Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Market participation and sale of potatoes by smallholder farmers in the central highlands of Angola: A Double Hurdle approach

This paper uses a double hurdle regression analysis to estimate the factors influencing marketing decisions among potato growers in the central highlands of Angola, focusing on gender of household head, productive asset ownership and transaction costs. Although the results suggest that the quantity produced is exogenous in the models for market participation and for quantity sold, the methodology used provides a framework for others to follow when endogeneity is suspected in one or more variables. The wealth analysis suggests that potato growers, potato sellers and male heads were richer than their counterparts. The linear regression results on quantity produced suggest that female-headed households produced less than their male counterparts, owning productive assets or having access to public assets had no statistical effect on production, and that farmers who used fertilizer produced more than farmers who didn’t apply fertilizer to their fields. The double hurdle regression results suggest that (1) male-headed households were more likely to sell potatoes, (2) owning productive assets and having access to government extension services, conditional on market participation, positively affected the quantity sold, (3) transaction costs, conditional on market participation, negatively affected the quantity sold, and (4) quantity produced was a marginally significant positive factor on both the likelihood of selling potatoes and the quantity sold. In contrast, the unconditional average partial effects suggest that, (1) potato sales were gender neutral, (2) owning productive assets had no statistical effect on quantity sold, (3) transaction costs negatively affected the quantity sold, and (4) having access to extension services and the quantity produced both positively affected the quantity sold. Thus, to boost sales, investments may be needed to promote farmer participation in organizations and/or establish farmer organizations in villages without them, increase farmers’ access to extension services, invest in infrastructure, and help farmers increase their production.
Human Trafficking in Domestic Work in the EU: A Special Case or a Learning Ground for the Anti-Trafficking Field?

The field of study on trafficking in human beings (THB) has developed greatly since the adoption of the Palermo Protocol 15 years ago. It has gone through important shifts, one of which being greater attention toward forms of trafficking other than sexual exploitation, notably for forced labor and services. Yet, the expansion of the anti-trafficking field also faces new challenges and gaps in knowledge. One of the emerging areas that has gained interest and that needs further research is that of THB in domestic work (MIGS, 2015). This Special Issue precisely examines this phenomenon in six European countries: Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. Contributions to this issue examine cases of severe exploitation in domestic work, analyze the conditions that are prone to exploitation, and explore why such situations of trafficking are not identified and prevented. It is timely to look at trafficking in the context of care and domestic work, not only because this area has been largely understudied, but also because in this context the private realm of interpersonal relations—a domain that has remained largely unexplored in the trafficking field of studies—are of fundamental importance. Domestic work is a perfect example of how gaps in policies (labor, immigration, welfare), social values and norms, and the relational dimension interplay in situations of trafficking. This is the point of departure, the premise, of this Special Issue. Given the peculiar nature of domestic work—being performed in private households and being at the junction of labor market and family—looking at trafficking in this context can contribute to advancing further the understanding of THB. Domestic work presents multifaceted challenges that speak to and inform a better understanding of the various areas and forms of trafficking.
The influence of sensory marketing: a study of atmospheric factors and consumer response

This paper focuses on the sensory marketing that wants to be a marketing tool which influences the mood and consumer behavior. The consumer is not looking only for buying a product or a service alone, but he is seeking an emotional and unique experience around what he buys. In line with previous studies, our survey study reveals how consumers evaluated the atmosphere of restaurants through the cognitive and emotional reactions. A synergy makes the internal response (cognitive and/or emotional) of the customer-facing the stimuli of the atmosphere, superposition of the five senses (hears, sight, taste, touch, smell). According to our survey results, this research highlights the importance of recognizing that the stimuli of the atmosphere of the point of sales influence directly the emotional (feel more pleasure) and cognitive (perceive a better quality) responses of the customer through the experience of the sensory marketing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/cbme.2017. 109
An optical time delay for the double gravitational lens system FBQ 0951+2635

We present optical R -band light curves of the double gravitationally lensed quasar FBQ 0951+2635 from observations obtained at the Nordic Optical Telescope between March 1999 and June 2001. A time delay of $\Delta \tau = 16$ ± 2 days (1 σ ) is determined from the light curves. New constraints on the lensing geometry are provided by the position and ellipticity of the lensing galaxy. For a $(\Omega_{{\rm m}}, \Omega_{\Lambda})= (0.3, 0.7)$ cosmology, the time delay yields a Hubble parameter of $H_0 = 60^{+9}_{-7}$ (random, $1 \sigma$) $\pm 2$ (systematic) km s -1 Mpc -1 for a singular isothermal ellipsoid model and $H_0 = 63^{+9}_{-7}$ (random, $1 \sigma$) $\pm 1$ (systematic) km s -1 Mpc -1 for a constant mass-to-light ratio model. In both models, the errors are mainly due to the time-delay uncertainties. Non-parametric models yield $H_0 = 64^{+9}_{-7}$ (random, $1 \sigma$) $\pm 14$ (systematic) km s -1 Mpc -1 .
Racism and Race Mixture in Latin America

This essay reviews the following works: Rethinking Race in Modern Argentina. Edited by Paulina Alberto and Eduardo Elena. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Pp. xviii + 373. $120.00 cloth. ISBN: 9781107107632. Reimagining Black Difference and Politics in Brazil: From Racial Democracy to Multiculturalism.By Alexandre Emboaba Da Costa. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Pp. vii + 233. $105.00 cloth. ISBN: 9781137386335. Racial Subordination in Latin America: The Role of the State, Customary Law, and the New Civil Rights Response. By Tanya Kateri Hernandez. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Pp. vii + 247. $35.99 paper. ISBN: 9781107695436. The Color of Love: Racial Features, Stigma, and Socialization in Black Brazilian Families.By Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015. Pp. ix + 311. $29.95 paper. ISBN: 9781477307885. Blackness in the Andes: Ethnographic Vignettes of Cultural Politics in the Time of Multiculturalism. By Jean Muteba Rahier. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Pp. ix + 243. $110.00 cloth. ISBN: 9781137272713. Land of the Cosmic Race: Race Mixture, Racism, and Blackness in Mexico. By Christina A. Sue. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. ix + 234. $24.95 paper. ISBN: 9780199925506. Pigmentocracies: Ethnicity, Race, and Color in Latin America. By Edward Telles and the Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. Pp. xiii + 320. $29.95 paper. ISBN: 9781469617831.
The Pattern and Valuation Effects of Corporate Diversification: A Comparison of the United States, Japan, and other East Asian Economies

We document that firms in eight East Asian countries and Japan diversify into more segments and engage into more related businesses─as measured by the degree of vertical relatedness and complementarity─than firms in the USA. Using data for the 1990-6 period, we observe a trend towards complementary diversification in the United States and the eight East Asian countries, and a trend towards more vertical integration in Japan. The increase in relatedness for US firms is due to the divestiture of unrelated assets. In contrast, the increase in relatedness for firms in Japan and East Asia is due to expansion into related businesses. We also document the valuation effects of the diversification level, vertical relatedness and complementarity. We observe that diversification hurts the valuation of East Asian firms less than the valuation of firms in the Unites States and Japan. However, vertical diversification hurts the valuation of companies in East Asian more than the valuation of USA and Japanese firms. Complementary diversification is not detrimental to corporate value, and even enhances value in the USA, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.
Parsing a Natural Language Using Mutual Information Statistics

The purpose of this paper is to characterize a constituent boundary parsing algorithm, using an information-theoretic measure called generalized mutual information, which serves as an alternative to traditional grammar-based parsing methods. This method is based on the hypothesis that constituent boundaries can be extracted from a given sentence (or word sequence) by analyzing the mutual information values of the part of speech n-grams within the sentence. This hypothesis is supported by the performance of an implementation of this parsing algorithm which determines a recursive unlabeled bracketing of unrestricted English text with a relatively low error rate. This paper derives the generalized mutual information statistic, describes the parsing algorithm, and presents results and sample output from the parser.
Results of the Predictors of Response to CRT (PROSPECT) Trial

Background— Data from single-center studies suggest that echocardiographic parameters of mechanical dyssynchrony may improve patient selection for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). In a prospective, multicenter setting, the Predictors of Response to CRT (PROSPECT) study tested the performance of these parameters to predict CRT response. Methods and Results— Fifty-three centers in Europe, Hong Kong, and the United States enrolled 498 patients with standard CRT indications (New York Heart Association class III or IV heart failure, left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35%, QRS ≥130 ms, stable medical regimen). Twelve echocardiographic parameters of dyssynchrony, based on both conventional and tissue Doppler–based methods, were evaluated after site training in acquisition methods and blinded core laboratory analysis. Indicators of positive CRT response were improved clinical composite score and ≥15% reduction in left ventricular end-systolic volume at 6 months. Clinical composite score was improved in 69% of 426 patients, whereas left ventricular end-systolic volume decreased ≥15% in 56% of 286 patients with paired data. The ability of the 12 echocardiographic parameters to predict clinical composite score response varied widely, with sensitivity ranging from 6% to 74% and specificity ranging from 35% to 91%; for predicting left ventricular end-systolic volume response, sensitivity ranged from 9% to 77% and specificity from 31% to 93%. For all the parameters, the area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve for positive clinical or volume response to CRT was ≤0.62. There was large variability in the analysis of the dyssynchrony parameters. Conclusion— Given the modest sensitivity and specificity in this multicenter setting despite training and central analysis, no single echocardiographic measure of dyssynchrony may be recommended to improve patient selection for CRT beyond current guidelines. Efforts aimed at reducing variability arising from technical and interpretative factors may improve the predictive power of these echocardiographic parameters in a broad clinical setting.
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Systematic Comparative Methods

During the past two decades, a set of systematic comparative case analysis techniques has been developing at a steady pace. During the last few years especially, the main initial technique, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), has been complemented by other related methods and techniques. The purpose of this article is to critically assess some main recent developments in this field. QCA and connected methods can be considered at two levels: as a research strategy and as a set of concrete techniques. The author first argues that such a strategy displays some decisive advantages in social science research, especially in small-and intermediate-N research designs. Second, QCA as well as three other related techniques, namely multi-value QCA (MVQCA), fuzzy sets and MSDO/MDSO, are presented in brief, and some current debates with regard to these techniques are also summarized. In the third section, the article surveys recent contributions and ongoing efforts that have provided some advances in the application of these techniques, around five key issues: case selection and model specification; measurement, dichotomization and linkage with theory; contradictions and non-observed cases; the time and process dimension; and the confrontation or combination with other methods. Finally, the article discuss the potential for further development of these methods in social science research broadly defined.
Two Classifiers Based on Serum Peptide Pattern for Prediction of HBV-Induced Liver Cirrhosis Using MALDI-TOF MS

Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is associated with the majority of cases of liver cirrhosis (LC) in China. Although liver biopsy is the reference method for evaluation of cirrhosis, it is an invasive procedure with inherent risk. The aim of this study is to discover novel noninvasive specific serum biomarkers for the diagnosis of HBV-induced LC. We performed bead fractionation/MALDI-TOF MS analysis on sera from patients with LC. Thirteen feature peaks which had optimal discriminatory performance were obtained by using support-vector-machine-(SVM-) based strategy. Based on the previous results, five supervised machine learning methods were employed to construct classifiers that discriminated proteomic spectra of patients with HBV-induced LC from those of controls. Here, we describe two novel methods for prediction of HBV-induced LC, termed LC-NB and LC-MLP, respectively. We obtained a sensitivity of 90.9%, a specificity of 94.9%, and overall accuracy of 93.8% on an independent test set. Comparisons with the existing methods showed that LC-NB and LC-MLP held better accuracy. Our study suggests that potential serum biomarkers can be determined for discriminating LC and non-LC cohorts by using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. These two classifiers could be used for clinical practice in HBV-induced LC assessment.
A PRM-based motion planner for dynamically changing environments

This paper presents a path planner for robots operating in dynamically changing environments with both static and moving obstacles. The proposed planner is based on probabilistic path planning techniques and it combines techniques originally designed for solving multiple-query and single-query problems. The planner first starts with a preprocessing stage that constructs a roadmap of valid paths with respect to the static obstacles. It then uses lazy-evaluation mechanisms combined with a single-query technique as local planner in order to rapidly update the roadmap according to the dynamic changes. This allows to answer queries quickly when the moving obstacles have little impact on the free-space connectivity. When the solution can not be found in the updated roadmap, the planner initiates a reinforcement stage that possibly results into the creation of cycles representing alternative paths that were not already stored in the roadmap. Simulation results show that this combination of techniques yields to efficient global planner capable of solving with a real-time performance problems in geometrically complex environments with moving obstacles.
Joint analysis of differential gene expression in multiple studies using correlation motifs

The standard methods for detecting differential gene expression are mostly designed for analyzing a single gene expression experiment. When data from multiple related gene expression studies are available, separately analyzing each study is not ideal as it may fail to detect important genes with consistent but relatively weak differential signals in multiple studies. Jointly modeling all data allows one to borrow information across studies to improve the analysis. However, a simple concordance model, in which each gene is assumed to be differential in either all studies or none of the studies, is incapable of handling genes with study-specific differential expression. In contrast, a model that naively enumerates and analyzes all possible differential patterns across studies can deal with study-specificity and allow information pooling, but the complexity of its parameter space grows exponentially as the number of studies increases. Here, we propose a correlation motif approach to address this dilemma. This approach searches for a small number of latent probability vectors called correlation motifs to capture the major correlation patterns among multiple studies. The motifs provide the basis for sharing information among studies and genes. The approach has flexibility to handle all possible study-specific differential patterns. It improves detection of differential expression and overcomes the barrier of exponential model complexity.
Development and Validation of the Perception of Distributed Effort in Team Sports Questionnaire (DETSQ)

Underpinned by the team cognition perspective, we present the Perception of Distributed Effort in Team Sports Questionnaire (DETSQ). To examine the multidimensional conceptualization of perceived distributed effort in team sports (Beniscelli, Tenenbaum, Schinke, & Torregrosa, 2014), we conducted three studies aimed at developing the DETSQ. In Study 1, we generated items and obtained evidence of content and substantive validity. Consistent with the conceptual framework, we selected the items to reflect three forms of perceived effort: physical, psychological, and tactical. In Study 2, we ran a series of exploratory structural equation models (SEMs)to refine the DETSQ internal structure using the responses from 257 team sport athletes. The result was a 13-item, 3-factor model. In Study 3, we further examined the internal validity of the questionnaire, along with its reliability; measurement invariance across gender, age, and competitive level; and the convergent and consequential aspects of construct validity. The analyses provided evidence to support the psychometric properties of the DETSQ. The discussion focuses on the implication of the DETSQ for processes involving team cognition and suggestions for further research on the perception of distributed effort in team sports.
The Role of Monitoring in Reducing the Moral Hazard Problem Associated with Government Guarantees: Evidence from the Life Insurance Industry

State guaranty funds provide partial protection to life insurance holders in the event of an insolvency, thus creating a moral hazard problem akin to the one associated with deposit insurance in the banking industry. We find that differences across states in the financing of these government guaranty systems affects risk taking by life insurance companies (LICs). In states where taxpayers do not pay for the costs of resolving insolvencies, LICs hold portfolios with lower overall stock market risk. These portfolios, however, are characterized by higher levels of both capital and risky assets. These empirical findings have policy implications for improving monitoring of financial intermediaries receiving government liability guarantees. We also examine the effects of franchise value, size and ownership structure on portfolio risk. We find that larger LICs and LICs with more franchise value take less risk. We also find that risk decreases with insider holdings until insiders own about 25 percent of the firm and increases thereafter. This paper was presented at the Financial Institutions Center's May 1996 conference on "
Restricted Gene Flow for Gadus macrocephalus from Yellow Sea Based on Microsatellite Markers: Geographic Block of Tsushima Current

The Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus is a demersal, economically important fish in the family Gadidae. Population genetic differentiation of Pacific cod was examined across its northwestern Pacific range by screening variation of eight microsatellite loci in the present study. All four populations exhibited high genetic diversity. Pairwise fixation index (Fst) suggested a moderate to high level of genetic differentiation among populations. Population of the Yellow Sea (YS) showed higher genetic difference compared to the other three populations based on the results of pairwise Fst, three-dimensional factorial correspondence analysis (3D-FCA) and STRUCTURE, which implied restricted gene flow among them. Wilcoxon signed rank tests suggested no significant heterozygosity excess and no recent genetic bottleneck events were detected. Microsatellite DNA is an effective molecular marker for detecting the phylogeographic pattern of Pacific cod, and these Pacific cod populations should be three management units.
Token-based Chunking of Turn-internal Dialogue Act Sequences

In this study we compare two sequence learning approaches to chunk dialogue acts within a speaker’s turn. We assign a dialogue act label to each token in the transcribed speech stream of a dialogue participant, additionally classifying if the token is at the beginning of, inside, or outside that specific dialogue act. Experimental findings show that both our approaches ‐ conditional random fields and memory-based tagging ‐ largely improve over local classification methods, obtaining comparable scores on distinct datasets. We discuss the interplay between transcription granularity of turns and dialogue act chunking.
Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings

In a national online survey, 505 participants reported their perceptions of energy consumption and savings for a variety of household, transportation, and recycling activities. When asked for the most effective strategy they could implement to conserve energy, most participants mentioned curtailment (e.g., turning off lights, driving less) rather than efficiency improvements (e.g., installing more efficient light bulbs and appliances), in contrast to experts’ recommendations. For a sample of 15 activities, participants underestimated energy use and savings by a factor of 2.8 on average, with small overestimates for low-energy activities and large underestimates for high-energy activities. Additional estimation and ranking tasks also yielded relatively flat functions for perceived energy use and savings. Across several tasks, participants with higher numeracy scores and stronger proenvironmental attitudes had more accurate perceptions. The serious deficiencies highlighted by these results suggest that well-designed efforts to improve the public's understanding of energy use and savings could pay large dividends.