Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INDIVIDUAL SAFETY AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Between 2004 and 2006, 911 self-administered questionnaires were collected from 84 nonresidential Ontario construction sites. Each questionnaire contained 105 questions and took approximately 15 min to complete. This paper presents one study from that research project that seeks to understand the relationship among worker demographics, worker safety attitudes, and worker health and safety outcomes (e.g., worker well-being and accidents). The participants had an average age of 38.3 years with 15.1 years experience in the industry. Short job tenure, age, experience, and job position were highly related to safety outcomes. Apprentices experienced more accidents, whereas supervisors reported more work-related psychological symptoms. Among the situational factors, higher work pressure, high interpersonal conflict, and low-quality leadership were most strongly associated with work-related health outcomes and accidents. Regression models were developed with a maximum adjusted coefficient of determination of 0.28.
A mathematical model for adaptive vein formation during exploratory migration of Physarum polycephalum: routing while scouting

Exploring free space (scouting) efficiently is a non-trivial task for organisms of limited perception, such as the amoeboid Physarum polycephalum. However, the strategy behind its exploratory behaviour has not yet been characterised. In this organism, as the extension of the frontal part into free space is directly supported by the transport of body mass from behind, the formation of transport channels (routing) plays the main role in that strategy. Here, we study the organism’s exploration by letting it expand through a corridor of constant width. When turning at a corner of the corridor, the organism constructed a main transport vein tracing a centre-in-centre line. We argue that this is efficient for mass transport due to its short length, and check this intuition with a new algorithm that can predict the main vein’s position from the frontal tip’s progression. We then present a numerical model that incorporates reaction-diffusion dynamics for the behaviour of the organism’s growth front and current reinforcement dynamics for the formation of the vein network in its wake, as well as interactions between the two. The accuracy of the model is tested against the behaviour of the real organism and the importance of the interaction between growth tip dynamics and vein network development is analysed by studying variants of the model. We conclude by offering a biological interpretation of the well-known current reinforcement rule in the context of the natural exploratory behaviour of Physarum polycephalum.
Reproduction of the angular angel shark (Squatina guggenheim): geographic differences, reproductive cycle, and sexual dimorphism

Colonello, J. H. , Lucifora, L. O. , and Massa, A. M. 2007. Reproduction of the angular angel shark (Squatina guggenheim): geographic differences, reproductive cycle, and sexual dimorphism. - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 131-140.The reproductive ecology of Squatina guggenheim from two coastal areas in South America is analysed. In both sexes, individuals from ER (El Rincon coastal system, the more southern area) attained a larger maximum total length (L T ) and a heavier weight at a given length than those from LP (La Plata River estuary). Females from ER mature at a significantly larger L T than females from LP. These patterns could be explained by an advantage of larger body size at higher latitudes in providing more reserves for winter, because individuals from ER have a larger liver than those from LP. Spines in the outer part of the pectoral fins were observed only in adult males. Fecundity increased with female total length. Females have a 3-y reproductive cycle, consisting of 10-12 months of gestation and 2 y of oocyte maturation. The embryonic growth fits the Gompertz model. Birth is in November or December, as inferred from embryo size and the presence of neonates and young of the year. Densities of S. guggenheim in LP peaked in spring and summer along the Uruguayan coast, suggesting a seasonal movement perpendicular to the shore. The reproductive pattern found suggests a population with low productivity.
Contractor Capacity and Waste Generation: An Empirical Investigation

This paper aims to test the hypothesis that an inverse relationship exists between the capacity of a contractor and the amount of waste generated in a construction site. In Sri Lanka, contractors are graded by an independent government agency and this study uses 15 projects undertaken by grade M1 to M5 contractors. M1 contractors constitute the highest grade and they have higher technical, financial and managerial capabilities. These projects are examined to determine cement wastages and link them to these respective grades to clarify their relationship. The major finding is that upper grade contractors, who are more capable, generate less waste compared to their lower grade counterparts. This suggests that contractor capacity not only has desirable outcomes for better time, cost and quality objectives but also benefits the environmental objectives of their clients. While the present grading system in Sri Lanka does not consider waste management, it is suggested that the waste management practices of contractors could vary immensely from the M1 grade to the lower grades. Consequently, future revisions in the grading system should seriously consider incorporating waste management practices to provide an incentive to contractors who appropriately manage their waste. In theory, this will encourage efficient waste reduction practices in construction sites.
Does Artesunate Treatment normalize Depressed Immunological Parameters Following Plasmodium falciparum Infection ?

Plasmodium falciparum is the predominant cause of malaria infection and death in Nigeria and Africa. It perturbs the normal process of immune cells, of which CD 4 + T cells have a crucial relevance for antimalarial immunity. The study aims at determining the effect of artesunate treatment on immunological parameters following Plasmodium falciparum malaria. A randomized non-block experimental design was conducted for the study at Bayelsa State College of Health Technology, Otuogidi-Ogbia, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, between February 2015 and April 2017. Out of 90 subjects enrolled into the study, data collected from 80 subjects (38 males, 42 females, and age range 18-59 years) were analyzed. 40 of the subjects had P. falciparum malaria and the other 40 were negative and were used as controls. 3 ml of blood was collected from the antecubital vein of each enrollee without stasis using a disposable plastic syringe and dispensed into K-EDTA bottles. Immuno-phenotyping was done using the AuRICA system. 20 of the malaria subjects had lymphopenia at presentation. The white cell count was also reduced (P = .05) among the malaria subjects compared with the controls. There was a significant increase in WBC count on completion of the 5-day treatment with the drug (P = .05). Although an increase in the CD4 count after treatment was observed, the mean CD4 count of 1008.1/μl for normal subjects was significantly higher (P = .05) than 889.76/μl for the malaria patients. We conclude that Plasmodium falciparum infection is associated with strong decrease in CD4+ cell activation and depletion of WBC counts. Artesunate in addition to other effects possess immune reconstituting properties.
ect of optokinetic nystagmus on the perceived position of brie X y X ashed targets

Stimuli Xashed brieXy around the time of an impending saccade are mislocalized in the direction of the saccade and also compressed towards the saccadic target. Similarly, targets Xashed during pursuit eye movements are mislocalized in the direction of pursuit. Here, we investigate the eVects of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) on visual localization. Subjects passively viewed a wide-Weld drifting grating that elicited strong OKN, comprising the characteristic slow-phase tracking movement interspersed with corrected “saccade-like” fast-phase movements. Subjects reported the apparent position of salient bars Xashed brieXy at various positions on the screen. In general, bars were misperceived in the direction of the slow-phase tracking movement. Bars Xashed around the onset of the fast-phase movements were subject to much less mislocalization, pointing to a competing shift in the direction of the fast-phase, as occurs with saccades. However, as distinct from saccades, there was no evidence for spatial compression around the time of the corrective fast-phase OKN. The results suggest that OKN cause perceptual mislocalizations similar to those of smooth pursuit and saccades, but there are some diVerences in the nature of the mislocalizations, pointing to diVerent perceptual mechanisms associated with the diVerent types of eye movements. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Exponentially small splitting for whiskered tori in Hamiltonian systems: Flow-box coordinates and upper bounds

We consider a singular or weakly hyperbolic Hamiltonian, with $n+1$ degrees of freedom, as a model for the behaviour of a nearly-integrable Hamiltonian near a simple resonance. The model consists of an integrable Hamiltonian possessing an $n$-dimensional hyperbolic invariant torus with fast frequencies $\omega/\sqrt\varepsilon$ and coincident whiskers, plus a perturbation of order $\mu=\varepsilon^p$. The vector $\omega$ is assumed to satisfy a Diophantine condition. We provide a tool to study, in this singular case, the splitting of the perturbed whiskers for $\varepsilon$ small enough, as well as their homoclinic intersections, using the Poincar\'e--Melnikov method. Due to the exponential smallness of the Melnikov function, the size of the error term has to be carefully controlled. So we introduce flow-box coordinates in order to take advantage of the quasiperiodicity properties of the splitting. As a direct application of this approach, we obtain quite general upper bounds for the splitting.
Partially coupled spin-up of the MPI-ESM: implementation and first results

Large-scale fully coupled Earth system models (ESMs) are usually applied in climate projections like the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports. In these models internal variability is often within the correct order of magnitude compared with the observed climate, but due to internal variability and arbitrary initial conditions they are not able to reproduce the observed timing of climate events or shifts as for instance observed in the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), or the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Additional information about the real climate history is necessary to constrain ESMs; not only to emulate the past climate, but also to introduce a potential forecast skill into these models through a proper initialisation. We attempt to do this by extending the fully coupled climate model Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) using a partial coupling technique (Modini-MPI-ESM). This method is implemented by adding reanalysis wind-field anomalies to the MPI-ESM's inherent climatological wind field when computing the surface wind stress that is used to drive the ocean and sea ice model. Using anomalies instead of the full wind field reduces potential model drifts, because of different mean climate states of the unconstrained MPI-ESM and the partially coupled Modini-MPI-ESM, that could arise if total observed wind stress was used. We apply two different reanalysis wind products (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (NCEPcsfr) and ERA-Interim reanalysis (ERAI)) and analyse the skill of Modini-MPI-ESM with respect to several observed oceanic, atmospheric, and sea ice indices. We demonstrate that Modini-MPI-ESM has a significant skill over the time period 1980–2013 in reproducing historical climate fluctuations, indicating the potential of the method for initialising seasonal to decadal forecasts. Additionally, our comparison of the results achieved with the two reanalysis wind products NCEPcsfr and ERAI indicates that in general applying NCEPcsfr results in a better reconstruction of climate variability since 1980.
Robust PCA by Manifold Optimization

Robust PCA is a widely used statistical procedure to recover a underlying low-rank matrix with grossly corrupted observations. This work considers the problem of robust PCA as a nonconvex optimization problem on the manifold of low-rank matrices, and proposes two algorithms (for two versions of retractions) based on manifold optimization. It is shown that, with a proper designed initialization, the proposed algorithms are guaranteed to converge to the underlying low-rank matrix linearly. Compared with a previous work based on the Burer-Monterio decomposition of low-rank matrices, the proposed algorithms reduce the dependence on the conditional number of the underlying low-rank matrix theoretically. Simulations and real data examples confirm the competitive performance of our method.
Remote sensing of size structure of phytoplankton communities using optical properties of the Chukchi and Bering Sea shelf region

Abstract. Recent ocean warming and subsequent sea ice decline resulting from climate change could affect the northward shift of the ecosystem structure in the Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea shelf region (Grebmeier et al., 2006b). The size structure of phytoplankton communities provides an index of trophic levels that is crucial to understanding the mechanisms underlying such ecosystem changes and their implications for the future. This study proposes a new ocean color algorithm for deriving this characteristic by using the region's optical properties. The size derivation model (SDM) estimates the phytoplankton size index FL on the basis of size-fractionated chlorophyll-a (chl-a) using the light absorption coefficient of phytoplankton, aph(λ), and the backscattering coefficient of suspended particles including algae, bbp(λ). FL was defined as the ratio of algal biomass attributed to cells larger than 5 μm to the total. It was expressed by a multiple regression model using the aph(λ) ratio, aph(488)/aph(555), which varies with phytoplankton pigment composition, and the spectral slope of bbp(λ), γ, which is an index of the mean suspended particle size. A validation study demonstrated that 69% of unknown data are correctly derived within FL range of ±20%. The spatial distributions of FL for the cold August of 2006 and the warm August of 2007 were compared to examine application of the SDM to satellite remote sensing. The results suggested that phytoplankton size was responsive to changes in sea surface temperature. Further analysis of satellite-derived FL values and other environmental factors can advance our understanding of ecosystem structure changes in the shelf region of the Chukchi and Bering Seas.
The Effectiveness of Using Written Feedback to Improve Adult ESL Learners' Spontaneous Pronunciation of English Suprasegmentals

The Effectiveness of Using Written Feedback to Improve Adult ESL Learners’ Spontaneous Pronunciation of English Suprasegmentals Chirstin Stephens Department of Linguistics and English Language, BYU Master of Arts This report describes a systematic procedure designed to give students pronunciation feedback on suprasegmental features of English in spontaneous production (rather than students’ pronunciation during a read-aloud task). The procedure was developed to find out if written feedback (given frequently enough) could impact students’ spontaneous production of suprasegmentals. Pronunciation feedback was given to the treatment group by marking transcripts of spontaneous speech with written symbols. Both the treatment group and the control group received form-focused pronunciation instruction. After 14 weeks, there was no significant difference between the groups, but there was a statistically significant improvement in students’ comprehensibility overall (regardless of the feedback condition). Students were also surveyed to determine if either group perceived a greater benefit from the pronunciation instruction or if either group perceived a greater improvement in pronunciation. Surveys revealed a meaningful correlation between the group that received the treatment and the group that found the pronunciation instruction to be beneficial.
Making Boards Effective: An Empirical Examination of Board Task Performance

Despite the increasing attention of management scholars to boards of directors, there is still scant evidence on the antecedents of board task performance. The lack of significant results seems to be due to some theoretical and methodological choices followed by scholars, i.e. the almost exclusive reliance on agency theory and the use of demographic data. Following the call for dismantling the fortresses dominating past studies, this paper contributes to opening the black box of boards of directors, developing a conceptual model that considers the impact of board members' diversity, commitment and critical debate on board task effectiveness in performing its service and control tasks. We collected primary data through a questionnaire survey, and we tested the model controlling for board, firm and industry characteristics. Our findings suggest that (i) the predictors we identified, and particularly the board members' commitment, are far more important than board demographics to predict board task performance; (ii) firm and industry contexts exert a significant influence on board task performance; (iii) predictors have a different impact on specific sets of tasks. Thus, our findings support the idea that several board characteristics and contingencies at both industry and firm level must be acknowledged in board design.
An Assessment of the Services Quality of Palestine Higher Education.

The history of the Palestinian universities is relatively recent; however their impact on the Palestinians case and wellbeing is undeniable. Today, almost forty years later the Palestinian universities like many higher education institutions in the region and worldwide tussle to fulfil the students’ demands on education while trying to maintain high quality and relevant education. In Palestine; studies of higher education sector seems to focus primarily on easily quantifiable indicators such as teacher vs. students ratios and gender participation, while the assessment of educational services quality have not yet been explored and the assessment of higher education from the students’ stands point is yet to be enhanced. Meanwhile; the literature is rich with scholars who emphasize that “service quality” is the key to achieve customers’ satisfaction and loyalty. The applicability of service quality concepts and assessment models is becoming more acceptable within the higher education arena. This research presents an assessment of the services quality at two universities in the West Bank; Palestine utilizing the SERVQUAL gaps model and instrument for measuring students’ satisfaction and behavioural intentions. The study wishes to assist the Palestinian universities administrative boards and stakeholders to create informed decisions with regards to the effectiveness of their educational policies. The results suggest that the “service quality” in Palestine universities is slightly unsatisfactory to the students and needs further attention.
Correlates of Examination Malpractice among Secondary School Students in Oyo State, Nigeria.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlates of examination malpractice among secondary school students in Oyo State, Nigeria. The instrument used for the study was tagged Predisposing Factors towards Examination Malpractice Questionnaire (PFTEMQ). The instrument was administered to 300 students randomly selected from 20 multi staged selected secondary schools of five randomly selected local government areas of the state, whereby 15 students were randomly selected from each school. Two research questions were raised and one hypothesis generated. Pearson product Moment Correlation was used to answer research question one, while Multiple Regression Analysis was used to answer research question two; and the. T- Test statistics was used to analyze the only hypothesis generated. The result showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between some independent variables (students, parental, societal and government factors) on examination malpractice. However, teachers’ factor was not significant. Also there was a combined effect of the independent variables to the prediction of examination malpractice. The Government nonimplementation of examination malpractices decree and lack of effective supervision of students during examination cause examination malpractices. The study also indicated that societal preference for paper qualification; inadequate preparation for examination, lack of self confidence, ill equipped schools, lack of good study habits cause examination malpractice. On the basis of the result, it was recommended that concerted efforts should be made at improving the level of discipline among students through counseling services in the school. Also parents should not mount pressure on students to pass at all cost, termination of appointment of any examination officials and teachers involved in examination malpractice should be in force to serve as a deterrent to others.
Loss-Aversion and Household Portfolio Choice

In this paper we empirically test if loss-aversion affects household participation in equity markets, household allocations to equity, and household allocations between mutual funds and individual stocks. Using household survey data, we obtain direct measures of each surveyed household's loss-aversion coefficient from questions involving hypothetical payoffs. We find that higher loss-aversion is associated with a lower probability of participation. We also find that higher loss-aversion reduces the probability of direct stockholding by significantly more than the probability of owning mutual funds. After controlling for sample selection we do not find a relationship between loss-aversion and portfolio allocations to equity.