Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-English/non-French Speaking Caregivers Involved with the Canadian Child Welfare System: Findings from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008)

Objective: The objective is to provide a profile of non-English/non-French speaking families investigated by child welfare, with primary caregiver language acting as a proxy for immigration. This analysis examines the impact of language on service disposition. Methods: Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine whether primary caregiver language impacts the decision to transfer a case to ongoing services at the conclusion of the investigation, after controlling for clinical factors. Results: Investigations involving non-English/non-French speaking caregivers were more likely to identify physical abuse as the primary maltreatment form, more likely to indicate the caregiver has few social supports and is a victim of domestic violence, and more likely to report no primary source of income than investigations involving non-immigrant caregivers. When controlling for clinical factors, investigations involving these caregivers were significantly less likely to be transferred to ongoing services. However, when controlling for language and clinical factors, investigations of physical abuse were significantly less likely to be opened for ongoing services than investigations of all other maltreatment types. Conclusions and Implications: The findings suggest that there is an interaction between primary caregiver language and maltreatment type in predicting transfers to ongoing services. Given the lower risk profiles of non-English/non-French speaking families, although concerns of social isolation and domestic violence were more likely to be noted, a possible explanation is that these families are overrepresented in investigations of physical abuse. The potential utility of parenting education programs tailored immigrant families as one avenue to address the problem of abusive discipline, merits research attention.
Credit Crunched: The Relationship Between Credit Denials and Use of Alternative Financial Institutions

iThe current economic downturn was in part precipit ated by risky loans and bad debt. Thus, some have speculated that consumers will shortly have to meet higher standards to obtain consumer credit. In th e very near future, some consumers might be pushed out of the t raditional credit market (e.g., banks, credit union s, credit cards, etc.). If these households are less able to obtain credit in the traditional credit market, they may turn to alternative institutions for their credit needs such as finance companies or payday lenders. Although predicting future consumer behavior is al ways risky, the relationships between difficulty in obtaining credit from traditional sources and the u se of nontraditional or alternative financial insti tutions can be assessed. This paper uses the 2004 Survey of Consu mer Finances (SCF) to determine whether being rejected for loans or lines of credit from traditional financial institutions predicts the use of loans from altern ative financial institutions. The main research question, then, is what is the relationship between being denied cred it and using alternative financial institutions? As scholars concerned about consumer wellbeing, why should this question matter? ACCI members should care because loans from non-traditional fina ncial institutions are anything but consumer-friend ly and
The Correlation Characteristics of Polarization Backscattering Matrix of Dense Chaff Clouds

This paper studied the correlation characteristics of the polarization backscattering matrix of the dense chaff cloud with uniform orientation and location distributions in a circular symmetry region. Based on the theoretical analysis and numerical experiments, the correlation coefficients of the four elements in the polarization backscattering matrix are obtained, and the results indicate that the cross to co-polar correlation coefficient is still zero; and that the sum of the co-polar cross-correlation coefficient and the two times of linear depolarization ratio equals one. The results are beneficial for better understanding of the backscattering characteristics of dense chaff clouds, and are useful in the application of jamming recognition in radar electronic warfare. Numerical experiments are performed by using the method of moments.
Effects of wave action on nesting activity in the littoral five-spotted wrasse, Symphodus roissali , (Labridae), in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

The nesting activity of the littoral five-spotted wrasse, Symphodus roissali , was investigated near Blanes (northwestern Mediterranean Sea). Males construct and defend several nests over the entire reproductive period while females spawn asynchronously in these nests. Nesting activity continued from around the end of March to the end of June in the case of the study population. Nesting intensity, nesting success and nest destruction varied between years and sites. Differences between the numbers of nests that survive the nesting cycle and those that are destroyed can be related to environmental conditions, primarily wave height. Sufficiently protracted periods (> 1 week) of favourable sea conditions allow nests to survive and complete their cycle.
Nearest neighbour exploration with backtracking for robotic exploration of complex 3D environments

This paper presents an extension to an exploration strategy called Nearest Neighbour (NN) Exploration to reduce required exploration time. The new approach, called Nearest Neighbours with Backtracking (NNB) involves keeping track of all neighbours at each time step throughout exploration in a tree structure. This strategy is shown through simulations to improve exploration time.
Past and present of the nematode Radopholus similis (Cobb) Thorne with emphasis on Musa: a review

This review presents a historical background on different aspects of the nematode Radopholus similis (Cobb) Thorne, an important pathogen of Musa , black pepper and anthurium. It examines the history of its discovery and its name, new approaches to its taxonomy and its genome, and the process of dissemination and pathogenic variability. Finally, it documents the evolution of the control measures in banana, from chemical control to bio-protection and managing the habitat of the pathogen.
A volatility-based approach to gold as a safe haven: can it explain the abnormalities in gold returns during periods of extreme financial adversity?

In this paper, the authors provide an explanation of the abnormal behavior of gold returns between the 1 st of January 2008 and the 31 st of December 2013. The authors suggest a behavioral finance foundation to the fact that gold returns exceed those of a wide range of other assets over this period. The approach rests on the safe haven (SH) motif for flights to gold during heavy financial stress periods. The prevailing Baur-Lucey-McDermott paradigm on gold as a SH is shown to be insufficient, as it ignores the roles of volatility and risk preferences. The auhors suggest a formal SH definition, recovering those elements from behavioral finance. Contrary to the previous paradigm, the approach is data-consistent, in the sample period. The authors find that gold is a SH for all stock markets considered, some exchange rates, and even Euro Area sovereign bonds (including German bunds). They estimate the SH risk premium in all cases. The authors find that investors perceive the distinction between good and bad volatility, and that they do not ask for excess returns when gold volatility is high for SH reasons. This is consistent with the literature on the low frequency of idiosyncratic shocks in the gold market. Furthermore, the authors find evidence that, in a period of high financial uncertainty, fund managers building portfolios consisting only of gold might be acting rationally, contrary to the finance common sense for normal periods. In fact, in the sample period, gold is even strictly dominant in mean-variance terms, when compared to equity.
Customer Relationship Management and Customer Retention: Empirical Assessment from Nigeria's Insurance Industry

Aims: The purpose of this study was to draw the attention of insurance practitioners in Nigeria to interrelationships that exist among CRM, customer retention and value creation. For this purpose, researchers have evaluated the relationship that exist between CRM and customer retention; and also ascertained if value creation was in any way extended to insuring populace in Nigeria. Study design: The study employed cross-sectional survey design Methodology: The research was started with literature survey. The study employed stratified random sampling technique and thus, gathered data through the use of structured questionnaire. The sample population consisted of 58 respondents made up of marketing managers and underwriting managers drawn from 35 insurance companies which were randomly selected from the directory of member companies. The statistical instruments employed for this study were Simple linear regression and Kolmogorov-smirnov test. Two hypotheses were tested in this study. Results: The study found that CRM positively influences customer retention in the Nigeria’s Insurance Industry, and thus helps create values for insuring populace in Nigeria. Conclusion: The study evidenced interlink between various constructs understudied.
Local and Global Geometric Structure Preserving and Application to Hyperspectral Image Classification

Locality Preserving Projection (LPP) has shown great efficiency in feature extraction. LPP captures the locality by the K-nearest neighborhoods. However, recent progress has demonstrated the importance of global geometric structure in discriminant analysis. Thus, both the locality and global geometric structure are critical for dimension reduction. In this paper, a novel linear supervised dimensionality reduction algorithm, called Locality and Global Geometric Structure Preserving (LGGSP) projection, is proposed for dimension reduction. LGGSP encodes not only the local structure information into the optimal objective functions, but also the global structure information. To be specific, two adjacent matrices, that is, similarity matrix and variance matrix, are constructed to detect the local intrinsic structure. Besides, a margin matrix is defined to capture the global structure of different classes. Finally, the three matrices are integrated into the framework of graph embedding for optimal solution. The proposed scheme is illustrated using both simulated data points and the well-known Indian Pines hyperspectral data set, and the experimental results are promising.
EFFECT OF PROTEIN UNDEGRADED SUPPLEMENTATION ON PRODUCTION AND COMPOSITION OF MILK IN DAIRY COWS

This research was aimed to examine the effect of undegraded protein supplementation on nutrientsintake, production and milk composition in dairy cows. The purpose of this research was to provideinformation on the undegraded protein supplementation to increase milk production and composition indairy cows. The research was conducted for 3 months in Boyolali-Central Java. The study used 20lactation cows (<3 months of lactation), aged 3 to 3.5 years with body weight from 350 to 400 kg. Thecows were then randomly divided into 2 groups of ten based on their body weight, milk production,lactation period and age. The first group (control) and the second group (treated), both were fed dietbased on NRC (1987). The second group was added undegraded protein (UDP) of 30 g/l milk that mixedby concentrate. The observed variables were dry matter intake (DM), organic matter (OM), crudeprotein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), milk production and milk composition including fat, proteinand solid non fat (SNF). Data obtained were examined by t-test.The results showed that intake of DM, OM, and the NDF of treated and control groups were notdifferent (9.57; 8.49; 4.98 vs 9.44; 8.38; 5.40 kg/cow/d, respectively); however, protein intake of treatedgroup was higher (P<0.01) than that of the control group (1097 vs. 1210g/cow/d). Milk production ofcows receiving UDP supplementation tended to be higher than that in the control group (+ 1:45kg/cow/d). Although they tended to be lower in fat (4.13 vs. 3.88%), protein (2.45 vs. 2.27%) and SNF(7.26 vs. 6.94%), but protein and fat production were higher for cows receiving UDP supplementation(366 each; 214 vs. 330; 196g/cow/d). It can be concluded that UDP supplementation increased milk, fatproduction and milk protein but it tended to reduce the level of fat, protein and SNF milk.
Calamus deerratus fibre reinforced natural rubber vulcanizates

This research study investigates the potentials of Calamus deerratus fibre (CDF) as a reinforcing filler in natural rubber, Standard Nigerian Rubber (SNR10) vulcanizates. The Calamus deerratus was cut, dried, pulverized, characterized and incorporated into the natural rubber compounds and the effects on the cure characteristics and physico-mechanical properties of the CDF-reinforced natural rubber vulcanizates were determined. The results of the analyses, in comparison with a standard carbon black, CB(N330)-filled vulcanizates showed that the CDF manifested a reinforcing effect on the SNR10 vulcanizates but inferior to carbon black, N330-filled vulcanizates. The maximum torque, abrasion resistance, modulus, specific gravity and hardness increased while the scorch time, cure time, elongation at break and rebound resilience decreased with increasing filler content. The cure time and scorch time were however higher in CDF-filled SNR10 vulcanizates compared to those filled with carbon black, N330. Tensile strengths of CB(N330)- and CDF- filled vulcanizates increased to optimum levels at 40 phr and 30 phr respectively and decreased with increasing filler content. The results however showed that CDF imparted lower reinforcing potential as shown by the lower tensile strength, abrasion resistance and modulus. The hardness results of the CDF-filled vulcanizates showed slight superiority over that of CB(N330)-filled vulcanizates. Keywords : Natural rubber, Calamus deerratus, fillers, reinforcement and vulcanizates.
Attraction of Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Nymphs to Euschistus Aggregation Pheromone in the Field

Abstract Phytophagous stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are primary pests in most fruit, vegetable, grain, and row crops worldwide. Pheromones have been identified and synthesized for several species of economically important stink bug pests. When yellow pyramid traps are baited with lures containing these pheromones, significantly more stink bug adults are captured in the field than without lures. Our specific objective for this study was to examine the attractiveness of the Euschistus aggregation pheromone, methyl (E,Z)-2,4-decadienoate (MDD), to stink bug nymphs by using yellow pyramid traps baited and not baited with MDD lures in peanut fields and alongside pecan and peach orchards. At orchard locations, captured nymphs were predominantly Euschistus servus (Say) followed by E. tristigmus (Say), E. ictericus (L.), and Thyanta custator custator (F.). In peanut, E. servus, E. tristigmus, and Chinavia hilaris (Say) nymphs were caught in traps. Nymphal capture of E. servus, E. tristigmus, and C. hilaris was significantly higher in traps with MDD lures than in non-baited traps demonstrating that these nymphs were attracted to the synthetic aggregation pheromone. Pyramid traps baited with aggregation pheromone can be used as monitoring tools to assess the presence and seasonal development of certain stink bug pest species on crop and non-crop host plants and perhaps to predict timing of dispersal into and/or out of a crop.
Large-scale poloidal magnetic field dynamo leads to powerful jets in GRMHD simulations of black hole accretion with toroidal field

Accreting black holes (BHs) launch relativistic collimated jets, across many decades in luminosity and mass, suggesting the jet launching mechanism is universal, robust, and scale-free. Theoretical models and general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations indicate that the key jet-making ingredient is large-scale poloidal magnetic flux. However, its origin is uncertain, and it is unknown if it can be generated in situ or dragged inward from the ambient medium. Here, we use the GPU-accelerated GRMHD code h-amr to study global 3D BH accretion at unusually high resolutions more typical of local shearing box simulations. We demonstrate that turbulence in a radially extended accretion disc can generate large-scale poloidal magnetic flux in situ, even when starting from a purely toroidal magnetic field. The flux accumulates around the BH till it becomes dynamically important, leads to a magnetically arrested disc (MAD), and launches relativistic jets that are more powerful than the accretion flow. The jet power exceeds that of previous GRMHD toroidal field simulations by a factor of 10 000. The jets do not show significant kink or pinch instabilities, accelerate to γ ∼ 10 over three decades in distance, and follow a collimation profile similar to the observed M87 jet.
Gated Communities and Property Values

We empirically examine the effect of private and gated streets on housing prices in a well-established neighborhood of St. Louis, one of the first urban areas in the United States to develop private streets. A relatively homogeneous housing stock inside and outside the gated community, in which portions of the same street are sometimes inside and sometimes outside of the gates, allows a near-perfect natural experiment. Using a semi-log hedonic specification and the robust estimation procedures suggested by Tukey (1977) and Welsch (1980), we find that houses in the gated community command an economically significant price premium, other factors held constant. We further decompose the premium into two parts: (1) that part due to the privacy-security effects of gating; and (2), that part due to private subdivision and homeowner association imposed design restrictions, which operate as insurance against negative externalities. Results on gating are generally consistent with the work of Helsley and Strange (1999) on the economic geography of crime.
Currency Exposure, Second-Moment Exchange Rate Exposure and Asymmetric Volatility of Stock Returns: The Effects of Financial Crises on Taiwanese Firms

Over the last two decades, a number of financial disasters have occurred due to failure in risk management procedures. If some, as the Asian financial crisis, had a very much more muted global impact (even though they sent shock waves through global financial markets, the main damage were fairly contained), the global financial crisis we are witnessing since 2007 is in many respects unparalleled. Compared to many other countries, we could observe that Taiwan performed better. But it does not mean that structural changes did not affect individual firms. This study investigates (i) the impact of first- and second-moment exchange rate exposure on individual firm value and the stock return volatility underlying exchange rate fluctuation, (ii) the time-varying exchange rate exposure following the 1997 Asian financial turmoil and the global financial crisis which started in 2007. We find a high percentage of exposed firms before the two crises but if this percentage decreases dramatically after, the exposure level is much larger. The two crises affect also the asymmetric profile of the firms and volatilities. Finally, when we study the breakdown between systematic and diversifiable risks, we find that the market risk of the Taiwanese firms decreases after the 1997 crisis but is higher after the 2007 crisis increasing thus their equity financing cost.
Probing spacetime around Sagittarius A* using modeled VLBI closure phases

The emission region and black hole shadow of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center, can be probed with millimeter Very Long Baseline Interferometry. Our goal is to probe the geometry of the emitting plasma around Sgr A* by using modeled mm-VLBI closure phase calculations at 1.3 mm and to constrain the observer's inclination angle and position angle of the black hole spin axis. We have simulated images for three different models of the emission of Sgr A*: an orbiting spot, a disk model, and a jet model. The orbiting spot model was used as a test case scenario, while the disk and jet models are physically driven scenarios based on standard three-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of hot accretion flows. Our results are compared to currently available closure phase observational limits. Our results indicate that more models with closer to edge-on viewing angles are consistent with observational limits. In general, jet and disk geometries can reproduce similar closure phases for different sets of viewing and position angles. Consequently, the favored black hole spin orientation and its magnitude are strongly model dependent. We find that both the jet and the disk models can explain current VLBI limits. We conclude that new observations at 1.3 mm and possibly at longer wavelengths including other triangles of VLBI baselines are necessary to interpret Sgr A* emission and the putative black hole spin parameters.
Market Psychology and Aggregate Stock Returns: Evidence from Australian Consumer Sentiment

We present evidence that consumer sentiment has a direct effect on excess aggregate stock returns. We also trace the source of this positive effect and find that public perception over the next yearâ€™s economic condition is the most important determinant for the stock market. Our findings remain conclusive even in the presence of other well known risk-based factors. The evidence thus supports behaviour finance theory that incorporates both psychological judgement and systematic risks. However, we do not find that past stock returns are influential on current sentiment nor do we find current sentiment Granger-cause subsequent stock return.
Does inequality foster or hinder the growth of entrepreneurship in the long run

This article assesses the extent to which historical levels of inequality affect the creation and survival of businesses over time. To this end, we use the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey across 66 countries over 2005Â–2011. We complement this survey with data on income inequality dating back to early 1800s and current institutional environment, such as the number of procedures to start a new business, countries' degree of financial inclusion, corruption and political stability. We find that although inequality increases the number of firms created out of need, inequality reduces entrepreneurial activity as in net terms businesses are less likely to be created and survive over time. These findings are robust to using different measures of inequality across different points in time and regions, even if excluding Latin America the most unequal region in the world. Our evidence then supports theories that argue early conditions, crucially inequality, influence development path.