Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INFLUENCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS ON SUSTAINABILITY OF DONOR FUNDED HEALTH PROJECTS AMONG NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN NAIROBI COUNTY

: Sustainability is a challenging aspect in project management, especially in developing countries. Millions of dollars in form of donor funds are wasted in expenditure on projects whose outcomes are no longer felt once donor funds are ceased. This study aims to determine the influence of project management process on the sustainability of donor funded health projects among NGOs in Nairobi County. The influence of Stakeholders participation was used to assess sustainability of donor funded health projects among NGOs. Adopting an extensive review of primary sources of data relevant to the projects the study adopted resource based and stakeholders’ theories. The study focused on health projects implemented between the years 2013 and 2017 and the researcher used descriptive survey design. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. The target population was all project managers working in the 379 NGOs implementing health projects in Nairobi County. Simple random sampling method was used to sample 195 project managers in NGOS implementing donor funded health projects in Nairobi County. Data collection tools were piloted among NGOs that were implementing health projects in Nairobi County but were not part of the sample population. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to measure the relationship between project management process and project sustainability. The regression analysis yielded a coefficient of R value of 0.688 a and R2 =0.474. Similarly the overall model showed a statistically significant influence of stakeholder participation on project sustainability (p< 0.001). Having achieved the objective, the study rejected the null hypothesis and accepted the alternate hypothesis that stakeholder participation has a significant influence on sustainability of donor funded NGO projects in Nairobi County.
People and Wildlife: The impact of human–wildlife conflict on human lives and livelihoods

INTRODUCTION Human populations interact with wildlife in numerous ways. Our species has directly exploited wild animals for food and furs for millennia and more recently for sporting or cultural reasons. Humans have greatly modified habitats and landscapes through agriculture and other extractive industries with far-reaching and typically negative impacts on wildlife populations. We have also translocated species around the globe, either deliberately or accidentally, with major consequences for native fauna. From the human perspective, our interactions with wildlife are often positive – we gain material benefit from harvesting species for food or other animal products. In other situations, however, human interactions with wildlife are negative. Wild animals may eat our livestock and damage our crops, they may compete with us as hunters for wild prey populations, and they may even injure or kill us. In the previous chapter, we outlined the negative consequences for wildlife that come into conflict with people, focussing on the global and local extirpations and range contractions suffered by a variety of predators and crop-raiders. Here in this second scene-setting chapter, we summarize the negative impacts of threatened wildlife on people. Focussing again on predators and crop-raiders we assess the costs to stakeholders of living with wildlife. We focus on the direct costs to stakeholders of living with wildlife such as loss of human life, livestock, wildlife resources and crops and try to calculate these in financial terms.
The role of forest stream corridor characteristics in influencing stream and riparian ecology

This PhD thesis seeks to consider conifer forestry stream corridor design in relation to both in-stream and riparian zone biodiversity and functioning. The contribution, availability and source of basal resources within varying corridor conditions are the focus of this project. This approach is combined with surveys of community diversity on a number of key trophic scales in order to determine how the corridor characteristics and their associated resource availability, affects community structure. The effects of varying design and management of the riparian buffer zones within afforested stream systems on in-stream and overall habitat diversity and functioning remains largely unknown. Although guidelines have been implemented for several years (Forest and Water Guidelines, Forestry Commission), recommendations, although based on sound assumptions, are subjective assessments and tend not based on scientific research or data. As such, the premise of this project is to consider a variety of corridor physical parameters adjacent to low-order streams within two afforested catchments in South-West Scotland, between 2003 and 2005, in order to contribute to the understanding of system functioning within the limitations of forestry land-use and management. A number of different approaches were employed in order to define the proportional contributions of allochthonous and autochthonous material within the benthos of the stream systems. This was done in order to define resource availability, biofilm characteristics, stream functioning and the role of corridor design in influencing resource availability. Yet, despite significant autochthonous productivity, allochthonous organic matter was the primary resource utilised by many taxa. However, conversely, light regime was found to be fundamental in shaping production and community structure within these ecosystems. Consequently, here I explore a number of different trophic scale responses to riparian conditions in order to define the biotic responses to variation of resource availability, with the aim of contributing information which may aid in design and management of afforested riparian zones.
Vision Based Autonomous Robot Navigation: Motion Segmentation,

The ability to acquire and respond appropriately to targets or obstacles, moving or stationary, while underway, is critical for all unmanned mobile robot applications. This is achieved by most animate systems, but has proven difficult for artificial systems. We propose that efficient and extensible solutions to the target acquisition, discrimination and maintenance problem may be found when the machine sensor-effector control algorithms emulate the mechanisms employed by biological systems. In nature, visual motion provides the basis for these functions. Because visual motion can be due either to target motion or to platform motion, a method of motion segmentation must be found. We present a solution to this problem that emulates natural strategies, and describe its implementation in an autonomous visually controlled mobile robot. The Problem of Motion Segmentation Motion segmentation is used here as the process of identifying the 3-D spatial location of a unique source of motion from the optic flows created by one or more independently moving objects in the visual field. Motion segmentation is a greater problem than identifying and localizing a source of motion because the observer himself may also be moving in a complex visual space causing all other objects, whether stationary or moving, to contribute to the optic flow though induced motion. Consider a person driving his car down a busy street. In the course of driving, the driver uses saccades to select targets upon which to fix his gaze, and pursuit eye movements to hold his gaze upon his selected target. These targets may be other moving cars, pedestrians, billboards or other objects resting on the ground. While the relative target motion is minimized by the fixation mechanisms, images of the objects in the foreground and background relative to the target will continue to contribute to the optic flow on his retina during target fixation due to the motion of the car as well as to the pursuit eye movements. This flow can be non-uniform in direction as well as speed, depending upon the distance to the objects and their position with respect to the target and the relative direction of gaze with respect to the direction of travel of the car. Still, new targets are quickly noticed in the driver’s peripheral vision, especially if they are moving independently of their surround. The mechanism that draws attention to these new targets is the focus of our interest in motion segmentation. Studies of eye movements of drivers have shown that unusual motion is a strong attractor of attention (Thomas, 1969). For example, a car that takes off from the parked position is irresistible, so is a blinking light, like a turn indicator, or a bouncing ball that appears across the traffic. While the driver most often notices objects that are themselves moving, motion in itself is inadequate to
Il prodotto delle regioni e il divario Nord-Sud in Italia (1861-2004)

The article presents the yearly series of Italian regional per capita product in the period 1891-2004. An estimate is also provided of the product in the North and South from 1861 until today. The following periods are singled out in the series of product: 1861-1913: formation of regional disparities with the start of modern growth; 1920-39: deepening of disparities among regions and especially between North and South; 1951-73: decline in disparities; 1974-2004: new deepening of North-South disparities, with some decline in the last years. The role of labour productivity and employment in the unequal growth of North and South is discussed in the end.
Compétition entre différents scénario de transition à la turbulence dans une couche limite en rotation

La transition dans une couche limite en rotation est etudiee par voie de DNS spectrale. Cet ecoulement abrite des modes d'instabilite convectifs et une instabilite absolue, susceptible d'ouvrir une route directe vers la turbulence. Mais cette voie depend du resultat de la competition entre les effets d'inhomogeneite spatiale, stabilisant, et les effets non-lineaires, destabilisant. De plus, les modes convectifs peuvent inhiber la route directe, et conduire a une autre voie de transition.
PROGRAM EVALUATION OF A CENTRAL LINE-ASSOCIATED BLOODSTREAM INFECTION PREVENTION PROGRAM IN THE ICU

Purpose: This project aims to perform a summative program evaluation to determine the effectiveness of a quality improvement program at reducing central line-associated bloodstream infections. The quality improvement program used an audit tool to assess compliance with a central line bundle at HonorHealth Shea ICU. During this evaluation, the goal was to assess how an audit tool impacts central line infections via standardized infection ratios. Background: Central line-associated bloodstream infections are the most frequently acquired hospital blood infections, with 87% of blood infections occurring in patients with a central line. Specifically, in the intensive care unit, 30,000 infections occur each year. Central line infections increase mortality rates by 12-25% and cost around $45,000 per patient. These infections are tracked using standardized infection ratios. Central line bundles and audit tools that assess compliance have been shown to be successful at reducing infections. Therefore, the hospital implemented an audit tool to reduce central line infections. Methods: This project is a summative program evaluation of a quality improvement program. The purpose was to compare central line standardized infection ratios before and after implementation of an audit tool, identify the total number of central line device days and identify the number of audit tools completed. This was to determine the effectiveness of the quality improvement program and if it successfully changed the organization's safety culture. Results: During the pre-implementation period, there were nine central line infections per 2,245 central line days. This was determined to be a standardized infection ratio of 3.553. During the post-implementation period, there were five infections per 2,643 central line days. This is a
Internal Electric Fields in Asymmetric Single-layer Lattices for Enhancing Photocatalytic Solar-to-Hydrogen E�ciency

Two-dimensional materials with intrinsic internal electric �eld possess promising potential to improve the photocatalytic water-splitting performance. However, the construction of the internal electric �eld is still a great challenge, which requires that the material itself should exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking with intrinsic polarization. Herein, we propose using a general intercalation approach to introduce spontaneous polarization electric �eld into single-layer lattice by constructing the spatially asymmetric con�gurations. Taking septuple-atomic-layer MoSi 2 N 4 as a model material, following the above design principle, four promising MSi 2 N 3 Y (M= Mo, W; Y=P, As) monolayers are theoretically identi�ed, exhibiting excellent stabilities, suitabilities and low reaction barriers for overall water splitting. Importantly, the intrinsic internal electric �eld of MoSi 2 N 3 Y promotes the charge-carrier separation and improves the light absorption capacity simultaneously, thus enabling the high solar-to-hydrogen e�ciency of 29.84% −32.93%. This study opens up an avenue to rationally engineer the internal electric �eld and contributes to enhance the photocatalytic e�ciency.
Evidence for early warming and cooling in North Atlantic surface waters during the last interglacial

In-depth analysis of planktic foraminiferal census data paired with δ18O records of specific indicator species provides new insight into the surface ocean evolution of the northeast Atlantic during the previous interglacial warm period (oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 5e). Full interglacial conditions existed at the study site for a maximum of only 8 kyr, between 125 and 117 ka. Highest sea surface temperatures (SSTs) occurred during early OIS 5e concomitant with high summer insolation but after the main phase of ice sheet melting of the preceding glaciation (Saalian). This early peak SST interval is marked by the appearance of tropical-subtropical species and lasted for 4 kyr until 121 ka, as corroborated by a major change in planktic δ18O. Relative stability in global ice volume continued for another 3–4 kyr before SSTs dropped further toward the next stadial. During early OIS 5e the situation of the surface water vertical structure appears to have been different from the early Holocene. For OIS 5e it is therefore suggested that the particular melting history of late Saalian ice had a long-lasting and profound effect on both postdeglacial surface water mass configuration in the North Atlantic and heat-moisture transfer into Europe.
The potential of large woody debris to alter biogeochemical processes and ecosystem services in lowland rivers

River restoration and management practice promotes the (re)introduction of large woody debris (LWD) to support ecosystem services in lowland streams, such as the buffering of thermal extremes or enhanced nutrient attenuation. However, influences of LWD on spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of groundwater–surface water exchange fluxes, sediment transport and deposition, biogeochemical cycling, thermal patterns, and ecohydrological process dynamics are not yet fully understood.
A Channel Network Evolution Model with Subsurface Saturation Mechanism and Analysis of the Chaotic Behavior of the Model

Abstract : Hydrologists have always been interested in the geomorphologic aspects of catchments and river networks. An understanding of the relationships between basins shapes and hydrolic responses is fundamental for the purpose of hydrolic predictions, especially in ungaged basins. In the first part of this work the overload flow production mechanism used in the Willgoose-Bras- Rodriguez-Iturbe channel network and catchment evolution model was modified from the Hortonian to the subsurface saturation runoff mechanism. Two important differences were found in the behavior of the new model; one was in the evolution of the hypsometric curves of the catchment; the second was in the importance of mass movement (e.g. creep and landsliding) sediment transport in the overall behavior of the system. A new nondimensional numbers belonging to the original model. Common geomorphological statistics were measured on the simulated catchments and found to be similar to field data. the second part of this work examines the sensitivity to initial conditions present in the WBR model. Using an appropriate measure between elevation fields, the evolution of different catchments was examined. Exponential separation in phase space between trajectories of the system was found in a variety of tests. This exponential separation is the reason for the apparent randomness present in the evolution of the model. The influence of different parameters of the model on this exponential separation was also examined.
Buried Impact Basins as Constraints on the Thickness of Ridged Plains and Northern Lowland Plains on Mars

The northern lowland plains average 1-2 km but locally vary from less than 0.5 to likely over 5 km in thickness. In Lunae Planum the total thickness of materials overlying likely present but not detectable 100 to 200 km wide craters is 2-3 km. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Research Article: GPI Island Style: Localizing the Genuine Progress Indicator to Hawaii

Applying the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) to an island setting offers insight into whether and how standardization of subnational GPI models can adequately capture important local conditions and inform local policy. We argue in favor of localization and against scaling down national data and transferring valuation studies to Hawaii because of the state's unique setting. To localize GPI to our context, we suggest (a) omitting some indicators that are not applicable to Hawaii; (b) expanding and discretizing the list of indicators to other important economic, environmental, and social changes; and (c) amending existing indicators to better reflect their contribution to Hawaii's welfare. This would involve (a) improving local data on economic, social, and environmental changes; (b) building new indicators through a participatory process; and (c) conducting local valuation studies that accurately reflect the social value of the changes.
Identifying the Controls Over Downstream Fining of River Gravels

ABSTRACT A wide range of rates of downstream fining in gravel-bed rivers has been reported. As a consequence, explanations of the phenomenon range from those that consider only abrasion to others that consider only selective sediment transport. This apparent confusion results in part from inconsistent definitions of downstream fining. Analysis of results from a small gravel-bed stream is used to show how the method of sediment sampling and the percentile used to characterize fining rates can affect the results. When fining is adequately defined, a theoretical relationship between fining rate and drainage- basin area is derived from established alluvial-fan relations. This relationship is remarkably consistent with a range of studies by numerous authors using often different methods. Such results suggest that fining is achieved through the mechanism of selective transport but that the overall control on fining patterns is the volume of sediment supplied from within the drainage basin. As such, the rate of size decline in sedimentary deposits such as river terraces has the potential to be used to infer past changes in climate, tectonics, and/or relative base level. Models of this are presented, and these are shown to be broadly consistent with observations made in an ancient sandstone body. Full use of changing rates of fining as paleo-environmental indicators requires further work on the rate of adjustment of fining profiles with respect to the rates of change in the forcing environmental conditions.
Detection of changes in flow variability of the upper Danube between 1876-2006

It is widely acknowledged that global warming will result in an increased extremality of hydrological phenomena. As for streamflow it is anticipated that duration of low-flow conditions and flood frequency will both increase. Approving this hypothesis by statistically evaluating daily runoff characteristics depends on the availability of long and homogeneous data series. The aim of this paper is to analyze the change of the average daily flows of the Danube at Bratislava for different subsets of the period 1876-2006. The statistical tests did not reveal any increase in the extremality of daily runoff over the period 1876-2006. On the contrary, variability of daily flows of the Danube River decreases. Over the last 30 years streamflows increased in the winter-spring season and decreased in the summertime, compared to the past periods. This can be explained by the higher air temperature in the headwaters. A warmer climate causes an earlier onset of snowmelt in the winter-spring season, thus less runoff is observed in the summer with higher rates of precipitation.
Influence of capillary conductivity and depth of wetting on moisture retention in soil

The storage of moisture in soil in the field is discussed and explained in terms of the dynamic moisture-transmitting properties of the soil. Published data on capillary conductivity (unsaturated permeability) are summarized and additional new data for six soils are presented, along with a new pressure-type apparatus for measuring capillary conductivity. After a deep permeable soil is wetted in the field, the moisture content soon reduces to a value referred to as field capacity which thereafter changes relatively slowly with time. This field-capacity condition apparently corresponds to the moisture content and moisture tension at which the capillary conductivity of the soil becomes small. Changes thereafter depend on the hydraulic gradient and the low residual values for the conductivity. These, of course, depend on the moisture distribution in the whole profile. A laboratory procedure sometimes used for estimating field capacity consists in measuring the moisture content of a mass of soil that has been wetted and allowed to stand a specified time in contact with dry soil. The dependence of this method on the depth of wetting is illustrated by laboratory tests on three soils and the explanation for this dependence appears to lie in the fact that the capillary conductivity of soils remains appreciable over a considerable range of moisture content below field capacity.
Différenciation verticale et structure du marché

In this paper, we review the literature on vertical product differentiation in connection with its impact on market structure. Two types of vertical differentiation are identified according to whether consumer unanimity over product ranking is maintained at prices reflecting average cost increments necessary to produce higher qualities. If this is the case, the finiteness property prevents market fragmentation by imposing an upper bound on the number of firms even when the fixed cost approaches zero. This situation yields absolute product differentiation advantages to the high quality producers. We focus on the implications of quality choices on entry barriers and market structure under two different assumptions on the nature of the fixed cost. Research on multiproduct firms is also reviewed. L’objectif de ce travail est de faire un survol des progres recents sur la structure des marches ou se retrouvent plusieurs qualites du meme produit. L’accent est mis sur les cas ou les consommateurs demeurent unanimes quant au classement des produits, si ces derniers sont offerts a des prix refletant les augmentations du cout moyen necessaires pour l’amelioration de leur qualite. Les considerations strategiques du choix des qualites sous des hypotheses alternatives, quant a la nature du cout fixe ainsi qu’en presence de firmes a plusieurs produits, sont aussi examinees.