Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leadership succession, organizational climate,trust and individual performance in Nigeriancommercial banks

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between leadership succession, organizational climate and individual performance in the Nigerian commercial banks. Primarily, this study explored the moderating effect of trust on the relationship between leadership succession, dimensions of organizational climate (i.e. quality, integration, and well-being) and individual performance that comprises of adaptive, task, and contextual performance. Stratified random sampling was used in which samples were drawn from six geographical zones of Nigeria (i.e. Lagos, Delta, Abia, Abuja, Kano, and Bauchi). Data was collected through the self-administrated method by sending questionnaires to 600 commercial bank branch managers within the six geographical zones selected. A total of 84 items were used in the questionnaire to examine all the variables illustrated in the theoretical framework. All the instruments were adapted from past literature. The statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20.0 was used to test the hypotheses. The results provided support for some of the hypothesized relationships for the study. Specifically, leadership succession was positively related to adaptive performance but negatively related to task performance. Additionally, integration was also positively related to both task and contextual performance, while well-being was positively related to only task performance. Furthermore, the results of the moderating effect of trust indicated that four out of the twelve hypotheses were moderated. Therefore, the significant positive influence of leadership succession, quality, integration and well-being suggest that the variables are important in motivating individual performance. As such, employees should be encouraged to exhibit these behaviours to enhance the performance of the organization. Finally, the contribution, limitations, and implications of the study are discussed.
A Storm Surge Management System for the German Coast

Future storm surge management will be based on risk analyses including the determination of failure mechanisms of coastal defenses and their probabilities of occurrence as well as the calculation of losses due to inundation. This paper presents an example of a risk analysis carried out for the coastal region between the two major ports Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven. In order to supply the decisionmakers and stakeholders with easily accessible information on storm surge management the results of the risk analysis were introduced into a Geographical Information System (GIS) called RISC – Risk Information System Coast. Introduction The traditional storm surge management at the German North Sea Coast is essentially based on deterministic approaches. Due to economic restrictions, climate changes and altered land uses methods of risk assessment are now introduced into storm surge management systems (Mai and von Lieberman, 2000a). This is a common approach in all countries neighboring Germany, like the Netherlands (Jorissen, 2000), Denmark (Laustrup, 2000) and Great Britain (Purnell, 1999). The basic ideas are described in the report of the Technical Advisory Committee on Water Defenses (CUR, 1990). In order to ease the access for stakeholders and decision-makers the results of risk analyses are today available in Geographical Information Systems providing also management tools for the decision making process (de Kok et al., 1998 / Mai and von Lieberman, 2000b). The basic ideas of risk analysis and its implementation in a decision support system (DSS) are presented exemplary in the following for the coastal region between the ports Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven near the estuaries Jade and Weser (Fig. 1). The region is characterized by a hinterland lying at mean high water level which is protected by dikes as the main protection element. In front of the dikes forelands and large tidal flats can be found reducing especially the wave load on dikes. The tidal range is appr. 3.50 m with maximum water levels of appr. 5 m above German datum (appr. mean sea level) during storm tides. Copyright ASCE 2004 World Water Congress 2001
16 Use of Inverse Reinforcement Learning for Identity Prediction Use of Inverse Reinforcement Learning for Identity Prediction

We adopt Markov Decision Processes (MOP) to model sequential decision problems, which have the characteristic that the current decision made by a human decision maker has an uncertain impact on future opportunity. We hypothesize that the individuality of decision makers can be modeled as differences in the reward function under a common MOP model. A machine learning technique, Inverse Reinforcement Learning (I RL), was used to learn an individual's reward function based on limited observation 01 his or her decision choices. This work serves as an initial investigation for using IRL to analyze decision making , conducted through a human eKperiment in a cyber shopping environment Specifically, the ability to determine the demographic identity of users is conducted through prediction analysis and supervised learning. The resuHs show thaI IRL can t>e used 10 correctly identify participants, at a rate of 68% for gender and 66% for one of three college major categories.
A new approach for phase field modeling of grain boundaries with strongly nonconvex energy

Grain boundaries (GBs) are key players in determining macroscopic material behavior and driving the creation of microstructure in nanocrystalline materials. Microstructure typically features irregular features and morphology such as microfaceting, due to the strong nonconvexity of GB energy with respect to boundary plane orientation. Mesoscale simulation of microstructure evolution can be done effectively using the multiphase field (MPF) method. However, strongly nonconvex boundary energies present numerical challenges in MPF simulations. The lack of convexity in GB energy causes the minimal GB energy problem to be mathematically ill-defined. Numerically, this causes mesh dependency and instability. In this work we present an additively decoupled regularization scheme utilizing a K23 second order curvature regularization to penalize regions of sharp curvature induced by nonconvex GB energy. Physically, the K23 regularization corresponds to corner or triple junction dislocations, and does not adversely affect the diffuse properties of the GB or the GB energy. It is shown that the additively decoupled K23 regularization term admits a numerically convenient variational derivative, when evolved in the eigenbasis of the Hessian curvature tensor. This enables K23 to be determined in terms of derivatives in the natural coordinate system, which is advantageous for implementations on a regular grid. The faceting behavior in GBs is demonstrated using a parallel adaptive mesh refinement code. It is shown that faceting is stable even if the GB energy exhibits cusps and the regularization parameter effectively controls the faceting length scale. Evolution of an inclusion is studied for smooth and non-smooth GB energies and results are compared against analytic Wulff shapes. The proposed scheme leverages Lagrange multipliers to use a modified fourth order Allen–Cahn system in lieu of a sixth order Cahn–Hilliard system for numerical efficiency.
Politeness Strategies in the Workplace: Which Experiences Help Japanese Businessmen Acquire American English Native-like Strategies?.

A study investigated which experiences helped Japanese learners of English as a second language acquire native-like politeness strategies and how Japanese businessmen perceive the relationship between degrees of indirectness and politeness in Japanese and in English. Subjects were 22 adult males, including 17 native speakers of Japanese working for large businesses and living in Japan or the United States, and a comparison group of 5 native speakers of American English working in a large American firm. The subjects completed discourse completion tasks and a questionnaire. The discourse completion tasks involved refusals, giving embarrassing information, and disagreement in interactions between lowerand higher-status colleagues. Responses revealed patterns both within and across cultural groups. It is concluded that living experience in the target culture helped learners acquire native-like pragmatic competence, and that the Japanese and American businessmen shared an understanding of the relationship between degrees of politeness and directness. All valued their native norms in speaking to higher-status colleagues. Contains 18 references. The questionnaire is appended. (MSE) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Politeness Strategies in the Workplace: Which Experiences Help Japanese Businessmen Acquire American English Native-like Strategies? U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Yuko Nakajima University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
Coastal Erosion Induced by Human Activities: A Northwest Bohai Sea Case Study

Abstract Using mooring hydrodynamic observation, cross-shore profiles, and topographic-map and satellite-image comparisons, this study shows dramatic coastal erosion on the Qinhuangdao coast (northeast Bohai Sea, China) between 1986 and 2000, with an average retreat rate of 3.7 m/y. While the retreat rate during 1996–2003 decreased to 1.5 m/y, serious coastal erosion was found around river mouths, such as the Tang, Dai, Yang, Dapu, and Renzaohe Rivers, as well as Qilihai Lagoon, with the maximum of >7.0 m/y. Sediment starvation induced by dams mainly caused this fast coastal retreat. Sediment flux of the Luan River, the dominant fluvial sediment source in the study area, declined to only 9.0% of the levels before the impoundment of two large dams in 1979. Sharply reduced sediment supply disrupted the stability of sediment transport as well as the beaches' self-recovery processes after storm surges. Coastal erosion was further intensified by coastal engineering and tourism activities.
Zirconolite and calzirtite in banded forsterite-spinel-calcite skarn ejecta from the 1631 eruption of Vesuvius: inferences for magma-wallrock interactions

Abstract Two Ca-Zr-Ti oxides, zirconolite CaZrTi2O7 and calzirtite Ca2Zr5Ti2O16, occur as minute interstitial crystals in skarn (forsterite-spinel-calcite, with rhythmic banding) ejecta from the 1631 eruption of Vesuvius. The substitutions in zirconolite observed here mainly include Nb-for-Ti (typical for zirconolites in alkaline magmatic surroundings) and (Th,U)-for-Ca, and produce a crystal-chemical formula Ca0.9-1Th0.04-0.12U0. 04-0.10ZrTi1. 36-1.61Nb0. 09-0.22(Fe,Mg,Al)0.29-0.47O7. The skarn, which occurs in contact with a pyroxenite of magmatic origin, displays a mineralogical zoning with Zr-, Ti-, Nb- and (U,Th)-rich oxides (e.g. Nb-perovskite and zirconolite) close to the pyroxenite (<2 mm), whereas those oxides observed further from the pyroxenite (>1 cm) are richer still in Zr but (Ti, Nb, U, Th)-poor or free (e.g. calzirtite and baddeleyite ZrO2). Textural relationships between minerals provide evidence for a metasomatic development of the skarn at the expense of the pyroxenite, through drastic leaching of Na, K, Si, Fe. The same process is responsible for the zoning in the skarn (leaching of Fe, Si, Ti, Nb, U and Th), in which Zr was less mobilized than other HFSE. This process, related to the circulation of fluids equilibrated with carbonates, is responsible for those forsterite-spinel (± calcite) skarns which can be observed as remnants in a large part of the 1631 ejecta. Such endoskarns probably formed repeatedly during at least the last millennia of Vesuvius’ history, and existed prior to the emplacement at shallow depth of the 1631 magma whose chamber walls were different from the limestone/dolostone classically assumed to host the Vesuvius magmas (Fulignati et al., 2005).
Impact of water resource exploitation on the hydrology and water storage in Baiyangdian Lake

Water resources development and exploitation are critical for a viable and sustainable modern human society. Unfortunately, however, there is a considerable water storage depletion and environmental degradation in especially (semi)‐arid river basins due to the forces of population growth, urbanization, industrialization and intensive agricultural irrigation. Addressing water storage depletion is not only a question of research, but is very much a question of developing appropriate countermeasures to preserve valuable/fragile ecological systems. As one such effort, this study analyzes the hydrology and storage in Baiyangdian Lake as affected by water resources development and exploitation in the Baiyangdian Lake Catchment of Northern China. Three models, WetSpass (Water and Energy Transfer between Soil, Plants and the Atmosphere under quasi‐Steady State), WATBUD (Water Budget) and MODFLOW (USGS three‐dimensional finite‐difference groundwater flow model) were used in combination to simulate the hydrogeologic conditions in the lake catchment for 1956–2008. The model‐calibrated values are in good agreement with the measured values, with R2 > 0·8 and RMSE < 10% of measured values. Runoff, the primary source of water for the lake storage, has steadily declined due mainly to multiple dam construction and reservoir impoundments in the headwater valleys and rivers in the catchment. In addition to dwindling runoff, groundwater levels have declined considerably due to over‐abstraction, mainly for agricultural irrigation. Additionally, evaporation or evapotranspiration is increasing in the lake catchment due to rising temperatures. The worsening hydrological conditions, amid the harsh semi‐arid climate, have resulted in considerable depletion of the storage and hydrology of Baiyangdian Lake. Sustainable countermeasures like agricultural water‐saving and infusion of external water (e.g., via by the South–North Water Transfer Project) could be a viable option for preserving not only the hydrology of the lake catchment, but also storage in Baiyangdian Lake. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dynamic Ocean Management: Integrating Scientific and Technological Capacity with Law, Policy, and Management

The ocean is a dynamic environment with ocean currents and winds moving surface waters across large distances. Many animals that live in the ocean, particularly in offshore regions, are mobile in space and in time, as are most human users. Spatial management responses have typically partitioned the ocean into different regions with fixed management boundaries. In some regions a particular activity may be forbidden, in another it may be permitted but regulated, and in others it may be allowed without any regulation. In contrast, dynamic ocean management (DOM) changes in space and time in response to the shifting nature of the ocean and its users. DOM techniques have been applied in a limited number of situations around the world—notably for fisheries—to regulate or restrict the capture of a particular marine species. DOM requires scientific, technological, management, legal, and policy capacity across a range of elements. The article outlines seven of these elements and describes requirements and challenges for their implementation. Specifically, the elements considered are: (1) tools and data collection, (2) data upload and management, (3) data processing, (4) data delivery, (5) decision-making, (6) implementation, and (7) enforcement. Not all elements may be required and not all management, policy, and legal issues will be relevant to all applications. However, these elements represent major considerations in the application of DOM. Overall, we find that the scientific and technological capacity for DOM is strong but there are a range of underutilized policy applications. We give examples of how these policies could be expanded to provide for a broader application of dynamic ocean management. There are distinct regional variations in the capacity to implement these elements whether on a voluntary or compulsory basis. To use DOM effectively, the science and technology required for DOM needs to be better integrated with the enabling policy.
PATTERNS IN POST-GRAZING VEGETATION CHANGES AMONG SPECIES AND ENVIRONMENTS, SAN MIGUEL AND SANTA BARBARA ISLANDS

Nonnative herbivores were removed from San Miguel and Santa Barbara islands by the late 1970s and early 1980s. To characterize post-grazing vegetation change while controlling for variable climate, we analyzed long-term (1984-2002) vegetation transect data on both islands for cover trends of individual plant species and correlations of plant community composition with physical site characteristics. We also analyzed species cover and environmental data from 28 vegetation plots sampled in 1983 and 2002 on San Miguel Island. Regression modeling of transect data for both islands and paired t-test analyses of San Miguel plot data found that both natives and exotics of various life histories have increased significantly since the early 1980s while other taxa and functional groups have declined. Species trends are generally consistent across different plant communities and both islands. Ordinations of species and environmental data indicate that soil texture and related soils variables are the environmental parameters most consistently correlated with species composition. Exotic grass cover is associated with fine-grained soils and native species cover with coarse-grained substrates. Results can be used to direct and prioritize native vegetation restoration and weed control efforts by indicating which native species are recovering and which exotic species are declining without intervention, and which environments are most likely to require active restoration efforts.
Multipath TCP : An annotated bibliography

Multipath TCP[31] is a recent TCP extension being developed within the MPTCP workgroup of the Internet Engineering Task Force. Multipath TCP enables a TCP connection to exchange data over different interfaces. This extension has recently received a growing interest from both researchers who publish a growing number of articles on the topic and the vendors since Apple has decided to use Multipath TCP on its smartphones and tablets to support the Siri voice recognition application. This document assumes that the reader is familiar with Multipath TCP. Tutorials on this TCP extension may be found in [61, 70, 15]. This document gathers an as complete as possible bibliography of the IETF documents and scientific publications related to Multipath TCP. It is maintained at http://github.com/obonaventure/ mptcp-bib. Comments, suggestions and contributions are more than welcome. The document is organised as follows. We first discuss in section 2 the publications that propose protocol extensions. Section 3 compares the different congestion control proposals. Section 4 analyses the different use cases for Multipath TCP and summarises the existing work. Section 5 lists that various software tools that can be used by Multipath TCP users and researchers.
THE FIRST ITALIAN SPECIMEN OF AUSTRIADACTYLUS CRISTATUS (DIAPSIDA, PTEROSAURIA) FROM THE NORIAN (UPPER TRIASSIC) OF THE CARNIC PREALPS

The Triassic pterosaur Austriadactylus cristatus is reported for the first time from the Norian (Upper Triassic) of north-eastern Italy. It is only the second specimen of this taxon and provides new information on the mandibular dentition, cranium and postcranium (cervical vertebrae and the forelimb), not available in the holotype. A cladistic analysis shows that Austriadactylus is phylogenetically closer to Preondactylus than to Eudimorphodon .
Similarity of Microclimate as Simulated in Response to Landscapes of the 1930s and the 1980s

Abstract In the time between the 1930s and the 1980s land use was modified by deforestation, urbanization, afforestation and recultivation of open-pit mines, further installation of open-pit mines, and drainage in about 46% of a 30 000 km2 area in the south Brandenburg/north Saxony region of Germany (51°00′N, 11°58′E; 52°17′N, 11°53′E; 51°00′N, 14°54′E; 52°17′N, 14°49′E). This study evaluates the short-term (1 day) impacts of these land use changes assuming the same typical day in May for both landscapes. In so doing, a state-of-the-art, meso-β-scale atmospheric model is applied with a resolution of 5 km × 5 km on the coarse grid and 1 km × 1 km on the subgrid. Under the land use of the 1980s, the simulated atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is slightly warmer and drier than it was in the 1930s. The sensitivity of the ABL to the changes in land use varies with time. The calculated probability density functions show that the partitioning of incoming energy between sensible and latent heat and the partitionin.
Inter‐site variability in southwest Sulawesi: results of the 1969 Australian‐Indonesian Archaeological Expedition

Toalean assemblages, first reported by Fritz and Paul Sarasin in 1905-6, included microliths, small stone points and scrapers fashioned on flakes and blades, bone points and pottery, shell middens and other faunal remains in rock shelters, frequently associated with paintings. Dutch archaeologists excavated many Toalean sites in the 1930s and H.R Van Heekeren's The stone age of Indonesia (1957, 1972) is now the main summary record of the results. The Australian-Indonesian Expedition in 1969 aimed to visit some of the most important sites previously investigated and 'to make trial excavations in search of stratified collections of ceramics, stone artefacts, and faunal remains and to obtain radiocarbon samples with which to date them' (Mulvaney and Soejono 1970:163). The expedition first visited the area of Bantaeng where van Stein Callenfels had excavated the sites of Panganreang Tudea and Batu Ejaya 1 in the 1930s. No documentation has survived except a brief summary of finds (van Heekeren 1957:91-3) and inventories in the National Museum, Jakarta. A collection of stone and bone artefacts from Panganreang Tudea is now housed in the National Museum, but the finds from Batu Ejaya 1 have been lost. The expedition discovered that van Stein Callenfels' excavation at Panganreang Tudea had been exhaustive and attention turned to nearby Batu Ejaya Cave. Here the expedition's excavation intercepted part of Callenfels' refill within the cave, but excavation of undisturbed deposit outside the cave returned ceramics, stone artefacts and charcoal samples for radiocarbon dating (Mulvaney and Soejono 1971:301). The expedition then moved to the limestone hills east of Maros, where major excavations were undertaken in the caves of Leang Burung 1 and Ulu Leang 1 (Mulvaney and Soejono 1970:169-176). In addition, surveys recorded rock art sites and burial caves containing decorated pottery. I.C. Glover later excavated further at Leang Burung 2 and Ulu Leang 1 (Glover 1976, 1981). The material from the expedition's excavations appeared to include most of the known range of material from Toalean assemblages. Inter-site vari-
Introduction to neural networks

Businesses are keen on adopting the latest advances in technology to create a competitive advantage and edge. Several trends in the recent years have contributed to the current state: - The rate at which we generate data (social, connected devices, etc.) - The ease and economically viable methods to store large amounts of data - The increase and availability of high performing computing - Advances in adopting mathematical solutions to computing-intensive solutions