Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing Informational Impacts on Consumer Willingness to Pay for Eggs from Animal Welfare Enhanced Production Systems using Discrete Choice Experiment

ASSESSING INFORMATIONAL IMPACTS ON CONSUMER WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR EGGS FROM ANIMAL WELFARE ENHANCED PRODUCTION SYSTEMS USING DISCRETE CHOICE EXPERIMENT Chen Chen Advisor: University of Guelph, 2017 Professor Ying (Jessica) Cao Professor John Cranfield This study investigated whether consumer preferences for eggs from enhanced animal welfare production systems are heterogeneous, and whether consumers’ responses to information would depend on consumers’ purchase experiences and initial perceptions. Using choice experiment data and the conditional logit model, results showed that consumers’ WTP for eggs from alternative housing systems reflects consumer heterogeneity. In comparison with inexperienced consumers, experienced consumers were willing to pay more for cage-free systems. In addition, information impacts depended on consumers’ purchase experiences and perceptions of animal welfare. Inexperienced consumers were more responsive to information about housing systems. When confronted with information, inexperienced consumers with higher animal welfare concern tend to increase their valuation for eggs from enriched cage and free-range system, but decrease their valuation for eggs from free-run system. Experienced consumers, however, tend to hold the same preferences with or without the presence of information.
On Martinet's singular symplectic structures

Introduction. Let V be a stratified subspace of R . We call it symplectic if there exists a differential 2-form ω on R such that the restriction of ω to each stratum is a symplectic form. In the Marsden-Weinstein singular reduction theory these spaces were studied by several authors [5, 4, 9, 1]. In this paper we classify the symplectic spaces modelled on the so-called symplectic flag S. First we prove the corresponding Darboux theorem and then we show that the only reasonable symplectic structures on S are those with underlying Martinet’s singular symplectic structure of type Σ2,0. Finally we find the normal form for this structure and show the similar result for an example of a stratified symplectic space with singular boundary of the maximal stratum.
Gimap 3 & Gimap 5 in apoptosis

University of Jyväskylä Abstract of Master ́s Thesis Faculty of Mathematics and Science Author: Antti Muranen Title of thesis: Gimap3 & Gimap5 in apoptosis Finnish title: Gimap3 & Gimap5 ja apoptoosi Date: 11.08. 2011 Pages: 50 Department: Department of Biological and Environmental Science Chair: Molecular Biology Supervisor(s): Ph.D. Brendan Battersby Abstract: Apoptosis is a natural mechanism of an organism to get rid of the cells which are not wanted. Apoptosis is a phenomenon vital for the correct function of the organism. Mitochondria has an important role in apoptosis; cytochrome c release from mitochondrial intermembrane space is a central event in apoptosis which is regulated by several proteins inside the cell. Apoptosis is a natural mechanism of an organism to get rid of the cells which are not wanted. Apoptosis is a phenomenon vital for the correct function of the organism. Mitochondria has an important role in apoptosis; cytochrome c release from mitochondrial intermembrane space is a central event in apoptosis which is regulated by several proteins inside the cell. Gimap protein family members are known to function during apoptosis but the mechanisms and effects are not that well studied. In this study we concentrate on Gimap3 and Gimap5 which are highly homologous and share the same characteristics. Both regulate positive T-cell selection. B-cell Lymphoma (Bcl-2) protein family members are the most important group controlling the OM permeability and cytochrome c release. The localization of Gimap3 and Gimap5 is thought to be similar with Bcl-2 proteins and they both can interact with several Bcl-2 family members which would suggest that they can regulate apoptosis by altering Bcl-2 protein function. In this study we started to go deeper into the mechanisms of Gimap3 and Gimap5 under apoptotic stimuli. We found out that Gimap3 gets processed, most likely degraded, during the induction of apoptosis by staurosporine (STS) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) while Gimap5 does not show any effect. We tested the effect on several different lengths of Gimap3 constructs and came to the conclusion that the essential part of Gimap3 protein signaled for processing has to be in the transmembrane (TM) part where the most of the sequence difference between Gimap3 and Gimap5 resides. Gimap3 got processed despite caspase inhibition which suggest that it’s caspase independent and probably an upstream process. This would fit the suggestion that it functions in apoptosis through BCL-2 proteins. In the cell death assay we saw neither protective or any clear pro-apoptotic effect by Gimap3 or Gimap5 proteins against apoptotic stimuli by TNF-α and saw no difference in Gimap3 expression level during different phases of T-cell proliferation. In our experiments Gimap3 is degraded during apoptosis but it is still unclear what is the function since there is no effect on survival or alterations in the expression in different phases of T-cell proliferation.
Project management in a design company: case study in the product development area

Project management can help a company to consolidate its position in the market. There are many cases in the literature detailing the positive results achieved via improvements in the project management process. Nonetheless, in the Design area, such examples are less frequent. If a company wants to manage design, it has to acquire expertise and implement actions that contribute to the decision making process. Under the conditions presented herein, a research was conducted about how design firms develop their project management processes. The study involved design companies in Porto Alegre/Brazil. It aimed at improving project management processes; characterizing, analyzing them, as well as proposing positive modifications in the processes. The research included a case study in a design company, in the product development area. The project management practices contained in the PMBOK (2004) were selected and used as reference, since they are widely recognized academically and professionally. As a result, it became clear that the studied company utilized the stages of the PMBOK (2004). Moreover, the manner in which the practices were used depended on factors such as the project manager experience, normally a refined fruit of previously undertaken projects.
Adoption of green supply chain initiatives among small and medium sized suppliers

Even though green supply chains have been proven to lessen environmental issues and provide economic benefits, little is known about green supply chains, especially in the perspective of Malaysia. This paper aims to describe what factors drive small and medium-sized suppliers in participating in green supply chain initiatives. The data collection instrument for this research is through questionnaires. Results indicated thatthe supplier’s supply chain readiness, buyer’s influence and government involvement drive suppliers to participate in green supply chain initiatives. Indeed,the readiness of the supply chain was the most important factor that drives the participation of SME andfollowed by the buyer’s influence and finally the government involvement.
ACOUSTIC INVESTIGATIONS ON BENZOIC ACID IN WATER + METHANOL MIXTURES IN THE TEMPERATURE RANGE 293.15 TO 313.15 K

Ultrasonic velocity (U) and density (d) has been measured for Benzoic acid in various water + methanol systems at different temperatures. Using the experimental data, adiabatic compressibility (βad), apparent molar compressibility (Φk), limiting molar compressibility (Φk ° ), intermolecular free length (Lf,) specific acoustic impedance (Z), relative association (RA), solvation number (Sn) are calculated and interpreted in terms of solute-solvent and solute co-solvent interactions.
A condition for the rationality of certain elliptic modular forms over primes dividing the level

— Let / b e a weight k holomorphic automorphic form with respect to r0(N). We prove a sufficient condition for the integrality of/over primes dividing N. This condition is expressed in terms of the values at particular CM curves of the forms obtained by iterated application of the weight k Maaft operator to / and extends previous results of the Author.
Elimination of dominated strategies and inessential players

We study the process, called the IEDI process, of iterated elimination of (strictly) dominated strategies and inessential players for finite strategic games. Such elimination may reduce the size of a game considerably, for example, from a game with a large number of players to one with a few players. We extend two existing results to our context; the preservation of Nash equilibria and order-independence. These give a way of computing the set of Nash equilibria for an initial situation from the endgame. Then, we reverse our perspective to ask the question of what initial situations end up at a given final game. We assess what situations underlie an endgame. We give conditions for the pattern of player sets required for a resulting sequence of the IEDI process to an endgame. We illustrate our development with a few extensions of the Battle of the Sexes.
Adaptive Control of Robot Manipulators with Velocity Estimation and Bounded Torque

The robot manipulator output feedback problem points out to the controlled system in which the measurements of the joint position are available. In this study, all kinematic and dynamic parameters of robot manipulator are supposed unknown and the manipulator have to follow the desired trajectory. Therefore, the adaptive control problem for robot manipulators based on velocity estimation is investigated. According to the practical robot actuator power limitation, the bounded torque input is also considered in this study. The control algorithm is applied for 2-link manipulator to evaluate controller effectiveness. The design parameters that guaranteed the control performance of closed loop system are chosen by using optimization output constrained method. The proposed controller performances are provided by numerical simulations.
Study on Power Angle Stability of Wind-fire Hybrid Transmission System Controlled by Virtual Synchronous Machine

Wind-fire hybrid transmission system stability has always been a research hot spot, and as the wind turbine control strategy is more and more complex, the stability is more complicated. In recent years, the idea of virtual synchronous machine applied to the control scheme of wind turbines has been popularized, so it is necessary to discuss the power angle stability of wind-fire hybrid system considering the additional control of the wind turbines with the virtual synchronous machine. In this paper, a typical wind-fire hybrid transmission system model is established, and the operating characteristics of the wind turbine are analyzed and the wind turbine model is established. Then, a control strategy of virtual synchronous machine is proposed. At last, the power equivalence function of wind-fire hybrid transmission system is analyzed by Extended Area Equity Criterion (EEAC), and the simulation results in PSASP show that when the receiver is a strong system, the higher the wind-fire ratio, the better the system's angle stability is. The control of the virtual synchronous machine has less effect on the stability of the power angle. When the receiver is a weak system, with the increase of wind power ratio, the power angle stability first increases and then decreases, there is an optimal ratio, and the application of the virtual synchronous machine control can effectively enhance the system's power angle stability, thereby improving the optimal wind-fire ratio.
Overstory tree mortality resulting from reintroducing fire to long-unburned longleaf pine forests: the importance of duff moisture

In forests historically maintained by frequent fire, reintroducing fire after decades of exclusion often causes widespread overstory mortality. To better understand this phenomenon, we subjected 16 fire-excluded (ca. 40 years since fire) 10 ha longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) stands to one of four replicated burning treatments based on volumetric duff moisture content (VDMC): wet (115% VDMC); moist (85% VDMC); dry (55% VDMC); and a no-burn control. Dur- ing the first 2 years postfire, overstory pines in the dry burns suffered the greatest mortality (mean 20.5%); pine mortality in the wet and moist treatments did not differ from the control treatment. Duff reduction was greatest in the dry burns (mean 46.5%), with minimal reduction in the moist and wet burns (14.5% and 5%, respectively). Nested logistic regression using trees from all treatments revealed that the best predictors of individual pine mortality were duff consumption and crown scorch (P < 0.001; R 2 = 0.34). Crown scorch was significant only in dry burns, whereas duff consumption was sig- nificant across all treatments. Duff consumption was related to moisture content in lower duff (Oa; R 2 = 0.78, P < 0.001). Restoring fire to long-unburned forests will require development of burn prescriptions that include the effects of duff con- sumption, an often overlooked fire effect.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) The optimality of ignoring lobbyists

For situations where interest groups compete in an all-pay auction for a political prize, we derive conditions under which the government optimally balances the costs and the bene ts of lobbying by ignoring all lobbying activities and by always assigning the prize to the interest group with the highest ex ante value for it. Keywords: All-pay auction; Lobbying; Social welfare. JEL classi cation: D44; D72
The Information Content Of Mergers And Acquisition Announcement For Listed Companies At Nairobi Securities Exchange

v LIST OF TABLES . ix LIST OF FIGURES . x ABBREVIATIONS . xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background of the study . 1 1.1.1 Mergers and Acquisitions . 2 1.1.2 Information Content of Mergers and Acquisitions . 4 1.1.3 Nairobi Securities Exchange . 5 1.2 Research Problem . 6 1.3 Research Objective . 8 1.4 Value of the Study . 8 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW . 10 2.
Institutional Environment and Overinvestment in Emerging Markets-Empirical Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

We use China’s unique institutional environment as a basis to study the country’s enterprise overinvestment behavior. In recent years, China has seen a surge in enterprise investment due to the huge availability of investment funds leading to difficulties in governing listed firms in the country. We separately analyze the impact of government intervention, rule of law and financial development of various regions on the overinvestment behavior of the listed companies. The results show that government intervention is positively related to overinvestment of listed companies. However, rule of law and financial development are negatively related to overinvestment of listed companies. In addition, the results further show that improved institutional environment can restrict overinvestment in listed companies. Further research indicates that, compared to the rule of law and financial development, government intervention is a fundamental factor which influences overinvestment the most. The study’s results have implications, particularly for the regulators, as they provide useful and detailed information which can be used in the design of more appropriate and functional systems to govern listed companies and help in curbing the overinvestment problem. Keywords: Government intervention; rule of law; financial development; overinvestment, Emerging Markets
Singleton Low Birth Weight Babies At A Tertiary Hospital In Enugu, South East Nigeria.

Background Low birth weight (LBW) babies are significantly at risk of death, contributing to the high perinatal morbidity and mortality in low resource countries. ObjectiveTo determine the incidence of LBW babies in our hospital, identify predisposing factors with a view to proffering solution.MethodA one year prospective study of Singleton LBW babies delivered at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital(ESUTH), Parklane, Enugu from 1 November 2007 to 31st October 2008 was carried out. ResultThere were 168 LBW babies and 1630 live births giving an incidence of 10.76%. Of these, 116 (69.05%) were preterm and 52 (30.95%) were term, small for gestational age. The mean birth weight was 3.13kg. Six (3.57%) of the mothers of LBW babies were teenagers. Nulliparity, illiteracy, lack of antenatal care and preterm delivery significantly increased the incidence of LBW (p-value<0.05) while maternal weight and height at booking, and fetal sex did not (p-value>0.05). Identified predisposing factors included hypertensive disease in pregnancy, malaria and anaemia in pregnancy, preterm prelabour rupture of membranes and antepartum haemorrhage.
The Parameters Optimization of MCR-WPT System Based on the Improved Genetic Simulated Annealing Algorithm

To solve the problem of parameter selection during the design of magnetically coupled resonant wireless power transmission system (MCR-WPT), this paper proposed an improved genetic simulated annealing algorithm. Firstly, the equivalent circuit of the system is analysis in this study and a nonlinear programming mathematical model is built. Secondly, in place of the penalty function method in the genetic algorithm, the selection strategy based on the distance between individuals is adopted to select individual. In this way, it reduces the excess empirical parameters. Meanwhile, it can improve the convergence rate and the searching ability by calculating crossover probability and mutation probability according to the variance of population’s fitness. At last, the simulated annealing operator is added to increase local search ability of the method. The simulation shows that the improved method can break the limit of the local optimum solution and get the global optimum solution faster. The optimized system can achieve the practical requirements.
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Prepared with Mexican Pre-Hispanic Dyes

A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a photovoltaic device capable of generating electrical power from the absorption of solar radiation. These cells use a SnO2 : F/TiO2/dye heterojunction as the active electrode (working electrode). Active electrodes containing TiO2 in the anatase crystalline phase and synthetic dyes are used to achieve high conversion efficiencies. Synthetic dyes, whether organic or organometallic compounds, have the disadvantage of being expensive. For this reason, many efforts are made worldwide to find natural dyes with lower production costs that can be used in the fabrication of DSSCs. Nocheztli is a natural red dye obtained from the cochineal insect Dactylopius coccus; the dye dates from pre-Hispanic times and contains high levels of carminic acid (CA). Nocheztli has been used in Mexico in textile dyeing from pre-Hispanic times to the present. Carmine is an organometallic dye with two molecules of carminic acid and one atom of aluminum in its structure; it is obtained by the interaction of the carminic acid from Nocheztli with aluminum salts. Carminic acid and carmine molecules contain a carboxyl group in their structure, allowing them to anchor to TiO2, creating a suitable heterojunction to prepare DSSCs. In this study, both dyes are used to sensitize the mesoporous TiO2m semiconductor to prepare DSSCs.
The Usage of Rusboost Boosting Method for Classification of Impervious Surfaces

Impervious surface areas are artificial structures covered by materials such as asphalt, stone, brick, rooftops and concrete. Buildings, parking lots, roads, driveways and sidewalks are shown as impervious surfaces. They increase depending on the population growth. The spatial development of impervious surface expansion is necessary for better understanding of the urbanization status and its effect on environment. There are different impervious surface determining approaches met in literature. In this paper, it is aimed to extract the impervious surface areas of Kayseri city, Turkey by using remote sensing techniques. It is possible to group these techniques under a few main topics as V-I-S (vegetation-impervious surface-soil) model, based on spectral mixture analysis or decision tree algorithms or impervious surface indices. According to these techniques, we proposed a new technique by using RUSBoost algorithm based on decision tree in this study. In this scope, Landsat 8 LDCM image belonging to July, 2013 was used. Determining of impervious surface areas accurately depends on accuracy of image classification methods. Therefore, satellite image was classified separately by using Classification Tree and RUSBoost boosting method which increases accuracy of the classification method based on decision tree. Classification accuracies of these supervised classification methods were compared and it was observed that the best overall accuracy was obtained with RUSBoost method. For this reason, RUSBoost method was preferred to determine impervious surface areas. The overall accuracies were obtained 95 % with Classification Tree and 97 % with RUSBoost boosting method.
In vitro profiling of mycobacterium tuberculosis region of difference 1 antigen induced cytokine and chemokines production among patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection poses a great challenge in its control. Furthermore, diagnosis ofTB in HIV co-infected subjects is not easy. Early diagnosis ofTB is important in the control ofTB both for treatment of patients and curbing transmission to others in the community. In countries like Kenya where the prevalence of HIV is higher than 5% in the general population there is need to identify a biomarker that can be used to accurately diagnose Mycobacteria tuberculosis infection. A diagnostic technique that can differentiate between active TB and latent TB infection (LTBI) would also be a major breakthrough. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify specific Mtuberculosis CFP-I0 and ESAT-6 induced cytokine(s) and chemokine(s) that are consistently present amongst patients with latent and active tuberculosis regardless of their immune status and that can discriminate LTBI from active TB disease. Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Methodology: A total of 82 subjects were recruited into the study of which 62(75.6%) were pulmonary TB patients, 13 (15.86%) were household contacts (HHC) and 7(8.54%) were controls from another ongoing study. Luminex multiplex cytokine assay was performed to determine the levels of 17 cytokines/chemokines in QFT supernatants. The quantity of cytokine produced following stimulation with ESAT-6 and CFP-I0 (antigen-dependent cytokine and chemokine) was determined by subtracting the concentration of cytokine in the nil tube from the antigen tube. Results: Interleukin 2, IFNy and IL 1ra were produced in significantly high amounts in ESA T 6 and CFP 10 stimulated whole blood from M tuberculosis infected compared to controls who were quantiFERON@ TB Gold negative and HIV negative. Interleukin 17 was consistently produced in significantly lower amount in those participants with active TB regardless of the HIV status compared to controls. Interleukin la, IL2, MIPla and TNFa were produce in significantly higher amounts in ESA T 6 and CFP 10 stimulated whole blood from participants with latent TB infection (LTBI) compared to active TB.