University of Haifa

About: University of Haifa is a education organization based out in Haifa, Israel. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 7558 authors who have published 27141 publications receiving 711629 citations. The organization is also known as: Haifa University & Universiṭat Ḥefah.

Happy Adolescents: The Link Between Subjective Well-Being, Internal Resources, and Parental Factors

Abstract: The research investigates the associations of personal and parental factors with subjective well-being (SWB) in adolescents on the basis of 2 studies. The first included 97 university students and 185 adolescents who completed questionnaires measuring perceived mastery, dispositional optimism, and affect used as a measure of SWB. Correlations and hierarchical regression analyses showed mastery and optimism to be negatively associated with negative affect (NA) and positively associated with positive affect (PA). Demographic variables did not relate to PA and NA except for gender, with female adolescents showing higher levels of NA than males. The second study included 121 adolescents and their parents who completed questionnaires measuring mastery, optimism, SWB indicators, and assessments by the adolescents of their relationships with their parents. The associations of the adolescents' mastery and optimism with SWB measures were positive and were similar to those found in the first study. Positive correlations were found between the adolescents' and their parents' SWB (especially with their father's), but no significant associations were observed between adolescents' and parents' mastery and optimism. However, adolescents' mastery and optimism were related to positive relationships with parents. The results highlight the importance of mastery, optimism, and positive adolescent–parent relationships in contributing to the well-being ofadolescents.

The Bottom Line Impact of Organizational Responses to Customer Complaints

Abstract: Complaint management has become increasingly important in the tourism and hospitality fields, yet little is really known about how complainers assess the organizational response, and how those assessments affect their future consumer behavior as far as word-of-mouth activity and repurchase intentions are concerned. This research suggests an answer by presenting and testing a model of complainants’ perceptions of the organizational response and the impact of the organizational response on postcomplaint customer behavior. The results provide partial support for the model. Attentiveness is the most important organizational response dimension, affecting both word-of-mouth activity and repurchase intentions. Managerial implications are discussed.

Biotype-dependent secondary symbiont communities in sympatric populations of Bemisia tabaci.

Abstract: The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, harbors Portiera aleyrodidarum, an obligatory symbiotic bacterium, as well as several secondary symbionts including Rickettsia, Hamiltonella, Wolbachia, Arsenophonus, Cardinium and Fritschea, the function of which is unknown. Bemisia tabaci is a species complex composed of numerous biotypes, which may differ from each other both genetically and biologically. Only the B and Q biotypes have been reported from Israel. Secondary symbiont infection frequencies of Israeli laboratory and field populations of B. tabaci from various host plants were determined by PCR, in order to test for correlation between bacterial composition to biotype and host plant. Hamiltonella was detected only in populations of the B biotype, while Wolbachia and Arsenophonus were found only in the Q biotype (33% and 87% infection, respectively). Rickettsia was abundant in both biotypes. Cardinium and Fritschea were not found in any of the populations. No differences in secondary symbionts were found among host plants within the B biotype; but within the Q biotype, all whiteflies collected from sage harboured both Rickettsia and Arsenophonus, an infection frequency which was significantly higher than those found in association with all other host plants. The association found between whitefly biotypes and secondary symbionts suggests a possible contribution of these bacteria to host characteristics such as insecticide resistance, host range, virus transmission and speciation.

Fast sparse matrix multiplication

Abstract: Let A and B two n×n matrices over a ring R (e.g., the reals or the integers) each containing at most m nonzero elements. We present a new algorithm that multiplies A and B using O(m0.7n1.2+n2+o(1)) algebraic operations (i.e., multiplications, additions and subtractions) over R. The naive matrix multiplication algorithm, on the other hand, may need to perform o(mn) operations to accomplish the same task. For m≤n1.14, the new algorithm performs an almost optimal number of only n2+o(1) operations. For m≤n1.68, the new algorithm is also faster than the best known matrix multiplication algorithm for dense matrices which uses O(n2.38) algebraic operations. The new algorithm is obtained using a surprisingly straightforward combination of a simple combinatorial idea and existing fast rectangular matrix multiplication algorithms. We also obtain improved algorithms for the multiplication of more than two sparse matrices. As the known fast rectangular matrix multiplication algorithms are far from being practical, our result, at least for now, is only of theoretical value.

Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests

Abstract: Old-growth tropical forests harbor an immense diversity of tree species but are rapidly being cleared, while secondary forests that regrow on abandoned agricultural lands increase in extent. We assess how tree species richness and composition recover during secondary succession across gradients in environmental conditions and anthropogenic disturbance in an unprecedented multisite analysis for the Neotropics. Secondary forests recover remarkably fast in species richness but slowly in species composition. Secondary forests take a median time of five decades to recover the species richness of old-growth forest (80% recovery after 20 years) based on rarefaction analysis. Full recovery of species composition takes centuries (only 34% recovery after 20 years). A dual strategy that maintains both old-growth forests and species-rich secondary forests is therefore crucial for biodiversity conservation in human-modified tropical landscapes.