Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monetary policy transmission in an undeveloped South Pacific Island country: a case study of Samoa

Amongst the South Pacific's least developed small island countries, Samoa has emerged as a successful economy. Its achievements of low inflation and high growth rates have been due to sustained fiscal adjustment programmes and appropriate monetary policy measures. This paper undertakes an empirical study of transmission mechanism of monetary policy by adopting a VAR approach and using quarterly data over a 17-year period (1990-2006). The study findings are that money and exchange rate channels are important channels in transmitting monetary impulses to Samoa's output.
Value-Based Pricing of Fed Cattle: Challenges and Research Agenda

Beef has lost considerable market share because it does not offer adequate value to consumers. Important components of value are problems related to inadequate beef quality determination and pricing fed cattle on averages. This study summarizes results of industry surveys solicited to investigate problems with value-based fed cattle pricing. A research agenda to address the problems is proposed. Research needs include more information on the expected costs and benefits of a less subjective and improved beef quality identification system. More information is needed regarding economic trade-offs between beef carcass quality and cattle production management. All segments of the beef industry, from cow-calf producers through retailers, are realizing more opportunities to develop longer term contractual relationships. Many of these agreements substantially alter production and market risk and expected returns and therefore need in-depth investigation. In general, more research is needed on ways to improve both price and non price coordination of the complex beef market.
SCREENING OF LOVASTATIN PRODUCTION BY FILAMENTOUS FUNGI

In the present study, 110 fungal strains of Persian Type Culture Collection (PTCC) including some selected strains isolated in various screening projects were tested for their potentiality to produce lovastatin, a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), the rate-limiting enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis. The fungal strains were cultivated in a twostage submerged fermentation followed by screening by TLC. All positive results were evaluated by confirmatory HPLC. Nine species of four genera were found to be lovastatin producers. Aspergillus terreus was the best lovastatin producing strain with a level of 55 mg lovastatin per liter of screening production medium. Iran. Biomed. J. 7 (1): 29-33, 2003
Peculiar AGNs from the INTEGRAL and RXTE data

We analysed how the active galactic nucleus (AGN) X-ray primary continuum depends on AGN activity in radio, using the data of RXTE Spectral & Timing Database (Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer) and INTEGRAL (INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory). Our aim is to test the relation between spectral shapes of these AGNs and the prediction of the "spin-paradigm" model of the AGN "central engine". We have found that for the major part of radio-quiet (RQ) AGNs the value of high-energy exponential cut-off in primary spectrum appears to be significantly higher than 100 keV and thus follows the "spin-paradigm" predictions. In the same time, near 25% of radio-loud (RL) AGNs demonstrate the high-energy cut-off at the energies above 150 keV, contradicting the "spin paradigm". We have composed a sample of "peculiar" 69 RQ and 10 RL AGNs that seem to contradict to the "spin paradigm" for further individual studies of these objects.
The Mystery of the Delta Phenotype: the Role of the Notch Signaling Pathway in Tribolium castaneum Embryogenesis

Vertebrates, annelids, and arthropods have evolved to form their body plans via segmentation. The question is whether this process stems from a common, segmented ancestor or if segmentation in these three phyla evolved from a series of independent events. To determine which of these theories is true, we look to determining whether these phyla share any pathways in the development of their segments. The Notch signaling pathway is a well-known pathway that vertebrates utilize for segmentation. Without it, somitogenesis does not occur properly as the segmentation oscillator is not functioning. ​Drosophila ​does not use this pathway for segmentation, but several other arthropods have recently been found to utilize it in the formation and maintenance of their segments (17-24). There has been debate as to whether ​Tribolium castaneum ​also uses the Notch pathway during segmentation as previous knockdowns of the Notch and Delta genes have led to a loss of segments and appendages/mouthparts (25-27). To determine this pathway’s involvement in ​Tribolium ​segmentation, I knocked down the Delta gene via eRNAi and attempted to determine Notch and Delta expression patterns via ​in situ
Lipid Peroxidation Inhibitory Activity In vitro of Mezzetia parviflora Becc. Wood Bark Polar extract

Introduction: The wood bark of Mezzetia parviflora Becc, has long served as one of the most important traditional herbal medicine sources in Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi. M. parviflora extracts were rich in polyphenols. This study was aimed to explore the lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity of polar extract of M. parviflora. Methods: The polar extract is the result of ethanol extract partition solved in acetone. The extract will keep polar components which are insoluble in acetone. Assayed methods applied are ß-carotene bleaching inhibition, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) measurement, and continuous monitoring of conjugated dienes formation in LDL. Results: M. parviflora extract inhibit ß-carotene/ linoleic acid oxidation, showed by IC50 value of 15.83 μg/ml in 30th minute; but the potency will be reduced to IC50 value of 111.19 μg/ml and 225.07 μg/ml after the 60th and 120th minute of incubation. M. parviflora extract inhibit MDA formation as for linoleic acid peroxidation product until the third day; at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 μg/ml inhibit MDA formation as many as 29.16 ± 2.41%, 4.24% ± 43.27, 54.08 ± 2.87%, 59.88 ± 1.90%, and 69.75 ± 2.32%, respectively. M. parviflora extract at 50 μg/ml can inhibit LDL-oxidation induced by CuSO4, performed by LDL-oxidation lag-time elongation until 70 minutes, similar ability was performed by epigallocathecin gallate at 5 μg/ml. Conclusions: M. parviflora extract expressed relatively strong protection against lipid and LDL oxidation which can serve as the scientific basis of its development as a remedy for various diseases caused by lipid peroxidation.
In-vitro antioxidant activity of freeze dried extracts fruit peel waste (Punica granatum and Citrus sinensis) and its effect in α-linoleic acid model system

Every year huge quantities of fruit waste are generated by fruit Industries. These wastes are can be recover as natural antitoxins which would be beneficial to the society and individual. Antioxidants from fruit wastes have attracted the attention of researchers as they are cheaper in cost, easy to derive, and do not have any side effects. Thus the current investigation was focused on to extract natural antioxidant and evaluates their properties through various in vitro assays. The pomegranate peel exhibited higher total phenolic content (TPC) of 160.80 mg/g GAE while the orange peel (OPE) showed lower. Total flavonoid contents OPE showed the highest (2.955 mg/g quercetin equivalent), while the PPE showed 0.98mg/g quercetin equivalent. The DPPH radical scavenging activity exhibited a dose dependent activity. The PPE extract showed the radical scavenging activity of 94.25 at the concentration of 35μg/mL whereas the same at the same concentration BHA showed inhibition of 95.59% which was almost equal to BHA. The highest chelating activity was 28.42% for PPE recorded at a concentration of 1000 μg/mL, while at the same concentration the chelating activity of OPE was half of that of PPE. Lipid peroxidation inhibition activity of PPE and OPE was observed for 7 days under controlled temperature condition. The aqueous ethanolic extract of PPE was the strongest inhibitor compare to OPE. The results of present investigation reveals that the pomegranate peel extracts could be used as a natural antioxidant to food and food products to prevent the oxidative degradation.
Accountability Pressure and Non-Achievement Student Behaviors

In this paper we examine how failing to make adequate yearly progress under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and the accountability pressure that ensues, affects various non-achievement student behaviors. Using administrative data from North Carolina and leveraging a discontinuity in the determination of school failure, we examine the causal impact of accountability pressure both on student behaviors that are incentivized by NCLB and on those that are not. We find evidence that, as NCLB intends, pressure encourages students to show up at school and to do so on time. Accountability pressure also has the unintended effect, however, of increasing the number of student misbehaviors such as suspensions, fights, and offenses reportable to law enforcement. Further, this negative response is most pronounced among minorities and low performing students, who are the most likely to be left behind.
H I observations of three compact high-velocity clouds around the Milky Way

Context. We present deep Hi observations of three compact high-velocity clouds (CHVCs). Aims. The main goal is to study their di use warm gas and compact cold cores. We use both low- and high-resolution data obtained with the 100 m E elsberg telescope and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). The combination is essential in order to study the morphological properties of the clouds since the single-dish telescope lacks a su cient angular resolution while the interferometer misses a large portion of the di use gas. Methods. Here single-dish and interferometer data are combined in the image domain with a new combination pipeline. The combination makes it possible to examine interactions between the clouds and their surrounding environment in great detail. Results. The apparent di erence between single-dish and radio interferometer total flux densities shows that the CHVCs contain a considerable amount of di use gas with low brightness temperatures. A Gaussian decomposition indicates that the clouds consist predominantly of warm gas.
Cassava Bran– Fish Processing Waste as Dry Season Feed Resources for Sheep in Nigeria Southern Guinea Savannah

Seasonal variability impact on livestock production and management stems from poor pasture quality and quantity as well as shortage of water. During wet season, there is usually sufficient quantity of pasture in good quality for animal consumption; but during dry season, there is always insufficient pasture as well as shortage of water for livestock consumption. As a result of these, exploration of resilience livestock production and management practices capable of enhancing animal performance during dry season becomes highly necessary. Based on the above background, a 12 weeks trial was carried out during January, February and March in 2015 to determine the effects of cassava bran plus fish processing waste supplement on body weight gain, blood composition and meat quality of West African Dwarf sheep at a location within Nigeria Southern Guinea Savannah. Twelve growing lambs were randomly allotted to three Treatments; each fed dried cassava peel ad-libitum in addition to 0%, 1.5%, or 2.5% body weight equivalent quantity of the cassava bran-fish processing waste supplement throughout the feeding trial. Sheep fed control (0%) diet had negative body weight change (P<0.05). Sheep fed cassava bran-fish processing waste supplement at 2.5% body weight level had higher (P<0.05) body weight, nutrient composition and carcass yield. Treatment effects on sheep organoleptic properties and meat fatty-acids composition were significant (P<0.05). Our study established that cassava bran and fish processing waste are potential dry season feed resources suitable for growing lambs since it has no negative impact on the health of the animals and it promote growth and performance of the animals. We recommend further studies into full integration and improvement of diets prepare from cassava bran and fish processing waste for sheep feeding during dry season; also investigation into possibilities of incorporating fish processing waste into production of silage for growing lambs.
Spatial Autocorrelation in a Retail Context

This paper describes and applies the weighted least squares (WLS) technique that corrects for spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of hedonic regressions. Most empirical studies to date have focused on spatial autocorrelation in the housing market, i.e., single family home valuation. This study focuses on mall stores within shopping centers, with an emphasis on retail site selection within the mall.
Uncertainty and Investment in an East Asian Economy: A Firm Level Study of Thailand

This paper uses firm-level data to estimate a model of investment behaviour under uncertainty in Thailand. We find robust evidence of a negative relation between uncertainty and private domestic investment. We also find that the impact of uncertainty is related to measures of investment irreversibility, thereby lending support to the idea that firms’ behaviour conforms to the real options model of investment under uncertainty.
An EEG Image-search dataset: a first-of-its-kind in IR/IIR. NAILS: neurally augmented image labelling strategies

In this work we emphasize the need for and we describe a first- of-its-kind RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) - EEG (Elec- troencephalography) dataset to be released as part of the NTCIR-13 NAILS (Neurally Augmented Image Labelling Strategies) task at the NTCIR-13 participation conference. The dataset is used to support a collaborative evaluation task in which participating researchers benchmark machine-learning strategies against each other. The experimental protocol used to capture the dataset is designed to encompass a broad range of image search activities and coincident neural signals. Here, we outline the experimental protocol used to capture the dataset alongside discussing the motivation behind its construction.
Toxic effects of Alexandrium spp. on heterotrophic dinoflagellates: an allelochemical defence mechanism independent of PSP-toxin content

Sixteen strains of the red tide dinoflagellate Alexandrium spp. were tested for their short-term effects on the heterotrophic dinoflagellates Oblea rotunda and Oxyrrhis marina. Some Alexandrium strains, but not others, caused loss of motility and cell lysis of the heterotrophic dinoflagellates. A live counting procedure using O. marina was developed to quantify these toxic effects, which were compared with HPLC estimates of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin content. Within 5 strains, for which PSP toxins could be verified, both non-effective as well as effective strains were present and the same holds true for the other strains without detectable PSP toxins. This clearly indicates that the toxic effects are not due to PSP toxins. The observed effects are caused by extracellular substances, because O. marina did not ingest Alexandrium spp. and lytic effects are also found in cell-free culture medium. The immobilisation effect was strongly dependent on the Alexandrium spp. cell concentration. EC50 concentration (Alexandrium spp. cell concentration which caused 50 % immobilisation after 1 h exposure), as estimated for 5 effective strains, ranged from 2.1 · 103 cells ml-1 down to 0.6 ·103 cells ml-1. A quantitative comparison experiment showed that both heterotrophic dinoflagellate species are immobilised, with the thecate species (O. rotunda) being even more affected compared to the athecate O. marina.
Pre15-18 – International Drug Prevention And Rehabilitation Conference (Prevent 2015) PSYCHOSOCIAL REVIEW ON SUBSTANCE USE AMONG YOUTH TRANSGENDER IN PENANG, MALAYSIA A QUALITATIVE IN PENANG, MALAYSIA

This qualitative study was conducted in Penang, Malaysia with the aim to analyze and gather indepth understanding of challengers faced by youth Transgender who engaged with substance drug used. This study also aims to understand some of the psychosocial support received by this marginal population in term of overcoming their substance use behaviour. Selection of 18 respondents was through the snowballing sampling technique due to the difficulty of getting the targeted respondents. Respondents who have participated in this study were among transgender populations between the ages of 18-40. The study findings indicated that almost all the respondents have never taken drugs in their life but only 4 respondents who have experienced taking cannabis and methamphetamine ecstasy or over a period of 12 months ago. This study suggests that both government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should continue to provide appropriate HIV and AIDS intervention among the transgender population. Social work intervention primarily in educating this marginal population towards the prevention of HIV transmission especially preventing from drugs substance uses which are associated with behaviors that facilitate HIV transmission in their daily life.
Evidence of farm-induced parasite infestations on wild juvenile salmon in multiple regions of coastal British Columbia, Canada

Salmon farms are spatially concentrated reservoirs of fish host populations that can disrupt natural salmonid host-parasite dynamics. Sea lice frequently infect farm salmon and parasitize sympatric wild juvenile salmonids, with neg- ative impacts on survival in Europe and Pacific Canada. We examined louse parasitism of wild juvenile chum salmon (On- corhynchus keta) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) from three salmon farming regions in British Columbia (Finlayson, Broughton Archipelago, and Georgia Strait). We compared sites of low and high exposure to farms and in- cluded an area without farms (Bella Bella) to assess baseline infection levels. Louse prevalence and abundance were low- est and most similar to natural baseline levels at low-exposure sites and highest at high-exposure sites in all farm regions. A significantly greater proportion of the lice were Lepeophtheirus salmonis at high-exposure sites. Exposure to salmon farms was the only consistently significant factor to explain the variation in prevalence data, with a secondary role played by salinity. Our results support the hypothesis that salmon farms are a major source of sea lice on juvenile wild salmon in salmon farming regions and underscore the importance of using management techniques that mitigate threats to wild stocks. Resume´ : Les elevages de saumons sont des reservoirs concentres dans l'espace de populations de poissons hotes qui peu- vent perturber la dynamique naturelle des saumons hotes et de leurs parasites. Les puces de mer infectent frequemment les saumons d'elevage et parasitent les jeunes salmonides sauvages sympatriques, ce qui a des impacts negatifs sur la survie en Europe et la region pacifique du Canada. Nous avons etudiele parasitisme par les puces de mer chez les saumons keta (Oncorhynchus keta) et roses (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) dans trois regions d'elevage de saumons en Colombie- Britannique (Finlayson, archipel de Broughton et detroit de Georgie). Nous avons compareles sites fortement et faiblement exposes aux elevages, ainsi qu'une region sans elevages (Bella Bella), afin d'evaluer les niveaux d'infection de base. La prevalence et l'abondance des puces de mer sont minimales et le plus semblables aux niveaux de base naturels aux sites de faible exposition, et maximales aux sites de forte exposition dans toutes les regions d'elevage. Aux sites de forte expo- sition, une proportion significativement plus elevee des puces de mer appartient al'espece Lepeophtheirus salmonis. L'ex- position aux elevages de saumons est le seul facteur explicatif constamment significatif dans les donnees de prevalence avec la salinitequi joue un role secondaire. Nos resultats appuient l'hypothese selon laquelle les elevages de saumons sont une source importante de puces de mer pour les jeunes saumons sauvages dans les regions d'elevage de saumons et ils soulignent l'importance d'utiliser des techniques de gestion qui reduisent les menaces aux stocks sauvages. (Traduit par la Redaction)
Self-Ordered Voids Formation in SiO2 Matrix by Ge Outdiffusion

The annealing behavior of very thin SiO2/Ge multilayers deposited on Si substrate by e-gun deposition in high vacuum was explored. It is shown that, after annealing at moderate temperatures (800°C) in inert atmosphere, Ge is completely outdiffused from the SiO2 matrix leaving small (about 3 nm) spherical voids embedded in the SiO2 matrix. These voids are very well correlated and formed at distances governed by the preexisting multilayer structure (in vertical direction) and self-organization (in horizontal direction). The formed films produce intensive photoluminescence (PL) with a peak at 500 nm. The explored dynamics of the PL decay show the existence of a very rapid process similar to the one found at Ge/SiO2 defected interface layers.
Current stress state and principal stress rotations in the vicinity of the Chelungpu fault induced by the 1999 Chi‐Chi, Taiwan, earthquake

We carried out various stress measurements in boreholes penetrating the northern segment of the Chelungpu fault, drilled about 5 years after the 1999 Chi‐Chi, Taiwan, earthquake. In the possible depth range of the Chelungpu fault, three major fault zones were encountered. Clearly recognizable principal stress rotations in the vicinity of the shallowest major fault zone, at 1133 m depth in hole B, suggest that this fault zone ruptured during the 1999 earthquake. Moreover, the fault's rupturing altered the stress state in the area surrounding this fault zone. In this paper, we constrain the possible magnitudes of the current principal horizontal stresses around the fault zone and show that the current stress state belongs to a normal or strike‐slip fault regime. Therefore, the stress state was changed from that of a reverse fault regime by the rupturing.
The Role of Corporate Governance in Reducing the Negative Effect of Earnings Management

This paper aims to examine the role of corporate governance in reducing the negative effect of earnings management. The accounting data for U.S. firms during 2002-2010 were collected from WorldScope database and the corporate governance data were from ASSET4, which is an affiliate of Thomson Reuter. Earnings management can be harmful to firm value if it arises from managerial opportunism, whereas it can also be beneficial if managers intend to convey some information about future earnings or reduce the volatility of reported earnings. The empirical evidence has shown that earnings management has a negative effect on firm value. However, the negative effect of earnings management is neutralized by the role of corporate governance, which helps to reduce managerial opportunism. Firms with a lower CG score face the negative effect of earnings management, whereas firms with a higher CG score face a less-negative effect from earnings management. In other words, managerial opportunism with earnings management is lower in good-governance firms. Therefore, corporate governance provides a crucial role in reducing the negative effect of earnings management.