Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding Conformity: An Experimental Investigation

Some theories of conformity hold that social equilibrium either standardizes inferences or promotes a shared understanding of conventions and norms among individuals with fixed heterogeneous preferences (belief mechanisms). Others depict tastes as fluid and hence subject to social influences (preference mechanisms). Belief mechanisms dominate discussions of conformity within economics, but preference mechanisms receive significant attention in other social sciences. This paper seeks to determine whether conformity is attributable to belief mechanisms or preference mechanisms by exploiting their distinctive implications for the process of convergence. Laboratory experiments suggest that economists have focused too narrowly on explanations for conformity involving belief mechanisms.
Solvability and Stability of Impulsive Set Dynamic Equations on Time Scales

A class of new nonlinear impulsive set dynamic equations is considered based on a new generalized derivative of set-valued functions developed on time scales in this paper. Some novel criteria are established for the existence and stability of solutions of such model. The approaches generalize and incorporate as special cases many known results for set (or fuzzy) differential equations and difference equations when the time scale is the set of the real numbers or the integers, respectively. Finally, some examples show the applicability of our results.
Anticipated and Unanticipated Wage Changes, Wage Risk, and Intertemporal Labor Supply

In this article, I estimate how labor supply responds to anticipated wage growth, unanticipated wage growth, and wage risk using the 1989–93 panel section of the Bank of Italy Survey of Households' Income and Wealth (SHIW), which collects individual expectations of future wages. The use of subjective expectations has several advantages. First, they provide information on the evolution and riskiness of future wages that the econometrician may never hope to observe. Moreover, this avoids the need for specifying instruments for the growth rate of wages. Finally, forecast errors can be directly controlled for, thus avoiding inconsistency in short panels.
The Hidden Costs of Mental Depression: Implications on Social Trust and Life Satisfaction

Mental health conditions such as depression is a rapidly rising epidemic and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease. In addition to the direct medical costs and indirect economic costs that falls into the traditional boundary of disease burden estimation, many social costs associated with depression are hidden yet important. This paper provides empirical evidence on the existence of two hidden costs associated with depression: negative impact on social trust and life satisfaction. Based on the data obtained from 2012 China Family Panel Studies, our estimated results indicate that individuals who have a high tendency for depression or depressive symptoms are less likely to trust other people, and they also have significantly lower life satisfaction than their counterparts who are relatively mentally healthy. Given that trust is an important component of social capital, which in turn is an important input to foster economic growth in general and innovation in particular, the reduction in trust induced by the increasing prevalence of depression imposes a significant cost to the society in terms of poor economic performance. Similarly, as life satisfaction has been widely recognized as an important measure of well-being, our study also highlights that the increase in the prevalence of depression leads to a reduction in the well-being that individual can enjoy. All these costs are real, but did not receive sufficient attention in the previous research. The contribution of our research is to shed light on the existence of these hidden costs and to quantify the magnitude of such costs in the context of China.
Meta-Learning for Few-shot Camera-Adaptive Color Constancy

Digital camera pipelines employ color constancy methods to estimate an unknown scene illuminant, enabling the generation of canonical images under an achromatic light source. By taking advantage of large amounts of labelled images, learning-based color constancy methods provide state-of-the-art estimation accuracy. However, for a new sensor, data collection is typically arduous, as it requires both imaging physical calibration objects across different settings (such as indoor and outdoor scenes), as well as manual image annotation to produce ground truth labels. In this work, we address sensor generalisation by framing color constancy as a meta-learning problem. Using an unsupervised strategy driven by color temperature grouping, we define many related, yet distinct, illuminant estimation tasks, aggregating data from four public datasets with different camera sensors and diverse scene content. Experimental results demonstrate it is possible to produce a few-shot color constancy method competitive with the fully-supervised, camera-specific state-of-the-art.
Government spending and economic growth: evidence from Nigeria

This study examines the relationships and dynamic interactions between government capital and recurrent expenditures and economic growth in Nigeria over the period 1961 to 2010. Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) was used as a proxy for economic growth in the study.The analytical technique of Vector Error Correction Model and Granger Causality were exploited. Based on the result findings, it is evident that the Wagnerian and Rostow-Musgrave hypothesis were applicable to the relationship between the fiscal variables used in this study in Nigeria. The study therefore recommended among others that: there should be effective channeling of public funds to productive activities, which will have a significant impact on economic growth; there should be joint partnership between the government and the private sector in providing essential infrastructural services that will promote economic growth and development, etc.
The vertical connection of the quasi‐biennial oscillation‐modulated 11 year solar cycle signature in geopotential height and planetary waves during Northern Hemisphere early winter

[1] We analyzed observational geopotential height data to provide some new insights on the 11 year solar cycle signal in the Northern Hemisphere early winter and its modulation by the quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO). The signals are strongest in the upper stratosphere. When the QBO is in its easterly phase (QBOe), it appears to move gradually eastward and poleward, resulting in a predominantly positive signal over the pole, with a weaker vertically connected negative signal over the Icelandic Low. When the QBO is in its westerly phase (QBOw), the polar stratospheric signal is mainly negative and appears connected to a negative anomaly in the troposphere over the Aleutian Low. A spectral analysis of the stratospheric response in planetary waves showed a reduction of wave number 2 power under QBOe and an enhancement of wave number 3 under QBOw. These responsesarecharacterizedbyanoverallincrease/decreaseinwaveactivityatmiddletohigh latitudes rather than a latitudinal shift of wave activity. There is no clear stratosphere‐ troposphere connection under QBOe, but under QBOw, there is a vertically coherent increase in wave power at wave numbers 1–3 with a period of 5.6–6.9 days. We suggest that the differences in response under QBOe and QBOw can be explained through differences in initial vortex strength, resulting in either a stronger influence from the low‐latitude upper stratosphere (QBOe) or from the troposphere (QBOw) on the polar stratosphere.
Distinctive capabilities and strategic thrusts of Malaysia’s institutions of higher learning

The hostile business environment in Malaysian private higher education institutions (PHEIs) has proved to be fatal to numerous institutions.While there are success stories, the issue looms as what differentiates the performers and the non performers. As such, this study was conducted to understand why some PHEIs perform better than others; and whether the differences in performance are due to the choice of strategy.Finally, this study explores whether the organisational distinctive capabilities influence towards the institution choice of strategy. Based from a sample of 97 PHEIs, the study depicts that differentiation strategy was significantly link to performance with a spectrum of organisational capabilities influencing the institution’s choice of strategy.
AUGMENTATION OF PARASITOIDS FOR BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF CITRUS BLACKFLY IN SOUTHERN TEXAS

Abstract Two parasitoid species, Amitus hesperidum Silvestri and Encarsia opulenta (Silvestri), were released in an augmentative program to control citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby, in the citrus growing areas of southern Texas. Releases were made with laboratory-reared and field insectary parasitoids. Six citrus groves were closely monitored, and evaluations made during and after releases suggested that both parasitoid species became reestablished and exerted control over pest populations. Dissection of citrus blackfly immatures led us to suggest that E. opulenta increased in larger numbers than A. hesperidum, and that a stable host-natural enemy relationship became established.
Predictive modeling of coral distribution in the Central Aleutian Islands, USA

Logistic regression and generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used to predict the probability of presence/absence for deep-sea corals in the central Aleutian Islands from 50 to 3000 m depth. Explanatory variables included in the models were depth, slope, and rugosity. Five of 15 logistic models were considered acceptable based on cross validation using a Kappa statis- tic threshold of 0.4. Models of occurrence north of the Aleutian chain were more successful than mod- els for areas to the south of the chain. Based on the logistic regression predictive model, there are large swaths of sea floor between 100 and 1700 m depth with high rugosity and steep slope that have the potential to support coral gardens, particularly north of the Aleutian Islands arc and in Amchitka Pass. Improvements to the predictive models, including high resolution substrate and current data, as well as more in situ coral observations from a broader range of areas in the archipelago, would allow an improved evaluation of the adequacy of recent fishing gear restrictions in the Aleutian Islands to provide conservation benefits.
Assessment of lead (Pb) residues in organs and muscles of slaughtered pigs at Nsukka and Environs in Enugu state, Nigeria

Objective : Heavy metals are serious environmental pollutants and their uptake and accumulation in the ecosystem, beyond safe limits, would cause direct consequences to food chain and ultimately to man. The present study was undertaken to ascertain the presence and levels of lead (Pb) in muscles and organs of slaughtered pigs at Nsukka agricultural zone, Nigeria. Materials and methods: From a total of 160 slaughtered pigs, liver, kidney and muscle of each pig were collected and processed for the detection of lead residue using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Results: A prevalence rate of 81.25% was recorded for Pb residue in Nsukka agricultural zone. There is a strong association ( P< 0.0001) between occurrence of Pb residue and the source of samples. Mean concentrations of 0.0758 mg/kg, 0.1050 mg/kg and 0.0985 mg/kg were recorded in kidney, mean concentrations of 0.1676 mg/kg, 0.1235 mg/kg and 0.1955 mg/kg were recorded in liver and mean concentrations of 0.0598 mg/kg, 0.0870 mg/kg and 0.1020 mg/kg in muscle samples in Nsukka, orba and Obollo slaughter houses respectively. There is no significant ( P< 0.05) difference between the mean concentrations of the Pb in the liver, kidney and muscle samples (Nsukka, Orba and Obollo) and its maximum permissible levels (MPL). Conclusion: More than half of the samples were positive for Pb and few samples that exceeded the MPL may pose human health threat to pork consumers in the study area. http://doi.org/10.5455/javar.2016. c178
Learning Relational Representations by Analogy using Hierarchical Siamese Networks

We address relation extraction as an analogy problem by proposing a novel approach to learn representations of relations expressed by their textual mentions. In our assumption, if two pairs of entities belong to the same relation, then those two pairs are analogous. Following this idea, we collect a large set of analogous pairs by matching triples in knowledge bases with web-scale corpora through distant supervision. We leverage this dataset to train a hierarchical siamese network in order to learn entity-entity embeddings which encode relational information through the different linguistic paraphrasing expressing the same relation. We evaluate our model in a one-shot learning task by showing a promising generalization capability in order to classify unseen relation types, which makes this approach suitable to perform automatic knowledge base population with minimal supervision. Moreover, the model can be used to generate pre-trained embeddings which provide a valuable signal when integrated into an existing neural-based model by outperforming the state-of-the-art methods on a downstream relation extraction task.
Joint Active Feature Acquisition and Classification with Variable-Size Set Encoding

We consider the problem of active feature acquisition where the goal is to sequentially select the subset of features in order to achieve the maximum prediction performance in the most cost-effective way at test time. In this work, we formulate this active feature acquisition as a jointly learning problem of training both the classifier (environment) and the RL agent that decides either to `stop and predict' or `collect a new feature' at test time, in a cost-sensitive manner. We also introduce a novel encoding scheme to represent acquired subsets of features by proposing an order-invariant set encoding at the feature level, which also significantly reduces the search space for our agent. We evaluate our model on a carefully designed synthetic dataset for the active feature acquisition as well as several medical datasets. Our framework shows meaningful feature acquisition process for diagnosis that complies with human knowledge, and outperforms all baselines in terms of prediction performance as well as feature acquisition cost.
Comparison of the spectral-angular properties of light scattered in the Baltic Sea and oil emulsions

Angular distributions of scattered light, which are described by one of two forms, i.e. the Volume Scattering Function (VSF) or the phase function, are the least-known optical properties of seawater. This is because there is currently no commercially available instrument commonly used for such measurements. In particular, little is known about the spectral variability of VSF. The spectral properties of VSF can be presented by linear slopes of a scattering spectrum separately for all scattering angles. Through research conducted using a prototype Volume Scattering Meter (VSM), the linear slopes were determined for three Baltic Sea marine regions: open Baltic Sea waters, the Gulf of Gdansk and the mouth of the Vistula River. In this paper, the spectral slopes of VSFs of those waters are compared with VSFs of oil-in-water emulsions. The optical properties of crude oil extracted from the Baltic seabed, called Petrobaltic, were taken for calculations. The results show that VSFs of oil emulsions differ from those of natural waters, especially close to the perpendicular direction of scattering. For scattering angles between 70° and 120° there is an increase observed for oil emulsions which distinguishes them from VSFs of Baltic waters. While the spectral slopes of VSFs of oil emulsions differ from those of Baltic water across almost the entire angular range, excluding backward directions close to 180°.
Setting Test-Level Standards for a Performance Assessment of Physicians' Clinical Skills: A Process Investigation.

AUTHOR De Champlain, Andre F. ; Margolis, Melissa J.; Ross, Linette P.; Macmillan, Mary K. ; Klass, Daniel J. TITLE Setting Test-Level Standards for a Performance Assessment of Physicians' Clinical Skills: A Process Investigation. PUB DATE 1998-04-00 NOTE 20p. ; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Diego, CA, April 13-17, 1998). PUB TYPE Reports Research (143) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Clinical Experience; Higher Education; Interrater Reliability; Medical Education; Medical Students; *Performance Based Assessment; *Physicians; *Skills; Standards; *Student Evaluation IDENTIFIERS *Standard Setting; *Standardized Patients
Prediction of Strength and Failure for Brittle Epoxy Adhesive Joints of Dissimilar Adherends

This paper deals with the strength and failure prediction as well as the reliability issues of adhesive joints of brittle epoxy bonding two dissimilar adherends. The effects of bond thickness and scarf angle upon the strength of such joints are also addressed. Three kinds of adhesive joints, i.e., butt, scarf and shear joints are considered. It is found that the strength prediction of various adhesive joints can be done by establishing the interface corner toughness, Hc parameter. Weibull modulus is suitable to define the reliability of adhesive joints. The scarf joint of 45° is identified to be preferable since it satisfies both outstanding load-bearing performance and tolerable reliability. Hence, both applications of Hc parameter and Weibull statistical method allow the strength and failure predictions of adhesive joints with fairly improved reliability.
Pharmacological Activities of Prosopis Africana Fruits

Herbal drugs are thought to be safer, affordable and more readily available.About 80% of the world population uses them. This book is an attempt to look at some pharmacological activities of the popular African iron wood, prosopis africana. It is used in folk medicine to treat body pains, diarrhea, dysentry and animal tyrpanosomosis. It was found to have local anaesthetic effect comparable to 2% lignocaine hci and analgesic effect comparable to 10mg/ml of feldine a common analgesic drug. The book will be of help to people interested in herbs and natural product, medical botanist, pharmacist, pharmacologist,enthnopharmacologist, natural product chemist, postgraduate and research students in pharmacology and the drug industry practitionals.
Abnormal Serum Concentrations of Creatinine , Phosphorous , Triglycerides and Total Cholesterol in Males with End-Stage Renal Disease : A Comparative Study

This study investigated the concentration abnormalities of serum creatinine (SCr), serum phosphorous (SP), serum triglycerides (STg) and serum total Cholesterol (STc) in males suffering from End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). The serum concentration of each biochemical was determined in 30 males with ESRD (patient group) and in 30 normal males (control group). Except for STc, the mean concentration for all the biochemicals in the patient group was higher than the mean of the equivalent biochemical in the control group. However, the difference was only significant in case of SCr pair and SP pair (P < 0.01). Two significant relationships (P < 0.05) were found in patient group between two pairs: SCr-SP and STg-STc. These two relationships were not recorded in the control group. Similarly, the only significant relationship between age and SCr (P < 0.05) found in the control group was not recorded in the patient group. These limited differences in relationships were accompanied by limited differences in similarity ratio according to the results of cluster analysis. The findings of this study indicate that ESRD has a diverse effect on serum concentration of the studied biochemicals, with more prominent impact on SCr and SP. According to the results of statistical analysis, SP can be used in combination with SCr for early identification of ESRD.
Global distribution of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary: a new look

Abstract. New global maps of the depth to the boundary between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere are presented. The maps are based on updated global databases for heat flow and crustal structure. For continental regions the estimates of lithospheric thickness are based on determinations of subcrustal heat flow, after corrections for contributions of radiogenic heat in crustal layers. For oceanic regions the estimates of lithospheric thickness are based on the newly proposed finite half-space (FHS) model. Unlike the half-space cooling (HSC) and the plate models the FHS model takes into account effects of buffered solidification at the lower boundary of the lithosphere and assumes that the vertical domain for downward growth of the boundary layer have an asymptotic limit. Results of numerical simulations reveal that theoretical values derived from the FHS model provide vastly improved fits to observational data for heat flow and bathymetry than can be achieved with HSC and plate models. Also, the data fits are valid for the entire age range of the oceanic lithosphere. Hence estimates of depths to lithosphere- asthenosphere boundary (LAB) based on the FHS model are believed to provide more reliable estimates than those reported in previous thermal models. The global maps of depths to LAB derived in the present work reveal several features in regional variations of lithosphere thicknesses that have not been identified in earlier studies. For example, regions of ocean floor with ages less than 55 Ma are characterized by relatively rapid thickening of the lithosphere. Also there is better resolution in mapping the transition from oceanic to continental lithosphere, as most of the latter ones are characterized by lithospheric thickness greater than 150 km. As expected the plate spreading centers in oceanic regions as well as areas of recent magmatic activity in continental regions are characterized by relatively thin lithosphere, with LAB depths of less than 50 km. On the other hand, the areas of continental collisions and Precambrian cratonic blocks are found to have lithosphere thicknesses in excess of 250 km. Regional variations of lithosphere thickness in the interiors of continents are found to depend on the magnitude of subcrustal heat flux as well as the tectonic age of crustal blocks.
Foreign Capital and Firm Level Efficiency in Ghana: A Metafrontier Production Function Approach

The role of foreign human and physical capital in the productive efficiency of the manufacturing firms in Ghana is examined in this thesis. We compare efficiency scores of two groups of firmsfirms with foreign presence and local firmsthat have heterogeneous technology. A Stochastic Metafrontier production function, which accommodates differences in technology, is estimated. The estimated technical efficiencies indicate that manufacturing firms in Ghana are generally less efficient. Although firms with foreign presence had higher mean value added figures relative to the local firms, the local firms were found to be more efficient and also closer to the potential output defined by the metafrontier function compared to the firms with foreign presence. We also find technical efficiency to be influenced by firm size, food producing firms, profits and firms located in the capital city (Accra). Moreover, our results show that physical capital is more productive in the local firms, which implies that (foreign) physical capital to local manufacturing firms in Ghana is more important than foreign human capital. Key-words: Metafrontier, Technology, Efficiency, Foreign capital