestand mit Konkurrenzsituation, Mischungsgrad und -form, Oberhöhe und Prozessen der Naturverjüngung sowie ein gezeichnetes, idealisiertes Bestandesprofil. Diese Beschreibung soll die Zuordnung eines realen Bestandes zum Standorttyp ermöglichen. Ein zentraler Teil des NaiS-Standorttypensystems ist das Konzept von Höhenstufen, deren Grenzen nicht primär nach der Meereshöhe, sondern nach dem Verhalten der Baumarten festgesetzt wurden. Für die Typendefinition wurden ausserdem Standortregionen unterschieden, die hauptsächlich durch die klimatischen Verbreitungsgrenzen der Hauptbaumarten definiert sind. Die Ökogramme liegen für jede Höhenstufe und Standortregion einzeln vor. Die Benennung und die Nummerierung der Standorttypen stützen sich auf bestehende kantonale Kartierungen und gesamtschweizerische Übersichten. Mit dem System der NaiS-Standorttypen wurde ein in der ganzen Schweiz anwendbares, praxisorientiertes Hilfsmittel geschaffen, mit dem sich die vielfältigen Wälder des Landes standörtlich und waldbaubezogen beschreiben lassen. Das System kann und soll je nach Zielsetzung verfeinert und angepasst werden.
Do socially responsible firms always disclose high-quality earnings? Evidence from an emerging socialist economy

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the linkage between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and earnings quality (EQ) in the context of Vietnam, an Asian emerging economy characterized by high growth for decades and a socialist orientation. As CSR firms are expected to have high EQ, there arise concerns that corporate managers of CSR firms may use the reputation of the firm as a protection mechanism against the cost of earnings management.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a unique sample of Vietnamese CSR firms listed on Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchanges from 2015 to 2019. Several econometric tests are conducted to investigate whether corporate managers of CSR-active firms actively engage in earnings management and reduce the firms' EQ.FindingsThe empirical results show a negative impact of CSR on EQ, meaning that, in general, corporate managers of CSR firms in Vietnam opportunistically manage earnings. This confirms the paradox of the CSR–EQ relationship. In line with an emerging strand of research in the CSR literature, the finding suggests that the agency problem arises in CSR firms where corporate managers use their managerial discretion over accrual accounting to manipulate reported earnings.Practical implicationsThe finding has practical implications for market participants and policymakers in improving monitoring mechanisms and enhancing the information environment in developing capital markets.Originality/valueThis is the first study in the literature that investigates and shows the paradox of the CSR–EQ relationship in the context of Vietnam, a new emerging economy that follows socialist orientation.
A Cross Sectional Study on the Mental Health Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic in a Sample of Nigerian Urban Dwellers

symptoms respectively. Furthermore 37.3% showed signs of psychological distress just as 24.8% manifested symptoms of PTSD. Results further revealed significant associations between psychological distress and gender; PTSD and gender as well as anxiety and gender respectively. Conclusion: Following the high level of mental health impacts of Covid-19 pandemic noticed among the subjects who took part in the study, it was therefore recommended that psychological testing and psychotherapy be included in the routine testing and management of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
What does co-creation mean? An attempt at definition informed by the perspectives of school health promoters in France

Background: Capacity building and community-level participation are important to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of health promotion programmes, as well as to promote empowerment and decision-making power. However, stakeholders’ participation in the design and implementation of health promotion projects often involves the provision of information and consultation rather than partnership or citizen control, especially in school settings. Co-creation could be a means to support higher levels of participation, yet its definition remains unclear. A further challenge relates to the methods needed to promote participation. Examining what co-creation represents for health promoters could help in both of these respects. Objectives and goals: This study explored how school health promotion professionals perceived and defined co-creation to gain insight into how to encourage co-creation processes in school-based health promotion. Methods: Qualitative data including documents and illustrations were collected during creative thinking activities undertaken with school health promotion professionals. All data collected were transcribed and analysed using a three-stage screening process. Results: Co-creation is a multi-dimensional construct. Based on our findings, it is a voluntary-based process of bottom-up collaboration informed by values of diversity, mutual trust, openness, autonomy, freedom, respect and shared expertise, responsibility and decision-making. Co-creation can result in out-of-the-box, new or improved tailored health-promoting practices and projects, which address a co-defined need, for the benefit of all members of the group. Conclusion: Co-creation is timely and key in school health promotion practices. Further research is needed into the specific competences needed to promote co-creation, as well as the methods used to evaluate achievements and added value of co-creation at different levels of implementation.
A review of resting-state fMRI and its use to examine psychiatric disorders

Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) has emerged as an alternative method to study brain function in human and animal models. In humans, it has been widely used to study psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. In this review, rs-fMRI and its advantages over task based fMRI, its currently used analysis methods, and its application in psychiatric disorders using different analysis methods are discussed. Finally, several limitations and challenges of rs-fMRI applications are also discussed.
Two-Year Longevity of Posterior Zirconia Multi-Unit Fixed Dental Prostheses with Monolithic Occlusal Surface

In this prospective clinical trial we observed the 2-year clinical performance of posterior tooth-supported multi-unit fixed dental prostheses (FDP) fabricated from zirconia with monolithic occlusal surfaces. Fifty multi-unit FDPs were inserted in 50 patients. After two years of clinical service, 43 restorations were reexamined as one patient had died and six patients were not available for recall. Two biological (root canal treatment: 12 and 14 months) and one technical (debonding: 12 months) complications occurred. According to the Kaplan–Meier analysis, the success rate was 93.7%, and the survival rate was 100%. The six patients who were not available for regular 2-year follow-up were examined after the official 2-year recall interval, and none of the FDPs presented complications or failures. Within the limitations of the current study, the use of multi-unit FDPs with monolithic occlusal surfaces fabricated from zirconia can be recommended for short-term use in the posterior area.
Energy-Efficient Production Planning Using a Two-Stage Fuzzy Approach

Analyzing energy consumption is an important task for a factory. In order to accomplish this task, most studies fit the relationship between energy consumption and product design features, process characteristics, or equipment types. However, the energy-saving effects of product yield learning are rarely considered. To bridge this gap, this study proposes a two-stage fuzzy approach to estimate the energy savings brought about by yield improvement. In the two-stage fuzzy approach, a fuzzy polynomial programming approach is first utilized to fit the yield-learning process of a product. Then, the relationship between monthly electricity consumption and increase in yield was fit to estimate the energy savings brought about by the improvement in yield. The actual case of a dynamic random-access memory factory was used to illustrate the applicability of the two-stage fuzzy approach. According to the experiment results, product yield learning can greatly reduce electricity consumption.
Recent
 UK
 Central Government Accounting Reforms: Claimed Benefits and Experienced Outcomes

Focusing on the four most recent and highly publicized accounting reforms in UK central government, and utilizing discourse analysis of of ﬁ cial publications, together with semi-structured interviews, this paper examines the basis on which these four reforms were introduced, the extent to which they are considered appropriate, and the reasons for the persistence of new public management (NPM)- inspired accounting reforms in UK central government. The ﬁ ndings indicate that each was promoted in a similar manner despite limited post-implementation evidence that the supposed bene ﬁ ts of preceding reforms had not been realized to the extent originally suggested. Given NPM ’ s continued acceptance, these ﬁ ndings have international signi ﬁ cance.