Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impacts of climate variability on the tuna economy of Seychelles

Many small island states have developed economies that are strongly dependent on tuna fisheries. Consequently, they are vulnerable to the socio-economic effects of climate change and variability, processes that are known to impact upon tuna fisheries distribution and productivity. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of climate oscillations on the tuna-dependent economy of Seychelles. Using a multiplier approach, the direct, indirect and induced economic effects of the tuna industry declined by 58%, 34% and 60%, respectively, in 1998, the year of a strong warming event in the western Indian Ocean. Patterns in tuna purse seine vessel expenditures in port were substantially modified by strong climate oscillations. A cointegration time-series model predicted that a 40% decline in tuna landings and transhipment in Port Victoria, a value commensurate with that observed in 1998, would result in a 34% loss for the local economy. Of several indices tested, the Indian Oscillation Index was the best at predicting the probability of entering a regime of low landings and transhipment. In 2007, a moderate climate anomaly was compounded by prior overfishing to produce a stronger that expected impact on the fishery and economy of Seychelles. The effects of fishing and climate variability on tuna stocks are complex and pose significant challenges for fisheries management and the economic development of countries in the Indian Ocean.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Brand Image: An Empirical Investigation of Private Sector Hospitals in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of CSR on brand image of private hospitals in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia. A purposive sampling technique was employed to recruit 187 managers in different positions representing the desired range of demographic characteristics (e.g. gender, age, nationality, and job position). This research showed that CSR dimensions (vision and workplace) had a positive effect on brand image of the private hospitals on one hand. On the other hand, other dimensions (community relations, marketplace and accountability) had a negative effect on brand image. The paper contributes to previous research by adding to existing knowledge regarding CSR and brand image of the hospitals. The paper makes key recommendations towards adoption of CSR among hospitals.
Factors that aff ect scientists' behavior to share scientifi c knowledge

Nowadays, it is accepted that development in the modern science is directly related to achieving success in science. The scientists should be able to develop, understand and use the modern scientifi c methods in their researches. Since, science is developing fast; the scientists should share their scientifi c knowledge with individuals who attempt to update frequently their information. Studying factors that aff ect knowledge sharing scientists’ behavior should be considered in knowledge era. Therefore, the focus of this paper centers on the behavior of sharing scientist’s acquired knowledge with other scientists in scientifi c collaboration and co-authorship. Theory of planned behavior (TPB) is adopted and explained the factors of Attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control to predict behavior of scientists. This paper presents sets of critical factors such as individual, organizational and technological that is believed to aff ect on knowledge sharing behaviors. Overall, the results of this study advance prior research in the area of knowledge sharing by shedding light on the determinants of knowledge sharing behaviors, and develop the better understanding of knowledge sharing for the scientists who attempt improve their knowledge in scientifi c collaboration in the future.
Socially efficient entry barriers

Stagnation of the Russian economy lends a new urgency to the question of whether reserves of competition incentives can be used to overcome the current negative economic tendencies. The lowering of entry barriers is traditionally considered a universal instrument of promoting competition. However, lower entry barriers can be mistakenly associated with bringing the market closer to the state of the so-called ‘perfect’ competition. The authors aim to show that the absence of entry barriers does not improve competition in certain markets. On the contrary, it may result in a decrease in social welfare. This is particularly true of capital-intensive goods, for instance, large diameter pipes for gas pipe-lines. Lack of proper competition in such sectors of the market necessitates entry barriers, for they help to achieve a separa-ting equilibrium at the market. Since there are costs associated with creating a sepa-rating equilibrium, it is necessary to assess both costs and benefits of the pooling and separating equilibria
Inclusive and beneficial? Governance in global food value chains in Costa Rica

Global agri-food systems have undergone a rapid transformation towards closer vertical coordination and more stringent food quality and safety regulation. Contractual arrangements can provide farmers in developing countries with a safeguard and thus potentially support investments into farm-level upgrading and standard adoption. We use survey data from 171 pineapple growers in Costa Rica to analyze the determinants of contract choice and the dynamics of standard adoption. Furthermore, we evaluate the effects of different market arrangements on pineapple revenues, transaction risks and relational capital. Our analysis reveals that while contracts represent an important catalyst for farm-level upgrading, major transaction risks in the supply chain remain unsolved. In particular, farmers in formal contract schemes face high rejection rates and long payment delays, which is reflected in low levels of trust in the marketing relationship.
Design and characterization of a broadband termination resistance integrated in a generic photonic foundry platform

• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.
Substrate use in horses during exercise : the 'fasted' compared to the postprandial state

Training in the fasted state has beneficial effects on performance in the human athlete. In the horse, training in the fasted state is associated with an increased mobilization of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) as an energy source. This is in contrast with postprandial (grain-fed) training, during which lipolysis is suppressed. A higher NEFA availability is thought to reduce muscle glycogen depletion and muscle acidification. This could aid in delaying muscle fatigue. The equine gastrointestinal tract and roughage rich diet do not allow a real 'fasted' state. Luckily, roughage does not induce high plasma insulin peaks, and therefore does not have the same negative effects as grain feeding. Furthermore, the roughage-containing hindgut serves as a fluid and electrolyte buffer and continuously provides the liver with propionic acid, a precursor used in gluconeogenesis. In horses, unlike in human athletes, there is still a lot to discover when it comes to optimal pre-exercise feeding management throughout competition and training. However, whatever approach is chosen, high quality roughage needs to be the key ingredient of the equine diet. In sport horses with high energy demands, feeding good quality roughage may be combined with fibre rich concentrates, pelleted roughages sources or vegetal oil instead of starch rich concentrates to reach the energy requirements for intensive work. Last but not least, feeding multiple small meals throughout the day is preferred over feeding a larger meal twice a day.
High-Resolution Long-Term and Short-Term Earthquake Forecasts for California

We present two models for estimating the probabilities of future earth- quakes in California, to be tested in the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP). The first is a time-independent model of adaptively smoothed seismicity that we modified from Helmstetter et al. (2007). The model provides five- year forecasts for earthquakes with magnitudes M ≥ 4:95. We show that large earthquakes tend to occur near the locations of small M ≥ 2 events, so that a high- resolution estimate of the spatial distribution of future large quakes is obtained from the locations of the numerous small events. We further assume a universal Gutenberg- Richter magnitude distribution. In retrospective tests, we show that a Poisson distri- bution does not fit the observed rate variability, in contrast to assumptions in current earthquake predictability experiments. We therefore issued forecasts using a better- fitting negative binomial distribution for the number of events. The second model is a time-dependent epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model that we modified from Helmstetter et al. (2006) and that provides next-day forecasts for M ≥ 3:95. In this model, the forecasted rate is the sum of a background rate (propor- tional to the time-independent model rate) and of the expected rate of triggered events due to all prior earthquakes. Each earthquake triggers events with a rate that increases exponentially with its magnitude and decays in time according to the Omori-Utsu law. An isotropic kernel models the spatial density of aftershocks for small (M ≤ 5:5) events, while for larger quakes, we smooth early aftershocks to forecast later events. We estimate parameter values by optimizing retrospective forecasts and find that the short-term model realizes a probability gain of about 6.0 per earthquake over the time-independent model. Online Material: Identification of explosions and ETAS parameters.
Newly Adopted Corporate Governance Mechanism Impact On The Performance Of Public Japanese Overseas Acquirers

This Paper investigate the relationships between two of the main corporate governance components namely the Anti-Takeover Provisions (ATPs) as external component and Ownership Concentration as internal component and the short/long term performance of the Nikkei-listed Japanese cross-border acquirers during the last decade specifically from 2004 to the end of 2013. Market based metrics which is cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) were used to represent the short term performance and accounting based metric which is Return of Assets (ROA) were used to represent the long term performance. Based on 222 events, a quantitative method of events, study and regression analysis were employed to reveal the relationships. The study found a negative, weak and statistically not significant relationship between the ATPs and short/long term performance. The study also revealed that the relationship between ownership concentration and short/long term performance is almost negligible. These findings imply that the newly adopted corporate governance mechanism in Japan is still not as effective as in the other developed markets such as USA and might need more time to reap tangible results.
ECoS :

One of the most efficient ways of reducing household energy consumption is through an online feedback system, which helps users in reducing their household energy. There are several research and commercial products available, yet over-consumption issues are still prevalent. An important factor fueling these issues is rendering too many features or information in the online feedback system, which results in a decrease in use of those applications over time. This study aims to develop a userfriendly system with a minimal set of features that would help the residential users achieve maximum savings. The energy control system (ECoS) consists of three major features, i.e., (a) visualization of energy, (b) recommendation of energy saving decision to users, (c) remote appliance control through recommendations, with thirteen sub-features. Based on an analysis of energy savings and user preferences, we identified the top seven sub-features suitable to be in ECoS to help users save energy. In addition, this article also provides recommendations to energy providers on the list of features that they should include in their online application to help their users save a significant amount of energy.
A Broad-Side Coupled SRR Inspired CPW Fed Dual Band Antenna for WiMAX and Wave Applications

In present scenario, this paper intends to demonstrate the practicality of a miniaturized coplanar waveguide fed metamaterial inspired antenna that can be effectively operated at dual bands. A broad-side coupled Split Ring Resonator is used to obtain dual bands with an impedance bandwidth (−10 dB) of 840 MHz (3.00–3.84 GHz) and 310 MHz (5.94–6.25 GHz), which resonates at dual bands, viz., 3.42 GHz and 6.07 GHz. The impedance bandwidth (S11 < −10 dB) is 25% for the first band and 5.1% for the second band. The size of the antenna is 31×25×1.6 mm3 realized on a low-cost FR-4 Epoxy substrate. This antenna can be effectively utilized in worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) and wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE) applications. The prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated and measured. Simulated and measured results are in agreeing nature. Experimental and simulated analyses of the antenna including parametric and dispersion characteristics are dealt in this communication.
Response of hyporheic biofilm metabolism and community structure to nitrogen amendments

Biofilms growing on gravel surfaces representative of hyporheic sediments were exposed to inorganic nitrogen or amino acid additions in experimental systems to examine potential responses in bacterial growth, oxygen removal, extracellular enzyme activities and bacterial commu- nity structure. Additions of ammonium and a mixture of amino acids increased oxygen removal by >50% in small perfusion cores, with a stronger response to amino acids than equimolar NH4 addition. Some extracellular enzyme activities were affected by a significant increase in α - and β-glucosidase activities in amino acid relative to NH4 additions, while peptidase activities were only weakly affected by either NH4 or amino acid addition. Community structure assayed via RAPDs did not change in parallel with responses of metabolic variables, and there was no concordance between RAPD clusters and experimental treatment. In flow-through mesocosms mimicking hyporheic flow- paths, similar additions of NH4 and amino acids yielded significant differences in patterns of oxygen decline along the flowpaths. Differences in bacterial growth and extracellular enzyme activity were restricted to the sampling locations closest to the head of the flowpath (point of N injection) with a general convergence of values nearer the end of mesocosms. As for the perfusion core experiment, there was no concordance between metabolic and community structural response as measured by clustering of RAPD data. Nitrogen supply clearly altered biofilm metabolic activity but there was no parallel change in community structure. We suggest that the ability to acquire inorganic nitrogen or amino acid nitrogen is sufficiently distributed across bacterial taxa so that shifts in function do not necessarily require shifts in bacterial community structure.
Modeling of Coaxial Slot Waveguides Using Analytical and Numerical Approaches: Revisited

Our reviews of analytical methods and numerical methods for coaxial slot waveguides are presented. The theories, background, and physical principles related to frequency-domain electromagnetic equations for coaxial waveguides are reassessed. Comparisons of the accuracies of various types of admittance and impedance equations and numerical simulations are made, and the fringing field at the aperture sensor, which is represented by the lumped capacitance circuit, is evaluated. The accuracy and limitations of the analytical equations are explained in detail. The reasons for the replacement of analytical methods by numerical methods are outlined.
Optimization of s-Polarization Sensitivity in Apertureless Near-Field Optical Microscopy

It is a general belief in apertureless near-field microscopy that the so-called p-polarization configuration, where the incident light is polarized parallel to the axis of the probe, is advantageous to its counterpart, the s-polarization configuration, where the incident light is polarized perpendicular to the probe axis. While this is true for most samples under common near-field experimental conditions, there are samples which respond better to the s-polarization configuration due to their orientations. Indeed, there have been several reports that have discussed such samples. This leads us to an important requirement that the near-field experimental setup should be equipped with proper sensitivity for measurements with s-polarization configuration. This requires not only creation of effective s-polarized illumination at the near-field probe, but also proper enhancement of s-polarized light by the probe. In this paper, we have examined the s-polarization enhancement sensitivity of near-field probes by measuring and evaluating the near-field Rayleigh scattering images constructed by a variety of probes. We found that the s-polarization enhancement sensitivity strongly depends on the sharpness of the apex of near-field probes. We have discussed the efficient value of probe sharpness by considering a balance between the enhancement and the spatial resolution, both of which are essential requirements of apertureless near-field microscopy.
The Role of Shared Governance in Institutional Hard Decisions: Enabler or Antagonist?

The discussion on institutional governance and change is muddled by those interested in carving out a strong role for faculty (AAUP) or for administrators and trustees (AGB). This study explores empirically the ability of shared governance systems to make institutional hard decisions--in this instance, to discontinue academic programs. The four cases suggest that shared governance can be productive in making difficult decisions. The paper also offers suggestions for effective campus governance.
LABOR MARKET FLEXIBILITY, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN MALAYSIA

During the last two decades, foreign direct investment (FDI) has developed far more rapidly than international trade. The main contribution of FDI to host countries is inward flows of capital and technology that enhance innovation thereby potentially improving economic growth. The inflows of FDI will be depending on favorable location factors at host country like labor market condition. The labor markets at host countries play an important role to adapt the inflows from FDI. Host country with low levels of employment protection and flexible of labor market are commonly perceived to provide an environment conducive to investment. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of labor market flexibility in mediating the impact of FDI on economic growth in Malaysia. This study employs Autoregressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) method proposed by Pesaran et al. (2001) on a comprehensive sample period from 1980 to 2010. The data for labor market flexibility based on the labor market regulation in Fraser index, growth based on gross domestic product (GDP) and FDI based on the inflows of foreign direct investment. In line with previous literature this paper finds that labor market flexibility has a positive impact on the volume of FDI at the same time enhance economic growth in Malaysia.
Evaluation of Effect of Potassium Solubilizing Microbial Strains on Brinjal

The potassium is made available to plants when the minerals are slowly weathered or solubilized (Bertsch et al., 1985). In general, black soils are high, red soils medium and lateritic soils less in available K. Lateritic, shallow red and black soils have been found to show decline in K fertility over the years under intensive cultivation and imbalanced fertilizer application. Soil microorganisms are supportive in the transformation of soil potassium (K) and are thus an important component of the soil K cycle. Major amounts of K containing minerals (muscovite, orthoclase, biotite, feldspar, illite, mica) are present in the soil as a fixed form which is not directly taken up by the plant (Bahadur et al., 2014). The needs of K in plants are usually obtained through fertilizer application. However, such effort became inefficient because K is easily leached by water in the soil in high rainfall zones and get fixed in soil in clayey soils, so that K becomes unavailable for plants. The inefficiency of P and K fertilizer can be solved by using Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) and Potassium Solubilizing Bacteria (KSB), as biological fertilizer. Earlier in this century, scientists found that different bacterial species like International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 11 (2017) pp. 34-40 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Molecular characterization of hallikar breed of cattle using microsatellite markers

Molecular characterization of Hallikar, the native cattle breed of Karnataka, was undertaken using 19 cattle specific, highly polymorphic microsatellite markers recommended by FAO. The genomic DNA was subjected to PCR amplification and alleles were resolved through six per cent denaturing PAGE with a 10 bp DNA ladder followed by silver staining. Genotyping of animals was done based on allele size. The number of alleles ranged from three to nine with allele sizes ranging from 102 bp to 294 bp. These alleles were distributed in the frequency range between 0.0306 and 0.8673 in the population. The mean observed number of alleles was 6.368±1.4225. The mean observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.7515±0.1734 and 0.7850±0.1381, respectively. The high heterozygosity observed implies presence of higher genetic variability within Hallikar breed. The PIC (Polymorphism Information Content) values ranged from 0.2322 (ETH152) to 0.8654 (ETH225). The percentage of polymorphic loci obtained was 100 as all the 19 microsatellite markers were found to be polymorphic. Except for ETH152, all the other loci had high PIC values, indicating that these markers are highly informative for characterization of Hallikar breed. The population was tested for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium at 19 microsatellite loci, and at 74 per cent of the loci the population was found to be in disequilibrium.
A Model of Bank Capital, Lending and the Macroeconomy: Basel I Versus Basel Ii

The revised framework for capital regulation of internationally active banks (known as Basel II) introduces risk-based capital requirements. This paper analyses the relationship between bank capital, lending and macroeconomic activity under the new capital adequacy regime. It extends a model of the bank-capital channel of monetary policy - developed by Chami and Cosimano - by introducing capital constraints a la Basel II. The results suggest that bank capital is likely to be less variable under the new capital adequacy regime than under the current one, which is characterised by invariant asset risk-weights. However, bank lending is likely to be more responsive to macroeconomic shocks.