Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
POLITICAL FREEDOM AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING: A CAUSALITY ANALYSIS

POLITICAL FREEDOM AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING: A CAUSALITY ANALYSIS Hasan Kirmanoğlu Since the seminal work of Lipset (1959), both political scientists and economists have long been puzzled about the link between democracy and economic growth. In Lipset’s view, democracy depends on the level of economic development of a particular society: the more developed a society is economically, the greater will be its chance of sustaining democracy. Inspired by Lipset’s work, Bilson (1982) and Pennar et al. (1993) have similar argumentation on the link between economic development and democratization. In Bilson’s view, economic development enables the dynamic elements of the society to become independent of the government both economically and in terms of social status, thus promotes democracy. Similarly, Pennar et al. argue that economic development generates democracy. The reason is that as population becomes more educated as a result of economic well-being, people begin to demand democracy. Recent studies by Burkhart and Lewis-Back (1994), Londregan and Poole (1996) and Feng (1997) provide empirical support for the thesis that economic development promotes democracy. Some researchers have taken the alternative approach of examining the link from democracy to economic growth. The literature includes both negative and positive views in this regard. To cite a few examples of the negative strain, one can mention Alesina and Rodrik (1994), Persson and Tabellini (1994), Olson (1982), and Nordhaus (1975). Alesina and Rodrik, and Persson and Tabellini argue that democracies may damage economic performance because they give voice to disadvantaged groups. Redistribution demands of these groups may divert resources from productive investment expenditures and thus harm economic growth. Similarly,
THE IMPACT OF MICROFINANCE SCHEME ON POVERTY STATUS OF RURAL FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Poverty is a harsh and undesired phenomenon to mankind especially to farming household in Nigeria, therefore its reduction is of utmost importance. Thus, introducing microfinance programs have been considered as one of the main instruments in poverty alleviation in recent development agenda. In Nigeria, rural banks and microfinance institutions were established in response to the need and the demand to make institutional credit and banking services available to small-scale farmers and rural entrepreneurs. This study examined the impact of microfinance credit acquisition on poverty status of household farmers in south-western Nigeria. Specifically, the study profiled the socio economic characteristics and poverty status of both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the microfinance, determined factors influencing participation in microfinance and assess the impact of microfinance on rural farming households’ poverty level. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 241 respondents from four local government areas of Ogun and Osun states in the south-western part of Nigeria. Primary data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics, FGT model, Logit regression model and propensity score matching. The result reveals that 60.4% and 56.6% of the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries are poor with N15,381.98 (USD 48.831) and N11,961.38 (USD37.97) as mean per capita income respectively. Logit regression result showed that sex and farm size significantly affect participation in the microfinance project. Also, microfinance scheme had a positive impact on the poverty of rural farming households of southwestern Nigeria. At least a beneficiaries’ per capita farming income can be increased by N19,293.41 (USD ) under the microfinance lending scheme. There is a higher spillover effect of the microfinance scheme on the non-beneficiaries group by N30,733.54(USD ) increase in their per capita farming income which means the scheme might improve the poverty status of the non-beneficiaries as well. The study recommends an increase in the microfinance project in other regions of the country.
Child Undernutrition in Pakistan: What Do We Know?

Pakistan has an extraordinarily high and persistent level of child undernutrition. To effectively tackle the problem, the design of public policies and programs needs to be based on evidence. Toward this end, this paper presents a narrative review of the available empirical and qualitative literature on child undernutrition in Pakistan. It summarizes evidence for the country on, among other things, food consumption, spatial variation and trends in undernutrition rates, levels and effects of generally theorized determinants of undernutrition, and effects of various interventions on undernutrition. Based on patterns revealed in and insights gained from the cumulative evidence, the review lays out considerations and suggestions for further data collection and research, and for policy and practice.
A Morphosemantic Account of Verb Extension in C’LELA

This article provides a descriptive account of the morphosemantics of verb extension in C‟lela. It examines the forms, and the semantic functions of the various verbal extensions in the language. The article looks at the simple concatenative and non-concatenative morphological operations that relate to core arguments in verb extension in C‟lela. The study discovers that while most Niger-Congo / Bantu languages use affixation in verb extension processes; C‟lela often employs a non-concatenative system to achieve similar processes. The present analysis contributes to the studies on verb extension in Niger-Congo languages.
Umbilical Cord Blood Acidosis in Term Pregnancies With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Its Relations to Maternal Factors and Neonatal Outcomes

Background: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) gas analysis is recommended in high-risk pregnancies. However, in chronic medical conditions, cord blood acidosis might not indicate acute fetal stress, rather it might be due to fetal adaptation to the chronic stress. Objectives: Evaluating the association between UCB acidosis with maternal factors and adverse neonatal outcomes in term pregnancies with gestational diabetes mellitus. Methods: This prospective cohort evaluated 673 pregnant women who had term pregnancies and were admitted for elective cesarean delivery. A total of 80 women had gestational diabetes. After delivery, a blood sample was obtained from the umbilical artery for arterial blood gas analysis. The neonates were then followed. Results: Term pregnancies with gestational diabetes had significantly higher UCB acidosis rates compared to the healthy controls (26.2% vs. 6%, P < 0.001). In mothers with gestational diabetes, UCB acidosis was independently associated with higher maternal body mass index (P = 0.04) and HbA1C levels (P = 0.01). In the term neonates born to gestational diabetes mothers, after adjustment for gestational age, birth weight and pre-delivery blood glucose, UCB acidosis remained significantly associated with macrosomia (47.6% vs. 23.7%, P = 0.04), neonatal hypoglycemia (76.1% vs. 25.4%, P = 0.002), and moderate-severe jaundice (71.4% vs. 27.1%, p0.01). Conclusions: In our study term, pregnancies with gestational diabetes had a higher rate of UCB acidosis, which was associated with poor maternal glycemic and weight control during the last gestational trimester. UCB acidosis in these pregnancies seems to be independently associated with adverse neonatal outcomes.
Using Supply-Side Policies to Raise Ambition: The Case of the EU ETS and the 2021 Review

Unlike standard supply-side policies, the market stability reserve (MSR) can be used as a potent means of raising climate ambition. We calibrate an emissions trading model to the EU ETS and show that allowing firms to use rolling finite planning horizons can replicate past annual price and banking developments well compared to a standard infinite horizon, including the 2018 price rally. When firms have bounded foresight, indirectly raising ambition through the MSR is not equivalent to directly raising ambition through the emissions cap trajectory. Leveraging the MSR to raise ambition can be efficiency improving as it partially compensates for bounded foresight by frontloading abatement efforts so we analyze its interdependence with the cap trajectory to exploit synergies and minimize regulatory costs. Additionally, we quantitatively assess and compare changes in the MSR parameters for the 2021 review. In any case, MSR-induced resilience to demand shocks remains limited and one-sided by design.
Automated Unit Testing with Randoop, JWalk and µJava versus Manual JUnit Testing

A comparative study was conducted into three Java unit-testing tools that support automatic test-case generation or test-case evaluation: Randoop, JWalk and µJava . These tools are shown to adopt quite different testing meth-ods, based on different testing assumptions. The comparative study illustrates their respective strengths and weaknesses when applied to realistically complex Java software. Different trade-offs were found between the testing effort required, the test coverage offered and the maintainability of the tests. The conclusion evaluates how effective these tools were as alternatives to writing care-fully hand-crafted tests for testing with JUnit .
Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Dimensions and Financial Performance: A Study of Selected Listed Banks, Finance and Insurance Companies in Sri Lanka

In recent years, the level of enthusiasm on the part of academics and managers in issues related with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has developed impressively to the point that CSR is considered a significant element capable of influencing the achievement of a deliberate strategy. The study is expected to find out the relationship between the dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSRD) and future Financial Performance. For the purpose of the study, data is gathered from thirty-three companies and for the selection of sample, purposive sampling method is used. Data in connection to predictors is gathered from 2010 to 2014 and data in connection to outcome variables is collected from 2011 to 2015. In terms of the dimensions of CSR, individually they are not noteworthy with the exception of Educational CSR and Financial Performance; Environmental CSR and ROE; and Employee CSR and ROA, the findings uncover.
Wheat dough fermentation and bread trial results under the effect of quinoa and canahua wholemeal additions

To study the effect of quinoa and canahua wholemeals on wheat flour quality, addition dosages of 10 and 20% wt. were tested. Both non-traditional materials lowered protein baking quality (Zeleny sedimentation), and present dietary fibre increased the Falling number. The fermentograph and maturograph tests showed differences in the optimal fermentation and proofing times, as well as in dough volumes during both tests (which were somewhat higher for the wheat-quinoa flour composites). Besides this, dough volumes in the third stage of fermentation simulated on the oven-rise apparatus decided about baking trial results; in this regard, wheat-canahua flour composites reached statistically better results. All obtained data together with sensory scores pointed to the maximal tolerable quinoa or canahua dosage up to 15% wt.
HOW INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION AFFECTS GROUP FORMATION

Individual recognition is a widely studied phenomenon in animal behavior, with several consequences for the social structure of a species. When we say that an individual recognizes conspecifics, we mean that it is actually capable of discriminating between conspecifics in terms of individual identities, rather than merely discriminating between classes of individuals such as “neighbor” or “mate”. Current investigation paradigms for individual recognition rely on exposing an individual to a conspecific, then assessing its behavior on a subsequent re-exposure. Experiments aiming to explore individual recognition have to be well designed to avoid confusion between class-level and true individual recognition. However, most present studies suffer from design problems and cannot properly differentiate between the two phenomena. We propose using information from the neurobiology of social behavior and simulations to overcome some of the problems with current experimental designs. Social recognition is based on the neurological substrate of memory formation and retrieval, and is specially influenced by the nonapeptides oxytocin and vasopressin and their respective non-mammalian homologues. Information from the distribution of nonapeptide receptors and the effects of nonapeptide infusion on social memory can be used to guide the design of recognition experiments, and comparative approaches can be used to study the evolution of social behavior. Individual-based simulation and game theory serve as a means to propose and test hypothesis about individual recognition, by generating expected patterns of social behavior based on proposed mechanisms of interaction, patterns that can then be compared to those observed in nature in order to test hypotheses and design robust experiments. By using currently available techniques, behavioral biologists can design experiments that are more robust in order to investigate social recognition and its related phenomena.
Effects of Earnings Management to Investor Decision –Empirical Evidence in Vietnam Stock Market

Earnings result reflects business performance and hence earnings quality plays an important role in making investment decision of investors. However, little research has been done regarding the effects of earnings management on investor decision. In this study, we examine the effects of earnings management on investor decision and look for empirical evidences with a sample consisting of 2,980 firm-year observations from 669 companies listed on two main stock exchanges of Vietnam during the five-year period 2013-2017. This study conducts a multivariate linear regression, in which investor decision is the dependent variable and earnings management is one of the regressors. The random effect model, which is the most appropriate model in our study, reveals that the higher level of earnings management of a company, the more likely investors decide to own shares of that company, implying a warning sign for investors. Besides, investors prefer to own shares of companies with high ROE and low financial leverage, while investor’s decision is not significantly affected by type of auditors, revenue growth or asset size of the companies. However, price factor is not examined in this study and could be an extension of future research.
DeepFuzzSL: Generating Simulink Models with Deep Learning to Find Bugs in the Simulink Toolchain

Testing cyber-physical system (CPS) development tools such as MathWorks’ Simulink is very important as they are widely used in design, simulation, and verification of CPS models. Existing randomized differential testing frameworks such as SLforge leverages semi-formal Simulink specifications to guide random model generation. This approach requires significant research and engineering investment along with the need to manually update the tool, whenever MathWorks updates model validity rules. To address the limitations, we propose to learn validity rules automatically by learning a language model using our framework DeepFuzzSL from a existing corpus of Simulink models. In our experiments DeepFuz-zSL consistently generated over 90% valid Simulink models and also found 2 bugs in Simulink version R2017b and R2018b confirmed by MathWorks Support.
A Study among Adults to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Malaria Prevention at Selected Urban Slum Area of Gwalior City India

DOI: 10.21276/sb.2017. 3.9. 7 Abstract: Malaria is a major public health problem. In India, Malaria is the disease is responsible for very high morbidity and mortality. The Government has got the larger responsibility in controlling the Malaria; with the community involvement is necessary, so that the urban slum adults need Health education programme to reduce the incidence of Malaria and for the prevention of Malaria. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of STP on prevention of Malaria. A quasi experimental single group pretest posttest research design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on Malaria prevention at selected urban slum area of Gwalior city. The study was conducted on 50 adults selected by purposive sampling techniques. Tool was developed validity and reliability was calculated, after conducting pretest PTP was introduced and then posttest was done. The findings of the study shows that mean posttest knowledge score (19.54) of the subjects was higher than the mean pretest knowledge score (11.72), hence PTP on malaria prevention for adult was effective. After the detailed analysis of this study shows that PTP for Malaria prevention was very effective and could also are used for other setting and for other community setting.
Towards a creation of an in vitro procedure for testing biocompatibility of materials used in endodontic microsurgery

Introduction In recent days, there have been considerable developments in endodontics, both in terms of modern techniques as well as with regard to instruments and materials which are not only essential elements in successful treatment but also ones helping to decrease the number of patients requiring radical surgical procedures, such as apicoectomy. On the other hand, modern endodontic methods effectively decrease the risk of failed treatment and complications thereby offering a chance to save the patient’s tooth which has not responded to conservative treatment. Proper response of periradicular tissues to used root-end filling and perforation repair materials seems to play an important role in the healing process and leads to a high success rate of treatment. Therefore, it is important to choose the most biocompatible material in order to avoid clinical complications.
An Effective Framework for Speech and Music Segregation

Speech and music segregation from a single channel is a challenging task due to background interference and intermingled signals of voice and music channels. It is of immense importance due to its utility in wide range of applications such as music information retrieval, singer identification, lyrics recognition and alignment. This paper presents an effective method for speech and music segregation. Considering the repeating nature of music, we first detect the local repeating structures in the signal using a locally defined window for each segment. After detecting the repeating structure, we extract them and perform separation using a soft time-frequency mask. We apply an ideal binary mask to enhance the speech and music intelligibility. We evaluated the proposed method on the mixtures set at -5 dB, 0 dB, 5 dB from Multimedia Information Retrieval-1000 clips (MIR-1K) dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method for speech and music segregation outperforms the existing state-of-the-art methods in terms of Global-Normalized-Signal-to-Distortion Ratio (GNSDR) values
REMOTE SENSING FOR ASSESSING COTTON DEFOLIATION, REGROWTH CONTROL AND ROOT ROT

Cotton defoliation and post-harvest destruction are important cultural practices for cotton production. Cotton root rot is a serious and destructive disease that affects cotton yield and lint quality. This paper presents exemplary applications of remote sensing technology for evaluating cotton defoliation and regrowth control methods and for mapping cotton root rot infestations. Ground reflectance spectra and airborne color-infrared (CIR) digital imagery were used in these studies. Ground reflectance spectra effectively separated different levels of defoliation and airborne multispectral imagery permitted both visual and quantitative differentiations among defoliation treatments. Both ground reflectance and airborne imagery were able to differentiate cotton regrowth among different herbicide treatments for cotton stalk destruction. Airborne imagery accurately identified root rot areas within cotton fields. Results from these studies indicate that remote sensing can be a useful tool for evaluating the effectiveness of cotton defoliation and regrowth control strategies and for detecting and mapping root rot infestations in cotton fields. Compared with traditional visual observations and ground measurements, remote sensing techniques have the potential for effective and accurate assessments of various cotton production operations and pest conditions.
What Drives the Reading Order of Programmers? An Eye Tracking Study

Background: The way how programmers comprehend source code depends on several factors, including the source code itself and the programmer. Recent studies showed that novice programmers tend to read source code more like natural language text, whereas experts tend to follow the program execution flow. But, it is unknown how the linearity of source code and the comprehension strategy influence programmers' linearity of reading order. Objective: We replicate two previous studies with the aim of additionally providing empirical evidence on the influencing effects of linearity of source code and programmers' comprehension strategy on linearity of reading order. Methods: To understand the effects of linearity of source code on reading order, we conducted a non-exact replication of studies by Busjahn et al. and Peachock et al., which compared the reading order of novice and expert programmers. Like the original studies, we used an eye-tracker to record the eye movements of participants (12 novice and 19 intermediate programmers). Results: In line with Busjahn et al. (but different from Peachock et al.), we found that experience modulates the reading behavior of participants. However, the linearity of source code has an even stronger effect on reading order than experience, whereas the comprehension strategy has a minor effect. Implications: Our results demonstrate that studies on the reading behavior of programmers must carefully select source code snippets to control the influence of confounding factors. Furthermore, we identify a need for further studies on how programmers should structure source code to align it with their natural reading behavior to ease program comprehension.
Anxiety and Adjustment among Undergraduate and Postgraduate students

Adjustment, in psychology the behavioural process by which humans and other animals maintain an equilibrium among their various needs or between their needs and obstacles of their environments. Anxiety is defined as a conserved caused by an anticipated problem and usually refers to a danger in the future. The objective of the study was to examine the relationship of anxiety with adjustment in Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. The sample selected for the study was 94, comprising of both UG and PG students. Purposive sampling was adapted. Sinha‟s ComprehensiveAnxiety test and Bell‟s Adjustment Inventory were used for data collection. The collected data was analysed through Pearson Correlation and Mean Difference analysis. The study reveals that there is correlation between anxiety and adjustment in both UG and PG students. There is no significant difference between UG and PG students in terms of anxiety and adjustment. Keyword: Undergraduate (UG), Postgraduate (PG), Anxiety, Adjustment --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 04-10-2019 Date of Acceptance: 21-10-2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------