Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors influencing high socio-economic class mothers’ decision regarding formula-feeding practices in the Cape Metropole

Abstract The aims of the study were to identify the reasons why high socio-economic class women in the Cape Metropole decide not to breast-feed; to evaluate whether the type and volume of infant formula selected by the mother was appropriate for her infant’s current age and to identify the factors that influence the decision-making process when deciding which infant formula to feed her infant. An observational descriptive study with consecutive sampling was utilised. Data of 55 mothers with infants aged 0 to 6 months that were not currently breast-fed was captured in day care centres and private clinics situated in the Cape Metropole. Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire available in Afrikaans and English. The majority of mothers (80%) decided only after the birth of their infant to rather opt for formula feeding. Evident factors that were identified as barriers to breast-feeding include a lack of knowledge and experience (38%) as well as a lack of facilities at public places (75%) and at work (71%) to breast-feed. Perceived benefits of infant formula included that the father could help with the workload (67%) and does not feel left out (38%), the mother knows what volume of milk is received (84%) and the convenience if the mother is working (64%). The mothers were overall not concerned about possible side-effects of breast-feeding and did not feel that their breasts were physically not of optimal physiology to breast-feed. One of the greatest challenges to support, protect and promote breast-feeding is to ensure that information sources give scientifically correct information to the uninformed or information-seeking mother in a standardised and positive manner.
Trends and determinants of social and environmental information disclosure in Lithuanian companies: a literature review

The paper presents the findings of a literature review of the empirical studies on the social and environmental information (SEI) disclosure that were carried out in Lithuanian companies in 2000–2015 with the aim to identify determinants of the phenomenon and trends of its development. Having reviewed 14 papers included in the national database of scientific journals, Lituanistika, the authors identify both qualitative and quantitative studies which present the results of content analysis of SEI or corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. Content-wise they tend to explore the relationship between SEI disclosure and company profile such as industry sector, company size, financial leverage, profitability, and pollution. The findings are of a mixed character except for the industry sector, which is an unambiguous determinant of SEI disclosure in Lithuanian companies. Disclosed information by Lithuanian companies is less numerous and includes fewer stakeholders (i.e. employees, society and environment) compared to the reports of multinational companies or enterprises operating in advanced economies. As Lithuania is a post-Soviet society with a long tradition of presenting a better reality in reports, the contents of SEI could be analysed through the integrity perspective which would inevitably draw researchers’ attention not only to the text in annual or CSR reports, company websites or press releases, but also to the practices as perceived by the companies’ stakeholders.
Selectivity, spatial autocorrelation and the valuation of transit accessibility

Capturing the increase in land value attributable to transit accessibility has become an increasingly examined alternative to fund the transit system, one which demands reliable estimates of the impact of transport improvement on property values. In the context of value capture, this study presents a new method to value transit accessibility. We integrate the Heckman selection model and spatial econometric techniques to account for two issues that are often overlooked in the conventional hedonic price analysis: sample selection and spatial autocorrelation. The modelling framework is applied to the city of Boston to assess the impact of the subway system on single-family property values and gauge the potential for value capture. We find that failing to correct for sample selection and spatial autocorrelation results in significant bias in valuing transit accessibility. This bias might distort estimates of the value-added effect of transit infrastructure investment and misguide policy design for value-capture programmes.
Aerosol Effects on Instability, Circulations, Clouds, and Precipitation

It is well known that increasing aerosol and associated changes in aerosol-cloud interactions and precipitation since industrialization have been playing an important role in climate change, but this role has not been well understood. This prevents us from predicting future climate with a good confidence. This review paper presents recent studies on the changes in the aerosol-cloud interactions and precipitation particularly in deep convective clouds. In addition, this review paper discusses how to improve our understanding of these changes by considering feedbacks among aerosol, cloud dynamics, cloud and its embedded circulations, and microphysics. Environmental instability basically determines the dynamic intensity of clouds and thus acts as one of the most important controls on these feedbacks. As a first step to the improvement of the understanding, this paper specifically elaborates on how to link the instability to the feedbacks.
An Enhanced Situational Awareness of AUV's Mission by Multirate Neural Control

This paper focuses on a critical component of the situational awareness (SA), the neural control of depth flight of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Constant depth flight is a challenging but important task for AUVs to achieve high level of autonomy under adverse conditions. With the SA strategy, we proposed a multirate neural control of an AUV trajectory using neural network model reference controller for a nontrivial mid-small demonstrated and evaluated by simulation of diving maneuvers using software package Simulink. From the simulation results it can be seen that the chosen AUV model is stable in the presence of high noise, and also can be concluded that the fast SA of similar AUV systems with economy in energy of batteries can be asserted during the underwater missions in search-and-rescue operations.
Temperature, Heat Flux, and Reflectance of Common Subarctic Mosses and Lichens under Field Conditions: Might Changes to Community Composition Impact Climate-Relevant Surface Fluxes?

Abstract Bryophytes and lichens are ubiquitous in subarctic ecosystems, but their roles in controlling energy fluxes are rarely studied at the species level despite large, recent observed shifts in subarctic vegetation. We quantified the surface and subsurface temperatures and spectral reflectance of common moss and lichen species at field sites in Alaska and Sweden. We also used MODIS observations to determine if the removal of Cladonia spp. by reindeer overgrazing impacts land surface albedo and temperature. Radiometric surface temperature of a feather moss (Pleurozium schreberi) exceeded 50 °C on occasion when dry, up to 20 °C higher than co-located Sphagnum fuscum or C. rangiferina. Spectral reflectance of S. fuscum was on average higher than Polytrichum piliferum across the 350–1400 nm range, with substantial within-species variability. MODIS albedo was significantly higher on the Norwegian (relatively undisturbed) side versus the Finnish (disturbed) side of a border reindeer fence by an average of 1% during periods without snow cover. MODIS nighttime land surface temperatures were often significantly higher on the Norwegian side of the fence by an average of 0.7 °C despite higher albedo, likely due to poor conductance of heat to the subsurface as observed in C. rangiferina in the field. Changes to bryophyte and lichen community composition alter the surface energy balance, and future work must determine how to best incorporate these effects into Earth system models.
What Drives the Development of the Insurance Sector? An Empirical Analysis Based on a Panel of Developed and Developing Countries

The insurance sector can play a critical role in financial and economic development. By reducing uncertainty and the impact of large losses, the sector can encourage new investments, innovation, and competition. As financial intermediaries with long investment horizons, insurance companies can contribute to the provision of long-term instruments to finance corporate investment and housing. There is evidence of a causal relationship between insurance sector development and economic growth. However, there have been few studies examining the factors that drive the development of the insurance industry. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the determinants of insurance premiums (both life and non-life premiums) and total assets for a panel of about 90 countries during the period 2000-08. The results show that life sector premiums are driven by per capita income, population size and density, demographic structures, income distribution, the size of the public pension system, state ownership of insurance companies, the availability of private credit, and religion. The non-life sector is affected by these and other variables. While some of these drivers are structural, the results also show that the development of the insurance sector can be influenced by a number of policy variables.
Nucleosome-like Structure from Dendrimer-Induced DNA Compaction

Genomic DNA in eukaryotes wraps around histone proteins to package into the limited space of cell nucleus. Since the precise structure of chromatin is not known in detail, attempts have been made to understand DNA–histone interaction and the associated self-organization behavior using synthetic model systems. Using small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering, here we show that the electrostatic attraction between DNA and polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer of generation nine (G9) led to the formation of beads-on-string structure, where DNA wrapped around the dendrimer tightly to yield the “chromatin-like fiber” composing of the interconnected “nucleosome-like particles”. A “stiff chromatin-like fiber model” and a “wormlike chromatin-like fiber model” were introduced to obtain the theoretical scattering patterns closely resembling the experimentally observed ones, from which the pitch length (P) of the DNA superhelix wrapping around the dendrimer and the interparticle distance (d) of the nucleosome-like particle.
Hedging the Earth’s future with transitory fiscal gain

The human race has exerted inordinate pressures on the Earth’s natural resources since the onset of industrialization. Unfortunately Africa has been the last to join this industrialization race as much of the continent remains rural and largely underdeveloped. As with everywhere else around the world, essential development in Africa is heavily dependent on availability of oil for energy. However, utilization of the resource as an energy source has been heavily contested as while the oil industry is the backbone of many economies, oil extraction has proved to be detrimental to the environment and society. The study explored models that countries have adopted in order to inhibit the utilization of oil as an energy source and to encourage the efficient development of renewable energy sources. Countries such as Malaysia have reduced oil subsidies while the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is planning on introducing Carbon Emission Tax in 2016. Additionally, the study sought to examine the disparity of the effects that a drop in oil price made to stakeholders with varying degrees of purchasing power (i.e., low income individuals to large organizations). The study also analyzed the varying degrees of purchasing power that the oil price reduction gave to end users. Historical data, during the bull and bear oil markets, was used to analyze the effect that oil price fluctuations had on corporate social responsibility initiatives. Oil companies have multifarious corporate social responsibility initiatives that are designed to promote social and environmental sustainability, additional to rehabilitation. Conclusions were drawn against observations that the fall in oil prices from June 2014 had varying effects on the economies of oilexporting and oil-importing countries and other stakeholders. These effects ranged from lowering of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of OPEC countries like Nigeria and a concomitant increase in fiscal space for oil importing countries. The paper also critiqued on the profits gained from extracting and selling oil, where these did not sufficiently justify the exploitation of the environment at a time when alternative viable renewable energy sources that will facilitate the preservation of natural resources for future generations.
Understanding the pollen and ovule characters and fruit set of fruit crops in relation to temperature and genotype – a review

Plant reproduction is indispensable for maintaining crop productivity and species sustainability which basically involves pollen and ovule. Productivity is influenced by temperature stress in various fruit crops worldwide and important factor for unfruitfulness is failure in fertilization. Understanding of the plant reproductive characters in relation to genotype differentiated response across different temperatures will help to develop strategies in overcoming temperature stress. Available literature suggests that variation in pollen viability, germination and tube growth and ovule normality exists among different fruit species, cultivars and flower types (even in the same plant as in litchi) and are strongly influenced by temperature stress and suitable temperature for proper pollen and ovule performance has been identified for various fruit crops. Possible reasons to explain the mechanism for impairment of proper functioning of pollens and ovule are discussed. Further, low and erratic fruit set, improper fruit development and stenocarpic fruits as a result of temperature stress leads to reduced yield. We suggest considering in vitro performance for establishing in vivo nutritional requirements and standardizing critical leaf nutrients by way of correlating with pollen germination, tube growth and ovule normality per cent. Male and female parents can be identified for breeding purpose and region specific adoption based on temperature prevalence in the area.
Latest Transformations in Scrum: A State of the Art Review

— Owing to a big deal of benefits that Agile process models offer to the software industry, they have been the center of attention for a couple of decades for researchers. Scrum has emerged as one of the most prevalent contemporary Agile approaches. It's adaptive and versatile nature makes it appropriate for adoption. Experts have been experimenting and tweaking the practices for last many years to enrich the Scrum. This paper is intended to provide the latest insightful understanding of how the Agile Scrum tailored and adapted in different areas for software process improvement that in turn lead to increased productivity and product quality. A research strategy has been designed to extract the literature since 2016, based on pragmatic transformations of Scrum, subsequently gaining the in-depth perception that is presented in the paper as a comprehensive review and the outcomes are discussed. This work will contribute a state-of-the-art objective summary from which advance research activities can be planned and carried out.
From duality to determinants for q-TASEP and ASEP

We prove duality relations for two interacting particle systems: the $q$-deformed totally asymmetric simple exclusion process ($q$-TASEP) and the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP). Expectations of the duality functionals correspond to certain joint moments of particle locations or integrated currents, respectively. Duality implies that they solve systems of ODEs. These systems are integrable and for particular step and half-stationary initial data we use a nested contour integral ansatz to provide explicit formulas for the systems' solutions, and hence also the moments. We form Laplace transform-like generating functions of these moments and via residue calculus we compute two different types of Fredholm determinant formulas for such generating functions. For ASEP, the first type of formula is new and readily lends itself to asymptotic analysis (as necessary to reprove GUE Tracy--Widom distribution fluctuations for ASEP), while the second type of formula is recognizable as closely related to Tracy and Widom's ASEP formula [Comm. Math. Phys. 279 (2008) 815--844, J. Stat. Phys. 132 (2008) 291--300, Comm. Math. Phys. 290 (2009) 129--154, J. Stat. Phys. 140 (2010) 619--634]. For $q$-TASEP, both formulas coincide with those computed via Borodin and Corwin's Macdonald processes [Probab. Theory Related Fields (2014) 158 225--400]. Both $q$-TASEP and ASEP have limit transitions to the free energy of the continuum directed polymer, the logarithm of the solution of the stochastic heat equation or the Hopf--Cole solution to the Kardar--Parisi--Zhang equation. Thus, $q$-TASEP and ASEP are integrable discretizations of these continuum objects; the systems of ODEs associated to their dualities are deformed discrete quantum delta Bose gases; and the procedure through which we pass from expectations of their duality functionals to characterizing generating functions is a rigorous version of the replica trick in physics.
Evaluation of Plasma Protein Oxidation Biomarkers in type 2 Diabetic Patients with Retinopathy

iabetes is a chronic disease and a major medical problem throughout the world. The frequency of type 2 diabetic patients is expected to be 333 million over the next 20 years (1,2). Diabetic retinopathy is one of the main diabetic complications. It causes visual impairment and finally blindness which is result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina (3). The incidence of retinopathy is rarely detected in the first few years of diabetes but the incidence increases to 50% by 10 years, and to 90% by 25 years of diabetes. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy is increasing due to prolonged survival of diabetic patients (4). Diabetes is associated with increased modification of proteins. In addition to the formation and accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), a family of D 1. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Octave bias in an absolute pitch identification task

Octave errors are common within musicians, even among absolute pitch possessors. Overall, evidence shows pitch class and octave to be perceived in a different way, even if they are highly connected. We investigated whether pitch class perception, in an absolute pitch identification task, can be influenced by the octave context, examined among two consecutive octaves. Participants, all musicians with formal musical education, showed different response patterns in the two octaves even if the octave context was explicitly told to be task irrelevant. The direction of errors revealed a consistent tendency to underestimate pitch height in the lowest octave and to overestimate pitch height in the highest octave. Thus, pitch class identification showed to be biased by the octave context. These results are discussed in terms of polarity and pitch enhancement.
The Territorialisation of Interest Representation in Scotland: Did Devolution Produce a New Form of Group-Government Relations?

Abstract The Scottish Government represents an important new ‘venue’ for group influence and provides a strong incentive for interest groups to engage. A large number have exploited this new opportunity. The devolution of powers to a Scottish Parliament in 1999 followed a century of administrative devolution in areas such as health, education, local government and justice. Many Scottish groups have long histories, and there is evidence of distinct territorial policy communities before 1999 in some areas—but devolution provided a new frame of reference for policy-making and a strong impetus to organise at this level. Factors such as Scotland's size, and the Scottish Government's limited policy-making capacity, have produced a ‘Scottish Policy Style’, in which groups and government interact in distinctive ways. However, this development is complicated by the multi-level nature of policy-making, producing the need for many groups to organise and lobby at local, Scottish, UK and/or EU levels. The devolution of economic policy, and the prospect of territorial corporatism, is limited. The picture varies markedly from issue to issue, from areas such as compulsory education producing Scotland and local-level relationships to agriculture and environmental policy in which key decisions are made by the EU for the UK and Scotland to implement.
BRAIN - COMPUTER INTERFACE FOR COMMUNICATION AND ESTIMATION OF HUMAN EMOTION FROM EEG AND VIDEO

The brain-computer interface (BCI) aim to use Electroencephalography (EEG) or other measures of brain functions can be implemented for communication with smart devices for disabled persons. For connection with different smart devices was used recorded with experimental setup electrophysiological signals for execution of five different mental tasks. The recorded brain signals were processed for their transformation into commands to different devices. This signal processing aims to extract some specific features of brain signals and transform them into algorithms for connection with smart devices. Processed signals after noise filtering, clustering and classification with Bayesian Network classifier and pair-wise classifier was estimated and put into brain-computer interface for connection with smart devices. Recent advances in emotion recognition use a combination of two intrapersonal modalities - face and EEG to estimate emotion. In this research is made an attempt to combine received results on the base of record electrophysiological signals at execution of five different mental tasks with estimation of human emotion. This will help to provide a framework for reliable EEG emotional state estimation combined with facial emotion analysis in developed task-oriented BCI.
Particle Swarm Optimization Approach for Optimal Design of Switched Reluctance Machine

Problem statement: Switched Reluctance Motors (SRMs) are widely used in various applications due to their inherent simplicity and rugged construction In SRM, torque output and torque ripple are sensitive to stator and rotor pole arcs and their selection is a vital part of SRM design process. In this study Particle Swarm Optimization technique is proposed for determining optimum pole arc of SRM. Approach: The problem of determining optimum pole arc is formulated as a multiobjective optimization problem with the objective of maximizing average torque and minimizing torque ripple. A comprehensive program based on analytical model is developed in Matlab to compute the value of inductance and average torque. Results: The optimization procedure is tested on 8/6, four-phase, 5 HP, 1500 rpm SRM. The results are compared and investigated with those obtained from Genetic Algorithm (GA) technique and Finite Element Analysis(FEA) simulation. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective and outperforms GA in terms of solution quality, accuracy, constraint handling.