Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of coaching efficacy on team cohesion and performance.

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether cohesion mediated the relationship between coaching efficacy and performance in sport. Participants included 167 athletes on competitive soccer, baseball, and synchronized skating teams. Each athlete completed the Group Environment Questionnaire (Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985) to assess cohesion, the Coaching Efficacy Scale (Feltz, Chase, Moritz, & Sullivan, 1999) to assess their perceptions of their coaches' efficacy, and the Perceived Exertion Scale (Borg, 1971) to assess their performance. Baron and Kenny's (1986) guidelines for testing mediation was utilized. Overall, a significant relationship was found between cohesion and coaching efficacy, whereby all four dimensions of cohesion (ATG-T, ATGS, GI-T, and GI-S) were influenced by two dimensions of coaching efficacy; Motivation efficacy and Skills and strategy efficacy. However, no relationship was found between coaching efficacy and performance, indicating that cohesion did not mediate the relationship between coaching efficacy and performance.
Finite Element Modeling of Incremental Forming of Aluminum Sheets

Incremental forming is an innovative and flexible sheet metal forming technology for small batch production and prototyping, which does not require any dedicated die or punch to form a complex shape. This paper investigates the process of single point incremental forming of an aluminum cone with a 50-degree wall angle both experimentally and numerically. Finite element models are established to simulate the process. The output of the simulation is given in terms of final geometry, the thickness distribution of the product, the strain history and distribution during the deformation as well as the reaction forces. Comparison between the simulation results and the experimental data is made.
Effect of interest rate on savings behaviour among Ghanaians: evidence from Kumasi, Ghana.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explore how Ghanaians respond to changes in interest rate on savings. In other to effectively explain how changes in interest rate affect the savings behaviour among Ghanaians, the study administered 200 questionnaires and analysis of the data was done with descriptive statistics and chi-square test. The results show that, in general, changes in deposit interest rate loosely explain why people save. Again, decision to save with respect to changes in deposit interest rate depends on the knowledge the individual have on deposit interest rate and notices they receive from banks with respect to changes in deposit interest rate. The study further noted that, changes in income strongly explain the reasons why individual save. The chi-square result showed that, interacting knowledge on deposit interest rate with changes in interest rate may influence savings. Thus, increasing interest rate on deposit alone will not bring about increase in savings; however knowledge on the variable in question (deposit interest rate) is significant.
Exchange rate volatility and manufacturing exports in South Africa

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the impact of exchange rate volatility on South Africa’s manufacturing exports to the United States for the period 1990Q1 to 2014Q1. The study employs the EGARCH model to measure exchange rate volatility, and the ARDL bounds tests as developed by Pesaran, Shin and Smith to determine the longrun and short-run effects of exchange rate volatility on the country’s manufacturing exports. The study also carries out a Granger causality test between real exchange rates and exports of manufactured products. The study results show that an increase in exchange rate volatility has a significant positive effect on manufacturing exports in the long run. However, the results are insignificant in the short run. It is also found that real exchange rates Granger cause manufacturing exports. Manufacturing exports, however, do not Granger cause real exchange rates.
1 6-6-2009 IS IPO THE DEATH OF INNOVATION ?

This study examines whether changes made in the com position of the board of directors at the time of a firm’s initial public offering are relate d to changes in the firm’s innovation activity. Th e dependent variable is the change in R&D intensity f rom the pre-IPO period to the post-IPO period. Using a sample of 93 biotechnology or semiconductor firms with an IPO during the years 1996 – 2005, we find that changes in R&D intensity are neg atively related to changes in (a) board size, (b) the percentage of members who are venture capit alists, and (c) the percentage of members with a science education and positively related to the c hange in age diversity.
Structural relaxation around Cr 3 + and the red-green color change in the spinel ( sensu stricto )-magnesiochromite ( MgAl 2 O 4-MgCr 2 O 4 ) and gahnite-zincochromite ( ZnAl 2 O 4-ZnCr 2 O 4 ) solid-solution series

Optical absorption spectra of flux-grown single crystals in the spinel s.s. -magnesiochromite and gahnite-zincochromite solid solutions were recorded with the aim of exploring variations in local Cr-O bond distance as a function of composition. With increasing Cr contents, the crystals vary in color from pale red to intensely red to dark greenish. These variations are reflected in the optical spectra by the position and intensity of the two spin-allowed electronic d-d transitions in six-coordinated Cr3+ at ~18 000 (ν1) and 25 000 cm–1 (ν2). From the shift of the ν1 band position, a decrease in crystal field splitting, 10Dq, for six-coordinated Cr3+ with increasing Cr contents is evident in both solid-solution series. Based on published Cr-O bond distances for the CrO6 polyhedra in magnesiochromite and zincochromite of 1.995 and 1.991 Å, respectively, and applying the ligand field relationships, local Cr-O bond distances in gahnite and spinel with Cr contents at trace levels are determined to be 1.974(2) and 1.960(3) Å, respectively. These local Cr-O distances result in relaxation parameters (ε) equal to 0.69(2) and 0.60(3) for Cr-O bonds in the Mg(Al1–xCrx)2O4 and Zn(Al1–xCrx)2O4 series, respectively. However, the presently obtained Racah B values indicate increasing Cr-O bond covalency with increasing Cr3+ contents. This suggests that color changes and accompanying 10Dq variations may be due to variations in Cr-O bond covalency along the two solid-solution series, without or with very minor local Cr-O bond distance variation. Consequently, the ε values obtained from the present optical absorption spectra should be regarded as minimum values.
A Demand System Approach to Asset Pricing

We develop an asset pricing model with flexible heterogeneity in asset demand across investors, designed to match institutional and household holdings. A portfolio choice model implies characteristics-based demand when returns have a factor structure and expected returns and factor loadings depend on the assets’ own characteristics. We propose an instrumental variables estimator for the characteristics-based demand system to address the endogeneity of demand and asset prices. Using US stock market data, we illustrate how the model could be used to understand the role of institutions in asset market movements, volatility, and predictability.
Peer Collaboration of Six-Year Olds When Undertaking a Design Task.

The purpose of this study was to explore six-year-old Finnish preschoolers’ collaboration during a designing session, where they received a task to collaboratively design and sketch forest animals’ nests. Peer interaction is a natural part of craft, design and technology education because the learning situation itself provides various possibilities for collaboration. Craft making is traditionally seen as an individual execution, where makers are producing their own craft products instead of collaboration and shared outcomes. During this intervention, an experience of a shared designing and making situation was provided for children. The article focuses particularly on children’s verbal and embodied interactions, as well as children’s social roles in their groups, depending on their ability to use language during the designing process. Children’s activities were examined within Vygotsky’s sociocultural framework for learning and classified using a micro-level analysis methodology for tracking children’s collaboration and meaning making in designing. The results showed that six-yearold pre-schoolers succeeded in working collaboratively and they managed to solve the designing task with their peers, but embodied expressions also played a notable role in designing. Four types of roles, which children had in their peer groups, were found.
Evaluation of the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis in terms of synoptic‐scale phenomena: a case study from the Midwestern USA

We evaluate the ability of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)–National Center for Atmosphere Research (NCAR) reanalysis to represent the synoptic‐scale climate of the Midwestern USA relative to radiosonde data. Independent, automated synoptic classifications, based on rotated principal component analysis (PCA) of 500 hPa geopotential heights, 850 hPa air temperatures, and 200 hPa wind speeds and a two‐step clustering algorithm, result in a 15‐type NCEP–NCAR synoptic classification and a 14‐type radiosonde classification. The classifications are examined in terms of similarities and differences in the modes of variance manifest in the PCA solutions, the spatial patterns and variability of input variables within each weather type, and the temporal variability of the occurrence of each weather type. The classifications are then compared in terms of these characteristics and the degree of mutual class occupancy. Although the classifications identify a number of the same weather types (in terms of the input data, PCA solution, and mutual occupancy), the correspondence is imperfect. To assess whether the differences in the classifications are due to errant assignment of data to clusters or to differences in the fundamental modes present in the data sets as represented by the PC loadings and scores, a third targeted classification is undertaken that categorizes the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data according to the radiosonde PCA solution. This classification exhibits a higher degree of similarity to that derived using the radiosonde data (in terms of both interpretability and mutual class occupancy), but the solutions still exhibit considerable differences. It is probable that the discrepancies are partly a function of the differing data structures and densities, but they may also reflect differences in the intensity of synoptic‐scale phenomena as manifest in the data sets. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society
Aeroelastic Mode Control using H2-optimal Blends for Inputs and Outputs

For flexible aircraft, it is often required to control individual aeroelastic modes which are lightly damped or even unstable. In order to achieve a maximum controller performance, a large number of measurements and control surfaces is required, which in turn complicates controller design. Blending control inputs and measurement outputs, individual aeroelastic modes can be isolated efficiently and hence controlled by a single input single output controller. In this paper, a novel approach is presented for designing H2-optimal blending vectors for the control of individual aeroelastic modes. An efficient algorithm is derived to jointly compute the interdependent input and output blending vectors, where an explicit mode decoupling can be considered. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is proven by designing a gust load alleviation system for a flexible aircraft with distributed flaps and measurements.
Practicing perfection: How concert soloists prepare for performance

Musical performances by concert soloists in the Western classical tradition are normally memorized. For memory to work reliably under the pressures of the concert stage, the performance must be practiced until it is thoroughly automatic. At the same time, the performance must be fresh and spontaneous in order to communicate emotionally with the audience. The resolution of this apparent contradiction is provided by longitudinal case studies of concert soloists preparing new works for performance. Like expert memorists in other domains, experienced musicians use highly practiced retrieval schemes to accomplish their extraordinary feats of memory. Performers have a mental map of the piece in mind as they perform that tells them where they are and what comes next – a series of landmarks, hierarchically organized by the sections and subsections of the music. The musician attends to these performance cues in order to ensure that the performance unfolds as planned. Performance cues are established by thinking about a particular feature of the music during practice so that it later comes to mind automatically. Performance cues help the soloist consciously monitor and control the rapid, automatic actions of playing, while adjusting to the needs of the moment. During practice, the musician attends mostly to basic performance cues representing critical technical features (e.g., fingerings), and interpretive performance cues, representing phrasings, and changes in dynamics, tempo, and timbre. During performance, the musician hopes to attend mainly to expressive performance cues representing the musical feelings to be conveyed to the audience (e.g. excitement). We illustrate this analysis with a typical case study of a concert pianist learning J.S. Bach’s Italian Concerto (Presto).
Metrics defined by Bregman Divergences

Abstract. Bregman divergences are generalizations of the well known Kullback-Leibler divergence. They are based on convex functions and have recently received great attention. We present a class of “squared root metrics” based on Bregman divergences. They can be regarded as natural generalization of Euclidean distance. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for a convex function so that the square root of its associated average Bregman divergence is a metric.
Precarious conservation status of Pilgerodendron uviferum forests in their northern distribution in the Chilean Coastal Range

Pilgerodendron uviferum, cipres de Las Guaitecas, es una especie dioica, miembro de la familia de las Cupressaceae, endemica de los bosques templados de Sudamerica. Su distribucion geografica se extiende cerca de 1.600 km, desde los 39°35'S (provincia de Valdivia) hasta los 54°20' S (Cabo de Hornos), convirtiendose en la conifera con distribucion mas austral de mundo. Al norte de los 42°S la especie se restringe a pequenos fragmentos de bosques ubicados en suelos inundados. El articulo describe cuatro rodales de P. uviferum no documentados en el centro-sur de Chile (39°50' S), extendiendo el limite norte de la especie en la Cordillera de la Costa de Chile (CCR), y resaltando su precario estado de conservacion. Estos pequenos rodales (< 2 ha) se encuentran aislados entre si e inmersos en una matriz de praderas y plantaciones de especies exoticas, siendo permanentemente sujeto de alteraciones cronicas por ramoneo, cortas y fuego. Sobre la base de arboles muertos en pie y tocones, se estimo que las quemas recurrentes y cortas tienen como resultado una perdida de 57% de los arboles y 80% del area basal en los rodales. Actualmente el regimen de uso del suelo del area de estudio es causa de multiples amenazas para la viabilidad de estos rodales. Se recomienda implementar un programa de restauracion a fin de preservar estas poblaciones geograficamente marginales
Psychosocial Factors That Influence Quality of Life and Potential for Self-Management in Multiple Sclerosis

Optimizing quality of life (QOL) and self-management in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is increasingly seen as a worthwhile goal. This study aimed to investigate factors that affect QOL in MS. A large national sample of Australians with MS (n = 1848) generated from the Australian Multiple Sclerosis Longitudinal Study completed a survey addressing disease duration and severity, self-efficacy, depression, perceived stress, social support, QOL, and self-management. We tested a model of self-help in which antecedent variables are influenced by mediating variables, which in turn affects outcome variables. In the current study, the antecedent variables were disease duration and disease severity; the mediating variables were self-efficacy, depression, perceived stress, and social support; and the outcome variables were QOL and self-management. We also tested the hypothesis that disease severity, depression, and perceived stress would correlate inversely with QOL and potential for self-management, whereas self-efficacy and perceived level of social support would correlate positively with QOL and potential for self-management. The results indicated that the antecedent variables did not correlate with the mediating variables, with one exception: a negative correlation was found between disease severity and social support. No correlations were found between social support and QOL or self-management. However, significant correlations were found between depression, self-efficacy, stress, and social support and QOL. No correlations were found between either the antecedent or the mediating variables and self-management. The results confirm previous findings of statistically significant correlations between psychosocial factors and QOL.
Balancing Formality and Informality in Business Exchanges as a Duality: A Comparative Case Study of Returnee and Local Entrepreneurs in China

ABSTRACT The management paradigms in the West mainly rely on legal contracts and explicit rules (formality), while the management traditions in the East emphasize social relationships and implicit norms (informality). In an era of ‘West-meets-East’, balancing formality and informality is becoming critical for firms, especially those facing institutional differences in transnational contexts and institutional transitions. In this research, we conducted a comparative multicase study on returnee entrepreneurs and local entrepreneurs in China. We found that at the early stage of venturing, returnee entrepreneurs emphasized formality more than informality, while local entrepreneurs stressed informality more than formality. However, the formality-informality balance among both returnee and local entrepreneurs converged over time in line with the institutional transition in China. Returnee entrepreneurs increased the emphasis on informality (but kept the dominant position of formality), whereas local entrepreneurs gradually shifted from informality to formality. The spatial pattern of asymmetrical balancing and the temporal pattern of transitional balancing are both rooted in the Chinese philosophy of Yin-Yang balancing.
Fouling Characterization of Polysulfone-Grafted-Methyl Methacrylate Membrane

This study investigates the effects of different grafting time on the polysulfone grafted methyl methacrylate (PSf-g-MMA) membrane performance. PSf-g-MMA was successfully prepared via UV radiation method. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) and benzophenon (BP) were used as a monomer and initiator respectively. Membrane performances were measured based on permeation and rejection of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Degree of grafting was found to increase as grafting time increases and the optimum time was found at 100 minutes. The results revealed that the pure water flux and rejection were significantly improved with the addition of grafting time. The present of MMA also were found to improve fouling properties of the membrane.
Recent results from analysis of flow structures and energy modes induced by viscous wave around a surface-piercing cylinder

Due to its relevance in ocean engineering, the subject of the flow field generated by water waves around a vertical circular cylinder piercing the free surface has recently started to be considered by several research groups. In particular, we studied this problem starting from the velocity-potential framework, then the implementation of the numerical solution of the Euler equations in their velocity-pressure formulation, and finally the performance of the integration of the Navier-Stokes equations in primitive variables. We also developed and applied methods of extraction of the flow coherent structures and most energetic modes. In this work, we present some new results of our research directed, in particular, toward the clarification of the main nonintuitive character of the phenomenon of interaction between a wave and a surface-piercing cylinder, namely, the fact that the wave exerts its maximum force and exhibits its maximum run-up on the cylindrical obstacle at different instants. The understanding of this phenomenon becomes of crucial importance in the perspective of governing the entity of the wave run-up on the obstacle by means of wave-flow-control techniques.
Pre-Octonionic to Octonionic Gravity and Could Kinetic Energy Be Larger than Potential Energy before Inflation?

We look at early universe space-time which is characterized by a transition from Pre-Planckian to Planckian space-time. In doing so we also invoke the geometry of Octonionic non-commutative structure and when it breaks down. Doing so is also equivalent to a speculation given earlier by the author as to the kinetic energy of Pre-Planckian space-time being significantly larger than the Potential energy, which is the opposite of what happens after the onset of Inflation, with the assumption as to how this is justified given in a (Pre- Planckian) Hubble Parameter set as of Equation (16), and we close with a comparison of this proposal with string cosmology, as represented in the 2nd reference in this paper.
Propolis: recent advances in chemistry and plant origin

New information published since 1995 about propolis constituents is reviewed. The available information on the biological action of new found components is presented. Recent publi- cations are reviewed on propolis of native South American stingless bees. The plant sources of bee glue are discussed, taking into consideration data based on reliable chemical evidence including comparisons between propolis samples and plant material. Some aspects of the chemical standard- ization of propolis are discussed.
First detections of FS Canis Majoris stars in clusters. Evolutionary state as constrained by coeval massive stars

FS CMa stars are low-luminosity objects showing the B[e] phenomenon whose evolutionary state remains a puzzle. These stars are surrounded by compact disks of warm dust of unknown origin. Hitherto, membership of FS CMa stars to coeval populations has never been confirmed. The discovery of low-luminosity line emitters in the young massive clusters Mercer 20 and Mercer 70 prompts us to investigate the nature of such objects. We intend to confirm membership to coeval populations in order to characterize these emission-line stars through the cluster properties. Based on ISAAC/VLT medium-resolution spectroscopy and NICMOS/HST photometry of massive cluster members, new characterizations of Mercer 20 and Mercer 70 are performed. Coevality of each cluster and membership of the newly-discovered B[e] objects are investigated using our observations as well as literature data of the surroundings. Infrared excess and narrow-band photometric properties of the B[e] stars are also studied. We confirm and classify 22 new cluster members, including Wolf-Rayet stars and blue hypergiants. Spectral types (O9-B1.5 V) and radial velocities of B[e] objects are compatible with the remaining cluster members, while emission features of Mg II, Fe II], and [Fe II] are identified in their spectra. The ages of these stars are 4.5 and 6 Myr, and they show mild infrared excesses. We confirm the presence of FS CMa stars in the coeval populations of Mercer 20 and Mercer 70. We discuss the nature and evolutionary state of FS CMa stars, discarding a post-AGB nature and introducing a new hypothesis about mergers. A new search method for FS CMa candidates in young massive clusters based on narrow-band Paschen-alpha photometry is proposed and tested in photometric data of other clusters, yielding three new candidates.