Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing organizational attributes contributing to marketing excellence in American professional sport franchises

While an abundance of research exists on the topic of professional sport marketing, little, if any, has been directed toward identifying predictors of franchise marketing success or, perhaps more importantly, measuring excellence within this organizational unit. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of this investigation was to identify key indicators for success or excellence as defined by Peters and Waterman within marketing divisions of American professional sport franchises. The results have enabled the authors to develop a paradigm with which to assess strengths and weaknesses of various dimensions within a professional sport franchise’s marketing operations. These findings have profound implications for team management as not all franchises are fortunate enough to produce winning team records and thus are challenged to explore other options for achieving marketing excellence.
Aerodynamic characteristics of multiple flapping wing configurations

Natural flyers and man-made MAVs generally use multiple flapping wing configurations. To understand the aerodynamic performance, three different flapping configurations: single wing, tandem wings, and biplane wings are numerically simulated by a URANS solver coupled with an overset grid method. Moreover, effect of kinematics including oscillating frequency, angle of attack and wing to tail distance are detailed investigated. Results show that the wing-tail interaction significantly benefits the thrust generation when the wings are tandem arranged. Additionally, the tandem arrangement is the most efficiency configuration when applied with high frequencies. Biplane wings model has the most inefficiency propulsive performance, nevertheless it can provide an extensive aerodynamic force. With the increasing AOA, biplane has the largest critical angle from thrust to drag. Wing-tail interaction becomes weaker when the tail is mounted further from the flapping wings. The present of the tail in tandem model bring more benefits compared with the tail in biplane model. The tail in biplane model is only functional for flight control when applied with a non-zero angle of attack.
Smallholder Farmer Innovation and Contexts in Maize-Based Conservation Agriculture Systems in Central Malawi

The increased threat of food insecurity and climate change requires more sustainable ways of agriculture intensification in African smallholder farming systems. Ample evidence confirms that maize-based conservation agriculture (CA) systems lead to increased soil health and yield enhancement yet their overall uptake remains low in Africa. An array of studies on challenges and solutions to CA systems conducted in southern Africa principally focussed on the views of scientists, often neglecting the views of CA farmers. Therefore, this study assessed farmer decision making, innovation and contexts during implementation of maize-based CA systems in communities of central Malawi. A survey involving interviews with 226 CA farmers was deployed, triangulated with key informants comprising extension workers and policy makers. The study showed that about 58% of smallholder farmers did not adapt CA practices to their circumstances because they were strictly following change agents‟ recommendations. The major challenge noted was competition for crop residues due to mice hunters and grazing livestock. Local by-laws initiated by the communities have started to privatise the crop residues and its grazing. However, other innovations were often not documented by extension workers, consequently neglecting more than half of the potential solutions provided by farmers. The establishments of a National Conservation Agriculture Task Force and CA guidelines are positive developments for coordination of stakeholders and harmonisation of CA messages in Malawi. However, for greater adoption, non-linear interaction and learning must be encouraged in practice by fully embracing innovative farmers and the voices of the pool of stakeholders with varying experiences.
Modeling a Small-Scale Helicopter for Simulation and Control Development

The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has recently expanded its unmanned and autonomous systems research to include aerial vehicles. In the summer of 2004, members of the Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Team at Virginia Tech successfully competed in the Student UAV competition and the International Aerial Robotics Competition. The AAVT entered a fixed-wing vehicle in the former and a rotary-wing craft in the latter competition. Commercial flight controllers were used in both competitions in order to familiarize team members with this technology. The next step in research at VT focuses on developing an experimental rotorcraft platform to be used for control algorithm testing and development. Before the development of a flight control system is possible, a physical plant or model accurately describing the dynamics of the system is required. Use of the model in a virtual simulation environment is also beneficial to tune control gains and analyze robustness of the closed-loop system. The work presented focuses on developing a 6 degree-of-freedom model of a small-scale single shaft rotorcraft. The particular platform being developed is the Bergen Industrial Twin. In addition to dynamical concerns, attention is paid to performance characteristics of the aircraft. The nonlinear system of equations is solved which can be utilized in a simulated environment. Linear models are extracted and their control and stability characteristics are analyzed. Finally, the methodology is explained for obtaining models through system identification techniques using the CIFER facility.
Synchroneity of meltwater pulse 1a and the Bolling warming:New evidence from the South China Sea

A twofold decrease in long-chain n -alcane ( n -nonacosane) concentrations in a downcore record from the northern South China Sea indicates a rapid drop in the supply of terrigenous organic matter to the open South China Sea during the last deglaciation, paralleled by an equally rapid increase in sea-surface temperatures, corresponding with the Bolling warming at 14.7 ka. The sudden drop in terrigenous organic matter delivery to this marginal basin is interpreted to reflect a short-term response of local rivers to rapid sea-level rise, strongly implying that the Bolling warming and the onset of meltwater pulse (MWP) 1a are synchronous. This phase relation contrasts with the widely cited onset of this MWP 1a ca. 14 ka, and implies that previous studies postulating a weakening of deep-water formation in the North Atlantic due to massive meltwater discharge during MWP 1a need to be reevaluated.
DIVERSITY OF SPIDERS (ARANEAE) IN A SAVANNA RESERVE, NORTHERN PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract In this study our objectives were to describe the diversity and characteristics of spider families occurring in a range of habitat types within a typical savanna ecosystem, to assess the influence of habitat type and seasonality on spider diversity and to determine levels of similarity between habitat types based on species composition. The study was conducted at Makalali Private Game Reserve, Northern Province, South Africa. Five different habitat types were sampled using four trapping techniques (sweeping, beating, active searching and pitfalls). A total of 4832 individuals including 268 species from 38 families were sampled during the study. Families showed varying degrees of habitat fidelity with some being widespread and abundant while others were restricted to a single site and were locally rare. Sites with similar habitat types showed a similarity in spider family composition. All sites have unique species compositions and overall diversity, evenness and richness of spiders do not differ with habitat type. However, analyses of functional groups, e.g., web builders and plant wanderers, showed the positive influence of structural complexity of the habitat. The presence of unique species in all habitats highlights the importance of conserving as wide array of representative habitats within ecosystems. The appearance of strong seasonal patterns in species composition also has important implications for the development of protocols for sampling species diversity. The savanna has a surprising diversity of spiders when compared to other biomes surveyed in South Africa. Factors influencing this diversity beyond the broader habitat variables measured in this study need to be investigated.
Patterns of variability in supercritical hadronic systems

A unique and often overlooked property of a source loaded with relativistic protons is that it can become supercritical, i.e. it can undergo an abrupt transition from a radiatively inefficient to a radiatively efficient state once its proton energy density exceeds a certain threshold. In this paper, we investigate the temporal variability of hadronic systems in this hardly explored regime. We show that there exists a range of proton densities that prevent the system from reaching a steady state, but drive it instead in a quasi-periodic mode. The escaping radiation then exhibits limit cycles, even if all physical parameters are held constant in time. We extend our analysis to cases where the proton injection rate varies with time and explore the variability patterns of escaping radiation as the system moves in and out from the supercritical regime. We examine the relevance of our results to the variability of the prompt gamma-ray burst emission and show that, at least on a phenomenological level, some interesting analogies exist.
On the Frontlines of Scaling-Up: A Qualitative Analysis of Implementation Challenges in a CDD Project in Rural India

This paper analyzes four years of qualitative data observing a large participatory anti-poverty project in India as it scales up from its first phase (covering 400,000 households) to its second (covering 800,000 households). Focusing on the frontlines of change -- at the village level, the analysis finds that the key difference between implementation in the two phases of the project was that facilitators in the first phase deployed a discourse that was carefully"co-produced"with its beneficiaries. Through careful groundwork and creative improvisation, facilitators incorporated the interests of multiple stakeholders on the ground while bringing beneficiaries into the project. However, as the project scaled up, participants were mobilized quickly with a homogenous and fixed script that lacked the kind of improvisation that characterized the first phase, and which failed to include diverse stakeholder interests, objectives, and voices. These differences significantly reduced the intensity of participation and its concomitant social impacts. The study finds that the work of facilitators was embedded in a larger shift in organizational priorities within the project, which in turn was responding to a shift in the political climate.
An Analysis of Employee Exposure to Organic Dust at Large-Scale Composting Facilities.

The occupational health implications from exposure to dust, endotoxin and 1-3 β Glucan at commercial composting sites are uncertain. This study aims to establish employee exposure levels to inhalable and respirable dust, endotoxin and 1-3 β Glucan during various operational practices in the composting process. Personal samples were collected and the inhalable and respirable dust fractions were determined by gravimetric analysis. Endotoxin concentrations were determined using a Limulus Amebocyte Lysate assay (LAL). 1-3 β Glucan levels were estimated using a specific blocking agent to establish the contribution that these compounds gave to the original endotoxin assay. Employees' exposure to dust was found to be generally lower than the levels stipulated in the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 2002 (as amended), (median inhalable fraction 1.08 mg/m3, min 0.25 mg/m3 max 10.80 mg/m3, median respirable fraction 0.05 mg/m3, min 0.02 mg/m3, max 1.49 mg/m3). Determination of the biological component of the dust showed that employees' exposures to endotoxin were elevated (median 31.5 EU/m3, min 2.00 EU/m3, max 1741.78 EU/m3), particularly when waste was agitated (median 175.0 EU/m3, min 2.03 EU/m3, max 1741.78 EU/m3). Eight out of 32 (25%) of the personal exposure data for endotoxin exceeded the 200 EU/m3 temporary legal limit adopted in the Netherlands and thirteen out of 32 (40.6%) exceeded the suggested 50 EU/m3 guidance level suggested to protect workers from respiratory health effects. A significant correlation was observed between employee inhalable dust exposure and personal endotoxin concentration (r = 0.728, p<0.05) and also personal endotoxin exposure and 1-3 β Glucan concentration (r = 0.817, p<0.05). Further work is needed to explore the possibility of using inhalable dust concentration as a predictor for personal endotoxin exposure. The general dust levels stipulated in the COSHH Regulations 2002 (as amended) are inadequate for managing the potential health risks associated with endotoxin exposure at composting sites. Employee exposure levels and dose-response disease mechanisms are not well understood at this present time. Consequently, in light of this uncertainty, it is recommended that a precautionary approach be adopted in managing the potential health risks associated with inhalation of organic dusts at composting sites.
Regions are not countries: a new approach to the border effect

We use a version of the Melitz (2003) model to calibrate the magnitude and impact of the border effect, the well-known empirical regularity that trade is much lower across a national border than would otherwise be expected. We calibrate total bilateral trade frictions as a parameter and show that frictions between nation states are systematically higher than those between sub-national states or regions. Using plausible counterfactual analysis, we assess the costs of independence for Scotland, Catalonia, & the Basque Country: the intellectual experiment that is performed is to suppose that the region on independence takes on the calibrated frictions of a counterfactual independent country. If the main change that comes with the independence of regions of larger countries is that their border with their former union partner comes to resemble a normal country border, then the trade costs of the break-up of countries into smaller states (even within the EU) are significant. The border effects associated with membership of the European Union or otherwise, are much lower than the border effect differences between countries and regions. As an illustration of this we produce a potential quantification of the trade costs of a British exit from the EU. Conversely, the potential gains from the European Union achieving the sort of integration seen within a nation state, a United States of Europe, are very large.
DEMOCRACY IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

1. Democracy in Theory and Practice Stephen Elstub, University of the West of Scotland 2. Complex Legitimacy in Compound Polities: The EU as Example Veit Bader, University of Amsterdam 3. Democratic Theory and Practice in Deeply Divided Societies Ian O'Flynn, Newcastle University 4. A Tension Between Ideal and Practice: Re-evaluation of Micro and Macro Models of Deliberation Zsuzsanna Chappell, London School of Economics 5. Linking Micro Deliberative Democracy and Decision-Making: Trade-Offs Between Theory and Practice in a Partisan Citizen Forum Stephen Elstub, University of the West of Scotland 6. Citizen Participation in East Manchester: From Practice to Theory Georgina Blakely and Brendan Evans, Open University 7. Making Democracy Spectacular Nick Mahony, Open University
Vokiečių kalbos, kaip užsienio kalbos, mokytojų rengimo Vokietijoje veiklos tyrimas

The study examined the role of action research in promoting critical reflective thinking among five pre-service teachers engaged in an integrated teaching practice in German as a foreign teacher education programs in Germany. Data from interviews, pedagogical diaries, self-observation notes, audio and video recordings, opinion exchange meetings, evaluation surveys revealed that conducting action research (a) engaged the participants in inquiry into their own practice, (b) was a means to reflect upon and determine ways to change their teaching practices, and (c) promoted critical reflection in a collaborative learning environment. Results underscore the importance of pre-service teachers critically reflecting to gain insights into teaching and student learning as they are engaged in action research. Keywords: action research; reflective practice; teacher education; pre-service teachers
The Effect of Organizational Climate on Transfer of Training

One of the main factors to ensure improved organizational performance is training. When training is conducted, trainees are equipped with new knowledge and skills with the expectation that the new learnt skills will be transferred to the organization. The climate in which transfer occurs is therefore very critical to ensuring that transfer is possible. The main objective of this research was to identify how organizational climate can affect transfer of training. The sample was taken from participants from a savings and loans organization in Ghana. The problem area identified was the low levels of transfer after training due to poor organizational climate. The study was conducted on 189 participants across the nation. The instrument for collecting data was a questionnaire. Result of the research showed that there was the elements of organizational climate had an effect on transfer of training leading to the acceptance of the hypothesis that organizational climate has an effect on transfer of training. Keywords : Training transfer, Organizational Climate
Mitigating Shareholder Taxation in Small Open Economies?

This article reconsiders the role of dividend taxation and its effect on the cost of capital of small firms. Using a simple portfolio model for small open economies, we show that a decrease in dividend taxes on large companies unambiguously increases the required rate of return for small companies. A dividend tax cut for both, large and small companies may however lead to the counter-intuitive result of increasing cost of capital for small firms. For different small open economies, we further provide statistics on the correlation between the return of large and small firms that drives the counter-intuitive result. Our results suggest that mitigating payout taxes in small open economies can have ambiguous effects on the cost of capital of small, domestically owned firms. This is particularly relevant when tax reforms are designed to stimulate investments by small firms scarce in internal funds.
GREEN SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANO PARTICLES BY USING CAPPARIS DECIDUA EXTRACT AND ITS ANTIBACTERIAL STUDIES.

Nanotechnology has gained momentum and has emerged as a new interdisciplinary science. Over the past few decades, nanoparticl es of noble metals such as silver have attracted increasing attention for its wide range of applications in various fields of industry. The present work describes the synthesis of silver nanoparticles by biological reduction method. Capparis decidua belonging to the family Capparidaceae, is well known for its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial, antiplaque, antihypertensive, antihelmenthic, purgative and hypercholesterolemic activities. The plant also possesses antioxidant activity due to presence of phenolic content in its eth anolic extract. These ethanolic extracts of stem of Capparis decidua have been used as a reducing agent for the synthesis of nanoparticles from aqueous solution of silver nitrate. The formation of silver nanoparticles was characterized using ultra violet-visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The surface plasmon resonance of the synthesized silver nanoparticles was found to be 420 nano -metres. Result of transmission electron microscopy yielded mostly spherical nanoparticles with a diameter of ~5-10 nano-metres. Further, the synthesized silver nano particles was investigated for its antibacterial activity against two Gram Positive species (S.aureus, S.pneumoniae) and two Gram Negative species (E.coli, K.pneumoniae) and it showed potential activity against all the bacterial strains. The antibacterial study thus proves the application of these green synthesized silver nano particles in the area of nano-medicine.
Adeguamento sismico del Liceo Varano di Camerino mediante sistema a Torri Dissipative

Il lavoro riguarda l’adeguamento sismico di una struttura scolastica esistente mediante l’applicazione del sistema innovativo di protezione sismica a Torri Dissipative. L’edificio, situato nel centro della citta di Camerino (MC), e stato realizzato negli anni ‘60 e da allora ospita il Liceo Classico e Scientifico “Varano”. Il fabbricato e composto da due corpi di fabbrica staticamente indipendenti; entrambi sono realizzati con struttura in c.a. caratterizzata da telai con travi emergenti e pilastri di forma romboidale ovvero ruotati di 45° rispetto alla direzione dei telai. Vista la particolare geometria degli elementi strutturali, i telai di entrambi i corpi sono classificabili come “shear type”, ossia telai con travi estremamente piu rigide dei pilastri il che comporta una maggior vulnerabilita di questi ultimi per effetto delle azioni sismiche. Il progetto prevede la solidarizzazione degli impalcati di piano dei due corpi di fabbrica e la realizzazione di n. 2 torri sismo-resistenti dissipative (Figura 1). I lavori di adeguamento sismico del Liceo sono stati completati in tempi brevi, circa 7 mesi, e senza interrompere le attivita scolastiche. L’efficacia dell’intervento e garantita dalla notevole dissipazione di energia fornita dalle nuove torri dissipative a cui consegue una sensibile riduzione della domanda negli elementi strutturali. Le analisi svolte sono di tipo dinamico non lineare (time history), inoltre viene operato un confronto dei risultati ottenuti con un’analisi modale che impiega uno spettro di risposta che tiene conto dello smorzamento apportato dal sistema a torri dissipative. Nell'articolo vengono descritti il sistema di protezione sismica brevettato e il progetto di adeguamento del Liceo, inoltre vengono riportati le verifiche e i particolari costruttivi piu significativi.
Characterization of Rajata Bhasma (traditional calcined silver preparation)

Introduction: Rajata Bhasma (RB), a calcined preparation of silver, is widely used in various herbo-mineral compounds and ample used as a single drug with different Anupanas (adjuvant) in several diseases. It is potentially used in numerous herbo-mineral formulations such as Kasturi bhairav Rasa, Grahani kapata Rasa, Jayamangala Rasa, and Trilokya chintamani Rasa. Objectives: Several works emphasizing standard method of preparation has been established, but there are few works focusing analytical profile of RB, hence objectives were to establish an analytical profile of RB. Materials and Methods: RB was subjected for X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence, and particle size analysis. Results: Mean particle size of RB was 1.04 μm, and XRD results revealed RB was Ag2Hg2S (imitrite) initially and was in Acanthite (Ag2S) form in the final product. Conclusion: RB was found to be in silver sulfide (Ag2S) having a considerable reduction in particle size. Final product was devoid of mercury and other heavy metal contamination.