Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Management Control Portfolios are Developed for Modularized ISD Projects

Information Systems Development projects often modularize the work by decomposing complex tasks to enable better management and control. While the objectives are noble, modularization itself can introduce interdependencies. Using the control theory perspective and leveraging case study research approach, we examine eight projects to unearth the four types of interdependencies in modularized Information Systems Development projects. Next, for the four types of interdependencies derived through the study, corresponding control portfolio is developed, making theoretical contributions and recommendations for practice.
Développement Economique ( CEREDEC ) CEREDEC Working Paper WP / 19 / 037 Insurance Policy Thresholds for Economic Growth in Africa

This study investigates the role of insurance in economic growth on a panel of forty-eight countries in Africa for the period 2004-2014. The research question the study seeks to answer is the following: what thresholds of insurance penetration positively affect economic growth in Africa? The empirical evidence is based on Generalized Method of Moments. Life insurance increases economic growth while the effect of non-life insurance is not significant. Increasing both life insurance and non-life insurance has negative net effects on economic growth. From an extended analytical exercise, 4.149 of life insurance premium (% of GDP) is the minimum critical mass required for life insurance to positively affect economic prosperity while 1.805 of non-life insurance premium (% of GDP) is the minimum threshold required for non-life insurance to positively affect economic prosperity. Thresholds are also provided from the Hansen (1999) Panel Threshold Regression technique using a balanced sample of 28 countries. JEL Classification: I28; I30; G20; O16; O55
Sharp transition between modes of operation

When a container filled with granular material is subjected to sinusoidal vibration in microgravity, dependent on the amplitude of the oscillation, the granulate may exhibit one of two distinct dynamical modes: at low amplitude, a gas-like state is observed, where the particles are relatively homogeneously distributed within the container, almost independent of the phase of the oscillation. In contrast, for large amplitude, collective motion of the particles is favoured, termed collect-and-collide regime. Both regimes are characterized by very different dissipation characteristics. A recent model predicts that the regimes are separated by a sharp transition due to a critical amplitude of the vibration. Here we confirm this prediction of a sharp transition and also the numerical value of the critical amplitude by means of experiments performed under conditions of weightlessness.
Materialist Premises in Hobbes and Kropotkin for Antipodean Conclusions: The State of War and the Mutual Aid

A methodological similarity between Thomas Hobbes and Pëtr Kropotkin is the intention to spread a theoretical foundation to everyone, in the sense that they are willing to give to all the people a clear description of the reality and a subsequent political view. To do so, they use a scientific method, deductive (starting from empirical observations) in the case of Hobbes, inductive-deductive in the case of Kropotkin. Kropotkin underlines the educational value of the scientific method.In this work we want to highlight that, although they both start their argumentations from a materialist ontology, Hobbes and Kropotkin conjecture two completely different states of nature. Hobbes describes the state of nature through the two famous metaphors homo homini lupus (citing Plautus) and bellum omnium contra omnes, while Kropotkin introduced the theory of mutual aid. Both the theory of a state of war by Hobbes and the theory of mutual aid by Kropotkin have been revolutionary. Hobbes has been influenced by the scientific revolution initiated by Francis Bacon, one of his mentors, and Galileo Galilei, together with a criticism towards the ancient Greece philosophers, in particular Aristotle. Kropotkin has been influenced by the ground-breaking writings of Charles Darwin together with a very fruitful Russian scientific environment.We want to stress here that the disenchanted view of the human nature in Hobbes, a state of war due to the fact that everyone has rights on everything, helps him to legitimate sovereignty, while the positive view of human nature in Kropotkin, a spontaneous mutual aid among people in a community, helps him to legitimate anarchy. Therefore, the fascinating scientific methods of the two materialists Hobbes and Kropotkin to structure a solid political theory cannot neglect different views on human nature due to their historical contexts.
CORRELATION BETWEEN YIELD AND ITS ATTRIBUTES IN CORIANDER

The present study was conducted during rabi season in the year 2015-2016 at HCRI Venkataramannagudem, Andhra Pradesh, India. Thirty coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) genotypes were evaluated to estimate the correlation coefficient in Randomized Complete Block Design with two replications. Grain yield per plant exhibited positive and significant correlation with plant height, number of primary branches per plant, number of secondary branches, number of leaves, leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight, days taken to 50% flowering, number of umbels per plant, number of umbellets per umbel, umbel diameter, number of schizocarps per umbel, number of schizocarps per plant, days taken to maturity, herbage yield, harvest index, thousand seed weight and oil content had significant positive association with fruit yield per plant at both phenotypic and genotypic levels. Therefore, great emphasis should be given for aforesaid characters while selecting for growth and yield related traits.
As long as the bank gains: expanding the retail distribution activity

We investigate the retail distribution of financial products by the Italian banking system between 2010 and 2017. We focus on mutual fund shares, insurance contracts and individually managed portfolios, analysing the characteristics of the banks that distribute these instruments the most and the contribution of each product to bank profitability. We find that banks with larger amounts of bad loans relative to equity distribute more asset management instruments, an activity that does not absorb equity. When liquidity constraints are less binding, banks that are financed more through deposits increase their distribution activity. Moreover, banks with stronger lending specialization are less involved in distributing financial products. Finally, fees from the distribution of individually managed portfolios contribute to bank profitability more than those from the distribution of mutual fund shares.
Enzymatic, hormonal and psychometric marker responses to weeks with low and high internal training load in futsal players

The present study aimed to compare the responses of enzymatic, hormonal, and psychometric markers of two different microcycles of the season. The sample consisted of 15 athletes, members of a high performance male futsal team. Four data collections were performed on the first day oftraining and the final day of the two microcycles, consisting of blood collection for analysis of serum creatine kinase and the values of the hormones testosterone and cortisol, and the application of the Total Quality Recovery scale (TQR) and Recovery and Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ). The findings indicated that the training weeks analysed promoted similar increases in TQR, RESTQ indicators and enzymatic markers, and improvement in the anabolic/catabolic balance of futsal players, regardless of the magnitude of the training load. Differences between Σ-stress and Σ-recovery indicated greater sensitivity to analyse the responses derived from the load applied during short periods in futsal.
COPD_A_196592 1239..1250

Yi-Ya Chang Yu-Tzu Dai 1Department of Nursing and Clinical Competency Center, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Republic of China; 2Department of Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Republic of China; 3School of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China Purpose: Self-management is widely used among patients with a chronic disease to control their condition. However, the self-management programs are less distinctive for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than those with other chronic diseases. This study examines the efficacy of a flipping education program on improving self-management in patients with COPD. Patients and methods: A single-blinded, randomized controlled trial was conducted at a medical center in northern Taiwan from January 2015 to May 2016. Sixty participants were randomized to an experimental group and a control group. The self-management program with flipped teaching, customized action plans, and scheduled telephone interviews was implemented in the experimental group for three months. Conventional patient education was implemented in the control group. Disease knowledge, self-efficacy, the patient’s activation level, and the impact of COPD were assessed at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months after the intervention. SPSS 22.0 was used for data analysis. Results: The results showed that the patients who received the flipping education program of self-management had statistically significant improvements in their disease knowledge (p<0.05), self-efficacy (p<0.01), and activation levels (p<0.01) from baseline to the 1 month and 3 months follow-up compared to the control group. Conclusion: The findings supported that flipped teaching could be applied to patient education in adults and that a nurse case manager can feasibly use this flipping education program of selfmanagement to motivate and support patients with COPD to acquire self-management skills, carry out their action plans, and help them achieve beneficial behaviors in their daily lives.
An Experimental Manipulation of Contact and Motivation in the Cross-Race Effect

The cross-race effect (CRE) refers to a bias in recognising, and differentiating between, ownrace faces as opposed to cross-race faces. The amount of contact one has with a particular group has long been thought to affect the CRE. However, the methods used to measure the amount of contact with cross-race faces are problematic, and contact has rarely been experimentally manipulated in studies. Recent studies have identified motivation as a key factor in the CRE. Consequently, an experimental manipulation of contact and motivation was conducted on Black, South African students (N = 20) from the University of Cape Town. The study aimed to determine if (1) amount of contact affected the CRE, (2) if motivation to identify faces affected the CRE, and (3) if the interaction between contact and motivation affected the CRE. Participants attended two sessions a week, for four weeks, which used practice tasks to increase their contact with Egyptian faces (a group with which they had little contact) and facial recognition tests to assess their performance. Participants were measured on their discrimination accuracy (d’), response criterion (c), and reaction times. Three mixed design ANOVAs were run on these measures. The CRE was observed in the study, however it showed no significant change as the amount of contact increased. Similarly, neither motivation, nor the interaction between motivation and contact, significantly changed the CRE.
Effect of varying dietary energy to protein ratio in creep feed on feed intake, growth performance and nutrient digestibility of pre-weaning Boer goats.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary energy-to-protein ratios in the creep feed on feed intake, growth performance and nutrient digestibility of Boer kids before weaning. Twenty-four Boer kids, one months of age which were randomly divided into four treatment groups, with each group consisting of three males and three females. The animals were fed formulated creep feeds with varying metabolizable energy (ME) (MJ/kg DM) and crude protein (CP) contents as follows: 10 MJ ME/kg to 17% CP (Group 1, control), 10 MJ ME/kg to 18% CP (Group 2), 10 MJ ME/kg to 18% CP (Group 3) and 12 MJ ME/kg to 22% CP (Group 4). Throughout 67 days of the trial period, feed intake was found to be more in Group 3 (P < 0.05) compared to other groups. Dry matter intake (DMI) reduced in Group 4 when energy-to-protein ratio was increased. No significant difference (P > 0.05) were observed in live weight gain (LWG), body measurements and body condition score (BCS) between treatments. LWG for Groups 2 and 3 were found to be higher than the other groups. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) for Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 2.21: 1, 2.50: 1, 3.57: 1 and 4.65: 1, respectively. Significant difference (P < 0.05) was only observed in digestibility of crude protein where Group 4 had the highest percentage of CP digestibility, however, was not translated into better BW gain in the animals of this group. The results from this study suggested that dietary formulation that contained 10 MJ ME/kg to 17% CP was sufficient to Boer goat kids at the pre-weaning stage based on LWG, body measurement, BCS and FCR.
MAEDI VISNA IN NOVA SCOTIAN SHEEP FLOCKS

Maedi visna (MV), or ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP), is a progressive, ultimately fatal chronic wasting disease caused by a slow acting virus (MVV). There is no cure or vaccine. Symptoms develop over months to years and are typically seen in animals at least 3-4 years old. This results in production losses at an age when ewe productivity should be highest (Iowa State University, 2015; Ontario Sheep News, September 2016). A closely related viral strain causes caprine encephalitis arthritis (CAE), which is widespread in goats
Passive Whole-Body Hyperthermia Increases Aerobic Capacity and Cardio-Respiratory Efficiency in Amateur Athletes

Objective: The research was carried out to test the influence of adaptation to passive whole body hyperthermia (PH) on physical capacity and cardio-respiratory efficiency in men-amateur athletes under the testing load of increasing intensity in laboratory thermal-neutral conditions. Twenty-eight amateur athletes (males, mean age 20.2 ± 2.1 y.o., game-based kinds of sports—football, handball, training experience—4 - 7 years) were randomized into two groups: experimental (14 people), who underwent 24 PH procedures, and control (14 people), who underwent 24 light training sessions in interval regime on elliptical gym apparatus. Results: Adaptation to PH was accompanied by moderate increase of aerobic efficiency and cardio-respiratory endurance in amateur athletes under thermally neutral conditions, while interval training in the control group showed no reliable changes in efficiency. Conclusion: A 10-week course of PH procedures leads to the increase of peak oxygen consumption, oxygen consumption at the level of anaerobic threshold, and heart efficiency (enhancement of oxygen pulse values), as well as efficiency of pulmonary ventilation and bronchial conductance, which we consider to be cross effects of adaptation to passive whole-body repetitive hyperthermia.
REPORT 96-04 Cementitious Near-Field Sorption Data Bases for Performance Assessment of a UI L W Repository in a Palfris Marl Host Rock CEM-94 : UPDATE I , June 1996 June 1997

This report is an update on an earlier cementitious ~orption gat a Qase (SOB) prepared by BRADBURY & SAROTT (1994). The aim is to review any new information or data which have become available in the intervening time and modify the existing SOB appropriately. Discussions will be confined predominantly to areas which have lead to significant changes to or reappraisals of the data/values or procedures for obtaining/modifying them. From this point of view this update and the previous SOB are closely related and belong together. The complexation of radionuclides with organic ligands resulting from the chemical degradation of cellulose, and the subsequent negative effects on sorption properties, were identified as being processes of great importance. Since 1994 significant progress has been made in this field and a major part of this work is devoted to a reassessment of the impact of "organics" on nearfield sorption. In particular, the very conservative assumptions which had been made previously because of the general lack of good quality data available at that time, could be replaced by realistic parameter estimates based on new knowledge. For example, maximum likely concentrations of cellulose degradation products and cement additives in the cement pore waters could be calculated allowing the potential effects of these organics ligands on sorption to be bounded. Sorption values for safety relevant radionuclides corresponding to the three broad stages of cement/concrete degradation during the lifetime of the repository are presented in tabulated form. The influence of the wide variety of organic ligands existing in the different waste catagories, SMA-1 to SMA-4, is quantified in terms of sorption reduction factors. In the compilation of this cement SOB update, radionuclide uptake onto the vast quantities of aggregate materials (in concretes) and corrosion products from iron/steel (from drums and reactor decommissioning) was not taken into account. A first appraisal of the potential contribution from limestone, quartz and goethite to retention in the near field is given. The aim was not so much to provide quantitative sorption data, but rather to begin the process of integrating these materials into safety assessment considerations.
6/RT/15 Credit conditions, macroprudential policy and house prices

We provide a micro-empirical link between the large literature on credit and house prices and the burgeoning literature on macroprudential policy. Using loan-level data on Irish mortgages originated between 2003 and 2010, we construct a measure of credit availability which varies at the borrower level as a function of income, wealth, age, interest rates and prevailing market conditions around Loan to Value ratios (LTV), Loan to Income ratios (LTI) and monthly Debt Service Ratios (DSR). We deploy a property-level house price model which shows that a ten per cent increase in credit available leads to an 1.5 per cent increase in the value of property purchased. Coefficients from this model are then used to fit values under scenarios of macroprudential restrictions on LTV, LTI and DSR on credit availability and house prices in Ireland for 2003 and 2006. Our results suggest that macroprudential limits would have had substantial impacts on house prices, and that both the level at which they are set and the timing of their introduction is a crucial determinant of their impact on housing values.
Improving Cross-database Face Presentation Attack Detection via Adversarial Domain Adaptation

Face recognition (FR) is being widely used in many applications from access control to smartphone unlock. As a result, face presentation attack detection (PAD) has drawn increasing attentions to secure the FR systems. Traditional approaches for PAD mainly assume that training and testing scenarios are similar in imaging conditions (illumination, scene, camera sensor, etc.), and thus may lack good generalization capability into new application scenarios. In this work, we propose an end-to-end learning approach to improve PAD generalization capability by utilizing prior knowledge from source domain via adversarial domain adaptation. We first build a source domain PAD model optimized with triplet loss. Subsequently, we perform adversarial domain adaptation w.r. t. the target domain to learn a shared embedding space by both the source and target domain models, in which the discriminator cannot reliably predict whether a sample is from the source or target domain. Finally, PAD in the target domain is performed with k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) classifier in the embedding space. The proposed approach shows promising generalization capability in a number of public-domain face PAD databases.
Effect of a three-month HOPSports Brain Breaks® intervention programme on the attitudes of Grade 6 learners towards physical activities and fitness in South Africa

Negative attitudes towards physical activity (PA) have been reported to have an influence on the PA levels of children and the choices they make to be physically active or not. Research indicated that children’s PA levels are more prevalent to decline from the age of 12-years. The effect of a three-month HOPSports BrainBreakinterventionprogramme on children’s attitudes towards PA and fitness have been investigated. Children between the ages of 11 to 12years’ attitudes were assessed by means of the Attitudes towards Physical Activity Scale (APAS) questionnaire. The experimental group consisted of 75 children, (44 boys and 31 girls) with a mean age of 11.4 years (±0.54) and 39 children (12 boys and 27 girls) for the control group with a mean age of 11.71 years (± 0.49). Results indicated no significant differences between the two groups’ attitudes towards PA and fitness with the pre-test. After the intervention programme there was a significant difference with a large effect size (d≥0.8), which includes the attitudes towards the benefits of PA (α = .70; d = 1.13), importance of PA (α = .65; d = 0.63), self-perception of physical fitness (α = .86; d = 0.77) and their attitudes towards support in the environment and their interest for PA (α = .83; d = 1.25). More focus should be placed on 12year old children and to create opportunities where children can be equally activebecause the decline in PA levels is more prevalent and their attitudes are more influential .
A Three-Stage Hybrid Model for Space-Time Analysis of Water Resources Carrying Capacity: A Case Study of Jilin Province, China

Water shortage, water pollution, shrinking water area and water mobility are the main contents of the water resources crisis, which are widespread in the social and economic development of Jilin Province. In this paper, a three-stage hybrid model integrating evaluation, prediction and regulation is constructed by combining the load-balance method and the system dynamics method. Using this model, the current states of water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) in 2017 and the trend of water demand/available from 2018 to 2030 were obtained. Using the orthogonal test method, the optimal combination program of agricultural and industrial water efficiency regulation and water resources allocation was selected. The results show that the pressure of the human–water resources system in Changchun, Liaoyuan and Baicheng is greater than the support, and the other six cities are not overloaded. The water demand in Jilin Province and its nine cities will increase from 2018 to 2030, if the current socio-economic development pattern is maintained. Therefore, we change the water quantity carrying capacity index by controlling agriculture, industrial water efficiency and trans-regional water transfer. Compared with 2015, among the optimal program obtained, the change range of the water use per 10,000 RMB of agricultural output is (−5%, 25%), and the water use per 10,000 RMB of industrial added value is (−45%, −35%), and the maximum water transfer is 1.5 billion m3 per year in 2030. This study analyzes the development pattern of WRCC in the process of water conservancy modernization in Jilin Province and provides reference for other provinces to make the similar plan.