Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fusional stamina: An alternative to Sheard’s criterion

Sheard postulated that symptoms from heterophoria can be avoided if the fusional reserves in the opposite direction are at least twice the size of the phoria itself; this is known as “Sheard’s criterion”. Although later studies have provided supporting evidence for this postulate, dichotomous criteria of this type are subject to a lack of sensitivity since small differences in measurements can result in a change in classification. The main purpose of this study was to provide a reliable continuous alternative measure to Sheard’s criterion in children; we have called this “Fusional Stamina”. Heterophorias and positive fusional vergence (PFV) were measured in a group of 82 typical children aged 5–11 years. The suggested new variable, fusional stamina, was calculated by dividing PFV by two and then subtracting the (hetero-) phoria. Repeatability at near was checked after one year for a subgroup of 40 children assumed to be at greater risk for binocular vision deficits. Mean fusional stamina was 8.1 PD (Prism Dioptres base out) (SD = ±5.9 PD) for distance and 12.3 PD (SD = ±8.2 PD) for near. Repeatability at near was r = 0.62, p < 0.001, compared to r = 0.38, p = 0.02 for PFV break-value. Five children passed Sheard’s criterion on only one of two repeated tests, but showed low fusional stamina on both tests. Normative values of fusional stamina for a group of typical children are presented. Repeatability for near is high and better than for PFV. Results demonstrate that there is a risk of missing binocular problems based only on passing Sheard’s criterion. The continuous alternative of fusional stamina can be useful for researchers as well as clinicians in quantifying binocular vision problems and to monitor the effects of treatment.
Threats and demonstrations of power: experimental results on bilateral bargaining

We test the empirical effectiveness of threats in equilibrating bargaining power in simple bilateral bargaining games. Our experimental design is based on the two-player versions of the multibidding game (Perez-Castrillo and Wettstein, 2001) and the bid-and-propose game (Navarro and Perea, 2005) that build on the ultimatum game and balance parties' bargaining power by auctioning the role of the proposer in the first stage. We show that, while both mechanisms implement the fair split in their subgame-perfect Nash-equilibrium, they induce different results in the laboratory. Subjects do not react to threats that lie off the the equilibrium path in the expected way, even if these threats are theoretically credible as they belong to the subgame-perfect Nash equilibrium. In particular, it seems that subjects feel the need to show their bargaining power as if punishment that never happens could not constitute a credible threat.
Fungal succession on fronds of Phoenix hanceana in Hong Kong

Seventy-three fungal taxa were identified during the decomposition process of frond baits of Phoenix hanceana, comprising leaves, rachis-tips, mid-rachides and rachis-bases. Pioneer, mature and impoverished communities were observed in sequence on the frond baits. Fungal communities on different frond parts reached pioneer, mature and impoverished communities at different rates. Fungal communities on leaves and rachis-tips matured more slowly than other parts, but became impoverished rapidly thereafter, and samples were completely decayed at month 13. On the contrary, fungal communities on mid-rachides and rachis-bases matured earlier at month 1, but became impoverished at month 13. Naturally occurring fronds were also examined at the same time. Only half of the fungi were common to baits and naturally occurring fronds. Thus, examination of both frond baits at different stages of decomposition and naturally occurring fronds is recommended to obtain a better estimation of biodiversity.
Jihadistisch terrorisme in Nederland : Een beschrijving op basis van afgesloten opsporingsonderzoeken

Het onderzoek heeft een tweeledige doelstelling: Het ontwikkelen van een instrument waarmee relevante kennis voor beleid, opsporing en onderzoek uit dergelijke opsporingsonderzoeken systematisch in kaart kan worden gebracht.Het verkrijgen van inzicht in de aard van Jihadisch terrorisme in Nederland door middel van het systematisch analyseren van recent afgesloten opsporingsonderzoeken (tussen 2001 en 2005) op dit terrein. Met Islamistisch terrorisme wordt bedoeld: het voorbereiden en/of uitvoeren van terroristische aanslagen, waarbij de motivatie en/of legitimatie voor deze activiteiten door de betrokkenen deels wordt gevonden in extremistische interpretaties van de islam.
Audit Committees and Corporate Performance of Selected Companies Quoted in the Nigerian Stock Exchange: a Perception Analysis.

The spate of corporate failures in recent times calls for serious examination of their causes and possible solution. Audit committees are statutorily compulsory component of the management of corporate organizations in Nigeria (CAMA 1990) and constitute a credible component of corporate government element. For quite some time now, audit committees have been instituted to add teeth to corporate governance in publicly quoted companies. In spite of this, corporate failures are still rampant. It becomes necessary to ask: how significant is the contribution of the audit committees to corporate performance of quoted companies in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This paper therefore evaluates the relevance of the audit committee on corporate performance. It focuses on Non-Financial companies quoted in the Exchange between 2006 and 2010. It regresses the average perceived quality of the audit committees against critical financial ratios of these companies over the years covered. A sample size of 287 was selected using the Taro Yameni formula and the Microsoft Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical analysis was adopted to perform the regression analysis. It was discovered that the quality of audit committee rather than its mere existence impacts on the performance of companies through a positive impact on corporate governance of such companies. However, for majority of the companies (more than 80 percent), their audit committees are weakly constituted with majority of the members lacking the necessary qualities of integrity, dedication, a thorough understanding of the business of the company among others. These qualities according to Shamsudden (2003) are the bedrock of or sterling qualities of audit committee membership. Keywords: Audit Committee, Corporate Governance, Control, Corporate Performance
Determinants of ICTs in Agricultural Extension System

Attitude is an individually attributed emotion, belief of behavioural tendency an individual has towards a specific abstract or concrete object. Attitude is defined as the degree of positive or negative affect associated with some psychological object. The effective use of ICTs in agricultural extension system is affected by many factors which are directly or indirectly related with the extension personnel. Therefore, an effort was made to study the factors determining the attitude of agricultural extension personnel towards the use of ICTs in agricultural extension system in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh to know about the factors affecting the attitude of agricultural extension personnel towards the use of ICTs in agricultural extension system. Total 180 respondents were studied for the study. Results show that the independent variables viz-, education, number of years of service, possession of smart gadgets, sources of awareness about ICTs, methods of learning ICTs, trainings received, innovativeness, scientific orientation, information management orientation and orientation towards extension service profession are positively and significantly correlated with attitude of agricultural extension personnel towards use of ICTs in agricultural extension system whereas age is negatively and significantly correlated. Thus, the factors which are positively governing the attitude of extension personnel towards use of ICTs in agricultural extension system should be well taken care to promote efficient use of ICTs in agricultural extension system.
The effect of type and level of carbohydrate supplementation on intake and digestibility of Atriplex nummularia cv . De

The effects of type of carbohydrate supplementation on intake and digestibility of Atriplex nummularia cv. De Kock were investigated. Ten rumen cannulated sheep were fed different increments of maize and barley supplements (0%, 15%, 30%, 45%) to a basal diet of A. nummularia cv. De Kock. Supplementation of A. nummularia cv. De Kock with an energy source tended to increase NDF digestibility, decrease rumen pH and with maize as a supplement, increase intake. _______________________________________________________________________________________
The Influence of a Behavior Rating Scale on School Psychologists’ Diagnostic Decision-Making

Psychologists are increasing their use of behavior rating scales as part of their diagnostic assessments. While behavior rating scales have many advantages, there are numerous cautions to using them, particularly for diagnostic purposes. It is unknown, however, how much influence a behavior rating scale has on a professional’s diagnostic impression. Using an experimental design, a national sample of 330 school psychology practitioners from the United States provided diagnostic impressions on one of four scenarios. Two scenarios had evaluation data that supported a diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with one scenario including behavior rating scale standard scores in the average range and one with scores in the clinically significant range. The other two scenarios had evaluation data that did not support a diagnosis of ADHD but also had one with standard scores in the average range and one with scores in the clinically significant range. The findings revealed that behavior rating scale scores do influence school psychologists’ diagnostic decisions. However, consistent with recommended best practices, other sources of evaluation data have a stronger influence on school psychologists’ diagnostic decisions.
Evolution of altruism: Exploring adaptive landscapes

It is claimed that sexual selection may favor altruism as a handicap. Here, we challenge these claims by developing a model for sexual selection acting on an altruistic handicap trait. By means of simulations we investigate if altruism can evolve as a sexually selected handicap trait despite the fact that competition for mating opportunities may cause altruists to benefit their competitors. We study two scenarios in which individuals with different fitness benefit from altruistic acts. In the first scenario, the benefits from altruism accrue to individuals with high fitness, whereas in the second they are the same for all individuals independent of their fitness. Simulations show that the evolution of altruism is hampered when all recipients benefit equally, but promoted when fitter recipients benefit more. Thus, dependent on how altruism benefits recipients with different fitness, sexual selection can promote altruism as a handicap.
Laboratory Study on the Hydraulic Conductivity of Sand-silt mixtures

The hydraulic conductivity plays a major role on the excess pore pressure generation during monotonic and cyclic loading of granular soils with fines. This paper aims to determine how much the hydraulic conductivity response of the sand-silt mixtures is affected by the percentage of low plastic fines and void ratio of the soil. The results of flexible wall permeameter tests performed on samples reconstituted from Chlef river sand with 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% nonplastic silt at an effective confining stress of 100 kPa and two relative densities (Dr = 20, and 91%) are presented and discussed. The results obtained from this study reveal that the saturated hydraulic conductivity (k) of the sand mixed with 50% low plastic fines can be, in average, four orders of magnitude smaller than that of the clean sand. The results show also that the hydraulic conductivity decreases hyperbolically with the increase of the fines content and the intergranular void ratio. RESUME. La conductivite hydraulique joue un role majeur sur la generation de pression interstitielle pendant le chargement monotone et cyclique des sols granulaires melanges avec des fines peu plastiques. Le but de ce travail de recherche vise a determiner dans quelle mesure la reponse hydraulique des melanges sable-limon est affectee par le pourcentage de fines peu plastiques et indice des vides du sol. Les resultats des essais au permeametre murale flexible realises sur des echantillons reconstitues a partir de sable provenant de Oued/Chlef de 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, et 50% de limon non plastique a une contrainte effective de confinement de 100 kPa et deux densites relatives (Dr = 20, et 91 %) sont presentes et discutes. Les resultats obtenus dans cette etude montrent que la conductivite hydraulique saturee (k) du sable melange avec 50% de fines peu plastiques peut etre, en moyenne, de quatre ordres de grandeur plus faible que celle du sable propre. Les resultats montrent egalement que la conductivite hydraulique diminue hyperboliquement avec l'augmentation de la teneur en fines et l'indice des vides intergranulaires.
Why are individuals likely to change to sustainable modes of transport like carsharing and electric vehicles? An empirical analysis

Replacing conventional vehicles by electric vehicles (EVs) and increasing the use of carsharing are two strategies to reduce the environmental impact of car driving. However such a societal transition towards the use of more sustainable modes of transport will strongly depend on citizens' willingness to support this process. For this reason, this paper tries to identify factors which are related to the individual likelihood to change to more sustainable modes of transport. It draws on an adapted version of Rogers' diffusion of innovation model (DOI) and earlier work by the authors. It presents new findings from an online survey (n=1548) in one of Germany's show case regions for electric vehicles. Findings point out that relatively small shares of respondents already use these sustainable modes of transport (.6% for EV ownership and 5.3% for carsharing). Similarly, the shares of individuals who are very likely to use them in the near future (4.2% and 4.6% respectively) are also small. Much more individuals are interested in EVs (55.9%) than in carsharing (21.2%), and large groups are not interested (37.7% for EVs, 68.9% for carsharing). There are several significant sociodemographic differences between the respective four adoption groups. Furthermore, consistently, evluations are significantly more positive the higher the likeliness of adoption across groups. Based on regression models, it turns out that perceived compatibility with daily life is the most important factor influencing the attitudes towards EVs or carsharing across all groups.
NETWORK MODELLING OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL GAS DRIVE

This paper addresses the issue of analysing relative permeability data specific to the depressurisation process. Relative permeability data from depressurisation experiments are needed for modelling production below bubble point pressure, and for describing near wellbore flow scenarios. Recent experimental studies have proved that gas relative permeability can be several orders of magnitude lower for an internal gas drive process (gas liberation during depressurisation) than for an external gas drive process (gas injection). It has been suggested that phase distribution differences are responsible for this. The objective of this work was to apply network models for confirming and expanding on the existing experimental observations concerning comparison of internal and external gas drive relative permeability. A systematic series of simulations have been carried out with two different network models. One model simulates an internal gas drive process, and the other simulates an external gas drive process. Relative permeability curves and critical gas saturations generated by the two network models have been compared. The general trends in the output data were found to compare well with the few existing experimental works that are reported in literature. It was found that gas relative permeability from the external drive process strongly exceeded gas relative permeability from the internal gas drive process. It was found that pore size distribution, coordination number and bubble density are among the factors that control the magnitude of the difference between internal- and external gas drive relative permeability and critical gas saturation. Oil relative permeability was found to be much less affected by the different drive processes, in that oil relative permeability curves from internal and external gas drive simulations practically overlapped. The coordination number seems to be the factor that controls the oil relative permeability in both processes.
Speech anxiety in guidance and psychological counselling department students

The objective of the present study is to reveal the effect of the activity-based oral presentation course on the speech anxiety of Guidance and Psychological Counselling Department students. In the quantitative study conducted with a single group pre-test–post-test model, the data were collected with ‘Speech Anxiety Scale for Pre-Service Teachers. ’ Based on the analysis conducted on the sub-dimensions of the above-mentioned scale, it was determined that students’ post-test psychological state scores () were higher than pre-test psychological state scores (), post-test physiological symptoms scores () were higher than pre-test physiological symptoms scores (), post-test anxiety scores () were higher than pre-test anxiety scores () and post-test speech anxiety scores () were higher than pre-test speech anxiety scores (). Based on this determination, several recommendations were made for the oral expression course. Keywords: Oral expression, speech, speech anxiety, activity-based instruction.
Religiosity, Delinquency, and the Deterrent Effects of Informal Sanctions

Past research in deterrence theory suggests that informal social sanctions intervene in the effect of religiosity on criminal and delinquent behavior, such that more religious individuals tend to perceive stronger informal sanctions (Grasmick, Bursik and Cochran 1991a; Grasmick, Kinsey and Cochran 1991b). This study examines the influence of religiosity and social deterrence on college students' delinquent behavior, as measured by anticipated violation of a university's alcohol policy. Data were collected through a survey of undergraduate students (n = 484) at a large South-Midwestern public university that instituted a campus alcohol ban. The survey took place three months after the ban was implemented and asked students about religiosity, perceptions of informal deterrence, and expectations of violating the policy. Results partially support the hypothesis that religiosity predicts conformity primarily through the deterrent threat of informal sanctions. Religiosity increased perceived threats of shame and embarrassment, which in turn reduced the likelihood of anticipated policy violation. When controlling for demographics, college lifestyle, attitudes, and past drinking behavior, shame remained a significant predictor of expected policy violation, but embarrassment did not. Also, contrary to expectations, one measure of fundamentalist religiosity (biblical literalness) retained a direct main effect on intended compliance, even when taking informal sanctions into account. Theoretical, methodological, and policy implications are discussed.
Genetic and Environmental Deterrents to Breeding for Disease Resistance in Dairy Cattle

Selection for increased milk production in dairy cows has often resulted in a higher incidence of disease and thus incurred a greater health costs. Considerable interests have been shown in breeding dairy cattle for disease resistance in recent years. This paper discusses the limitations of breeding dairy cattle for genetic resistance in six parts: 1) complexity of disease resistance, 2) difficulty in estimating genetic parameters for planning breeding programs against disease, 3) undesirable relationship between production traits and disease, 4) disease as affected by recessive genes, 5) new mutation of the pathogens, and 6) variable environmental factors. The hidden problems of estimating genetic and phenotypic parameters involving disease incidence were examined in terms of categorical nature, non-independence, heterogeneity of error variance, non-randomness, and automatic relationship between disease and production traits. In light of these limitations, the prospect for increasing genetic resistance by conventional breeding methods would not be so bright as we like. Since the phenomenon of disease is the result of a joint interaction among host genotype, pathogen genotype and environment, it becomes essential to adopt an integrated approach of increasing genetic resistance of the host animals, manipulating the pathogen genotypes, developing effective vaccines and drugs, and improving the environmental conditions. The advances in DNA-based technology show considerable promise in directly manipulating host and pathogen genomes for genetic resistance and producing vaccines and drugs for prevention and medication to promote the wellbeing of the animals. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2003. Vol 16, No. 9 : 1247-1253)
SME banking loyalty (and disloyalty): a qualitative study in Hong Kong

Purpose – To investigate the extent of loyalty, and the reasons underlying banking behaviour by business customers from the small to medium enterprise (SME) sector in Hong Kong, and to thereby contribute to a better understanding of the drivers of customer loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 32 in‐depth qualitative interviews were carried out with decision makers from SMEs in Hong Kong. Content analysis was employed to analyze the interview data.Findings – In contrast with earlier studies on banks' share of wallet in the SME segment in the USA and Australia, a lack of loyalty or “disloyalty” appears to be the norm within this sector in Hong Kong. Perceived service quality and the length of business relationship appear to have strong associations with loyalty behaviour, in terms of customers' willingness to continue to use a bank and/or to recommend the bank to others.Research limitations/implications – Since the study is qualitative, a larger empirical study would be useful to attempt to repl.