Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of volunteer management practice on volunteer motivation and satisfaction to enhance volunteer retention

Retention of volunteers is a major problem. Although many researchers have attempted to develop solutions and models to enable higher retention rates of volunteers, few have attempted to find a causal relationship between volunteer management practice and retention. This research has attempted to mitigate this problem of volunteer retention using volunteer management practice but through the process of enhancing motivation and satisfaction of volunteers. Theoretical framework, hypotheses and research methodology including the research instrument have been developed.
Multiple levels of decision making: ethical management in various business contexts

This paper describes a set of ideal type organisations, constructed according to a developmental sequence. Each organisation type is based on a specific set of values or value systems. Because such systems shape institutional structures, they influence the role of leadership, governance and decisions. As they are based on Spiral Dynamics, known as Emerging Cyclical Levels of Existence Theory (ECLET), the organisation types are labelled as order, success, community and synergy. Moreover, they interact with changes in the environment, or life conditions, and can determine an individual's "worldview", causing different interpretations of common phenomena, such as corporate sustainability and corporate responsibility. As an overview, a transition matrix is presented which indicates the paradigm shifts per discipline or department, manifested in the subsequent ideal type organisations.
Analysing the product and service aspects of a manufacturing supply chain: a dairy industry perspective

This paper has made an attempt to assess the relative importance of product and service aspects of a manufacturing supply chain. The relative performances of the product and service, from view point of consumers, in a dairy-food supply chain have been assessed critically to make inferences. The paper argues that both product and service aspects are relatively important to a consumer. To be more precise, with the best product (in terms of price, quality etc.) a very low service level will put the supply chain at sub-optimal level of performance. On the contrary, a poor quality product with highest level of service will also not perform well in the supply chain. However, the paper has endeavoured to assess both the attributes and concludes that service aspects (service level requirements) offset the product aspects for better supply chain performance, in comparison. The paper has also identified the critical components of product and service aspects of the dairy-food supply chain which required to be strengthened for better supply chain performance.
Cognitive processing and posttraumatic growth after stroke.

OBJECTIVE To examine whether posttraumatic growth (PTG) after stroke is associated with cognitive processing and psychological distress and whether time since stroke moderates relationships between these variables. METHOD A sample of stroke survivors (N = 60) completed the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, the Cognitive Processing of Trauma Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. RESULTS PTG correlated positively with four indicators of cognitive processing (i.e., positive cognitive restructuring, downward comparison, resolution, and denial) and negatively with depression. Time since stroke moderated a number of these relationships. As length of time since stroke increased, the relationships between PTG and anxiety and depression became more negative and significant, and the relationships between PTG and downward comparisons and resolution became more positive and significant. DISCUSSION The findings indicate the possibility of PTG after stroke and suggest that cognitive processing is an important process for engendering such growth.
Measuring Multidimensional Aspiration Gaps: A Means to Understanding Cultural Aspects of Poverty

This article links primary research into the way subjective well-being among poor people can be defined and measured to the growing literature on poverty as a failure of capacity to aspire. Data from Bangladesh, Thailand and Peru are used to illustrate a measurement strategy based on defining well-being as a function of the gap between individuals’ diverse and multiple aspirations, and their satisfaction with achieving them. Such analysis has the potential to illuminate variation in individual and local capacity to respond to different development opportunities. It also warns against the limitations of treating aspirations as a single rather than a multidimensional concept.
An FPGA embedded system architecture for handwritten symbol recognition

This paper presents the design of an FPGA-based embedded system architecture for handwritten symbol recognition. The recognition algorithm is based on a self-organizing map neural network and was implemented on a Xilinx XC3S500E FPGA. The neural network operates on a set of chosen symbol features, rather than on the symbol image itself, in order to reduce memory requirements. The implemented system was tested as part of a hand-held calculator application, where an average recognition rate of 85 % was achieved for digit and mathematical symbol operators, which are entered on a touch screen by means of a stylus. The processing load demanded by the implementation is efficiently shared between soft-core processors and other digital logic blocks implemented on the same FPGA, thus employing minimal hardware resources.
Integrating Perspectives on Environmental Security

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to present approaches to environmental security and to identify issues withinthis field that are relevant to development policies and programmes aiming at alleviating poverty andaddressing environmental degradation. Debate over the concept and definition of environmental securityhas been important in this field, as it has resulted in diverse research foci and results. Here, we introduce thedebates, key insights in different areas, contributions of vulnerability analysis to enhancing security, andsuggestions to advance current practice and understanding.Environmental degradation and violent conflict is the most heavily investigated research agenda underthe rubric ‘environmental security’, and we present the shared understandings, issues remaining under debate,and criticisms of the work that has been done thus far. We then make a case for using vulnerability approachin thinking about environmental security, emphasising that the vulnerability perspective places focus onlivelihoods and poverty and expands the focus of analysis from state security and violent conflict to othersecurity issues central in the lives of vulnerable groups. We review emerging dimensions of the environmentalsecurity debate as reflected in livelihood conflicts, hydropower construction, and health risks associatedwith climate change and urban livelihoods in developing countries areas. Research in these areas highlightshow vulnerability analysis can contribute both in conceptualising environmental security and in identifyingand understanding the most significant threats to vulnerable groups. Finally, beyond working with the currentset of lessons learned on causes of violent conflict, we suggest several promising paths for practitioners andresearchers in considering how to create institutions that can respond effectively to a variable environmentand the shifting needs of the most vulnerable in a changing society.
Common Stocks as a Hedge Against Inflation: Evidence from Century-Long US Data

We find strong evidence that US common stocks have been a hedge against inflation in the long run, from the early 1950s. Adopting a two-regime threshold vector error-correction model, we find that the stock price and the goods price are co-integrated with unit elasticity, with stock return and inflation showing asymmetric error correction.
Isolation, Characterization, and Pericycle-Specific Transcriptome Analyses of the Novel Maize Lateral and Seminal Root Initiation Mutant rum11[w]

The monogenic recessive maize (Zea mays) mutant rootless with undetectable meristems 1 (rum1) is deficient in the initiation of the embryonic seminal roots and the postembryonic lateral roots at the primary root. Lateral root initiation at the shoot-borne roots and development of the aerial parts of the mutant rum1 are not affected. The mutant rum1 displays severely reduced auxin transport in the primary root and a delayed gravitropic response. Exogenously applied auxin does not induce lateral roots in the primary root of rum1. Lateral roots are initiated in a specific cell type, the pericycle. Cell-type-specific transcriptome profiling of the primary root pericycle 64 h after germination, thus before lateral root initiation, via a combination of laser capture microdissection and subsequent microarray analyses of 12k maize microarray chips revealed 90 genes preferentially expressed in the wild-type pericycle and 73 genes preferentially expressed in the rum1 pericycle (fold change >2; P-value <0.01; estimated false discovery rate of 13.8%). Among the 51 annotated genes predominately expressed in the wild-type pericycle, 19 genes are involved in signal transduction, transcription, and the cell cycle. This analysis defines an array of genes that is active before lateral root initiation and will contribute to the identification of checkpoints involved in lateral root formation downstream of rum1.
RESTRICTED COALITIONS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF REGIONAL FISHERIES ORGANIZATIONS

ABSTRACT. In this paper, we examine a game theoretic setting in which four countries have established a regional organization for the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks as recommended by the United Nations Agreement. These countries consist of two coastal states and two distant water fishing nations (DWFNs). A characteristic function game approach is applied to describe the sharing of the surplus benefits from cooperation. We are specifically interested in the effect of possible coalition restrictions on these shares. According to our results the distant water fishing nations, by individually refusing to join with the coastal states, can considerably improve their negotiation position if their harvesting costs are relatively high and similar. The results show that the DWFNs may have economic reasons for negotiating as a group against coastal states. However, if the coastal states are clearly more efficient than the DWFNs then coalition restrictions may be prevented by coastal states.
Total Focusing Phased Array

Phased Array (PA) uses a single focus in emission and Dynamic Depth Focusing (DDF) in reception, while Total Focusing Method (TFM) focuses every image pixel in emission and in reception. By contrast, TFM lacks the A-scan information, which is standard in PA and can be very useful for evaluation. Another issue common to both techniques is the difficulty associated with two media propagation and unknown interface geometry. A further TFM drawback is the limited image extent due to memory and time consumption. This work addresses these problems by proposing the new Total Focus Phased Array (TFPA) technique that combines the advantages of PA and TFM. TFPA builds A-scan lines as in PA, but focused in emission and in reception at all depths. This process is achieved in real-time by N+1 focusing hardware blocks that do not limit the length of every A-scan. Furthermore, TFPA can operate with the Virtual Array concept that avoids the problems of refraction in two propagation media applications. TFPA has many advantages: A-scan information is preserved, image is focused in emission and in reception, moderate complexity with real-time capability, no refraction issues and no limit on the depth or the number of pixels/samples in the image.
N-Person Card Game algorithm for solving set K-Cover problem in WSN

Solutions to Set K-Cover problem can prolong the life time of WSN by partitioning the nodes into K sets. In this paper, a novel pure distributed method for solving K-Cover problem is introduced based on game theory, in which we consider the Set K-Cover problem as a Non-Cooperate N-Person Card Game. The nodes in WSN are considered as the players, the cover sets chosen by N nodes as strategies, and the sensing area alone as the payoff function for each node. After the gaming process, the best strategies all the players have chosen constitute the Nash equilibrium. Finally, extensive simulations have been conducted to show the superiority in convergence and coverage of the proposed method over the random, K-cover and SNECA algorithms.
On the numerical properties of an optimized NLMS algorithm

In this paper, we analyze the numerical properties of the recently proposed joint-optimized normalized least-mean-square (JO-NLMS) algorithm. This algorithm was developed in the context of a time-variant system model, using an iterative procedure for adjusting the system model parameter. Due to these features, the JO-NLMS algorithm behaves like a variable step-size adaptive filter, leading to both fast convergence/tracking and low misadjustment. Simulations performed in the context of acoustic echo cancellation indicate that this algorithm could be a strong and reliable candidate for real-world applications where adaptive identification is required.
Are There Alterations of Neuroendocrine and Cellular Immune Responses to Nutrients in Women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

OBJECTIVES:The goal was to investigate the neuroimmune axis in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by analyzing the neuroendocrine and cellular immune responses to nutrient load.METHODS:In the fasting state and 20, 40, 70, and 100 min following nutrient load, blood samples were collected and cardiovascular recordings were accomplished in 15 female IBS patients and 15 healthy women. Plasma norepinephrine, prolactin, cortisol, and growth hormone were analyzed, and blood pressure and heart rate responses were measured. The distribution of peripheral leukocytes and lymphocyte subpopulations and the in vitro production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) after whole blood stimulation with in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were analyzed.RESULTS:IBS patients demonstrated significantly greater postprandial increases in plasma norepinephrine and systolic blood pressure (p < 0.05), but no cortisol response. A postprandial redistribution of circulating leukocytes and lymphocyte subpopulations was observed in both groups, including significant increases in the numbers of leukocytes and granulocytes and significant decreases in the numbers of monocytes, T-cells, and natural killer (NK) cells (all p < 0.05). However, IBS patients demonstrated significantly greater postprandial increases in leukocytes and granulocytes, while changes in the numbers of monocytes and NK cells were significantly diminished (all p < 0.05). Patients also failed to show the postprandial decrease in the in vitro TNF-α production observed in controls. Postprandial norepinephrine concentrations were negatively correlated with NK cell numbers in IBS patients (r= 0.58, p < 0.05) but not controls.CONCLUSIONS:IBS may involve an autonomic hyper-responsiveness to visceral stimuli, which occurs throughout the entire gut, is independent of acutely perceived GI symptoms, and does not necessarily involve HPA axis activation. Women with IBS show altered cellular immune responses to food intake, which may at least in part be mediated by adrenergic mechanisms. Thus, autonomic disturbances may have implications for cellular immune function along the neuroendocrine-immune axis in patients with IBS.
Regulation in a Dynamic Market: The U.S. Dairy Industry

An econometric model of the U.S. dairy market is estimated for the period 1950â€“80. The economic costs of the dairy program for the period 1965â€“80 are calculated using ex ante, ex post, and long-run demand and supply functions. Results indicate that the costs of the dairy program averaged from 430 to 590 million 1980dollars per year, depending upon the choice of economic surplus measure. The cost estimates depend only slightly on the year that the dairy program is assumed to have been terminated.
Political Ideologies of CEOs

This article examines the influence on organizational outcomes of CEOs’ political ideology, specifically political conservatism vs. liberalism. We propose that CEOs’ political ideologies will influence their firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, hypothesizing that (1) liberal CEOs will emphasize CSR more than will conservative CEOs; (2) the association between a CEO’s political ideology and CSR will be amplified by a CEO’s relative power; and (3) liberal CEOs will emphasize CSR even when recent financial performance is low, whereas conservative CEOs will pursue CSR initiatives only as performance allows. We test our ideas with a sample of 249 CEOs, measuring their ideologies by coding their political donations over the ten years prior to their becoming CEOs. Results indicate that the political ideologies of CEOs are manifested in their firms’ CSR profiles. Compared with conservative CEOs, liberal CEOs exhibit greater advances in CSR; the influence of CEOs’ political liberalism on CSR is amplified when they have more power; and liberal CEOs’ CSR initiatives are less contingent on recent performance than are those of conservative CEOs. In a corroborative exploration, we find that CEOs’ political ideologies are significantly related to their corporate political action committee (PAC) allocations, indicating that this largely unexplored executive attribute might be more widely consequential.
Copying and Indirect Appropriability: Photocopying of Journals

Creators and owners of intellectual properties are alarmed by the growth of technologies that ease the tasks of copying these properties. This paper, however, shows that the unauthorized copying of intellectual properties need not be harmful and actually may be beneficial. The empirical impact of photocopying on publishers of journals is examined in an attempt to discover if publishers can indirectly appropriate revenues from users who are not original purchasers. The evidence indicates that publishers can indirectly appropriate revenues from users who do not directly purchase journals and that photocopying has not harmed journal publishers. 18 references, 1 table.
Institutional issues related to project governance of infrastructure PPP projects in India

Public Private Partnerships have gained popularity as a mode of delivery for infrastructure projects in India. The institutional contexts surrounding these projects constrain or enable the smooth execution of these projects. In this article, we explore the key capabilities that need to be present in the institutional environments surrounding the projects - clear rationale, legitimacy, political willingness, advocacy, predictability and commitment in decision making and capacity to develop and monitor projects - which can be developed through a variety of institutional forms and actions. We then assess the institutional environment in the state of Tamil Nadu in India, in terms of these key capabilities and examine 6 PPP project case studies in the light of this capabilities framework. We focus on the impacts of the various capabilities on the PPP infrastructure projects. Based on this empirical evidence, we conclude that the gaps in institutional environment surrounding a PPP project can cause significant governance issues in projects and actions of the project proponent’s aim at filling out these gaps in the environment to tackle these issues. The paper contributes to our understanding of the impact of institutional environments on the governance of PPP infrastructure projects.
High-level Synthesis of ∆ Σ Modulator Topologies Optimized for Complexity , Sensitivity and Power Consumption

This paper proposes a novel topology synthesis methodology for single-loop single-bit ∆Σ modulators. The goal is to explore all possible topologies and obtain the optimal topology under various design considerations, such as hardware complexity, modulator sensitivity and power consumption. We defined a generic modulator architecture that incorporates all possible feedback and feedforward signal paths, and we derived the symbolic Noise Transfer Function (NTF) and Signal Transfer Function (STF) for the generic topology. We then used the symbolic functions to formulate the topology exploration problem as a MINLP (Mixed-Integer Nonlinearly Constrained Programming) problem that simultaneously generates and selects the optimal modulator topology with respect to the cost function. Experiments show the superiority of synthesized topologies as compared to traditional modulator topologies.
The European networking for combating meningococcal disease.

Meningococcal disease remains a major childhood infection in Europe, with an appreciable number of cases in other age groups, notably young adults. Despite the introduction of a conjugate vaccine against serogroup C meningococcal disease, there currently exists no universal childhood vaccine. Thus the severity of the disease, combined with its rapid progression and nonspecific symptoms, continues to result in an unacceptable level of childhood morbidity and mortality. The development of effective vaccines, as well as of public health management policies, are confounded by the epidemiology of meningococal disease, which is governed by the complex population biology of the causative organism, Neisseria meningitidis . In addition to its public health significance, meningococcal disease is a valuable scientific model system and a paradigm for pan-European co-operation among publicly funded laboratories. An improved understanding of disease dissemination has been an urgent priority for advancing public health and clinical management throughout Europe. In the past, …
Assessment of auditory temporal-order thresholds - a comparison of different measurement procedures and the influences of age and gender.

PURPOSE The relationship between auditory temporal-order perception and phoneme discrimination has been discussed for several years, based on findings, showing that patients with cerebral damage in the left hemisphere and aphasia, as well as children with specific language impairments, show deficits in temporal-processing and phoneme discrimination. Over the last years several temporal-order measurement procedures and training batteries have been developed. However, there exists no standard diagnostic tool for adults that could be applied to patients with aphasia. Therefore, our study aimed at identifying a feasible, reliable and efficient measurement procedure to test for auditory-temporal processing in healthy young and elderly adults, which in a further step can be applied to patients with aphasia. METHODS The tasks varied according to adaptive procedures (staircase vs. maximum-likelihood), stimuli (tones vs. clicks) and stimulation modes (binaural- vs. alternating monaural) respectively. A phoneme-discrimination task was also employed to assess the relationship between temporal and language processing. RESULTS The results show that auditory temporal-order thresholds are stimulus dependent, age related, and influenced by gender. Furthermore, the cited relationship between temporal-order threshold and phoneme discrimination can only be confirmed for measurements with pairs of tones. CONCLUSION Our results indicate, that different norms have to be established for different gender and age groups. Furthermore, temporal-order measurements with tones seem to be more suitable for clinical intervention studies than measurements with clicks, as they show higher re-test reliabilities, and only for measurements with tones an association with phoneme-discrimination abilities was found.