Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Encouraged to Cheat? Federal Incentives, Career Concerns, and Local Freedom of Press as Determinants of Under-Reporting of COVID-19 Mortality at the Sub-National Level

This paper investigates the determinants and consequences of manipulating coronavirus statistics in an authoritarian federation; in particular, we look at how the career concerns of local politicians and the regional free press determine the under-reporting of COVID-19 mortality at the sub-national level in Russia. Our estimation strategy takes advantage of a natural experiment where the onset of the pandemic has adjourned the national referendum enabling new presidential terms for Vladimir Putin. To implement the rescheduled referendum, the Russian government needed the help of sub-national elites in manufacturing favorable COVID-19 statistics to convince the public that the pandemic is under control. While virtually all regions engaged in data manipulation, as we show by comparing the official data on COVID-19 mortality published in real-time and the excess mortality reported by the authorities only after the referendum, there was a substantial variation in the degree of misreporting. We show that a third of the variation can be explained solely by an exogenously set asynchronous schedule of governors’ elections, winning which depends almost exclusively on the support from the federal authorities. We find a robust causal relationship between the proximity to the governor’s election and the under-reporting of mortality associated with COVID-19 before the referendum, but not after when the political incentives from the federal center vanished. The local free press becomes a strong predictor of less under-reporting of COVID-19 mortality after the referendum. Looking at the consequences of the data manipulations, we find that under-reporting undermines individual trust in official statistics and decreases unresponsiveness of self-isolating behavior to changes in official COVID-19 mortality.
Difference on the Economic Status of Farm Families before and after Implementation of Infrastructure Development Projects in the Second District of Nueva Ecija, Philippines

In general, the study aimed to determine the difference in the economic status of farm families before and after the implementation of infrastructure development projects in the second district of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. This study used a descriptive-quantitative correlation design. A total of 3 key informants and 90 farm families head composed of the respondents. A survey questionnaire was prepared as an instrument in gathering the required information. The mean of 51.69 years old signifies that most of the respondents' ages were at the prime working age. A majority (95.70%) of the households were headed by male farmers and have no other source of income other than farming. Job created, support services, and access to financial and market institutions by the respondents are significantly different before and after the implementation of the infrastructure projects. The level of adoption of rice production technologies registered a significant difference. However, vegetable production technologies registered no significant difference in the level of adoption before and after the implementation of the infrastructure projects. Farm inputs investment and profitability for rice and vegetable production before and after the implementation of the infrastructure projects in the first and second cropping seasons do not have a significant difference. While the net income registered a significant difference in two cropping seasons before and after the implementation of the infrastructure projects. The development of the infrastructure brings no significant difference with their livestock and vegetable production. On the other hand, rice production increases after the development of the infrastructure. <br><br>
Which Beliefs? Behavior-Predictive Beliefs are Inconsistent with Information-Based Beliefs: Evidence from Covid-19

We investigate the relationship between (a) official information on COVID-19 infection and death case counts;(b) beliefs about such case counts, at present and in the future;(c) beliefs about average infection chance-in principle, directly calculable from (b);and (d) self-reported health-protective behavior. We elicit (b), (c), and (d) with a daily online survey in the US from March to August 2020 (N 13,900). We have three main findings: (1) beliefs elicited as infection case counts are closely related to present and future official case-count information;however (2) beliefs elicited as risk perceptions - i.e., the chance to get infected - are inconsistent with those case-count beliefs, even when mathematically, they should be identical;notably, (3) it is the latter - the risk perceptions - that are significantly better predictors of reported behavior than the former. Together, these findings suggest that researchers and policymakers, who increasingly engage in direct elicitation and communication of numeric measures of uncertainty, may get very different outcomes, depending on which measures they use. We discuss potential implications for public communication of health-risk information.
Do Banks Overreact to Disaster Risk?

We examine how banks respond to large natural disasters when corporate borrowers are located in the neighborhood of the disaster area. We find robust evidence that banks charge significantly higher loan spreads for firms located in the neighborhood of the disaster area than for remote firms. The results are not driven by regional spillovers, limited credit supply, lender rent extraction motive, or rational learning. We also find that banks’ reaction is transitory, and is less pronounced for experienced banks. Overall, our empirical findings indicate that banks are subject to salience bias when assessing their clients’ natural disaster risk.
Communist Imprints and Corporate Behavior

Are there long-term effects of communism on corporate behavior? We study firms in formerly communist East Germany using localized variation in West German influence. West German-influenced firms make decisions less consistent with communist norms compared to non-influenced firms: they vary employment more and rely on internal finance less. Supporting a beliefs-based channel, firms in counties where propaganda of these norms was more effective exhibit stronger communist ideology in their decisions. Corporate behavior also discontinuously varies along the former Inner German border, which we again trace to ideological imprints. Our results, which withstand numerous robustness tests, suggest a novel element of the Soviet-communist legacy.
Empirical Analysis of the Causal Relationship between Gas Resource Rent and Economic Growth: Evidence from Ghana

The paper examine the causative relationship between oil resource rent and economic growth. We use the Autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) and Toda-Yamamoto approach as estimation strategy. Contrary to the widespread belief that natural resource extraction (oil resource rent specifically) spurs economic growth, we find that oil resource rent has an insignificant positive effect on economic growth. We also find a unidirectional causative relation between oil resource rent and economic growth, flowing from economic growth to gas resource rent without any feedback effect. Our findings implies that as the Ghanaian economy grows and expands in term of economic activities, the demand for gas increases which is likely to be imported from the rest of the world. Hence, it will be beneficial for government draw short and long term plans concerning gas production in Ghana. The short-term plan should aim at expanding the existing gas producing/extracting firms while the long-term plan should target setting up a new gas firms in Ghana. This will contribute to economic growth of Ghana. Similar conclusions can be drawn for developing countries with similar socioeconomic and demographic setting like Ghana. Hence, our empirical findings/results are relevant beyond Ghana’s boundary.
Clinical, Behavioral and Morphometric Changes Due to Cypermethrin Exposure in the Swiss Albino Mice Mus musculus L.

Cypermethrin-exposed clinical and behavioral signs accompanied by alterations in morphometric parameters in the Swiss albino mice Mus musculus L. were investigated. Twenty five adult male albino mice were divided equally into five groups where each mouse received: 0. 10µL distilled water only (T0, served as control); 0.10mL (T1); 0.15mL (T2); 0.20mL (T3); and 0.25mL (T4) cypermethrin kg-1 body weight. Treatments were continued intraperitoneally each week for four consecutive weeks. During the experimental period, there were significant decreases in the initial and final body weights in the cypermethrin-treated mice but no abnormalities were observed in the control group. Mice exposed repeatedly to cypermethrin showed characteristic clinical and behavioral signs such as hind limb jerking, labored breathing, lesions, loss in body weight, necrosis, startle response, edema, eye discharge and hemorrhages. In addition, the insecticide was found to induce significant (P&lt;0.001) adverse effects on each of the morphometric parameters like gross body weight, feed intake, gain or loss in body weight and feed conversion ratio (FCR). From the present results, it is concluded that cypermethrin and other synthetic pyrethroids pose hazardous risks to mammals including human beings and therefore, judicious use of these insecticides should be ensured while applying them in agricultural as well as household purposes.
Foreign Trade and External Reserves in Nigeria

This study empirically examined the effect of foreign trade and external reserves in Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to; examine the impact of oil import, non-oil import, oil export, non-oil export and exchange rate on external reserves in Nigeria. Time series data from 1980 to 2019 was collected from CBN statistical bulletin. The study employed the techniques of ADF unit root test, co-integration and Vector Error Correction Model. The results of the estimated model showed that all the time series were stationary at order one. Also, the model depicted by the co-integration result showed that there is a long run equilibrium relationship among the variables. Similarly, the vector error correction result showed that the coefficient of ECM has the hypothesized negative sign and statistically significant at 5% level. Furthermore, the Vector Error Correction result revealed that oil and non-oil exports impacted positively on external reserves although the impact of non-oil export was insignificant while oil imports, non-oil imports and exchange rate had significant negative impact on external reserves in Nigeria. Specifically, oil export, oil imports, non-oil imports and exchange rate were significant at 5 percent. This implies that they impacted significantly on external reserves in Nigeria during the period covered by the study. In addition, the granger causality test revealed that oil export had a uni-directional causal relationship with external reserve while there was a bi-directional relationship between exchange rate and external reserve. Based on these findings, the study recommended amongst others the diversification of the export base of the nation as a possible measure of improving external reserves in Nigeria. Also, the study suggests that importations be discouraged especially for commodities that can be produced locally. Finally, the study recommends that the CBN as the custodian of Nigeria’s foreign reserves, stabilize the value of local currency taking into cognizance the external shocks that stem from exchange rate volatilities.
Influence of arm length and number on star-shaped poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline) aggregation in aqueous solutions near cloud point

Four-arm star-shaped poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazolines) (PiPrOx4) are synthesized by cationic polymerization on t-butylcalix[4]arene macroinitiator. The obtained samples differ by polymerization degree of arms NPiPrOx = 9 and 25 and are characterized in chloroform. The behavior in aqueous solutions is studied by light scattering methods and compared with the results of investigation of eight-arm star with similar structure. Three types of particles are observed in solution of short-arm PiPrOx4 at room temperature, whereas only two particle types are present in long-arm star solution. Arm shortening leads to widening of the phase transition interval. The arm number decreasing reduces the phase transition temperature by 1°C.
Early Osteoconductivity and Degradability of Sintered Porous Bodies of A- and B-Type Carbonated Apatites and Stoichiometric Hydroxyapatite

An artificial bone that mimics the chemical composition of biological apatite is one of the promising implants for the treatment of bone defects and is useful as a scaffold for tissue-engineered bone. There are three types of carbonate substitution in hydroxyapatite (HAp) at hydroxyl groups (A-type), phosphate groups (B-type), and both groups (AB-type). Less is known about the role of A-type carbonate apatite (CAp) in influencing the bone regeneration process and there are no comparative studies of these apatites. The present study aims to elucidate osteoconductivity and degradability of porous sintered bodies of stoichiometric HAp, A-type CAp (A-CAp), and B-type CAp (B-CAp) with a constant carbonate content at 5.0 wt%. Both CAp with 75% porosity showed similar ionic dissolution rates which were faster than HAp with 67% porosity. A-CAp had the largest affinity for albumin from time-dependent adsorption tests. The lowest attachment of MC3T3-E1 cells was observed for A-CAp; however, the proliferation rate was similar of both CAp, which was lower than HAp. Early osteoblastic marker (alkaline phosphatase activity) was significantly upregulated for CAp at day 3 relative to HAp. After two weeks of implantation, A-CAp and HAp showed scarce bone formation encapsulated by fibrous tissue. In contrast, B-CAp showed significant bone ingrowth and closely adjoined to the surrounding bone tissue. The rapid degradation of CAp was attributed to osteoclast activities, in which A-CAp showed better capacity in promoting osteoclast maturation. It is concluded that a specific carbonate substitution type significantly impacts osteoconductivity or degradability of artificial bones.
The Effect of Satisfaction on Marketing Mix on Loyalty of Outpatients Lubuk Basung Hospital

This study aims to analyze the effect of satisfaction on the marketing mix on the loyalty of outpatients at Lubuk Basung Hospital. The population of this research is the patients of Lubuk Basung Hospital, with a total sample of 100 respondents. The analysis technique used in this research is path analysis. Based on the analysis, the results obtained (1) product satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on loyalty, (2) satisfaction with price has a positive and significant effect on loyalty, (3) satisfaction with location has a positive and significant effect on loyalty, (4) satisfaction with promotion has an effect positive and significant impact on loyalty, (5) satisfaction with employees has a positive and significant effect on loyalty, (6) satisfaction with the process has a positive and significant effect on loyalty, (7) satisfaction with the physical evidence has a positive and significant effect on loyalty.
The Influence of Gender and Machiavellianism on Tax Evasion (A Study on Accounting Students)

This study aims to examine the influence of gender and Machiavellianism on tax evasion. This research is a causative research focusing on the context of accounting students. The data for this study were collected by using electronic survey distributed to 151 accounting students at Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Padang. Multiple regression was used to analyze the data. The findings of this study show that gender has significant influence on tax evasion among accounting students. In particular, men tend to demonstrate tax evasion than women. Furthermore, the finding shows Machiavellianism has no significant influence on tax
Progress of Path Planning Methods for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Path planning is a key technology for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) navigation. With the emphasis and research on AUV, AUV path planning technology is continuously developing. Path planning techniques generally include environment modelling methods and path planning algorithms. Based on a brief description of the environment modelling methods, this paper focuses on the path planning algorithms commonly used by AUV. According to the basic principles of the algorithm, the AUV path planning algorithms are divided into four categories: artificial potential field methods, geometric model search methods, random sampling methods, and intelligent bionic methods. In this review, we summarize in detail the development and application of various path planning algorithms in recent years. Meanwhile, we analyse the advantages and disadvantages of various algorithms and their improvement methods. Obstacles, ocean currents, and undersea terrain have an impact on AUV path planning. +erefore, how to deal with the complex underwater environment adds some limits to AUV path planning algorithms. In addition to the external environment, path planning algorithms also need to consider AUV’s physical constraints, such as energy constraints andmotion constraints. +en, we analyse the motion constraints in AUV path planning. Finally, we discuss the development direction of AUV path planning algorithm. Time-varying ocean currents, special obstacles, multiobjective constraints, and practicability will be the problems that AUV path planning algorithms need to solve.
Compassionate Health Care Service and Associated Factors among Mothers Attending Public Hospitals of East Hararge Zone

Background: Respectful and compassionate care is a holistic, non-judgmental, empathetic, respectful and empowering concept of quality of healthcare. In Ethiopia, a significant proportion of health professionals see patients as just ‘cases’ and do not show compassion. This study assessed respectful and compassionate healthcare service and associated factors in public Hospitals in East Hararghe Zone in Ethiopia. Methods: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 423 clients visiting maternity care units in three public hospitals at East Hararghe Zone in Eastern Ethiopia from February 23 April 24, 2020. Pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data from participants through face to face interview. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 24. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the level of compassionate health care and the characteristics of participants. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with the outcome variable. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) and 95% CI were used to report association and significance was declared at P < 0.05. Results: A total of 417 (98.6%) participants were involved in the study. Two hundred ninety-nine (71.7%) participants received disrespect and abusive maternity care (95% CI: 66.9%, 76.0%). Age ≥ 45 years (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI: 0.37, 3.86), formal education (AOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.81), Abnormal delivery (AOR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.87) and Staying in facility (AOR = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.76, 4.63) significantly associated with disrespect and abusive care. Conclusion and Recommendation: Overall level of disrespect and abuse was common. Family monthly income, number of ANC visit, length of stay and type of health facility were some of factors associated with disrespect and abuse. High prevalence of disrespect and abuse in maternity care at health facilities calls for strengthened action to provide quality of maternity care for all childbearing mothers. Further facility based research in both urban and rural area will be needed.
Page Curves and Islands in Charged Dilaton Black Holes

We study the Page curve in the four dimensional asymptotically flat eternal Garfinkle-Horowitz-Strominger dilaton black holes by applying the"quantum extremal surface"prescription. The results demonstrate that without island, the entanglement entropy of Hawking radiation is proportional to time and divergent at late times. While taking account of the emergence of the island extending slightly outside the event horizon, the entanglement entropy of Hawking radiation stops growing and eventually reaches a saturation value, which is twice of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy and consistent with the finiteness of the von Neumann entropy of eternal black holes. Moreover, we discuss the impact of the parameter $n$ and charge $Q$ on the Page time. The influence of $n$ on it can neglected when the ratio of the charge $Q$ to the black hole mass $M$ is sufficiently small, but the charge $Q$ has a significant impact on Page time. Importantly, at the extremal case, the Page time becomes divergent or vanishing, in which the semiclassical theory needs further investigation.
Lebesgue and Vilenkin-Lebesgue points and a. e. Convergence of N\"orlund means with respect to Vilenkin systems of integrable functions

In this paper we derive converge of Nörlund means of Vilenkin-Fourier series with monotone coeﬃcients of integrable functions in Lebesgue and Vilinkin-Lebesgue points. Moreover, we discuss pointwise convergence and convergence in L p norms of such Nörlund means.
EchoEA: Echo Information between Entities and Relations for Entity Alignment

Entity alignment (EA) plays an important role in automatically integrating knowledge graphs (KGs) from multiple sources. Recent approaches based on Graph Neural Network (GNN) obtain entity representation from relation information and have achieved promising results. Besides, more and more methods introduce semi-supervision to ask for more labeled training data. However, two challenges still exist in GNN-based EA methods: (1) Deeper GNN Encoder: The GNN encoder of current methods has limited depth (usually 2-layers). (2) Low-quality Bootstrapping: The generated semi-supervised data is of low quality. In this paper, we propose a novel framework, Echo Entity Alignment (EchoEA), which leverages 4-levels self-attention mechanism to spread entity information to relations and echo back to entities. Furthermore, we propose attribute-combined bi-directional global-filtered strategy (ABGS) to improve bootstrapping, reduce false samples and generate high-quality training data. The experimental results on three real-world cross-lingual datasets are stable at around 96\% at hits@1 on average, showing that our approach not only significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art GNN-based methods, but also is universal and transferable for existing EA methods.
Maintaining a Reliable World Model using Action-aware Perceptual Anchoring

Reliable perception is essential for robots that interact with the world. But sensors alone are often insufficient to provide this capability, and they are prone to errors due to various conditions in the environment. Furthermore, there is a need for robots to maintain a model of its surroundings even when objects go out of view and are no longer visible. This requires anchoring perceptual information onto symbols that represent the objects in the environment. In this paper, we present a model for action-aware perceptual anchoring that enables robots to track objects in a persistent manner. Our rule-based approach considers inductive biases to perform high-level reasoning over the results from low-level object detection, and it improves the robot’s perceptual capability for complex tasks. We evaluate our model against existing baseline models for object permanence and show that it outperforms these on a snitch localisation task using a dataset of 1,371 videos. We also integrate our action-aware perceptual anchoring in the context of a cognitive architecture and demonstrate its benefits in a realistic gearbox assembly task on a Universal Robot.