Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimization as an analysis tool for human complex decision making

We present a problem class of mixed-integer nonlinear programs (MINLPs) with nonconvex continuous relaxations which stem from economic test scenarios that are used in the analysis of human complex problem solving. In a round-based scenario participants hold an executive function. A posteriori a performance indicator is calculated and correlated to personal measures such as intelligence, working memory, or emotion regulation. Altogether, we investigate 2088 optimization problems that differ in size and initial conditions, based on real-world experimental data from 12 rounds of 174 participants. The goals are twofold. First, from the optimal solutions we gain additional insight into a complex system, which facilitates the analysis of a participant’s performance in the test. Second, we propose a methodology to automatize this process by providing a new criterion based on the solution of a series of optimization problems. By providing a mathematical optimization model and this methodology, we disprove the assumption that the “fruit fly of complex problem solving,” the Tailorshop scenario that has been used for dozens of published studies, is not mathematically accessible—although it turns out to be extremely challenging even for advanced state-of-the-art global optimization algorithms and we were not able to solve all instances to global optimality in reasonable time in this study. The publicly available computational tool Tobago [TOBAGO web site https://sourceforge.net/ projects/tobago] can be used to automatically generate problem instances of various complexity, contains interfaces to AMPL and GAMS, and is hence ideally suited as a testbed for different kinds of algorithms and solvers. Computational practice is reported with respect to the influence of integer variables, problem dimension, and local versus global optimization with different optimization codes.
Species interactions in a grassland mixture under low nitrogen fertilization and two cutting frequencies: 1. dry‐matter yield and dynamics of species composition

Four-species mixtures and pure stands of perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, white clover and red clover were grown in three-cut and five-cut systems at As, southern Norway, at a low fertilization rate (100 kg N ha−1 year−1). Over a three-year experiment, we found strong positive effects of species diversity on annual dry-matter yield and yield stability under both cutting frequencies. The overyielding in mixtures relative to pure stands was highest in the five-cut system and in the second year. Among the possible pairwise species interaction effects contributing to the diversity effect, the grass–grass interaction was the strongest, being significant in both cutting systems and in all years. The grass–legume interactions were sometimes significant, but no significant legume–legume interaction could be detected. Competitive relationships between species varied from year to year and also between cutting systems. Estimations based on species identity effects and pair-specific interactions suggested that the optimal proportions of red clover, white clover, perennial ryegrass and tall fescue in seed mixtures would have been around 0·1, 0·2, 0·4 and 0·3 in the three-cut system, and 0·1, 0·3, 0·3 and 0·3 in the five-cut system.
The Dynamics of Participation and Organisation in European Digital Rights Campaigning

The paper examines the participation characteristics within internet-based collective action by analysing the case of digital rights campaigning. Drawing upon empirical findings from a case study (the “Telecoms Package” campaign, 2007-2009), we discuss how digital rights activists organise, collaborate and mobilise using websites, mailing lists, wikis and instant messaging channels. Participation is individualised and malleable. However, successful digital rights’ campaigning requires political, technical and social skills. To intervene in EU policy-making, activists need technical and political expertise and technological skills. As a result and contrary to claims of inclusiveness and openness, digital rights campaigning is in fact dominated by a small group of highly specialised movement entrepreneurs who mobilise occasionally to demonstrate broader support to policy-makers. The emergence of internet-based campaigning does not necessarily equal to more inclusive forms of participation. However, it allows for the engagement of resource-poor actors in traditional policy settings such as the EU.
Statistical Postprocessing of High-Resolution Regional Climate Model Output

AbstractStatistical postprocessing techniques have become essential tools for downscaling large-scale information to the point scale, and also for providing a better probabilistic characterization of hydrometeorological variables in simulation and forecasting applications at both short and long time scales. In this paper, the authors assess the utility of statistical postprocessing methods for generating probabilistic estimates of daily precipitation totals, using deterministic high-resolution outputs obtained with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. After a preliminary assessment of WRF simulations over a historical period, the performance of three postprocessing techniques is compared: multinomial logistic regression (MnLR), quantile regression (QR), and Bayesian model averaging (BMA)—all of which use WRF outputs as potential predictors. Results demonstrate that the WRF Model has skill in reproducing observed precipitation events, especially during fall/winter. Furthermore, it is shown tha.
HYPERSPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING: EVALUATION OF R95/HSS SENSOR FOR SPATIALIZATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SOIL IN MANAUS, AM – BRAZIL

The HSS (Hyperspectral Scanner System) was evaluated for characterization and spatialization of soils in Manaus, AM, Brazil, with 3 meter resolu- tion images. The images (37 bands between 0,43 and 2,37μm) were converted from radiance values to surface reflectance using the Fast Line-of-sight Atmospheric Analysis of Spectral Hypercubes (FLAASH) applicative, based on the MODTRAN +4 (Moderate Resolution Transmittance) a radioactive transfer model. Preceding collec- tion of soil samples, the main soil classes were identified through the SAM (Spectral Angle Mapper) method in order to facilitate analysis of the spectral characteristics of the studied area. Finally, for 13 samples, correlations among soil characteristics and spectral data from the HSS sensor, and spectral curves obtained in laboratory were carried out. Results indicated that: (a) the atmospheric correction accomplished with the FLAASH applicative was appropriate, despite difficulties for total removal of the water vapor feature at 0. 94μm and at short-wave infrared band, near to 2. 0μm. In general, a spectral coherence of the HSS sensor was confirmed with the information found in literature and the spectrum obtained in the laboratory; (b) a good capacity for spectral identification was observed with the SAM classifier as the results provided an appropriate soil preidentification, helping as well to define sites for field work; (c) the spectral curves representative of the soil classes are comparable both for laboratory and sensor data. Usually, correlations between both data acquisition environments (laboratory and HSS) are high.
Agronomic characteristics and phytochemical profiles of advanced June-bearing strawberry lines for the northern Canadian climate

Eleven advanced strawberry lines (‘SJ011‑10’, ‘SJ0440‑2’, ‘SJ061‑8’, ‘SJ066‑3’, ‘SJ069‑3’, ‘SJ069‑12’, ‘SJ0814‑37’, ‘SJ8518‑11’, ‘K04‑12’, ‘LL0220‑10’ and ‘V151’) were evaluated for their yield, fruit quality, total phenolic content, total antioxidant capacity, and phenolic composition, and were compared with a commercial cultivar (‘Wendy’). The results showed that ‘SJ069‑3’ had excellent soluble solids content, mid-level titratable acidity , low weight loss, and the best firmness among all the cultivars. Higher total antioxidant capacity was found in ‘SJ069‑3’, according to ferric reducing antioxidant power and oxygen radical absorbance capacity assays, an indication that ‘SJ069‑3’ is a promising new cultivar for the fresh market. In addition to rich individual phenolics, ‘SJ061‑8’ had the highest total antioxidant capacity, which was significantly different from the other genotypes, suggesting the potential use of this line as parent material in breeding or as a functional food ingredient. There was a strong relationship between total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content, according to Folin–Ciocalteu, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and oxygen radical absorbance capacity assays. This study confirms that anthocyanins are major phenolic compounds contributing to the main antioxidant power of strawberries.
Reliability and Factor Structure of the Dutch Language Version of Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised

The present study examined the interrater and internal reliability and factor structure of the Dutch language version of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991) in a sample of 107 patients admitted to a forensic psychiatric hospital. In addition, we evaluated the potential role of two different information sources, real-life interview versus videotaped interview, when scoring the PCL-R. Interrater reliabilities of individual items and the PCL-R total score were good to excellent. Good agreement on the categorical diagnosis of psychopathy was also obtained (weighted Cohen's k = .63 for simultaneous comparison of three raters). The internal consistency of the PCL-R was found to be high, as indicated by a Cronbach's alpha of 0.87, with an alpha of 0.83 for both Factor 1 and Factor 2. Comparisons between real-life and videotaped interview demonstrated that the information source did not influence the raters' coding. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the two-factor structure obtained by Hare (1991) in the standardization samples did not fit the current data well. CFA also failed to confirm the three-factor model identified by Cooke and Michie (2001). Exploratory principal components analysis using oblique rotation extracted two main factors, which accounted for 44% of the variance. It is concluded that the Dutch language version of the PCL-R can be reliably rated by trained professionals, its factor structure resembles the traditional two-factor model to some extent, and future research should include larger samples of different populations such as prisoners and general psychiatric patients.
BOARD EFFECTIVENESS: INVESTIGATING PAYMENT ASYMMETRY BETWEEN BOARD MEMBERS AND SHAREHOLDERS

Board members may well be responsible for dissension between themselves and shareholders since they are simultaneously the setters and receivers of both board remuneration and dividends. They may act out of their own personal interests at the expense of external shareholders. We investigate the impact of ownership structure, board structure and control deviation on payment asymmetry, where excessively high remuneration is paid to board members but considerably lower dividends are distributed to shareholders. We find strong evidence confirming that the smaller the shareholdings of board members and outside blockholders are, the more asymmetric the payments are. With controlling family members on the board and a higher percentage of seats held by independent board members, there is a slight reduction in the likelihood and severity of payment asymmetry. In addition, it is abundantly clear that the larger the board seat-control deviation is, the greater is the likelihood and severity of payment asymmetry. While prior research has primarily focused on board-manager agency issues, the board-shareholder perspective could be even more important in that it is the board that is the most directly delegated agent of shareholders, not the managers.
The combined effects of starvation and pH on the virulence of Shigella sonnei ATCC25931

Shigella sonnei encounter numerous different stresses during their growth, survival and infection. In this study, the effect of stress response to pH and starvation was investigated. We studied the survival, adhesion and the morphology of Shigella after its incubation in several pH. Our results show that after 2 h of incubation, the rate of cell survival was proportional to the decrease of pH of the medium, but we also noted that the reduction of the cells viability is significant for the normal cells compared to starved cells. In addition to that, the results proved the evidence that the pH can influence significantly the hydrophobicity of S. sonnei (normal and starved) and their capacity to produce biofilm on Congo red agar and on polystyrene microplate wells. The atomic force micrographs showed a reduction of the cells size after stress. Keywords : Shigella sonnei , starvation, pH, survival, adhesion, morphology African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(16), pp. 2034-2040
Alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease risk in an African population in transition: the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study

Abstract Objective: There is evidence showing a cardioprotective effect of light to moderate alcohol consumption in many populations. Whether alcohol consumption reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in an African population remains unclear. This study therefore assessed the associations between alcohol consumption (using reported alcohol intake and biological alcohol consumption markers) and CVD risk factors in an African population in transition. Design: This cross-sectional epidemiological survey is part of the South African segment of the international 12-year Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study in which the health transition in urban and rural subjects is investigated. Setting: A rural and urban site in the North West Province of South Africa. Subjects: A total of 2010 apparently healthy African volunteers (35 years and older) were recruited from a sample of 6000 randomly selected households. Methods: Alcohol consumption was assessed by a validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ) and two biological markers, percentage serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (%CDT) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT). The cardiovascular risk factors included in this analysis were serum lipids and blood pressure. Complete data of 1763 and 1878 participants were available for %CDT and GGT respectively. The subjects were divided into quartiles on the basis of their reported alcohol consumption (QFFQ), %CDT and GGT values. Additionally, subjects were divided into self-reported drinkers and non-drinkers. Men and women were analysed separately. Results: The two alcohol biomarkers %CDT and GGT had different associations with CVD risk factors in this population. The risk of CVD decreased with increasing %CDT level, in that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) increased significantly with increasing %CDT concentrations for both men and women. There was no significant increase in blood pressure, triglycerides and total cholesterol with increasing %CDT concentrations, except for women, where blood pressure increased significantly with %CDT. Blood pressure, triglycerides and total cholesterol increased significantly with increasing GGT concentrations for both men and women. GGT was also positively associated with HDL-C for both men and women. Self-reported drinkers had a significantly higher HDL-C, blood pressure, %CDT, GGT and lower body mass index (BMI) values than self-reported non-drinkers for both men and women. No significant differences between self-reported drinkers and non-drinkers were seen for triglycerides and total serum cholesterol (even after adjusting for BMI and smoking) for both men and women. Conclusions: In this population-based study, increased alcohol consumption was associated with higher HDL-C levels but also with increased blood pressure values, indicating that the cardioprotective effect of alcohol possibly may disappear because the increase in blood pressure offsets the benefits of the increase in HDL-C.
An Empirical Assessment of the Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Explaining Academic Success: Some Evidence from East Malaysian Sample

Management researchers have consistently reported the significant role of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in predicting individual success in organizational settings. This topic, however, has been largely ignored in the business education environment. Given the demonstrable benefits of OCB enactment in terms of influencing performance evaluations and organizational rewards, we emphasize the importance of examining the role of OCB in predicting student performance and their eventual career success. This endeavor holds important implications for students who are on the threshold of entering the industry. Using a self-administered questionnaire, we collected data from a total of 177 undergraduate students from two different schools in a Malaysian public university. Analysis reveals that of the three distinct dimensions of OCB, only one (consisting of altruism and courtesy items) has influences on both measures of student performance (i.e., productivity and cumulative grade point average). Implications of these findings are discussed.
The African brain drain: scope and determinants

This paper empirically examines the determinants of highly-skilled emigration from Africa with recent original data set on international migration. The analysis shows that 10 out of the 53 African countries have lost more than 35 per cent of the their tertiary educated labor force and countries such as Cape Verde (68 percent), Gambia (63 percent), Seychelles (56 percent), Maurice (56 percent) and Sierra Leone (53 percent) suffered from a massive brain drain. Regression models reveal that economic and noneconomic considerations have a strong impact on the African brain drain. This study finds that the degree of fractionalization (ethnic, linguistic and religious) at origin countries, jobs opportunities at destination countries, selective immigration policies, wage gap, geographical distance, former colonial links, and linguistic proximity between countries of origin and destination are the main forces driving highly-skilled emigration from Africa.
Community Capacity

ABSTRACT Traditional practice models of family support often lack a community focus. Increasingly, human service professionals who work with families focus their intervention and prevention efforts on the communities in which families live and work. The Family Advocacy Division of the United States Air Force recently revised its program standards to address community issues in an effort to strengthen families through community-based prevention activities. This article presents a basic framework designed to inform this expanded practice initiative. Key terms are defined for understanding communities as a context for family life, including community results, community capacity, and social capital. The model is considered to have implications for informing community-oriented interventions in both military and civilian communities.
Form and function in hillslope hydrology: in situ imaging and characterization of flow-relevant structures

Abstract. The study deals with the identification and characterization of rapid subsurface flow structures through pedo- and geo-physical measurements and irrigation experiments at the point, plot and hillslope scale. Our investigation of flow-relevant structures and hydrological responses refers to the general interplay of form and function, respectively. To obtain a holistic picture of the subsurface, a large set of different laboratory, exploratory and experimental methods was used at the different scales. For exploration these methods included drilled soil core profiles, in situ measurements of infiltration capacity and saturated hydraulic conductivity, and laboratory analyses of soil water retention and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The irrigation experiments at the plot scale were monitored through a combination of dye tracer, salt tracer, soil moisture dynamics, and 3-D time-lapse ground penetrating radar (GPR) methods. At the hillslope scale the subsurface was explored by a 3-D GPR survey. A natural storm event and an irrigation experiment were monitored by a dense network of soil moisture observations and a cascade of 2-D time-lapse GPR trenches . We show that the shift between activated and non-activated state of the flow paths is needed to distinguish structures from overall heterogeneity. Pedo-physical analyses of point-scale samples are the basis for sub-scale structure inference. At the plot and hillslope scale 3-D and 2-D time-lapse GPR applications are successfully employed as non-invasive means to image subsurface response patterns and to identify flow-relevant paths. Tracer recovery and soil water responses from irrigation experiments deliver a consistent estimate of response velocities. The combined observation of form and function under active conditions provides the means to localize and characterize the structures (this study) and the hydrological processes (companion study Angermann et al., 2017, this issue).
Remittances, savings and return migration under uncertainty

Recent empirical evidence links migrant remittances, savings and return migration, and stresses the inaccuracy of return migration plans. This paper presents a model of endogenous remittances, savings and return decisions under uncertainty. In our framework, migrants make remittance and saving decisions at an early stage of migration, when their long term economic performance in the host country is still uncertain. Over time, information about professional prospects is acquired, and conditionally on past decisions, migrants adjust their return plans. We show that when migrants expect large gains from migration and face relatively low wage risks in the host country, they tend to remit less, save more and are less likely to return migrate. These results are in line with recent empirical evidence and provide a rationale for the support by relatives in the sending country of low-skill, illegal migration.JEL codes D13; D80; JE
Comparative HPTLC fingerprint profile of Illicium verum Hook.f. and Illicium griffithii Hook.f. & Thoms fruits

Objective: To establish the fingerprint profile of two Illicium species namely Illicium verum Hook.f. and Illicium griffithii Hook.f. & Thoms using high performace thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) technique. Methods: CAMAG HPTLC system equipped with TLC autosampler 4 applicator, TLC scanner 3 and win CATS 1.4. 4. software was used. n-hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts of the fruits were developed in suitable mobile phase using standard procedures and scanned under UV at 254 nm, 366 nm and under visible light. Results: The HPTLC fingerprinting of the n-hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts showed several peaks with different Rf values. Conclusion: HPTLC fingerprint profile of two Illicium species may be useful in differentiating the species and also helpful in the identification and authentication of these species. Keyword: Ilicium verum, Illicium griffithii, HPTLC fingerprinting, Absorption spectra.
Managerial Gaps in E-banking Quality Drivers: An Empirical Assessment

Providing quality service to the customer is a main issue for e-banking. The extant literature on e-services has preferentially examined quality factors as perceived by customers. On the other hand, quality depends on the managerial perceptions about quality drivers and the decisions that would follow from these perceptions. According to SERVQUAL - the most known service quality model - any gaps between management’s and customers’ perceptions would affect the experienced quality and then the customer satisfaction. The aim of this paper is to explore how bank managers perceive quality drivers for e-banking through a preliminary empirical survey.