Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Uptake of Training on Vscan by Midlevel Providers Working in Rural Health Facilities in Tanzania: Implications for Reliability

For decades now maternal mortality has remained high especially in developing countries. Reasons for these deaths are many but mainly due to health system failures such as critical shortages of health work force and limited use of appropriate technologies in service rendering among others. New innovations are produced to reduce maternal mortality. One such innovation is the use of a hand held portable ultrasound called Vscan. However, while the Vscan is simplified to suit different contexts, availability of experts to manage and conduct scanning in rural health facilities is limited. Training of the available non clinician and midlevel health providers is one of the available options. We conducted a study to ascertain if midlevel health providers working in rural settings in Tanzania can be trained and provide ultrasound scanning services using the Vscan in routine antenatal clinics. We used a mix of training methods including presentations, lectures, group discussions, demonstration and hands on sessions to conduct the study. Results showed that, despite the technology being sophisticated, the uptake of knowledge by the trainees was strongly satisfactory. Using the pre and post-tests method, there was a significant change in knowledge of the trainees when comparing their basic knowledge on radiology, sonology and pregnancy related complication detection and diagnosis that they had before training and after training. On the other hand, no statistical significant difference was noted in knowledge uptake and translating the knowledge in practice between the different cadres of the midlevel providers involved in the training. The quality of scanning using the Vscan between the trainees and those of expert sonologists was 77% compatible. The study concludes that, it is possible to train health providers to conduct routine scanning using Vscan at primary health facility level and produce quality scans and correct diagnosis similar to that of expert sonologist.
BREATHER SELF-TRAPPING AND DELOCALIZATION IN 2D SYSTEM OF WEAKLY COUPLED NONLINEAR CHAINS

We present analytical and numerical studies of nonlinear localized short-wavelength excitations (breathers) in a system of parallel weakly coupled chains of nonlinear oscillators, which in particular can model dynamics of weakly coupled polymer chains in polymer crystals. Periodic transverse translation (wandering) of low-amplitude breather in a system of several, up to five, coupled nonlinear chains is described, and the dependence of the wandering period on the number of chains is analytically estimated and compared with numerical results. On-chain self-trapping of large-amplitude 1D breather and delocalization of the breather in 2D system of a large number of coupled nonlinear chains is described, in which the breather, initially excited in a given 1D chain, abruptly spreads its vibrational energy in the whole 2D system upon decreasing breather frequency or amplitude below the threshold one. The threshold breather frequency is above the cut off phonon frequency in 2D system, and the threshold breather amplitude scales as square root of the inter-chain coupling constant. Such delocalizing transition of discrete breather in 2D and 3D system of coupled nonlinear chains also has an analogy with delocalizing transition of Bose-Einstein condensates in 2D and 3D optical lattices. The analytical results are confirmed by computer simulations.
Using the Delphi Technique to Identify BPM Capability Areas

Organizations increasingly recognize the need to adopt a process orientation as a means of approaching challenges such as globalization, Enterprise Systems implementations or alternative improvement perspectives. A comprehensive understanding of the operational capacity to support and extend BPM strategies is critical to this endeavour. To this end, organizations require appropriate frameworks, which assist in identifying and evaluating their BPM capabilities. The development of maturity models has long been recognized as a means of assessing capabilities within a given domain. However, due to the idiosyncratic structure of many of the more than 150 available maturity models they can not be translated into tools that are embraced and applied by practitioners. To address this issue, the Delphi technique has been adopted during the development of a maturity model for Business Process Management. This paper presents the design and conduct of the Delphi Study series including the major outcomes being definitions of the six factors critical to BPM (i.e. Strategic Alignment, Governance, Methods, Information Technology, People and Culture) and the identification of capability areas whose measurement is seen to be necessary for assessing the maturity of these factors.
A SECOND-ORDER BPF USING A MINIATURIZED- ELEMENT FREQUENCY SELECTIVE SURFACE

A new type of low-proflle frequency selective surface (FSS) with an overall thickness of ‚=40 and a second-order band pass frequency response is presented. The proposed FSS is composed of two metal layers, separated by a thin dielectric substrate. Each layer is a two-dimensional periodic structure with sub-wavelength periodic unit cells. By printing the same topology on each side of the substrate, a second-order frequency response is realized. To provide a physical insight into the operating mechanism, equivalent circuit networks are also investigated in each step of design procedure. Using the proposal technique, low proflle and reduced sensitivity to angle of incident wave for both TE and TM polarizations are obtained and the overall thickness of the substrate is fairly thin. FSS samples are designed, fabricated, and installed in waveguide operating at X-band and a good agreement between the simulated and measured results is achieved.
Bayesian Inference on Matrix Manifolds for Linear Dimensionality Reduction

Author(s): Holbrook, Andrew; Vandenberg-Rodes, Alexander; Shahbaba, Babak | Abstract: We reframe linear dimensionality reduction as a problem of Bayesian inference on matrix manifolds. This natural paradigm extends the Bayesian framework to dimensionality reduction tasks in higher dimensions with simpler models at greater speeds. Here an orthogonal basis is treated as a single point on a manifold and is associated with a linear subspace on which observations vary maximally. Throughout this paper, we employ the Grassmann and Stiefel manifolds for various dimensionality reduction problems, explore the connection between the two manifolds, and use Hybrid Monte Carlo for posterior sampling on the Grassmannian for the first time. We delineate in which situations either manifold should be considered. Further, matrix manifold models are used to yield scientific insight in the context of cognitive neuroscience, and we conclude that our methods are suitable for basic inference as well as accurate prediction.
Four Decades of Progress in Monitoring and Modeling of Processes in the Soil-Plant- Atmosphere System: Applications and Challenges Increasing evidence for chaotic dynamics in the soil-plant- atmosphere system: a motivation for future research

Abstract This paper reviews the background and current development of nonlinear dynamics and chaos as it applies to the soil-plant-atmosphere system (SPAS). We build the case that such processes are likely common in the SPAS and offer the possibility that the phenomena constituting chaotic dynamics are the underlying biophysical basis for sustainability of natural ecological and agricultural systems. Recent experiments that illuminate this viewpoint are described, along with data analysis methodology. It is concluded that a fuller understanding will require interdisciplinary research devoted to an improved understanding of complex system behaviour. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of the conference. Keywords : Nonlinear; Dynamics; Chaos; Soil; Root; Atmosphere 1. Introduction The coupled and interacting system composed of the plant, root, soil, microbes and surrounding atmosphere, which is vital to agriculture, is fascinating in its complexity [1-3, 52]. The anticipated climate change during the present century adds urgency to our search for improved understanding of complex natural and agricultural soil-plant-atmosphere systems (SPAS) [4, 70]. Innovative agricultural developments of the past and current centuries led to impressive production increases along with increased sensitivity to future environmental variables [46, 47]. The concepts of ____________
Influence of school rules' formulation on students' discipline in public secondary schools in Makueni County

Since independence, the Kenyan Government's desire has been to ensure quality education. However, learning institutions have been plagued with cases of students’ unrest and indiscipline which mitigate against quality education. In spite of the existence of school rules, many secondary schools are reporting a wide range of potentially disruptive behaviors in the classrooms and around the schools. This study sought to investigate the influence of school rules' formulation on students' discipline in public secondary schools in Makueni County. It was guided by four research objectives which were: to determine the influence of students' involvement in the process of formulating school rules on their discipline, to find out whether students know all their school rules and the influence on their discipline, to establish whether students like their school rules and the influence on their discipline and to determine the influence of shared goals and plans on students' discipline in public secondary schools in Makueni County. The study targeted 324 principals, 3,865 teachers and 97,200 students in public secondary schools in Makueni County, and employed descriptive survey design. The sample size of the study, which was obtained by stratified and simple random sampling procedures, was 100 principals, 387 teachers and 398 students who participated in the study. Questionnaire, interview guide and observation schedule research instruments were utilized for the study. Test-retest technique of reliability was used to affirm the reliability of the instruments. The reliability coefficient of the instruments was 0.675 for questionnaire for students and 0.748 for questionnaire for the teachers. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and presented in frequency tables. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the hypothesis. From the data analysis, it was found out that the processes of formulation of school rules and regulations had significant positive relationship at r=+0.612, p=0.030 with levels of students' discipline in public secondary schools in Makueni County. The researcher recommended that principals in public secondary school in Makueni County should actively involve students in the process of formulation of school rules and regulations, so as to enhance students’ discipline.
Analyses of the Comprehension and Recognition of the Instructions in Educational Material for Disaster Prevention using an Assessment Model based on Cognitive and Motivational Factors

This paper focuses on how cognitive and motivational factors affected learners’ comprehension of the instructions used in educational material for disaster prevention as well as their recognition. Based on a proposed double assessment model, we first classified the instructions in the learning material into the three types, knowledge-based (K), rulebased(R), and skill-based (S) instructions, based on Rasmussen’s model. Subsequently, students were asked to assess the learning material using the five motivational factors of Keller’s ARCS-V model. Students’ degrees of comprehension and recognition of the contents for each type of SRK were then assessed. We then investigated the extent of the motivational factors along with their correlation to the degree of comprehension and recognition for each cognitive type. The results showed that the extent of the motivational factors largely differed according to the cognitive type of instructions, while these factors did not influence the degree of comprehension, especially in skill-based instructions. The motivational factors of ‘volition’, and ‘confidence’ had a strong and marginal effect respectively on the degree of recognition only in the case of rule-based instructions. These findings provide important suggestions for improving disaster educational programs in which increased motivational factors would adequately contribute to improved learning performances in versatile cognitive types.
SYNTHESIS AND STUDY OF NEW METAL COMPLEXES DERIVED FROM 5-AMINO-3(4'-PNITRO PHENYL-THIOSEMICARBAZIDO)-1,2,4- THIADIAZOLE

The new ligand 5-amino -3-[4'-P-nitrophenyl thiosemicarbazido]-1,2,4-Thiodiazole(L) was prepared a long with its metal complexes with the selected ions Cr(III) ,Mn(II) ,Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II). The prepared complexes were elucidated by microelemental analysis (C.H.N.M), spectral methods (UV- vissible) and (FT.IR ),and other physical measurements (molar conductance in 10 -3 M solution of (DMF), magnetic susceptibility for solid complexes and studied in solution using molar ratio(M:L) in ethanolic solution, Further more the stability of complexes in solutions were estimated via determination of stability constant Ks by spectrophotometric method.
Initial Offers and Outcomes in Wage Barganing: Who Wins?

The initial works council�s wage claim, and the initial firm�s (counter)offer, as well as the fraction of the disputed wages the works council is able to capture conditional on initial disagreement, are analyzed using Spanish data on wage settlements. After a given initial wage claim, the rules of the system force the firm either to accept it or to make a counteroffer prior to a fixed and short deadline. In this context signaling models predict that the wage claim should try to screen the firm�s level of profitability, while the (most likely forced) offer is expected to reveal little information. Both hypotheses are tested and neither one is rejected. The analysis of the fraction of the disputed wages the workers get after initial disagreement, as well as the length of the negotiation period, provide further evidence in favor of signaling models since we find they are related to both observed and private information. Moreover, conditional on covariates, for a number of sectors we cannot reject that the parties �split the difference� between both initial offers. This solution coincides with Rubinstein�s (1982) wage, the solution for the complete information game.
A note on comparison of exon 2 of the IGF-I gene in four species of the family Canidae

A 131 bp long sequence comprising a fragment of the 5`untranslated region and a part of exon 2 of the insulin-like growth factor IGF 1 gene, originating from the dog (Canis familiaris), Chinese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides procyonoides), red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) were studied with the use of SSCP, RFLP and DNA sequencing techniques. The SSCP mobility shifts revealed an interspecies, but not intraspecies variability of this sequence. Detailed searching for point mutations was carried out by direct DNA sequencing of a 131 bp fragment of the IGF-I gene. Three silent point mutations at positions: 21 (A>G) in the arctic fox, 57 (T>C) in the red fox, arctic fox and Chinese raccoon dog, and 93 (C>T) in the red fox and arctic fox were identified, when compared with the dog sequence, respectively. Since the above mentioned mutations are detectable by the RFLP technique, DNA samples originating from the studied species can be easily recognized due to the presence of the species specific intragenic haplotypes.
A dynamic model of house price

In this paper, we build the rationale of the financial intermediate's decision of making loans to potential home buyers over an infinite time horizon. In the first period "good" borrowers with stable future income flows receive loans and buy homes. In later periods, the intermediate securitizes the loans to raise new capital and makes loans to some of the "bad" borrowers with uncertain future income flows. Currently, we simplify the securitization as a tool to raise capital without cost over time. This unrealistic simplification should be improved in later work. The financial intermediate calculates the expected payoffs in different scenarios under the realizations of uncertainty to decide whether to make loans to a new borrower and whether to liquidate a house if the owner is short of liquidity in the short run. After clarifying the sequence of moves of different agents within each period, we compute the financial intermediate's decision rule described by a Bellman equation. Then we simulate borrowers' income realization and produce a figure of house price as well as value function over time.
Out-of-plane seismic response of stone masonry walls: experimental and analytical study of real piers

(10 pt) This paper presents the application of an existing simplified displacement-based procedure to the characterization of the nonlinear force-displacement relationship for the out-of-plane behaviour of unreinforced traditional masonry walls. According to this procedure, tri-linear models based on three different energy based criteria were constructed and confronted with three experimental tests on existing stone masonry constructions. Moreover, a brief introduction is presented regarding the main characteristics of the in situ cyclic testing recently carried out using distributed loads, as well as results obtained during the experimental campaigns performed. The comparison between the experimental and the analytical results are presented and discussed. Blank line 10 pt
Dynamic Capabilities: A Review and Research Agenda

The notion of dynamic capabilities complements the premise of the resource-based view of the firm, and has injected new vigour into empirical research in the last decade. Nonetheless, several issues surrounding its conceptualization remain ambivalent. In light of empirical advancement, this paper aims to clarify the concept of dynamic capabilities, and then identify three component factors which reflect the common features of dynamic capabilities across firms and which may be adopted and further developed into a measurement construct in future research. Further, a research model is developed encompassing antecedents and consequences of dynamic capabilities in an integrated framework. Suggestions for future research and managerial implications are also discussed.
Migration patterns in a remittances dependent economy: Evidence from Tajikistan during the global financial crisis

Before the global financial crisis, Tajikistan was a major labour exporting and the world’s most remittances-dependent country. Remittances had contributed to a remarkable reduction in poverty. This paper exploits a new panel data set spanning the years 2007 to 2009 in order to investigate the effect of the financial crisis on migration and remittances patterns. Expectedly, the economic recession in the main destination country Russia affected Tajikistan through declining remittances. Owing to low diversification in pre-crisis migration patterns, the dependency on sending migrants to Russia and the migration stock there grew. In combination with increased migration risk this suggests that migrants bear part of the cost of the crisis.
Effects of the number of objects and locations on attentional allocation and processing in a visual short-term memory task.

Using a partial report procedure, we tried to dissociate the effect of increasing the number of attended locations from that of increasing the number of objects (digits) appearing in these locations. Participants had to allocate their attention to different locations among a set of distractors (letters). After a delay of 500 ms they had to process either one, two, three or four digits appearing at one, two, three or four previewed locations. We found that the capacity of attentional allocation over locations decreased at three attended locations and also after the increase in the number of objects while attending to four locations. The same procedure was used in Experiment 2, except that digits were used as distractors to eliminate the possible attentional re-allocation bias towards targets during the processing phase. We introduced in Experiment 3 a color contrast between targets and distractors in order to facilitate their discrimination and to reduce the spatial configuration effect of locations. The results are in line with Experiment 1 findings and showed that the processing of multiple objects is constrained by two interacting difficulties. The first relies on resources distribution over the attended locations whereas the second relies on parallel encoding of objects.
PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF WHOLE PLANT OF Madhuca indica

The methanolic extract of madhuca indica was subjected to preliminary phytochemical studies. The results include indicate the presence of alkaloids, proteins, carbohydrates. anti microbial activity of methanolic extract and aqueous extracts of madhuca indicia was screened by agar well diffusion method. The results revealed that the methanolic extract exhibited significant antimicrobial activity of concentration of 100-500 µg/ml respectively against tested organisms, particularly more effective against gram – ve bacteria staphylococcus aureus and gram –ve bacteria Escherichia coli than the aqueous extract when compared to the standard drug (ampicillin).
Comparative anatomy of the frontal sinuses in the primitive sabre-toothed felid Promegantereon ogygia ( Felidae , Machairodontinae ) and similarly sized extant felines

In the present work, the frontal sinuses of the sabre-toothed felid Promegantereon ogygia are analysed, in comparison to those of the extant felines Acinonyx jubatus, Puma conocolor and Panthera pardus, of similar body weight. The study was carried out using 3D virtual models obtained from CT Scan images, a non-destructive technique that has revealed as a powerful tool for accessing to all kind of intracranial information. Our study shows that the frontal sinuses of P. ogygia were more similar to those of P. concolor, both in the presence of several struts reinforcing the dorsal part, and in the development of a remarkable caudal expansion. This caudal expansion would act as a thermal insulator of the brain, and would indicate a more open environment than previously supposed for this species, whereas the struts would be related to biomechanical stresses produced during the “canine shear-bite”, the killing method of the machairodontines.