Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deferral, Incomplete Preferences and Confidence

A theory of when to defer a decision is proposed, according to which a decision maker defers if and only if his confidence in the relevant beliefs does not match up to the stakes involved in the decision. It uses the model of confidence in beliefs and the notion of stakes introduced in Hill (2010). Firstly, a representation of deferral of binary choices is proposed and axiomatised; it can alternatively be considered as a representation of incomplete preferences, where indeterminacy of preferences is interpreted as taking the deferral option. Then the question of what the decision maker would do if he was not allowed to defer is studied; mild axioms governing the relationship between preferences in the presence and absence of a deferral option characterise a simple model of how forced choice relates to choice where deferral is possible. Finally, the results are extended to deferral of choices from non-binary menus. Compared to existing accounts of deferral, the theory proposed here is unique in analysing deferral entirely in terms of the attitudes of the agent at the moment of choice, rather than his expectation about his or others' future attitudes, for example. Preliminary axiomatic analysis shows that this difference is behaviourally meaningful.
Prevalence of Depressive Illness Among Patients with Asthmatic Disease Attending the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH)

Asthmatic disease is a chronic distressing respiratory disease. Many sufferers of asthmatic diseases tend to have co morbid depressive illness of variable severity due to the psychological/emotional burden associated with the disease. There is currently a paucity of data on the exact prevalence of depressive illness associated with patients with Asthma in this environment. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depressive illness in patients with asthmatic disease attending the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH). Consent for the study was obtained from the Ethical Committee of the hospital. Patients for the study were recruited from different departments of the hospital. Asthmatics patients recruited were only those diagnosed by Consultant Physicians in the Departments of study, who have been on treatment for at least a period of 6 months. Also, subjects whose psychiatric illness preceded the asthmatic disease were equally excluded from the study. A socio-demographic questionnaire as well as the Beck’s Depressive Inventory (BDI) was used as study instruments. The data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS version 20. Confidence interval was set at 95% and a P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 46 patients were enlisted into the study. Out of the total number of 46 patients, 31(67.4%) of them were found to have depressive illness (56% mild, 29% moderate and 15% had major depressive illness). Five patients representing 10.9% had suicidal ideation and 2(4.3%) had actually attempted at least on two occasions. 65% mostly of the mild depressive illness were not aware of their mental ill-health. Only 9% of those who were aware of their psychiatric condition had sought psychiatric intervention. From the study, the prevalence of depressive illness among asthmatic patients in UPTH is high and many of the patients appear unfortunately not to receive appropriately treatment as diagnosis and referral are still relatively inadequate and imprecise. There is therefore, great need for awareness of the existence of this comorbidity as well as institution of appropriate identification measures and subsequent referral for appropriate treatment. This will undoubtedly improve the management of asthmatics as well as their quality of life.
When will food price bubbles burst?

This paper examines whether there are multiple explosive bubble episodes in international food market by employing the Generalised Supremum Augmented Dickey-Fuller (GSADF) test. This method is particularly suitable for practical application of time series and provides an innovative consistent date-stamping strategy for the origination and termination of bubble episodes. Our results show that there are four explosive bubble episodes mostly accompanied by huge price volatilities during 1990–2017, which is largely in line with the asset pricing model (Gürkaynak 2008). The exuberance and collapse of bubble episodes can be explained by imbalance between supply and demand, depreciation of U.S. dollar, financial crisis and speculation. Our findings also provide supporting evidence for the Masters hypothesis that tremendous buying pressure from index investments contributes to substantial bubble episodes. The authorities should accurately identify bubble episode and monitor its evolving process, which is propitious to achieve the effective stabilisation of global food system. Particularly, restrictions on excessive speculative trading should be arranged under extreme market situations in order to forestall the explosion of multiple food bubbles.
Atmospheric turbulence in phase-referenced and wide-field interferometric images: Application to the SKA

Phase referencing is a standard calibration procedure in radio interferometry. It allows to detect weak sources by using quasi-simultaneous observations of closeby sources acting as calibrators. Therefore, it is assumed that, for each antenna, the optical paths of the signals from both sources are similar. However, atmospheric turbulence may introduce strong differences in the optical paths of the signals and affect, or even waste, phase referencing for cases of relatively large calibrator-to-target separations and/or bad weather. The situation is similar in wide-field observations, since the random deformations of the images, mostly caused by atmospheric turbulence, have essentially the same origin as the random astrometric variations of phase-referenced sources with respect to the phase center of their calibrators. In this paper, we present the results of a Monte Carlo study of the astrometric precision and sensitivity of an interferometric array (a realization of the Square Kilometre Array, SKA) in phase-referenced and wide-field observations. These simulations can be extrapolated to other arrays by applying the corresponding corrections. We consider several effects from the turbulent atmosphere (i.e., ionosphere and wet component of the troposphere) and also from the antenna receivers. We study the changes in dynamic range and astrometric precision as a function of observing frequency, source separation, and strength of the turbulence. We find that, for frequencies between 1 and 10 GHz, it is possible to obtain images with high fidelity, although the atmosphere strongly limits the sensitivity of the instrument compared to the case with no atmosphere. Outside this frequency window, the dynamic range of the images and the accuracy of the source positions decrease. [. ] (Incomplete abstract. Please read manuscript.)
CEO's Values, Management Style and Firm Performance: Evidence from Social Enterprise in Europe

A substantial body of research emphasizes the importance of the person in charge of an organization for a firm’s decisions and performance, yet less is known about which individual traits and experiences can explain variation in management styles that contribute to differences in firm performance. Our paper explores the possibility that a CEO’s personal values help shape his or her management style, which in turn helps drive firm outcomes.
Internet Adoption in Gulf Cooperation Council’s Tourism Industry

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of internet applications and their effects in the tourism industry of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). As a platform for e-commerce, the internet remains a reliable tool for use in the tourism industry, a conception that continues to win increased acceptance among major players in the industry. Despite evidence of slow rates of internet adoption in the tourism sectors of some nations, the future of tourism seems heavily dependent on this technology. This exploration is conducted based on available theoretical models which have been used on the subject in other countries, with the findings forming the basis in asserting the future of the tourism industry in the GCC. Conservativeness was found to be a major setback to the sustained competitive exploitation of internet value in GCC’s tourism industry. Key Words: e-commerce, internet, GCC, tourism
Total state in-migration rates and public policy in the United States: a comparative analysis of the Great Recession and the pre- and post-Great Recession years

This study adopts state-level data to investigate empirically the Tiebout hypothesis (as extended by Tullock) of ‘voting with one’s feet’ for the period referred to in the United States as the ‘Great Recession’ (2007–09). As compared with previous studies, more recent data are used and estimates are provided for three time periods: the ‘Great Recession’ (from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2009), the pre-Great Recession period (1 July 2004 to 30 June 2006) and the post-Great Recession period (1 July 2009 to 30 June 2011). This analysis also differs from most previous literature by including a separate cost-of-living variable and a variable measuring effective state personal income tax rates. After allowing for various economic factors and quality of life/climate variables, migrants (consumer-voters) over the 2007–09 period appear to prefer states with lower effective state personal income tax rates and higher levels of ‘fiscal surplus’, defined in this study for each state as the total outlay per pupil on primary and secondary public education minus the per capita property tax level. The three empirical estimates all demonstrate that the Tiebout/Tullock hypothesis was operational not only during but also both before and after the Great Recession since for all three time periods migrants (consumer-voters) manifested a preference for lower effective state personal income tax rates and higher levels of fiscal surplus.
Divergence of the fermentative and bromatological characteristics of 25 sorghum hybrid silages

The objective of this study was to evaluate the divergence of bromatological and fermentative characteristics of silages of 25 sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) hybrids. The experimental design was completely randomized with 25 treatments and four replications. The mean values of pH differed with variation from 3.45 to 3.87 for hybrids 866005 and 870051, respectively, and the mean pH value was 3.66. The average percentage of lactic acid ranged from 2.90 to 7.43 dag/kg of dry matter (DM) in hybrids 870035 and 866005, respectively, with an average of 4.65 dag/kg DM. Through cluster analysis by the Tocher method and average Euclidean distance based on the fermentative characteristics, five groups were formed: one with 18 hybrids, another with four and three groups with one hybrid in each. In group three, there were the hybrids that showed the highest values of lactic acid. Hybrids 870025, 870035, 870081, 870095, 866034, and 870031 showed higher DM content and the hybrid BRS 610 had the lowest average compared with the others. Hybrids 1F305, BRS 610, Volumax, and XBS60329 had the lowest levels of non-fiber carbohydrates and higher neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein. Despite the fermentative and bromatological divergences between hybrids, they are not a limiting factor to silage production.
A Study on the Effects of Socioaffective Strategies on Reading Comprehension.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how socioaffective strategies used by language learners affect reading comprehension. The research method employed was designed to facilitate more effective reading comprehension by encouraging learners to ask for help whenever they were faced with difficult English sentences. The experiment was conducted on 50 Korean EFL college students. In the experimental group, the subjects had to work in small groups. They were encouraged to recognize problems in reading English passages, to formulate the problems by expressing them concretely, and to ask the teacher and peers for help. For the control group, the classes were led mainly by the teacher using a traditional grammar translation method. For both the pre-test and post-test, the subjects translated the same paragraph without the use of a dictionary. The improvement was evaluated in two areas: the increased number of sentences translated correctly and the increased number of words translated correctly. The results obtained indicated that the experimental group improved in translating sentences rather than words. The learning of socioaffective strategies for one semester did not seem to affect the progress in the TOEFL test. It is not easy to conclude which level of learners benefited more from the socioaffective strategies. However, the results seem to imply that the strategies helped the lower-level learners when they were faced with difficult problems.
DO LITERACY AND A MATURE DEMOCRATIC REGIME CURE CORRUPTION

Using a cross-national panel data, we investigate the combined effect of education attainment and a durable democratic system on the corruption levels of a nation. Higher levels of education foster a sense of ethical behavior and civic duty in the citizenry by raising awareness, which in turn, should reduce corruption. Decades-long tradition of democracy, on the other hand, increases government transparency and accountability as politicians have to seek reelection, and thus, stable democratic system should reduce political corruption. Our empirical results suggest that the combined effect of these variables reduces corruption significantly, and a durable democracy and education behave as complements in combating corruption. Additionally, our marginal estimates show that durability successfully enhances the effect of literacy in curbing corruption.
Can Fundamental Analysis Provide Relevant Information for Understanding the Underlying Value of a Company?

This chapter investigates the relevance of fundamental analysis (FA) for companies listed on the Euronext 100 index. Can FA provide relevant information that increases understanding of the underlying value of a company? This study leverages an FA strategy to select shares in a portfolio that can systematically yield significant, positive excess market buy-and-hold returns, 1 and 2 years after the portfolio formation. Using annual financial data available from 2000 to 2016, this analysis calculates three scores applied to construct the portfolios: the L-score, F-score, and PEIS. These insights inform investors’ potential uses of fundamental signals (scores) to obtain abnormal returns. The results show that portfolios formed with high versus low scores earn 1and 2-year abnormal returns between 2000 and 2016. This chapter contributes to scarce accounting research in European capital markets by furthering understanding of the possibility of mispriced securities.
UWB HEART-SHAPED PLANAR MONOPOLE ANTENNA WITH A RECONFIGURABLE NOTCHED BAND

This paper presents a heart-shaped planar monopole antenna for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications. To increase the impedance bandwidth of the antenna and achieve UWB coverage, we use a heart-shaped radiating patch fed by a microstrip line and an elliptical curved ground plane. Based on this structure, by etching an annular slot loaded with a capacitor in the heart-shaped radiating patch, a planar band-notched UWB antenna can also be obtained. Specifically, to demonstrate the potential application of the proposed structure, a UWB antenna design with a reconfigurable notched band is presented by using a varactor to replace the capacitor. Commercial software ANSYS HFSS is used to analyze and design this antenna. Measured results of the fabricated antenna show good agreement with simulated ones.
The Importance of Sex and Spatial Scale When Evaluating Sexual Segregation by Elk in Yellowstone

Abstract The forage-selection hypothesis (FSH) explains sexual segregation in ungulates as a function of different dietary requirements producing different levels of habitat optimality, whereas the reproductive-strategy hypothesis (RSH) explains sexual segregation as a function of different survival strategies between the sexes. Based on observations of habitat use by elk (Cervus elaphus) in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming with regard to varying levels of wolf encounter risk, we found that our determination of whether the RSH or FSH best applied to sexual segregation varied by the scale at which we were measuring habitat use. At broad spatial scales we found no significant avoidance of wolves by elk. At the habitat scale we found that habitat use by elk was consistent with predictions of the reproductive strategy in that female elk used habitats that offered a balance of forage and escape terrain for themselves and calves, and that the degree to which escape terrain was present was dependent upon the risk of wolf encounter. At the scale of the habitat patch we found that differences in forage availability likely drove the differences in habitat use. Our results highlight the importance of scale when investigating habitat use, nonlethal predation effects, and sexual segregation in ungulates.
Redshift weights for baryon acoustic oscillations: Application to mock galaxy catalogues

Author(s): Zhu, F; Padmanabhan, N; White, M; Ross, AJ; Zhao, G | Abstract: © 2016 The Authors. Large redshift surveys capable of measuring the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) signal have proven to be an effective way of measuring the distance-redshift relation in cosmology. Building off the work in Zhu et al., we develop a technique to directly constrain the distance- redshift relation from BAO measurements without splitting the sample into redshift bins. We apply the redshift weighting technique in Zhu et al. to the clustering of galaxies from 1000 Quick particle mesh (QPM) mock simulations after reconstruction and achieve a 0.75 per cent measurement of the angular diameter distance DA at z = 0.64 and the same precision for Hubble parameter H at z = 0.29. These QPM mock catalogues mimic the clustering and noise level of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 12 (DR12). We compress the correlation functions in the redshift direction on to a set of weighted correlation functions. These estimators give unbiased DA and H measurements across the entire redshift range of the combined sample. We demonstrate the effectiveness of redshift weighting in improving the distance and Hubble parameter estimates. Instead of measuring at a single 'effective' redshift as in traditional analyses, we report our DA and H measurements at all redshifts. The measured fractional error of DA ranges from 1.53 per cent at z = 0.2 to 0.75 per cent at z = 0.64. The fractional error of H ranges from 0.75 per cent at z = 0.29 to 2.45 per cent at z = 0.7. Our measurements are consistent with a Fisher forecast to within 10-20 per cent depending on the pivot redshift.We further showthe results are robust against the choice of fiducial cosmologies, galaxy bias models, and redshift-space distortions streaming parameters.
A conceptual foundation of spatial strategy. A methodology for spatial transformation

Strategic spatial planning is an approach that addresses the shortcomings of established forms of planning. The objective of strategic spatial planning is to shift the focus of actors to a long-term orientation while providing short and medium-term implementation proposals that are geared to realizing long-term goals. However, strategic spatial planning is constrained by prevailing institutional structures that assign spatial planning a designated role to play, mainly in the domain of addressing physical space requirements. In this paper we argue that spatial strategy making is a methodology that can assist planners in breaking loose of the restrictions faced by spatial planning. This is so, because spatial strategy is developed based on two premises. First space is not merely physical space, but function and process space as well. Second, a strategy is about a sequence of impact oriented activities that aim to achieve an alternative future; hence, impact-orientation internalizes a pro-active orientation to change in the planning process. In this paper, we first discuss shortcomings of current approaches in the light of current challenges. Second, we elaborate on the notion of the ‘strategic’ in different strategic spatial planning approaches. Third, we describe our notion of spatial strategies as both a methodology and a product. We provide the working definitions of both space and strategy. In the fourth section, we operationalise spatial strategy by elaborating how spatial strategy is developed and how it can be used as a tool. Furthermore, the role of stakeholders and visualisation in the making of spatial strategy is explained. Finally, we conclude that spatial strategy making is an effective methodology that can be utilized within current planning approaches to overcome the challenges that they are faced with.
What does culture do to our brains? The Theuth effect: cultural adversity and cultural felicity

My aim in this article is to present a new field of research, namely the Developmental Valence of Cultural Matrices (DVoCM) studies. The topic is what in cultural matrices limits (cultural adversity) or extends (cultural felicity) the optimal development of human cognitive abilities – a phenomenon termed Theuth effect. Cognitive abilities are broadly defined as information processing, whatever the information processing mode: by sensation and perception (including sensorimotor aptitudes), by emotions or by high-level mental abilities. In the first part, I provide several examples of the powerful effects of cultural matrices on brain structures and human cognitive abilities, I outline recent attempts of synthesizing them in terms of methodological approaches or theories, and I point out some of the major limits of these approaches. In the second part, I define the objectives of the DVoCM studies, and I describe the methods to be developed in order to promote research on the Theuth effect. I conclude arguing that the evaluation of the developmental valence of cultural matrices would enrich our knowledge of cultural diversity, and would be a valuable indicator of the overall wellbeing of human life forms.
Relation between the Anderson and Kondo Hamiltonians

A canonical transformation is used to relate the Anderson model of a localized magnetic moment in a dilute alloy to that of Kondo. In the limit of small $s\ensuremath{-}d$ mixing, which is the most favorable case for the occurrence of a moment, the two models are shown to be equivalent. The Anderson model thus has low-temperature anomalies similar to those previously discussed for the Kondo model.