Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of technology adoption in rural-based cassava processing enterprises in South-West Nigeria

This study explores the intricacies of technology adoption in rural based cassava processing enterprises in southwest Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from 265 rural based cassava processors selected through a multistage sampling procedure and 37 purposively selected researchers/extension personnel. The data were collated and presented with the use of descriptive statistical tools and other descriptive frameworks. The data obtained on the key factors influencing the technology adoption process were used to test the two null hypotheses tested in the study. The results show that most of the cassava processors (57.74%) have adopted the cassava grater. Other cassava processing innovations that they are aware of are the improved method of cassava processing to gari, fufu, flour, chips and starch. Adopters and non-adopters of the cassava grater differ significantly in most of their social, economic and innovation related characteristics. The two exceptions are the estimated value of cassava processing enterprise (Naira) and the average distance regularly traveled (km/week). The adopters perceive the use of the innovation as less complex than existing practice and have been in contact with the innovation for longer than non-adopters. There were significant relationships between the adoption of the cassava grater and processors’ household size, number of groups affiliated to, average distance regularly traveled, the relative advantage from using the grater, its compatibility with existing practice and the processors’ attitude to adopting the grater. The research subsystem dominated the technology development processes of cassava processing sector. The study concluded that approaches for promoting cassava processing interventions need to be flexible to accommodate the intricacies in the system. It then proposed three complementary approaches for promoting cassava processing innovations in southwest Nigeria.
Dealing with Uncertainty: The Value of Reputation in an Institutional Void ∗

We analyse an online black market in which no legal institutions exist to alleviate buyer uncertainty. Traders make use of platform rating systems, thereby providing an observable measure of reputation in an institutional void. We estimate the value of seller rating for unit prices charged by exploiting the sudden market exit of a major platform. We track sellers that were forced to migrate to the competing platform and make use of their ratings ‘reset’. We ﬁnd that on average an increase of one percentage point in rating results in a unit price increase of 20% of a standard deviation.
Beliefs Matter in the Prisoners’ Dilemma Game: Revisiting Economists’ Free-Riding

We revisit the well-known phenomenon of economists’ higher propensity to free-ride, a result consistently reported in the laboratory experiment literature. We ran an experiment that allows us to examine whether economists’ free-riding was attributed to their selfishness or their beliefs about the behavior of the other players. We found that their lower contributions were more likely to be due to the latter. Our experimental results shed light on the role of subjects’ beliefs in sustaining cooperation, especially when they are conditionally cooperative.
Improving Reliability Estimation for Individual Numeric Predictions: A Machine Learning Approach

Numerical predictive modeling is widely used in different application domains. Although many modeling techniques have been proposed, and a number of different aggregate accuracy metrics exist for evaluating the overall performance of predictive models, other important aspects, such as the reliability (or confidence and uncertainty) of individual predictions, have been underexplored. We propose to use estimated absolute prediction error as the indicator of individual prediction reliability, which has the benefits of being intuitive and providing highly interpretable information to decision makers, as well as allowing for more precise evaluation of reliability estimation quality. As importantly, the proposed reliability indicator allows the reframing of reliability estimation itself as a canonical numeric prediction problem, which makes the proposed approach general-purpose (i.e., it can work in conjunction with any outcome prediction model), alleviates the need for distributional assumptions, and enables the use of advanced, state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to learn individual prediction reliability patterns directly from data. Extensive experimental results on multiple real-world data sets show that the proposed machine learning-based approach can significantly improve individual prediction reliability estimation as compared with a number of baselines from prior work, especially in more complex predictive scenarios.
Application of a computationally efficient coincidence detector model to simulate auditory brainstem neurons

Computational modeling plays an important role in the investigation of acoustic information processing along the auditory system. Recent studies found that a relatively simple neuronal model, which produces action potentials depending on the count and timing of modeled synaptic inputs, can simulate a number of response features of auditory brainstem neurons, such as interaural time and intensity difference coding in the lateral superior olive. Here we review this simple coincidence detector model and discuss its possible applications to several other types of auditory neurons. Our application targets include principal neurons in the medial superior olive that change their number of action potentials according to interaural time differences and globular bushy cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus that show enhanced phase-locking to low frequency tones than auditory nerves. Because of its computational efficiency, the model is also suitable for large-scale simulations that typically include thousands of neurons to study, for example, across-frequency integration and the resulting perception of binaural sounds. Further modifications of the model for better biological plausibility, such as introducing an adaptive threshold, are also discussed.
The E ect of Framing on the Emergence of Bubbles and Crashes in a Learning to Forecast Experiment

Expectations of future returns are pivotal for investors' trading decisions, and are therefore an important determinant of the evolution of actual returns. Evidence from laboratory experiments with exogenously given time series of returns suggests that subjects' return forecasts are substantially affected by how they are elicited and by the format in which subjects receive information about past asset performance. We study the e ect of framing on asset price dynamics in a learning to forecast experiment where prices and returns are endogenously determined and depend directly upon subjects' forecasts. We vary both the variable (prices or returns) subjects observe and the variable (prices or returns) they have to forecast, with the same underlying data generating process for each treatment. Although there is no signi cant e ect of the format of the presentation of past information, we do nd that the incidence and amplitude of bubbles increase signi cantly when subjects have to forecast returns instead of prices. This is due to subjects coordinating on forecasting strategies that tend to exhibit stronger trend extrapolation when return forecasts are elicited. Our results therefore show that framing may exacerbate, or even create, bubbles and crashes in nancial markets. JEL classi cation: C63, C72, D43
Consenso latino-americano de hipertensão em pacientes com diabetes tipo 2 e síndrome metabólica

The present document has been prepared by a group of experts, members of cardiology, endocrinology, internal medicine, nephrology and diabetes societies of Latin American countries, to serve as a guide to physicians taking care of patients with diabetes, hypertension and comorbidities or complications of both conditions. Although the concept of metabolic syndrome is currently disputed, the higher prevalence in Latin America of that cluster of metabolic alterations has suggested that metabolic syndrome is a useful nosography entity in the context of Latin American medicine. Therefore, in the present document, particular attention is paid to this syndrome in order to alert physicians on a particular high-risk population, usually underestimated and undertreated. These recommendations result from presentations and debates by discussion panels during a 2-day conference held in Bucaramanga, in October 2012, and all the participants have approved the final conclusions. The authors acknowledge that the publication and diffusion of guidelines do not suffice to achieve the recommended changes in diagnostic or therapeutic strategies, and plan suitable interventions overcoming knowledge, attitude and behavioural barriers, preventing both physicians and patients from effectively adhering to guideline recommendations. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab. 2014;58(3):205-25
Alterações de sintomatologia psiquiátrica em pacientes obesos submetidos ao Bypass Gástrico

Background: Several studies indicate increases of psychiatric symptoms in obese patients however there is no consensus on evolution of these symptoms after bariatric surgery. Objective: Our study analyzed changes in psychiatric symptoms in obese patients at Center Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome (COMPUCRS) after surgery treatment. Methods: This cohort prospectively followed obese patients who underwent bariatric treatment. We applied standard psychiatric scales: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Binge Eating Scale (BES) and Symptom Check List90-R in baseline, 6-months and 1-year after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). Changes in scores are evaluated and associated with clinical and socio demographic status. Results: In our cohort, 289 patients are white (93.1%), 75.8% are woman with 37.65 ± 10.31 years old, entered to National Health System-SUS (57.4%) and 56.7% make use psychiatric medications. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 46.8 ± 7.6; 33.9 ± 6.2 and 29.9 ± 5.4 kg/m in baseline, 6-months and 1-year respectively (p<0.001). After surgery, all psychiatric symptoms showed a significant decline in scores of standard scales during follow-up. Beck Depression Inventory: 8.9 (7.8 to 0.1) vs 3.2 (2.7 to 3.7) and 2.4 (1.9 to 2.9); Beck Anxiety Inventory: 5.9 (5.1 to 6.8) vs 2.2 (1.8 to 2.6) and 1.8 (1.5 to 2.3); Binge Eaten Scale: 6.7 (5.8 to 8.0) vs 2.0 (1.6 to 2.5) and 1.4 (1.1 to 1.9) (p<0.001). All subscales of Symptom Check List 90-R showed a significant decline following 1-year after bariatric surgery (p<0.001). Conclusion: In one year, a significant reduction was observed in all scores of the assessment of psychiatric symptoms and substantial weight loss in obese patients after RYGB.
BARLEY PLANTS STRESS DEPENDING ON SOIL DEGRADATION DUE TO SOIL COMPACTION

Barley plants stress depending on soil degradation due to soil compaction. A field experiment carried out on the experimental area of Estonian University of Life Science on Stagnic Luvisol soil. For soil compaction the hard tractor (total load 4.44 Mg) has been used. The induce compaction was done by wheel traffic applied uniformly to cover the entire of the full experimental plots: 1 time, 3 times and 6 times. The measuring with the microelectrode the cellular fluid pH directly from plants is a quick method for explaining soil qualities. By using intracellular pH measurements we can detect easily the most suitable soil condition for plant growing. For the chemical analysis of plants the Kjeldhal method was used to determine the nitrogen content in plants of barley. In our experiments the intracellular pH indicated very well the critical level of soil bulk density for barley growth, which was 1.52– 1.60 Mg m in sandy loam soil depending on number of compaction. For soil bulk density in plough layer 1.52 Mg m (the cellular fluid pH had increased with higher soil density, particularly steeply on space of soil bulk density 1.52–1.58 Mg m). The drastic decrease of nitrogen content started at the same soil bulk density values, where the cellular fluid pH suddenly increased. The level of the degree of intracellular fluid pH (CpH) is the most favorable which corresponds to the conditions CpH = 0.01, and on the contrary if CpH = 1.00 then degree of CpH is maximum worst level. Ke words. Soil bulk density, barley, cellular fluid pH, degree of cellular fluid pH, soil degradation, plant stress
FOREIGN CAPITAL INFLOWS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CRITICAL SURVEY OF SELECTED EMPIRICAL STUDIES

Economists have always considered capital as the ce ntral lement of the process of economic development. The straightforward view o f development economists is that capital is essential for growth and its origin does not ma ter. Based on this view, the capital-deficient countries h avily resorted to foreign capital as the primary means to achieve rapid econo mic growth. Unfortunately, the growth experience of many of these countries ha s not been very satisfactory and, as a result, they accumulated a large external debt and are now facing serious debt servicing problems. This survey attemp s to integrate major empirical studies on the macroeconomic effects of f oreign capital inflows. It concludes that the results of previous studies have l rgely been controversial, mainly due to methodological problems and data limi tations. Since most of the previous studies are cross-sectional in nature, the re is a need for more country-specific case studies, due to the unique ch aracteristics of each country and the stringent conditionalities of debt relief i nitiatives.
Board Characteristics and Earnings Management: A Literature Review for gap analysis in Emerging Economies

Purpose: Earnings management on account of personal motivations of the management has been the subject of research in almost every country including the USA, UK and Australia. The increasing transnational transactions and changing market dynamics have necessitated research on earnings management and corporate governance in emerging economies for the interests of global stakeholders. Design/Methodology/ Approach: It analyses academic articles indexed in EBSCO and related databases, between 2004 and 2014 and identifies the gaps in existing literature about the board characteristics and earnings management. It further illustrates how topics, theories, settings, characteristics and sources of data influence insights about board– corporate governance relationships during the time period. Findings: The research in this domain, particularly in the context of emerging economies needs to be developed to become more paradigmatic in the light of globalization. Originality: Although there are articles about the board characteristics and earnings management, the number of articles that examine this relationship in the context of an emerging economy like India are few. It is hoped that it will help future researchers to identify exemplars and to select suitable board characteristics for identifying earnings management behaviour in this context and to apply alternative methods to fully capture the impact of board processes and dynamics on earnings management in the light of corporate governance.
BUYER-SUPPLIER COMMITMENT, TRUST AND COOPERATION AS INFLUENCING FACTORS TO BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IN THE FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRY

The Fast moving consumer goods industry (FMCG) in South Africa is extremely volatile and is characterised by many competitors who jostle for market share, profitability and long-term survival. Businesses operating in this industry has to adopt new business strategies to remain competitive. Supply chain management offers opportunities for the adoption of such strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of buyer-supplier commitment, trust and cooperation on business performance in the FMCG industry in South Africa. A quantitative research methodology was used with structured questionnaires to collect data from 224 supply management professionals, working for FMCG companies in Gauteng Province. Psychometric properties of the constructs were put to the test using Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hypotheses were scrutinised using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results of the hypotheses tests revealed positive and significant associations between the three predictor constructs (buyer-supplier commitment, trust and cooperation) and business performance. Buyer-supplier cooperation emerged as the most important construct in influencing business performance. The results of the study may be used as a diagnostic tool in addressing business performance related challenges in the FMCG sector of the industry.
The Invisible Inside the Visible – The Visible Inside the Invisible : Theoretical and Methodological Aspects of Research on New Age and Contemporary Esotericism

This paper presents a rather specific German – or central European – perspective. I feel that religious – or spiritual – phenomena are still a bit different in our countries, and the same seems to be true in the case of the scholarly way of looking at them. Therefore I would like to share with you my approach to contemporary religious studies. It started as a New Age project in 1986 and has been going on since that time in different fields, including Esotericism and the adoption of non-Christian religions in the West, but also mainstream Christian religiosity and religions of migrants in central Europe, especially Muslims.
Computational model of CA1 pyramidal cell with meta-STDP stabilizes under ongoing spontaneous activity as in vivo

Synaptic plasticity is the basic mechanism of learning and memory. It is the ability of neurons to change efficacies of synaptic weights in response to stimuli. There is no general agreement on which synaptic plasticity rule(s) hold in the brain, although some general principles have been agreed upon. Thus, we implemented the SpikeTiming Dependent Plasticity rule with metaplasticity (meta-STDP) in a biophysically realistic computational model of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cell in order to model synaptic plasticity in alive hippocampus. Characteristic feature of the brain in vivo is an ongoing spontaneous or background activity in neural circuits. Neurons should not change their weights as a result of this background activity, only when a statistically different pattern of input activity appears. As a first step in our research, we subjected our CA1 model to realistically simulated input activity and we have achieved realistic output spontaneous activity and stabilization of synaptic weights after a short time.
Fish as links between pelagic and littoral zones: feeding strategy of "Sabalito" (Cyphocharax voga) in a mesocosm experiment

In shallow lakes, energy and matter transfers often occur mediated by currents, diffusive processes and organisms, particularly fish. In Pampean shallow lakes, “Sabalito" (Cyphocharax voga), an omnivorous feeder, is a common species in the open water and near the shoreline. There is increasing evidence that, when available, periphyton is an important source of carbon for secondary production in the pelagic thus, insights on factors affecting periphyton production are extremely important for evaluating possible limitations within fish yield. To clarify the interactions between littoral and pelagic food webs in shallow lakes, mediated by the presence of C. voga, a 32 day mesocosm experiment was conducted examining the response of the pelagic and periphytical sub-systems to different densities of C. voga. Cyphocharax voga did not affect the macrozooplankton community neither on its biomass as a bulk nor by promoting inner changes in the relative proportion of cladocerans and cyclopoids or in its average individual size. Within the fish densities evaluated, no cascading “top-down” effects were observed. Nevertheless, C. voga pressure affected the peripheric community: on one side, treatments with higher number of individuals exhibited lower periphytic algae biomass; on the other, a positive and a negative effect on attached chironomid larvae occurred. Cyphocharax voga feeding strategy might include periphytical elements as an important source of food. Thus, moving in and out open water and shoreline, it can promote energy and matter transfers between littoral and pelagic zones in Pampean shallow lakes.
Tasmanian School of Business and Economics University of Tasmania Discussion Paper Series N 2019-05 Multi-product firms and increasing marginal costs

Recent literature has addressed how product creation ampli es economic uctuations via the love of variety. Yet, the empirical evidence on variety e¤ects is sparse. The current paper demonstrates that a decreasing returns to scale production technology, which leads to increasing marginal costs, can similarly amplify business cycles. An expansion of the rms product scope reduces marginal costs and gives an incentive to produce multiple products even if the variety e¤ects are entirely absent. The e¢ ciency gains from adjusting product scopes makes the economy more susceptible to sunspot equilibria. Keywords: Indeterminacy, sunspot equilibria, multi-product rms, business cycles. JEL Classi cation: E32. Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay TAS 7005, Australia. E-mail address: oscar.pavlov@utas.edu. au.
Physical Aging in Polymer and Polymer Nanocomposite Glasses

Physical aging in polymer glasses is a nonequilibrium phenomenon characterized by spontaneous processes that lead to changes in almost all physical properties. While all glasses undergo physical aging, polymer glasses are among the most widely used glasses in research and engineering due to their good glass-forming properties and wide applications. This master’s thesis uses molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to explore recently observed experimental phenomena related to physical aging in polymer glasses and polymer nanocomposites. Two manuscripts (published and to be published) have been produced in the duration of this work and are included in chapters 2 and 3. The first manuscript focuses on the effect of mechanical stresses on physical aging in polymer glasses. This is a complicated and controversial subject as experimental observations have provided evidence both for and against mechanical rejuvenation and overaging. Specifically, we use MD simulations on a coarse-grained bead spring model to investigate the stress-enhanced yielding of polymer glasses. Understanding the origin of this behavior will not only verify whether this can be considered as an example of mechanically induced overaging; it will facilitate the development of more realistic constitutive relations for the yield response of glassy polymers, a subject that has been awarded considerable attention in the last few decades. The second manuscript is concerned with a relatively new area of research, which involves altering the aging behavior of polymer glasses with the addition of nanoscopic fillers. These polymer nanocomposite systems are difficult to explore due to the complicated interactions between the fillers and the polymer matrix. Unfortunately, limited experimental work (and no simulation work known to the author) have been devoted to investigating the physical aging properties of these systems. In this work, we attempt to develop a coarse-grained polymer nanocomposite MD model to study the impact of nanoparticles on the physical aging behavior of glassy polymers. This thesis should motivate the use of simulations in conjunction with experiments when studying physical aging in glasses.