Search results for "Wort"

An Analysis of the Drivers of Microfinance Rating Assessments

2012

Rating assessments of microfinance institutions (MFIs) are claimed to measure a combination of creditworthiness, trustworthiness, and excellence in microfinance. Using a global data set covering reports from 304 microfinance institutions, this study suggests that these ratings are mainly driven by size, profitability, and risk. The overall results suggest that microfinance ratings convey information similar to that communicated by traditional credit ratings. All results are remarkably consistent across rating agencies. The determinants of the rating grades are found to be the same in all subsamples.

Assessing the role of evidence of mechanisms in causal extrapolation

2020

Extrapolation of causal claims from study populations to other populations of interest is a problematic issue. The standard approach in experimental research, which prioritises randomized controlled trials and statistical evidence, is not devoid of difficulties. Granted that, it has been defended that evidence of mechanisms is indispensable for causal extrapolation. We argue, contrarily, that this sort of evidence is not indispensable. Nonetheless, we also think that occasionally it may be helpful. In order to clarify its relevance, we introduce a distinction between a positive and a negative role of evidence of mechanisms. Our conclusion is that the former is highly questionable, but the l…

A contribution to the phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Isoetes (Isoetaceae, Lycopodiidae) in the Mediterranean region

2019

To better understand the phylogeny of Isoetes species in the Mediterranean region, sequences of the second intron of a LFY-like homolog were determined for six populations of three Mediterranean Isoetes species and analyzed with other LFY and ITS sequences of Euro-Mediterranean species available in GenBank. Nomenclature of selected species was updated according to recent literature. Investigations of voucher specimens from previously sequenced taxa revealed that a specimen of I. histrix from Crete, Greece used in several previous molecular studies is probably I. phrygia. Analysis of the limited LFY and ITS DNA sequence data presented here agrees with the organization of Mediterranean specie…

Deterministic versus probabilistic consequences of trust and trustworthiness: An experimental investigation

2014

Abstract There is overwhelming evidence of reciprocal behavior, driven by intentions. However, the role of consequences is less clear cut. Experimentally manipulating how efficient trust and reciprocity can be in deterministic and uncertain environments allows us to study how payoff consequences of trust and trustworthiness affect reciprocity. According to the results for our modified Investment Game, trustees reward trust more when trust is more efficient but do not adjust rewards when the efficiency of rewarding is varied. Furthermore, higher deterministic benefits result in higher levels of reciprocity for all trust levels, whereas an uncertain environment diminishes reciprocity.

Antiproliferative Effects of St. John’s Wort, Its Derivatives, and Other Hypericum Species in Hematologic Malignancies

2021

Hypericumis a widely present plant, and extracts of its leaves, flowers, and aerial elements have been employed for many years as therapeutic cures for depression, skin wounds, and respiratory and inflammatory disorders. Hypericum also displays an ample variety of other biological actions, such as hypotensive, analgesic, anti-infective, anti-oxidant, and spasmolytic abilities. However, recent investigations highlighted that this species could be advantageous for the cure of other pathological situations, such as trigeminal neuralgia, as well as in the treatment of cancer. This review focuses on the in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects of St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum), its derivat…

A trust-based security enforcement in disruption-tolerant networks

2017

We propose an approach to enforce security in disruption- and delay-tolerant networks (DTNs) where long delays, high packet drop rates, unavailability of central trusted entity etc. make traditional approaches unfeasible. We use trust model based on subjective logic to continuously evaluate trustworthiness of security credentials issued in distributed manner by network participants to deal with absence of centralised trusted authorities.

RACER: A Non-Commercial Driving Game which Became a Serious Tool in the Research of Driver Fatigue

2008

Data-based modeling of vehicle collisions by nonlinear autoregressive model and feedforward neural network

2013

Vehicle crash test is the most direct and common method to assess vehicle crashworthiness. Visual inspection and obtained measurements, such as car acceleration, are used, e.g. to examine impact severity of an occupant or to assess overall car safety. However, those experiments are complex, time-consuming, and expensive. We propose a method to reproduce car kinematics during a collision using nonlinear autoregressive (NAR) model which parameters are estimated by the use of feedforward neural network. NAR model presented in this study is derived from the more general one - nonlinear autoregressive with moving average (NARMA). Suitability of autoregressive systems for data-based modeling was …

Data Blinding for the nEDM Experiment at PSI

2020

Psychological bias towards, or away from, prior measurements or theory predictions is an intrinsic threat to any data analysis. While various methods can be used to try to avoid such a bias, e.g. actively avoiding looking at the result, only data blinding is a traceable and trustworthy method that can circumvent the bias and convince a public audience that there is not even an accidental psychological bias. Data blinding is nowadays a standard practice in particle physics, but it is particularly difficult for experiments searching for the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM), as several cross measurements, in particular of the magnetic field, create a self-consistent network into which it …

Temperature Cues Bias the Memory of Trustworthiness of Faces

2016

Humans rely on temperature cues to navigate and make sense of their social world. In two experiments we find that part of this process can be detected in the perception and memory of faces. We conducted two studies to find this effect through a method called “reverse correlation”, where we average a face over a large amount of trials. For participants who experienced physical warmth (vs. cold) at the initial confrontation with a face we found that the average of the trials displayed a psychologically warmer face (judged by independent raters). Excluding the possibility of a “carry-over” effect, in Study 2 we replicated the Study 1 effect, but only if physical warmth (vs. cold) preceded the …