Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How to Compare Means of Latent Variables across Countries and Waves : Testing for Invariance Measurement . An Application Using Eastern European Societies

How to Compare Means of Latent Variables across Countries and Waves: Testing for Invariance Measurement. An Application Using Eastern European Societies. Comparative social survey research is exponentially growing, more and more data being available at longitudinal and cross-national levels. When unobservable concepts are involved, the analysis of this kind of data poses the issue of measurement invariance (Are the concepts equivalent across countries and longitudinally? ). The aim of this paper is to draw a clear picture of measurement invariance (MI) test via multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) using AMOS 16 software. According to the literature this is a necessary step before latent mean comparison. First, I discuss the concept of measurement invariance, and then we present the most important features and issues related to the MGCFA. The main part of the paper is dedicated to presenting a step by step procedure to test for MI using AMOS VB.NET. In order to facilitate understanding, all steps are logically described; also, data and syntaxes are provided. To illustrate the procedure, I analyze the “sexual permissiveness”, as it measured in two large-scale surveys (EVS and WVS). I focus on the case of those 19 former communist countries included in these surveys, for which the available measurement covers at least three points in time, during the 1990-2009 period. To measure the “sexual permissiveness”, four items are used: how justifiable are homosexuality, prostitution, abortion, and divorce. Scalar invariance of “sexual permissiveness” scale is proved for most countries, so means and relationships involving this value can be meaningfully interpreted. Finally, we discuss some alternatives for presenting the means of latent variables. Sociológia 2010, Vol. 42 (No. 6: 639-669)
Can a Market-Assisted Land Redistribution Program Improve the Lives of the Poor? Evidence from Malawi

This paper evaluates the Malawi's community based rural land development project (CBLDP), which provides a conditional cash and land transfer to a group of families to relocate to larger and more productive plots of land. In addition to supporting families in obtaining land, the program administers a farm development grant, assists in the procurement of water infrastructure, provides extension services, and makes sure that beneficiaries obtain group titles to the land. This paper sheds light whether the project had an impact on agricultural production, productivity, and a host of welfare outcomes by measuring differences between beneficiaries and statistically comparable non-beneficiaries, before and after the program. The paper also investigates whether aspects of the program, improved or worsened impacts. Rigorous evaluations are especially important for policy makers given that land reforms require vast financial resources, human resources, and political will. This paper contributes to the very limited body of research on market-based redistributive land reform, particularly in the African context, by evaluating the impact of 27 million dollars land resettlement program in Malawi. Increased access to farmland and cash for farm inputs should increase production, increased extension support is expected to enhance productivity, and formal land title may promote longer-term investments in land. To measure the impact of the program on all variables of interest propensity score matching is used to identify a control group among the ineligible population that is similar to the beneficiaries at baseline, a series of t-tests at baseline helps ensure that the groups are comparable at baseline, qualitative information obtains in-depth information on potential sources of biases that need to be taken care of in the estimations and difference-in-difference is used. This analysis indicates that the program had overall positive effects on the landholdings, title-holdings, and agricultural production of participating households. However, there is mixed evidence of the impact of the program on the food security and asset holding. The paper is organized as follows: part one gives introduction; part two describes the background of the project; part three discusses both the qualitative and quantitative analytical approaches; part four describes the empirical strategy; part five discusses the quantitative and qualitative findings; and part six concludes.
Notational Analysis on Game Strategy Performed by Female Squash Players in International Competition

Recently, the general performance standards of women’s squash have progressed to very high levels as demonstrated by several ‘spectacular’ world championships final matches. Our aim was to identify successful game strategies of female squash players at the international level via notational analysis. 25 matches were obtained for analysis from several international competitions, including the Women’s World Championship 2014, the Women’s World Team Squash Championship 2014 and the Malaysia Circuit Squash 2015. Analysis was based on observation of the type of stroke performed and the rally outcome. The mean total number of shots performed per game was 337 (SD=189.6) shots. The most preferred strokes performed were drive (47.1%), followed by cross-court (19.9%), volley (12.7%), drop (11.1%), boast (5.8%), with the lob (3.4%) as least frequently occurring shot. Meanwhile, rally outcomes were categorized as winners, errors, stroke, and let. There were more winners produced (58.5%) than errors (24.8%) or lets (16.69%). The findings indicate that defensive long rallies together with offensive endings (such as well-timed drop shots) are characteristic of points played in elite women’s squash. The practical implications of this analysis may help coaches and female players enhance both tactical strategy and performance.
Hemispheric Music Processing and Cognitive Improvement by Working Aural Musical Memory Training in Its Optimal Cognitive Maturity Age

Cognitive psychology of music, musical medicine and neuroscience became rapidly growing disciplines within the area of cognitive neuroscience of music. The goal of present experimental research is investigating the hemispheric music processing on basis of functional asymmetry of music perception in parameter specific lateralization model and investigating the working memory span of music, during working aural musical (WAM) memory training with its influences on cognitive learning efficiency in school subjects improvement and in homework time abridgement, at its age of optimal cognitive maturity. Participants were 108 children aged 12 (at age of optimal cognitive maturity of working memory), where 60 subjects with completed participation in the WAM memory training went into final selection for two equal experimental groups (musicians, non-musicians) with double psychologic measurement (before and after training) by psychological WAM memory test, and by training efficiency questionnaire at the end of experimental procedure Obtained results from research confirm the scientific data from background research of the physiology of music, of the cognitive psychology of working memory and learning, also of the neuropsychology of music. Empirical data verify existence of music memory brain types in the asymmetry of music perception so therefore of WAM memory and of aural working memory span for music as the constant cognitive features, with the possibility of positive cognitive functions’ stimulation by the music. The positive effects, which music produce in aural working memory training for healthy human brain, might be important in the framework of cognitive neuroscience, cognitive music-therapy, neuro-rehabilitation by music stimulation, musical activity and professional music education.
Farmers Awareness on Environmental Degradation used by Modern Agricultural Technologies in a Selected Area of Meherpur District

The main aim of the study was to determine the farmer’s awareness on environmental degradation used by modern agricultural technologies by exploring the relationships between ten selected characteristics of the farmers and their awareness. Eighty farmers of the selected village Ashrafpur under of Meherpur district constituted the sample of the study. Data were collected by interviewing the farmers using personal interview schedule during the period from August to September, 2013. Among these eighty respondents 37.5% had low, 51.25% respondents had medium and only 11.25% of the respondent had high knowledge about modern agricultural technologies. While 35% respondents had low, 55% respondents had medium and only 10 % had high knowledge about environmental degradation. Among the respondents 25% had poor, 61.25% respondents had medium and only 13.75% had high awareness about environmental degradation caused by the use of modern agricultural technologies. Out of ten independent variables, six of them, that is academic qualification, organizational participation, communication exposure, innovativeness, knowledge about the use of modern agricultural technologies and knowledge about environmental degradation had positive significant relationships with their awareness on environmental degradation caused by the use of modern agricultural technologies . Three independent variable i.e. family size, farm size, and family income had no significant relationship and only age had negative significant relationship with their awareness on environmental degradation used by modern agricultural technologies. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/jesnr.v7i1. 22186 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 7(1): 289-294 2014
Response of Broilers to Feeding Manipulations

The study investigated the response of broilers to different feeding manipulations. Six groups of day old Anak broilers were randomly assigned to either one of the following feeding methods from day old to 3 weeks; Ad libitum feeding, Skip-a-day feeding, 50% of ad libitum feeding, 6 hours of light and 18 hours of darkness per day, 3% dietary ammonium sulphate or diet containing 18% protein and 2800 kcal/kg ME. Broilers were thereafter fed the same finisher diet to market age. Results at market age showed that feed intake was significantly reduced by all but one of the feed restriction methods investigated (P 0.05, P>0.01). Feed to gain ratio was significantly reduced in broilers placed on 50% of ad libitum feeding (P 0.05, P>0.01). Cost to benefit ratio of broiler production was significantly reduced by skip-a-day and 50% of ad libitum feeding methods (P<0.05, P<0.01). Also abdominal fat pad, a factor that downgrades carcass value was significantly reduced by skip-a-day and 6 hours of lighting per day feeding methods (P<0.05, P<0.01). It was concluded that for both cost and abdominal fat reduction, skip-a-day feeding method for 3 weeks would offer the best alternative to the usual ad libitum feeding in broilers.
Association of DNA repair relevant gene polymorphisms with the risk of gastric cancer in a Han Chinese population

Objective: To investigate the associations of five non-synonymous variants of four DNA repair-relevant genes with gastric cancer (GC) in a large Han Chinese population. Methods: A hospital-based case-control study, comprised of 622 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer and 622 ageand gender-matched controls, was conducted. Blood samples were collected from patients and healthy control subjects to analyze polymorphisms of XRCC1 rs1799782, rs25487, XRCC3 rs861539, hOGG1 rs1052133, and NQO1 rs1800566. Risk estimates were expressed as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: All five examined polymorphisms met Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Overall, significant differences were found in the genotype/allele distributions of rs1799782 in XRCC1, and rs1800566 in NQO1 (P < 0.05 for both), whereas no significant difference was observed among the other three variants between patients and controls (P > 0.05). The risk of gastric cancer associated with the rs1800566-T mutant allele was higher by 71% (95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.48-1.99; P < 0.001) under the additive model, and by 86% (95% CI: 1.48-2.33; P < 0.001) under the dominant model. The mutant-T allele of variant rs1799782 conferred increased GC risks of 27% (95% CI: 1.06-1.52; P = 0.009) and 42% (95% CI: 1.13-1.77; P = 0.002) under the additive and dominant models, respectively. Conclusions: Results suggest that the XRCC1 rs1799782 and NQO1 rs1800566 polymorphisms confer high susceptibility to GC in the Chinese population.
Impacts of Salinity, Temperature, and pH on the Morphology of Artemia salina (Branchiopoda: Anostraca) from Tunisia

Hachem Ben Naceur, Amel Ben Rejeb Jenhani, and Mohamed Salah Romdhane (2012) Impacts of salinity, temperature, and pH on the morphology of Artemia salina (Branchiopoda: Anostraca) from Tunisia. Zoological Studies 51(4): 453-462. This study was carried out on natural populations of the brine shrimp Artemia salina from 16 salt lakes in Tunisia, with the purpose of determining the impacts of some physicochemical parameters on morphological characters of adult specimens. Males (n = 20) and females (n = 20) from each site were measured using a binocular microscope equipped with an ocular micrometer. Up to 13 and 12 morphologic characters were considered for males and females, respectively. The results showed that the physicochemical parameters provoked different degrees of variation among the studied populations. Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed highly negative significant correlations of salinity and highly positive ones of pH with the width of the 3rd abdominal segment, length of the furca, number of setae inserted on the left branch of the furca, number of setae inserted on the right branch of the furca, width of the head, diameter of the compound eyes, and the maximal distance between them. However, there were no or only a few significant correlation between the temperature and different morphological characters. Furthermore, the principal component analysis divided the different populations studied into 2 groups based on the salinity of the brine. http://zollstud.sinica. edu.tw/Journals/51.4/453.pdf
A Team Production Theory of Corporate Law

Contemporary corporate scholarship generally assumes that the central economic problem addressed by corporation law is getting managers and directors to act as loyal agents for shareholders. We take issue with this approach and argue that the unique legal rules governing publicly-held corporations are instead designed primarily to address a different problem - the "team production" problem - that arises when a number of individuals must invest firm-specific resources to produce a nonseparable output. In such situations team members may find it difficult or impossible to draft explicit contracts distributing the output of their joint efforts, and, as an alternative, might prefer to give up control over their enterprise to an independent third party charged with representing the team's interests and allocating rewards among team members. Thus we argue that the essential economic function of the public corporation is not to address principal-agent problems, but to provide a vehicle through which shareholders, creditors, executives, rank-and-file employees, and other potential corporate "stakeholders" who may invest firm-specific resources can, for their own benefit, jointly relinquish control over those resources to a board of directors. This alternative to the principal-agent approach offers to explain a variety of pivotal doctrines in corporate law that have proven difficult to explain using agency theory, including: the requirement that a public corporation be managed by a board of directors rather than by shareholders directly; the meaning and function of a corporation's "legal personality" and the rules of derivative suit procedure; the substantive structure of directors' fiduciary duties, including the application of the business judgment rule in the takeover context; and the highly-limited nature of shareholders' voting rights. The team production model also carries important normative implications for legal and popular debates over corporate governance, because it suggests that maximizing shareholder wealth should not be the principal goal of corporate law. Rather, directors of public corporations should seek to maximize the joint welfare of all the firm's stakeholders - including shareholders, managers, employees, and possibly other groups such as creditors or the local community - who contribute firm-specific resources to corporate production.
Long Memory in the Ukrainian Stock Market

This paper examines the dynamics of stock prices in Ukraine by estimating the degree of persistence of the PFTS stock market index. Using long memory techniques we show that the log prices series is I(d) with d slightly above 1, implying that returns are characterised by a small degree of long memory and thus are predictable using historical data. Moreover, their volatility, measured as the absolute and squared returns, also displays long memory. Finally, we examine if the time dependence is affected by the day of the week; the results indicate that Mondays and Fridays are characterised by higher dependency, consistently with the literature on anomalies in stock market prices.
The Effect of Audit Quality on Earnings Management

This paper examines the relation between economic incentives to manage earnings and discretionary accruals and the modifying effects of audit quality on this relation. We hypothesize that incentives to smooth earnings and incentives created by debt agreements motivate managers to strategically bias earnings. However, we expect that earnings manipulation is tempered by the quality of the firm's external auditor. The findings indicate that companies with non-Big Six auditors (a proxy for lower audit quality) report discretionary accruals that significantly increase income compared to companies with Big Six auditors. We also find that managers respond to debt contracting and income-smoothing incentives by strategically reporting discretionary accruals. In addition, companies with incentives to smooth earnings upwards (downwards) report significantly greater income-increasing (decreasing) discretionary accruals when they have non-Big Six auditors. However, we do not find that audit quality affects earnings management that occurs in response to high leverage.
Remote forcing annihilates barrier layer in southeastern Arabian Sea

Time‐series measurements of temperature and salinity profiles were made every two hours at 74°30′E, 9°13′N in the southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) during 22‐March–7‐April and 23‐May–7‐June 2003 as part of the Arabian Sea Monsoon Experiment (ARMEX). The observations show that a 20 m thick barrier layer (BL) exists during March–April owing to a surface layer of low‐salinity waters advected earlier during December–January from the Bay of Bengal. The BL is almost annihilated by 7 April owing to upwelling. The relic BL that survives is annihilated later in May by upwelling, and by the inflow of high‐salinity waters from the north and by mixing due to stronger winds, which deepen the mixed layer. We present evidence from satellite data and arguments based on existing theories to show that both the upwelling and the advection of high‐salinity waters are remotely forced.
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS IN SILICA AS EXAMINED BY CONTINUOUS X-RAY DIFFRACTION

The phase transformations of six difierent varieties of silica were examined by continuous *-ray difiraction while heated to 1400' C. The (101) peak intensity changes which often accompany lhe a-B qtattz inversion are a function of particle size. There is, however, no correlation between these changes and the gradual increase in the (101) d-spacing as the material is heated. The crystallization temperature of p-cristobalite from a siliceous material is a consequence of the crystallinity and initial structural perfection of that material-the better the crystallinity, the higher the transition temperature. Rock crystal quartz gives B-cristobalite at 1200" C. I whereas, amorphous silica gel produces this phase of 900" C' Tridymite was not detected as a transitional phase mineral in the silica system.
Chronobiology: implications for marine resource exploitation and management

Chronobiology began as a curiosity-driven science and now impacts significantly on the science of medicine through medical rhythm research and chronotherapeutics. However, whilst it has long been evident that rational exploitation and management of living organisms and their environments require detailed biological understanding, incorporation of the time-base of living systems into such activities has been slow. Evidence suggests that marine management and conservation strategies, whether directed towards the environment or fisheries, are only slowly taking account of the time-scales of endogenously controlled rhythmic animal behaviour as a basis from which to achieve their objectives. Similarly, in commercial aquaculture practices, there is a need for greater evaluation of the role of photoperiod manipulation and optimization of feeding regimes against the background of the endogenous rhythmicity of the organisms concerned. Correct synchronization of an organism’s endogenous biological oscillators, of tidal and/or daily to annual periodicities, is fundamental to its optimal physiological performance and survival.
Extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) to assess students' behavioural intentions to adopt an e-learning system : the case of moodle as a learning tool

Universities are implementing e-learning systems to improve the learning-teaching process. However, when an e-learning system is implemented, it needs to be adopted by its users, and the acceptance and adoption of this e-learning system will be influenced and determined by different factors. The aim of this study is to assess the factors that influence university students' intention to use an e-learning system and use Moodle as the exemplar case. An extended version of the technology acceptance model (TAM) was used in this study as its theory base. Data was collected from 515 students from a private university in the State of Kuwait. Partial least squares (PLS) of structure equation modelling (SEM) technique was used to analyze the data. The study results showed that the variables perceived credibility, satisfaction, subjective norm, self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and attitude positively affecting the intention to use the e-learning system Moodle. It is believed that this research is to be the first to find empirical support for these relationships in the Kuwaiti context. Additionally, different from most of the studies that consider western countries, this study supports TAM's reliability and validity in an educational context in the Middle East region and more specifically in Kuwait.
A Compact Deep Learning Model for Robust Facial Expression Recognition

In this paper, we propose a compact frame-based facial expression recognition framework for facial expression recognition which achieves very competitive performance with respect to state-of-the-art methods while using much less parameters. The proposed framework is extended to a frame-to-sequence approach by exploiting temporal information with gated recurrent units. In addition, we develop an illumination augmentation scheme to alleviate the overfitting problem when training the deep networks with hybrid data sources. Finally, we demonstrate the performance improvement by using the proposed technique on some public datasets.