Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving peak flow estimates in artificial neural network river flow models

In this paper, the concern of accuracy in peak estimation by the artificial neural network (ANN) river flow models is discussed and a suitable statistical procedure to get better estimates from these models is presented. The possible cause for underestimation of peak flow values has been attributed to the local variations in the function being mapped due to varying skewness in the data series, and theoretical considerations of the network functioning confirm this. It is envisaged that an appropriate data transformation will reduce the local variations in the function being mapped, and thus any ANN model built on the transformed series should perform better. This heuristic is illustrated and confirmed by many case studies and the results suggest that the model performance is significantly improved by data transformation. The model built on transformed data outperforms the model built on raw data in terms of various statistical performance indices. The peak estimates are improved significantly by data transformation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Implementation and prospects of the rural development policy in Sicily to support young farmers

The paper analyses the implementation of the RDP 2007-2013 for Sicily up to 31/12/2013, with particular reference to the Measure 112 and its related measures (Young People Package). By collecting and subsequently analysing different information categories (financial, physical, procedural and expert opinion) it’s clear the remarkable success of the Measure 112 in terms of eligible applications, of which only 1/3 funded, due to the limited programmed budget. Referring to the integrated approach, also through the “face to face” interviews to the regional officials, it emerges the low expenditure speed of the Package-related measures, due to critical economic situation, red tape issues, difficult access to credit and the short time for realizing investments, disregarding in this case the achievement of the set objectives.
Corporate Governance System and Quality of Financial Information

At this study, we try to find the relationship between the system of governance and the quality of financial information for a sample of French companies listed in the SBF 250 for a period from 2004 to 2008. The Quality of financial information is approximated by discretionary accruals. Corporate governance is appreciated by a global index with 64 items and three sub-indices relating to the characteristics of the board, ownership structure and quality of the control system. Our results demonstrate that the quality of financial information is positively related to the quality of the board and the quality of the ownership structure. The use of an overall governance index gives more significant results for the three models and affirms the positive relationship between the quality of governance system and the quality of financial reporting. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013. v4n2p129
HIPPOCAMPAL DYSFUNCTION AND CONTEXTUAL MEMORY : NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR UNDERSTANDING THE ETIOLOGY OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Recently, several studies indicate that hippocampal dysfunction play an important role in the etiology of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Specifically, it has been suggested that dysfunction of the hippocampus impairs the ability to encode and retrieve contextual information necessary to generate a conjunctive memory (holistic) of the different elements of the context or environment in which trauma occurred. Instead, PTSD patients encoded independent associations between individual elements of the context and the traumatic event. Thus, in PTSD an individual element by itself may be able to activate a memory. traumatic
Trusting Banks in China

Trust in banks is essential to financial system effectiveness. This study examines the determinants of trust in banks in China. Using the most recent wave of the World Values Survey, which included information on trust in banks from the survey in China in 2012, we perform ordered logit estimations to investigate the potential influence of a large set of individual and provincial indicators on trust in banks. We observe the influence of certain sociodemographic indicators. Membership in the Communist Party and living in a rural area are negatively associated with trust in banks. Age and satisfaction with financial situation contribute to higher trust in banks, while being married and having a higher level of education tend to lower trust in banks. Access to information regardless of the type of media disseminating the information newspapers, television, internet) seem to have no impact on trust in banks. Economic values influence trust in banks. In particular, individuals who favor inequality as an incentive for individual effort or support an expanded government ownership role in the economy tend to trust banks more.
A cross-national study of the ecological worldview of Senior consumers Author accepted manuscript for International Journal of Consumer Studies

This paper presents the results of a cross-national study into the ecological worldview of senior consumers using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale. It was designed to examine the extent to which senior respondents in the UK, Germany, Japan and Hungary are endorsing the NEP scale and which factors determine NEP in the four countries under study. Our study is the first of its kind to measure the ecological worldview of older consumers across different nations. Examinations of the overall frequency and mean distributions of the NEP scale showed that the majority of seniors in each country support the NEP statements, but there is no general support for pro-NEP orientation. The relationship between values [using list of values (LOV) scale] and environmental attitudes was tested through a series of regression analyses calculated separately for each country. According to the results, a very weak relationship between some of the LOV values and the NEP scale was found in all the samples. Our study contributes to both cross-cultural environmental attitude research and to consumer studies in general.
The Effect of Mycorrhizal Inoculation Prior to Transplantation on Wetland Restoration Success in Sites of Different Land Use Histories

Fisher, Brett J. M.S., Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State University, 2011. The effect of mycorrhizal inoculation prior to transplantation on wetland restoration success in sites of different land use histories. One factor used to determine wetland mitigation success is the establishment of native wetland plant species. Although mycorrhizal associations are known to be present in 70 to 95% of all plant species and have been linked to seedling establishment as well as nutrient and carbon flux within plant communities, the presence or absence of mycorrhizal fungi are not assessed or addressed during wetland mitigation work. Three experiments were devised to examine the effects of mycorrhizal fungi on the germination and growth of native wetland plant species in soils and field sites from natural, restored, and created wetlands. Greenhouse experiment I was a small scale greenhouse experiment in which soil from Siebenthaler Fen (SF), a high quality wetland, was used to inoculate plants with mycorrhizal fungi to determine its effect on germination and growth. Inoculation significantly affected shoot height of 30% of plant species and fresh weight of 100% of plant species. Field soils significantly affected both fresh and dry weight of 70% of plant species independent of inoculation. Greenhouse experiment II was a large-scale greenhouse experiment in which a produced soil inoculum was used to infect plants with mycorrhizal fungi to determine its effect on the growth of four native wetland plants. Inoculation significantly affected shoot height, dry weight, and arbuscular colonization of Mimulus ringens L. The overall affect of field soils were few and highly varied.
Length scales and positivity of solutions of a class of reaction-diffusion equations

In this paper, the sharpest interpolation inequalities are used to find a set of length scales for the solutions of the following class of dissipative partial differential equations $u_{t}= -\alpha_{k}(-1)^{k} \nabla^{2k}u+\sum_{j=1}^{k-1}\alpha_{j} (-1)^{j}\nabla^{2j}u+\nabla^{2}(u^{m})+u(1-u^{2p}), $ with periodic boundary conditions on a one-dimensional spatial domain. The equation generalises nonlinear diffusion model for the case when higher-order differential operators are present. Furthermore, we establish the asymptotic positivity as well as the positivity of solutions for all times under certain restrictions on the initial data. The above class of equations reduces for some particular values of the parameters to classical models such as the KPP-Fisher equation which appear in various contexts in population dynamics.
The Effect of Good Corporate Governance and Environmental Performance on Financial Performance of the PROPER Listed Company on Indonesia Stock Exchange

This research aimed to determine whether the environmental performance and Good Corporate Governance (GCG) mechanisms, such as managerial ownership, institutional ownership, the proportion of independent commissioners had effects of the audit committee on measured financial performance by using Return on Equity (ROE). This research population was manufacturing company listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange that participated in PROPER 2012/2013 and 2013/2014. Based on the multiple regression analysis, audit committee partially had a significant effect on financial performance, while the others did not. Meanwhile, the analysis result shows that environmental performance and all GCG mechanisms simultaneously have significant effects on financial performance.
Frequency of miller fisher variant of guillain barré syndrome at a tertiary care hospital, Karachi

Background: Miller fisher syndrome is generally considered a rare but important variant of Guillain Barré Syndrome (GBS) having geographically variable incidence. Patients with this clinical syndrome are often misdiagnosed and mismanaged due to lack of awareness on the part of physician. Objective: To determine frequency of Miller fisher syndrome (MFS), variant of GBS in patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital in Karachi. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in the Department of Neurology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi. The duration was from April, 2014 to April, 2016 (two years). A total of 100 patients were included in this study. Patients were classified into GBS, MFS and GBS/MFS overlap according to their clinical presentation, CSF analysis and electrophysiological findings. Data was collected on a predesigned proforma. Results: Out of 100 cases, 62 (62%) were males and 38 (38%) were females. Frequency of Miller fisher syndrome (MFS) in patients of GBS was 14% predominantly involving male, with male to female ratio is 6:1.Majority of patients had duration of symptoms for 11 ± 6 days before presentation. The mean age of patients with MFS was 46.03years (SD±12.6). Conclusion: We report a high frequency of MFS in our population with predominant involvement of male gender.
STUDY ON AUDITOR’S ATTITUDE IN USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR AUDITING: THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY MODIFICATION

The objective of the study was to evaluate the factors that influenced behavior intention in auditor’s behavior in using information technology for auditing. This study was a combination between Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) from previous studies. The data collection method was survey and the samples were 102 auditors who worked in the big four Public Accounting Firm in Indonesia. Partial Least Square (PLS) was used to analyze the data. The findings were the construct of attitude, subjective norm, perception of behavioral control, and self-belief positively affected the behavior intention. Furthermore, the behavioral had positive influence towards the auditor’s behavior in using information technology for auditing. The implications of this study aret that providers of information technology for auditing and management should, again, pay attention to the attitudes, subjective norms, behavior control perceptions, self-beliefs, behavior intentions and behavior of auditors.
Hypertension risk factors who underwent dobutamine stress echocardiography

Objectives and methods: The present report aims to identify the hypertension risk factors who underwent Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) (558 heart patients), based on the routine secondary data set (UCLA Statistics Web Site) without any specific setting. Joint generalized linear statistical gamma models are used. Results: The present identified statistical significant hypertension risk factors from three blood pressure (basal, systolic, and maximum) analyses are the following: basal heart rate (bhr) (P<0.0001), double product (DP) of basal blood pressure and heart rate (basedp) (P<0.0001), peak heart rate (pkhr) (P<0.0001), DP of peak heart rate & systolic blood pressure (dp) (P<0.0001), dobutamine dose (dose) (P=0.0268), maximum heart rate (maxhr) (P<0.0001), percent maximum predicted heart rate (pctM-phr) (P=0.0312), DP on maximum dobutamine dose and blood pressure (dpmaxdo) (P<0.0001), age (P=0.0048), chest pain (P=0.0505), resting wall motion abnormality on echocardiogram (restwma) (P<0.0001), positive stress echocardiogram (posSE) (P=0.0002), new myocardial infraction (newMI) (P<0.0001), recent angioplasty (newPTCA) (P=0.0252), recent bypass surgery (newCABG) (P=0.0482), history of hypertension (hxofHT) (P=0.0541), history of coronary artery bypass surgery (hxofCABG) (P=0.0529), any event (P=0.0289), and base line electrocardiogram diagnosis (ecg) (P=0.0312). Conclusions: Impacts of heart conditions, biochemical parameters, dobutamine dose and many others on hypertension have been identified based on probabilistic modeling. Most of the present findings and their effects are almost new in the hypertension literature.
An Empirical Analysis of Louisiana Small Farmers’ Involvement in the Conservation Reserve Program

Abstract The study examines Louisiana small farmers' reasons for not participating in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), their awareness of the program, and their willingness to participate in the program. The results suggest that: farmers do not participate in the CRP if revenues from cropland are an important source of income, or if they are tenants; awareness is significantly related to education, income, race, and average return per acre; willingness is positively influenced by payment per acre, age, and farm status. Participation depends on whether payments per acre are comparable to the opportunity costs of removing cropland from production.
Learning About Monetary Policy Rules When the Cost Channel Matters

We study how monetary policy may affect determinacy and expectational stability (E-stability) of rational expectations equilibrium when the cost channel of monetary policy matters. Focusing on instrumental Taylor-type rules and optimal target rules, we show that standard policies can induce indeterminacy and expectational instability when the cost channel is present. A naive application of the traditional Taylor principle could be misleading, and expectations-based reaction function under discretion does not always induce determinate and E-stable equilibrium. This result contrasts with the findings of Bullard and Mitra [2002. Learning about monetary policy rules. Journal of Monetary Economics 49, 1105-1129] and Evans and Honkapohja [2003. Expectations and stability problem for optimal monetary policies. Review of Economic Studies 70, 807-824] for the standard new Keynesian model. The ability of the central bank to commit to an optimal policy is an antidote to these problems.
Modeling the dynamic component of the geoid and topography of Venus

[1] We analyze the Venusian geoid and topography to determine the relative importance of isostatic, elastic and dynamic compensation mechanisms over different degree ranges. The geoid power spectrum plotted on a log-log scale shows a significant change in its slope at about degree 40, suggesting a transition from a predominantly dynamic compensation mechanism at lower degrees to an isostatic and/or elastic mechanism at higher degrees. We focus on the dynamic compensation in the lower-degree interval. We assume that (1) the flow is whole mantle in style, (2) the long-wavelength geoid and topography are of purely dynamic origin, and (3) the density structure of Venus’ mantle can be approximated by a model in which the mass anomaly distribution does not vary with depth. Solving the inverse problem for viscosity within the framework of internal loading theory, we determine the families of viscosity models that are consistent with the observed geoid and topography between degrees 2 and 40. We find that a good fit to the data can be obtained not only for an isoviscous mantle without a pronounced lithosphere, as suggested in some previous studies, but also for models with a high-viscosity lithosphere and a gradual increase in viscosity with depth in the mantle. The overall viscosity increase across the mantle found for the latter group of models is only partially resolved, but profiles with a � 100-km-thick lithosphere and a viscosity increasing with depth by a factor of 10‐80, hence similar to viscosity profiles expected in the Earth’s mantle, are among the best fitting models.
A study on the effect of service quality on customer loyalty and corporate performance in financial industry

Since the government opened to the establishment of new private banks in 1990s, the competition in banking industry has become fierce in Taiwan. Especially, the establishment of financial holding companies after 2000s has resulted in the merge among financial institutions. The competition in banking industry becomes even fiercer. The price war of interest rate among banks gradually shortens the deposit and lending rate difference in banking industry that banks could no longer survive with the traditional business of deposit and lending rate differences. Banks have to attract customers with different service quality, satisfy customer needs, and create new profits for banking industry. Generally speaking, service quality is related to customer satisfaction after receiving service, and satisfaction becomes the internal assessment indicator of financial industry for customers. A lot of excellent foreign businesses or national financial institutions present brilliant competitiveness in the field of finance by the specialty and service quality. Taking Land Bank of Taiwan as the research subject, this study aims to discuss the effect of service quality on customer loyalty and corporate performance in financial industry. It is discovered in this study that an enterprise enhancing the service quality through the mediation effect of customer loyalty could effectively promote the corporate per- formance. For this reason, the relationship between customer loyalty and service quality, corporate performance are established in this study, and the results of the analysis could be the reference for banking industry in Taiwan. service quality, satisfy customer needs, and create new profits for banking industry. Under the competitive financial environment with meager profits, enhancing the service quality to satisfy customers allows banks to continuously make profit and survive with development. It becomes an essential issue for banking industry.
Application of Genetic Algorithm for the Length Design of Reinforcement in Reinforced Soil Slopes

Two effective parameters in determining the length of reinforcements in the reinforced soil slopes are, the one, the length of reinforcement located in the active zone till to the location of failure surface and the second, the length of reinforcement located after the failure surface. Generally, the first one is calculated based on the angle of failure wedge by Rankin method. In this method the effect of reinforcement on the location of failure surface is ignored, while the presence of reinforcement is effective.In order to assess the location of the failure suface, the horizontal slice method based on Spencer assumption is used. In this method, slippery mass with the presence of reinforces is divided into a number of horizontal slices parallel to reinforcement direction. Inter-slice forces are computed by using Spencer basic rules. Earthquake load is affected on the center of each slice by horizontal and vertical pseudo-static coefficients. In the presented method, unlike the other existing methods, all of the critical slip surfaces are examined and are reinforced. In this paper, Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization method is used to optimize the objective function for the produced non-circular slip surface of each horizontal for the safety factor of one. By comparing the results of Genetic Algorithm optimization approach introduced in this research with the results of the other investigators for the same geometry, material properties and loadings of the slopes it is indicated that the introduced and utilized method is more critical for the estimation of the length of reinforcements and the design of reinforcements with the proposed method is more reliable.
Stomach contents of cetaceans stranded in the Canary Islands 1996–2006

Stomach contents were analysed from 23 cetaceans, including individuals of 12 species from the families Delphinidae, Physeteridae, Kogiidae and Ziphiidae, stranded between 1996 and 2006 in the Canary Islands. Cephalopod mandibles (beaks) were found in 21 stomachs and fish remains (otoliths and jaw bones) appeared in 4 stomachs. Two stomachs contained only eye lenses. Cephalopods eaten by dolphins were mainly from the families Ommastrephidae, Sepiidae and Enoploteuthidae, whereas whales had mainly taken specimens of the oceanic squid families Histiotheutidae and Cranchiidae. Fish remains included a pelagic species (i.e. garfish, Belone belone) in dolphin stomachs and bathypelagic (i.e. black scabbard fish, Aphanopus carbo, lantern fish, Lampadena luminosa) and demersal species (Lophius sp.) in a pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) stomach. Most of the prey species identified are not of commercial interest but one of the sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) contained a fishing hook among the stomach contents. Five (22%) of the cetaceans examined had also plastic debris in their stomachs, with big plastic items being taken by deep diving teuthophagous whales.
Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises , Volume 22 , 1995 5 ARE GOOD SIMULATION PERFORMERS CONSISTENTLY GOOD ?

The present study examines the relationship between simulation team performance over two rounds of play in the same simulation game but under changed environmental and competitive conditions. The rigorously controlled experiment involving 555 students on 161 teams found a medium to strong relationship (correlation of .441 9, significant at .000) between rank order performance in one round of the simulation competition versus rank order performance in the second round of the competition. It was concluded from this finding that simulation performance is relatively stable over time and that good performers will tend to remain good performers and poor performers will tend to remain poor performers.