Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Explaining actual online shopping behavior: evidences from two distinct national cultures

With increased population of online shoppers, research into online shopping behavior is starting to emerge. Much of the literature has used the technology acceptance model, innovation diffusion theory and the theory of planned behavior to study this phenomenon. This has shed light on the behavior of consumers when they shop online. However, prior research has placed little emphasis on cultural differences in online shopping. Despite wide acknowledgements that the online environment is characterized by a high level of uncertainty and an increasing number of international customers, there are only a few studies that describe how cultural differences may impact on the online shopping behavior of consumers. These have focused on intention to transact and not actual purchasing behaviour. The aim of this paper is to extend prior research by integrating national culture into the theory of planned behavior to better understand actual online shopping behaviour across two cultures. National culture dimensions of long-/short-term orientation and individualism/collectivism are found to have significant effects on both intended and actual behaviours.
The Effect of Board Independence and Board Meeting on Firm Performance: Evidence from Jordan

The purpose of this study to examine the relationship between the internal corporate governance mechanism related to the board of directors’ characteristics namely (board independence and frequency of board meetings) and firm performance in Jordanian listed firms. The study used Cross-sectional data for the year 2013, with a sample of 64 industrial firms listed in the Amman Stock Exchange. Firm performance was measured by return on assets (ROA) as an accounting-based performance measure. The current study utilized multiple linear regression analysis to test the hypotheses and examine the relationship between the board of directors’ characteristics namely (board independence and frequency of board meetings) and firm performance. The findings showed that board independence is significantly and positively related to ROA. The current study found an insignificant relationship between the frequency of board meetings and firm performance measured by ROA. These results indicate that the monitoring role of the more independent board could have a significant influence on firm performance. Contradictory to expectation, the result of this study reveals that the frequency of board meetings do not determine the performance of industrial Jordanian firms. Further, Current study findings provide the idea to future researchers for further empirically explore the importance of the board of director's characteristics in Jordan. This study provides several important implications for the theory, regulatory authorities and policy makers and academia and researchers.
Compressional-wave velocities in attenuating media: A laboratory physical model study

Elastic-wave velocities are often determined by picking the time of a certain feature of a propagating pulse, such as the first amplitude maximum. However, attenuation and dispersion conspire to change the shape of a propagating wave, making determination of a physically meaningful velocity problematic. As a consequence, the velocities so determined are not necessarily representative of the material's intrinsic wave phase and group velocities. These phase and group velocities are found experimentally in a highly attenuating medium consisting of glycerol-saturated, unconsolidated, random packs of glass beads and quartz sand. Our results show that the quality factor Q varies between 2 and 6 over the useful frequency band in these experiments from ∼200 to 600 kHz. The fundamental velocities are compared to more common and simple velocity estimates. In general, the simpler methods estimate the group velocity at the predominant frequency with a 3% discrepancy but are in poor agreement with the corresponding phase velocity. Wave velocities determined from the time at which the pulse is first detected (signal velocity) differ from the predominant group velocity by up to 12%. At best, the onset wave velocity arguably provides a lower bound for the high-frequency limit of the phase velocity in a material where wave velocity increases with frequency. Each method of time picking, however, is self-consistent, as indicated by the high quality of linear regressions of observed arrival times versus propagation distance.
Recruitment decline in North Sea herring is accompanied by reduced larval growth rates

The stock of North Sea autumn spawning herring (Clupea harengus L.) has shown an unprecedented sequence of ten years of sharply reduced recruitment, in spite of a high spawning biomass. Recent work has identified this below-expected recruitment as being determined during the larval phase: however, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In this study we analysed archived larval samples captured before and after the onset of the reduced survival to test the hypothesis of a concurrent change in the larval growth rate. Individual larval growth rates, averaged over the 21 days prior to capture, were estimated for two hundred larvae from four different years using a model-based analysis of the otolith ring-widths. Hydrographic-backtracking models complemented the otolith analysis by reconstructing the environmental history and spawning origin of each larva. A significant reduction in net larval growth rate of 8%, concurrent with the reduced larval survival and recruitment, was identified: after correcting for the effect of other explanatory variables (e.g. temperature changes), the gross reduction was found to be 12%. This reduction is most probably due to changes in either the amount or quality of available food. The study demonstrates the potential in coupling of two different techniques, the otolith microstructure analysis and the hydrographic modelling, for affording new insights into fish early- life history. Finally, the study provides a novel indication of the association between reduced growth and larvae survival, thereby narrowing the range of potential mechanisms underlying the observed reduction in the recruitment of North Sea autumn spawning herring.
Assessing Determinants on Job Creation at the Firm Level: Swedish Micro Firm Data

This study analyses job-creation determinants at the firm level for a panel of Swedish micro firms across four industry sectors, using the GMM (Generalized Method of Moments) system to analyse a database consisting of 12532 Swedish micro firms during 2007. It was found that the firms’ size and age, the importance of debt financing and increased availability of liquidity are positively related to job creation as well as industry affiliation. Finally, the results suggest that a resource-based approach is at work in explaining job creation in micro firms. Unlike the majority of previous studies, this study is characterized by being based on a large and cross-sectoral firm-level dataset, testing a number of hypotheses driven from the resource-based approach. The present study contributes to the literature on the determinants of employment at the firm level as it investigates the importance of liquidity and financial leverage to firm labour demand dynamics in Sweden.
Creativity and Its Relationship with Vocabulary Learning Strategy Use of EFL Students

The relationship between SLA and individual differences has been investigated by many scholars and examining the psychological variables, one of which is creativity, seems to be a trend. The number of studies on vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) is much more than the size of research on the relationship between psychological factors and such strategies. The present study takes a step toward the clarification of whether the psychological parameter of creativity plays any significant role in the use of VLS by EFL students. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the relationship between Iranian EFL students’ creativity and their use of vocabulary learning strategies. Also, there is an attempt to find out if gender plays any role in this relationship. For measuring the creativity of a group of 101 medical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS), the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1990) was conducted. Subsequently a VLS questionnaire (Jones, 2006) was given to the participants to identify their VLS employment. The results revealed that the participants possessed a high level of creativity but there was no significant difference in this regard according to gender. A significant correlation was found between creativity and the overall VLS use of female students, but not for males. However, the correlation observed between creativity and the overall VLS use of the participants was statistically significant in general.
Cassava (Mannihot esculenta Cranz) Varieties and Harvesting Stages Influenced Yield and Yield Related Components

Cassava (Mannihot esculenta ) is the second most important staple food being the major source of food energy in sub-Saharan Africa that could play a major role in sustaining food security. In order to determine the appropriate growth stage for cassava harvesting, this study was conducted in Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC) during the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 cropping seasons. Accordingly, ten cassava genotypes praised for root yield were planted in Randomized Complete Block Design harvested at six stages. Different growth and yield parameters were collected and found Significant difference (p=0.000)1across stages in all cultivars. Based on combined analysis, the effects of harvesting stages on yield and yield related traits of cassava genotypes were found to be significant with the highest fresh root yield 23.06 t/ha after 18Months After Plant(MAP). Except number of branch/ plant, root fresh and dry weight kg/plot, the effects of harvesting stages and genotypes on yield related traits investigated in the research were generally non significant. In addition, correlation between root fresh weight and plant height, number of main stem/plant, number of branch/plant, average length of roots, weight of above ground plant biomass and root dry weight were positively significant. As a result, under the ecological condition of Jimma and its vicinity cassava should be harvested at 18MAP to get desirable yield and 15MAP for using as vegetative materials though it requires further study in quality aspect. Keywords : Cassava; Mannihot esculenta; Harvesting stages; yield components.
Constrained correspondence analysis for seriation of Sagalassos tablewares

Reconstructing the time dimension is a crucial aspect of archaeological activity. Various methods are available based on a variety of scientific concepts. Often, correspondence analysis is used to obtain a seriation. However, the seriation solution does not produce explicit time frames, only a relative ordering. Furthermore, correspondence analysis ignores additional absolute dating information that may be available for some deposits. Also, correspondence analysis does not use criteria that logically restrict the order of the seriation. In this paper, we propose a constrained form of correspondence analysis that takes such restrictions into account. Using these constraints we are able to assign explicit dates to a seriated solution. We present a case-study that takes the 'Classical' methodology as a starting-point, and tests the established chronological framework of the Roman to early Byzantine tableware produced at Sagalassos against the application of constrained correspondence analysis. Interestingly, the results prove to be largely compatible.
Testing for Stationarity and Cointegration in an Unobserved Components Framework

While tests for unit roots and cointegration have important econometric and economic implications, they do not always offer conclusive results. For example, Rudebusch (1992; 1993) demonstrates that standard unit root tests have low power against estimated trend stationary alternatives. In addition, Perron (1989) shows that standard unit root tests cannot always distinguish unit root from stationary processes that contain segmented or shifted trends. Recent research (Harvey 1993; Engel and Morley 2001; Morley, Nelson et al. 2003; Morley 2004; Sinclair 2004) suggests that unobserved components models can provide a useful framework for representing economic time series which contain unit roots, including those that are cointegrated. These series can be modeled as containing an unobserved permanent component, representing the stochastic trend, and an unobserved transitory component, representing the stationary component of the series. These unobserved components are then estimated using the Kalman filter. The unobserved components framework can also provide a more powerful way to test for unit roots and cointegration than what is currently available (Nyblom and Harvey 2000). This paper develops a new test that nests a partial unobserved components model within a more general unobserved components model. This nesting allows the general and the restricted models to be compared using a likelihood ratio test. The likelihood ratio test statistic has a nonstandard distribution, but Monte Carlo simulation can provide its proper distribution. The simulation uses data generated with the results from the partial unobserved components model as the values for the null hypothesis. Consequently, the null hypothesis for this test is stationarity, which is useful in many cases. In this sense our test is like the well-known KPSS test (Kwiatkowski, Phillips et al. 1992), but our test is a parametric version which provides more power by considering the unobserved components structure in calculation of the test statistic. This more powerful test can be used to evaluate important macroeconomic theories such as the permanent income hypothesis, real business cycle theories, and purchasing power parity for exchange rates
Needs vs entitlements – an international fairness experiment

What is the relative importance of needs, entitlements, and nationality in people’s social preferences? To study this question, we conducted a real effort dictator experiment where students in two of the world’s richest countries, Norway and Germany, were matched directly with students in two of the world’s poorest countries, Uganda and Tanzania. The experimental design made the participants face distributive situations where different moral motives came into play, and based on the observed behavior we estimate a social preference model focussing on how people make trade-offs between entitlements, needs, and self-interest. The study provides four main findings. First, entitlement considerations are crucial in explaining distributive behavior in the experiment; second, needs considerations matter a lot for some participants; third, the participants acted as moral cosmopolitans and did not assign importance to nationality in their distributive choices; and, finally, the participants’ choices are consistent with a self-serving bias in their social preferences.
Genetic diversity and morphological variability in Geranium purpureum Vill. (Geraniaceae) of Iran

Genetic variability and populations, structure were studied in 15 geographical populations of Geranium purpureum Vill. (Geraniaceae). Genetic diversity parameters were determined in these populations. AMOVA and Gst analyses revealed the presence of genetic variability within populations and significant molecular difference among the studied populations. Mantel test showed positive significant correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance of the studied populations. STRUCTURE and K-Means clustering revealed populations, genetic stratification. UPGMA dendrogram of populations based on morphological characters was in agreement with NJ tree of molecular data. These results indicated that geographical populations of G. purpureum are well differentiated both in genetic content as well as morphological characteristics. Consensus tree based on morphological and genetic data separated some of these populations from the others suggesting the existence of ecotypes within this species.
Screening of Polyphenol Composition and Antiradical Capacity of Wild Erica arborea: A Native Plant Species from the Portuguese Flora

With this study, we aimed to determine the polyphenol composition and antiradical activity of activity of Erica arborea a native plant species from the Portuguese and Mediterranean flora and often reported as having important bioactivities, but without consistent scientific evidences. The analysis of polyphenol profile and content was performed by HPLC-DAD/UV-Vis and in vitro bioassay of 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS•+) method was used to evaluate the radical scavenging activity. The HPLC analysis showed a great diversity of compounds. E. arborea presented high contents in flavonols (52%) and flavanols (25%) and the average content of antiradical activity higher than 85%. The polyphenols identified are often associated by literature as having preventive properties and protective effect against of degenerative and inflammatory processes, thus, our findings confirm the empirical health properties often associated to this endemic plant. Therefore, based in our study the E. arborea, can be used to extract and purify phytochemicals with potentially beneficial effects on health.
THE role of the technology acceptance model in information systems research: a case study

Explaining the factors that lead to use and acceptance of information technology (IT), both at individual and organizational levels, has been the focus of information systems (IS) researchers since 1970s. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is known as such an explanatory model and has increasingly gained recognition due to its focus on theories of human behaviour. Although this model has faced with some criticism in terms of not being able to fully explain the social-technical acceptance of technology, it is still known as one of the best IS methodologies that contributes greatly to explaining it. This paper discusses, describes and explains TAM as one of the well-known information system research methodologies and attempts to demonstrate how this model can be applied in practice in IS research projects. TAM is widely used in different areas of IS studies such as e-commerce, e-business, multimedia and mobile commerce. This paper shows how TAM can be applied in an IS research project by referring to a case study conducted in the area of mobile banking in the UK. This paper aims to contribute to IS research by providing an informed criticism of TAM as well as a clear proposal on how to use it.
Consumption, Wealth and Business Cycles: Why is Germany Different?

This paper studies the long-run relationship between consumption, asset wealth and income – the consumption-wealth ratio – in Germany, based on data from 1980 to 2003. Earlier papers for the Anglo-Saxon economies have documented that departures of these three variables from their common trend signal future changes in asset prices. We find that for Germany they predict changes in income – the consumption wealth ratio predicts business cycles, not stock market cycles. Asset price changes are found to have virtually no effect on German consumption, both in the short as well as in the long-run. Conversely, German asset prices are predictable from the U.S. consumption-wealth ratio. We offer an explanation of these findings that emphasizes structural differences between the bank-based German financial system and the rather market-based Anglo-American system: stock ownership by private households is much less widespread in Germany than in the Anglo-Saxon economies and the share of publicly traded equity in household wealth is much smaller in Germany than in the U.S., the UK or Australia.
Hail events across the Greater Metropolitan Severe Thunderstorm Warning Area

Abstract. This study addresses the recent climatology of hail occurrence in the Greater Metropolitan Severe Thunderstorm Warning Area (GMSTWA) of New South Wales (NSW). The study area is a sprawling suburban area with a population of nearly 4.7 million and one of Australia's largest metropoles. The main objective is to highlight the recent temporal–spatial fluctuations of hail event frequencies and magnitudes (sizes) for each of recognized and vastly inhabited local government areas (LGAs). The relevant hail event data from 1989 to 2013 were initially derived from the severe storm archive of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. A climatologically oriented GIS technique was then applied in the examining and mapping procedure of all hail events and hail days reported throughout the study area. By applying a specific criterion, severe hail (defined as 2 cm or more in diameter) was cautiously selected for relevant analysis. The database includes 357 hail events with sizes 2–11 cm which occurred in 169 hail days (a day in which a hail event at least more than 2 cm reported) across the region during the past 25 years. The hail distribution patterns are neither temporally nor spatially uniform in magnitude throughout the study area. Temporal analysis indicated that most of hail events occur predominately in the afternoons with peak time of 1–5 p.m. Australian eastern standard time (EST). They are particularly common in spring and summer, reaching maximum frequency in November and December. There is an average of 14.3 events per year, but a significant decreasing trend in hail frequency and associated magnitude in the recent years has been identified. In turn, spatial analyses also established three main distribution patterns over the study area which include the Sydney metropolitan, the coastal and the most pronounced topographic effects. Based on the understanding of the favorable factors for thunderstorm development in the GMSTWA, the potential impacts from climate variability and future climate change have been briefly discussed.
Potential Anti-diabetic Effects and Safety of Aqueous Extracts of Urtica dioicaCollected from Narok County, Kenya

Drug bio screening for potential anti-diabetics is scientifically motivated by the desire to discover newer, safer and affordable drugs that complement conventional strategies for management of diabetes. Urtica dioica grows naturally in many parts of Africa with a wide variety use in traditional medicine and diet. However, scientific validation for use of U. dioica has not been done for anti-diabetic activity. The aim of the study was to determine the antidiabetic effects of aqueous extracts of U. dioica in alloxan induced mice and the safety of U. dioica on mice models. The plant extracts were administered orally at doses of 25 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg which is the common route used in traditional herbal medicine administration. Evaluation for toxicity was determined at a dose of 1000 mg/kg body weight aqueous extracts of U. dioica. The results from the study indicated that the plant extracts exhibited insulin mimetic anti-diabetic activity. Evaluation for toxicity also indicated that a dose of 1000 mg/kg bw preserved the integrity of liver, kidney and lipid profiles for biochemical markers. Moreover, there was no significant change in the hematological and leucocyte counts. There was no significant change in gross body weight, organ body weight and histopathological changes on tissues of the body organs in this study. Furthermore, qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening of aqueous leaf extracts of U. dioica indicated the presence of phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and saponins. Various levels of different mineral elements were also recorded. In conclusion, this study confirmed that U. dioica at a dose of 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg body weights possessed anti-diabetic activity. It is also safe for use at a dose of 1000 mg/kg body weight. More studies should be explored on the potential anti-diabetic effects using other routes of administration.