Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Port Dynamics Since 1965: Past Patterns, Current Conditions and Future Directions

An examination is made of developments in port dynamics since 1965. Initially, this task is addressed by studying changes in past port patterns using a simple descriptive model to accommodate shifts induced by containerization. Over time these changes have led to the reversal of the concentration and centralization of port activities. Then consideration is given to the behavior of stakeholders active in the contemporary port scene by elaborating a bipolar globallocal analytical framework through an invocation of the hybrid concepts of glocalization and loglobalization. This analysis leads to an examination of emerging economies to gauge future trends in port dynamics following the dramatic emergence of China. Finally, there is a discussion of the need to go beyond inter-port competition to comprehend global production-distribution networks by exploring synergies between the supply chain and the total transport network to bring out parallels in the hub-and-spoke structure not only underpinning maritime activities but also air transport and telecommunications.
Brave New World: A Literature Review of Emerging Donors and the Changing Nature of Foreign Assistance

This paper investigates the scale and scope of emerging donors, many of which are developing economies themselves. Annual aid flows from new donors (so-called non-DAC donors) vary greatly and are somewhere between $11 billion and $41.7 billion, or 8 and 31 percent of global gross ODA. The new donors are not a monolithic group but instead represent three distinct models of aid delivery, described here as the DAC Model, the Arab Model and the Southern Model.In each model, there is room for donors to improve their transparency and accountability. Most are unlikely to join the DAC, but the international donor community can still encourage reporting and disclosure. To engage the non-DAC donors, the forum for international aid coordination might need to be moved away from the OECD-DAC platform; the DAC could instead serve as one donor caucus within a larger international system of aid reporting.
Do Workers Direct Their Search ? ∗

Using a multi-spell mixed proportional hazards competing risks model with National Longitudinal Survey of Youth(1997) data, we test whether an individual’s search intensity across wage markets differs in ways that would reject random search as the way in which workers search while unemployed. After controlling for an individual’s observable characteristics such as age and unobservable characteristics such as an individual’s reservation wage, we reject the random search implication that search intensity is constant across wage markets. In particular, unemployment insurance reduces matching in the high wage market at half the rate of the medium wage market, which we show to be inconsistent with the assumption of random search.
Searching for heavily obscured post-AGB stars and planetary nebulae - I. IRAS candidates with 2MASS PSC counterparts

Context. The transition from the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) to the planetary nebula (PN) phase is critical in the shaping of PNe. It is suggested that the most asymmetric PNe are the descendant of massive AGB stars. Since these AGB stars are believed to evolve into heavily obscured post-AGB stars and PNe, the compilation of a sample of bona de obscured post-AGB stars and PNe is important to help understand the formation of asymmetric PNe. Aims. We aim to identify and characterize in the IR a large number of post-AGB stars and PNe and to assess their degree of optical obscuration. The improved positions will enable future detailed studies to determine their true nature, whereas the optical and IR properties can be used to investigate their spectral behaviour. Methods. We have used 2MASS, Spitzer GLIMPSE, MSX, and IRAS data in search of the near-IR counterparts of a sample of 165 presumably obscured IRAS post-AGB and PN candidates, and DSS red images to identify the optical counterparts among the objects detected in the near-IR. The IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in the wavelength range from 1 m to 100 m of the sources with unambiguous near-IR counterparts have been analyzed using appropriate colour-colour diagrams. Results. We have identied the near-IR counterparts of 119 sources out of the 165 IRAS post-AGB and PN candidates in our sample. The improved astrometric coordinates of these sources have allowed us to nd optical counterparts for 59 of them, yielding a reduced sample of 60 optically obscured post-AGB star and PN candidates. Among the 119 sources with near-IR counterparts, only 80 have unambiguous identications in the 2MASS Point Source Catalogue. For these sources, we nd that objects with and without optical counterpart, while having similar mid- and far-IR colours, are segregated in colour-colour diagrams that use the near-IR J band to compute one of the colours.
Selling low and buying high: An arbitrage puzzle in Kenyan villages

Large and regular seasonal price fluctuations in local grain markets appear to o↵er African farmers substantial inter-temporal arbitrage opportunities, but these opportunities remain largely unexploited: small-scale farmers are commonly observed to “sell low and buy high” rather than the reverse. In a field experiment in Kenya, we show that credit market imperfections limit farmers’ abilities to move grain intertemporally, and that providing timely access to credit allows farmers to purchase at lower prices and sell at higher prices, increasing farm profits. To understand general equilibrium e↵ects of these changes in behavior, we vary the density of loan o↵ers across locations. We document significant e↵ects of the credit intervention on seasonal price dispersion in local grain markets, and show that these GE e↵ects strongly a↵ect our individual level profitability estimates. In contrast to existing experimental work, our results indicate a setting in which microcredit can improve firm profitability, and suggest that GE e↵ects can substantially shape estimates of microcredit’s e↵ectiveness. JEL codes: D21, D51, G21, O13, O16, Q12
Microbial Distribution and Abundance in the Digestive System of Five Shipworm Species (Bivalvia: Teredinidae)

Marine bivalves of the family Teredinidae (shipworms) are voracious consumers of wood in marine environments. In several shipworm species, dense communities of intracellular bacterial endosymbionts have been observed within specialized cells (bacteriocytes) of the gills (ctenidia). These bacteria are proposed to contribute to digestion of wood by the host. While the microbes of shipworm gills have been studied extensively in several species, the abundance and distribution of microbes in the digestive system have not been adequately addressed. Here we use Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization (FISH) and laser scanning confocal microscopy with 16S rRNA directed oligonucleotide probes targeting all domains, domains Bacteria and Archaea, and other taxonomic groups to examine the digestive microbiota of 17 specimens from 5 shipworm species (Bankia setacea, Lyrodus pedicellatus, Lyrodus massa, Lyrodus sp. and Teredo aff. triangularis). These data reveal that the caecum, a large sac-like appendage of the stomach that typically contains large quantities of wood particles and is considered the primary site of wood digestion, harbors only very sparse microbial populations. However, a significant number of bacterial cells were observed in fecal pellets within the intestines. These results suggest that due to low abundance, bacteria in the caecum may contribute little to lignocellulose degradation. In contrast, the comparatively high population density of bacteria in the intestine suggests a possible role for intestinal bacteria in the degradation of lignocellulose.
Fundamental limitations in self-sensing magnetic bearings when modeled as linear periodic systems

In "Magnetic bearing measurement configurations and associated robustness and performance limitations", Thibeault and Smith demonstrate that self-sensing magnetic bearings are impractical due to fundamental limitations in the achievable closed-loop robustness. Due to experimental data which appeared to contradict these results, Maslen, Montie, and Iwasaki showed that significantly better robustness is achievable in "Robustness limitations in self-sensing magnetic bearings" if the magnetic bearing is modeled as a linear periodic (LP) system rather than the linear time invariant (LTI) system used by Thibeault and Smith. The present paper explores why modeling the self-sensing magnetic bearing as a LP system improves the achievable robustness. This is accomplished by utilizing lifting to analyze the LP model as a MIMO discrete LTI system
Giant Retroperitoneal Lipoma in an Infant

Lipomas can occur almost anywhere in the body, but retroperitoneal lipomas are extremely rare. They are slowly growing benign tumors and can attain an enormous size due to silent course of the disease. Total excision of the mass is the treatment of choice and is curative for benign retroperitoneal lipomas. We treated an 11-month-old female patient with giant retroperitoneal lipomas by surgical excision. Histopathology confirmed it as fibrolipoma.
Inflation and Trade Openness: Empirical Investigation for India

The question whether increased openness on trade account creates a favorable atmosphere for inflation reduction has been examined in the present study. The empirical results employing quarterly data over the 21-year period from 1984-85 to 2004-05, indicate that while trade openness has significantly contributed to the disinflation process, the decline in the world inflation rate has also been a significant environmental factor for this decline. The study also finds that the relationship has grown stronger, in terms of structural break, since 1989, when the trade liberalization started showing macroeconomic effects.
raming effect following bilateral amygdala lesion

A paradigmatic example of an emotional bias in decision making is the framing effect, where the manner in which a choice is posed – as a potential loss or a potential gain – systematically biases an ensuing decision. Two fMRI studies have shown that the activation in the amygdala is modulated by the framing effect. Here, contrary to an expectation based on these studies, we show that two patients with Urbach-Wiethe (UW) disease, a rare condition associated with congenital, complete bilateral amygdala degeneration,
Gaussian Faithful Markov Trees

We study two types of graphical models in this paper: concentration an covariance graphical models. Graphical models use graphs to encode or capture the multivariate dependencies that are present in a given multivariate distribution. A concentration graph associated with a multivariate probability distribution of a given random vector is an undirected graph where each vertex represents each of the different components of the random vector and where the absence of an edge between any pair of variables implies conditional independence between these two variables given the remaining ones. Similarly, a covariance graph reflects marginal independences in the sense that the absence of an edge between any pair of variables implies marginal independence between these two variables. These two graphical models do not encode only pairwise relationship between variables, but they allow us to read many other conditional independence statements present in the probability distribution through separation criteria in this graph. In general, the graph may omit some of these conditional independence statements and when the graph encode exactly all of these conditional independences we say that the probability distribution is faithful to its corresponding graphical model. We present here two mathematical results concerning Markov trees, graphical models corresponding to trees: Gaussian Markov trees are necessarily faithful to their concentration and covariance graph. More formally this means that Gaussian distributions that have trees as concentration graphs are necessarily faithful (see [1]). Similarly an equivalent result can be proved for covariance graphs (see [2]). However the methods of proofs used for these two results are completely different.
Tbx1 Regulates the BMP-Smad1 Pathway in a Transcription Independent Manner

Tbx1 is a T-box transcription factor implicated in DiGeorge syndrome. The molecular function of Tbx1 is unclear although it can transactivate reporters with T-box binding elements. We discovered that Tbx1 binds Smad1 and suppresses the Bmp4/Smad1 signaling. Tbx1 interferes with Smad1 to Smad4 binding, and a mutation of Tbx1 that abolishes transactivation, does not affect Smad1 binding nor does affect the ability to suppress Smad1 activity. In addition, a disease-associated mutation of TBX1 that does not prevent transactivation, prevents the TBX1-SMAD1 interaction. Expression of Tbx1 in transgenic mice generates phenotypes similar to those associated with loss of a Bmp receptor. One phenotype could be rescued by transgenic Smad1 expression. Our data indicate that Tbx1 interferes with Bmp/Smad1 signaling and provide strong evidence that a T-box transcription factor has functions unrelated to transactivation.
Development and Evaluation of a Portable Audiometer for High-Frequency Screening of Hearing Loss From Ototoxicity in Homes/Clinics

Cancer treatment often requires patients to be exposed to drugs that can damage hearing. Drugs such as cisplatin can cause permanent damage to hearing if not detected early. Damage typically occurs first in the more basal regions of the cochlea which are specific for high-frequency (HF) hearing and progresses to more apical regions that are relevant to speech understanding. Monitoring of HF hearing loss can be an effective means for early detection of ototoxicity caused by chemotherapy. Once ototoxicity is detected, the oncology medical team could adjust the drug dosage or switch to medications that are less ototoxic. Telehealth technology may improve access to ototoxicity monitoring. Patients could monitor their own hearing using a device that alerts healthcare professionals in the event of a change in hearing. A portable audiometer is currently not available that is 1) capable of automatic or manual (by an audiologist) operation; 2) designed with precision pure-tone functionality up to 20 kHz; and 3) able to remotely transfer health status information to a healthcare professional. This paper describes the design of a technology, the ototoxicity identification (OtoID), that includes a portable audiometer with HF test functionality that meets ANSI/ASA S3.6-2010 standards and is capable of reliably detecting a person's drug-related hearing changes relative to a baseline period (i.e., before ototoxic drugs) using an automated test. The system includes a wireless cellular modem capable of notifying a remote healthcare professional in the event that a significant change in hearing has occurred in the patient. The system was evaluated on test subjects within a sound-proof booth, a noisy hospital ward, and within their homes. Results indicate that the OtoID system can be used by patients to effectively monitor hearing changes remotely within their home or in a hospital ward, ultimately enabling early detection of ototoxicity and potentially avoiding hearing loss.
Individual Decision Making and Investor Welfare

type="main" xml:lang="en"> This article analyses and quantifies the costs of suboptimal decision making for an investor with a multi-period horizon. In light of the empirical evidence that investors are too conservative and hold portfolios that are insufficiently diversified, we evaluate the costs of suboptimal equity participation both analytically and using simulation, and also estimate the costs of suboptimal diversification using simulation. We find that suboptimal leverage imposes only modest costs on the investor for reasonable parameter values. While the costs of inadequate diversification can be very high, we find that, because of the higher returns on small firms, an equally weighted portfolio of as few as five randomly chosen firms can provide the same level of expected utility as the value weighted market portfolio. (J.E.L.: G11, G18, G23).
Boundedness Properties of Nonlinear Quasidissipative Systems

Boundedness results for feedback interconnections of quasidissipative systems are presented. A classical result due to Hill and Moylan is generalized to the case of finite power gain stability of feedback interconnection of quasidissipative systems. It is also shown that under the strong finite-time observability assumption such an interconnection has uniformly ultimately bounded trajectories for any uniformly bounded input.
Woodford Goes to Africa

This paper analyses the effects of inflation shocks, demands shocks, and aid shocks on low-income, quasi-emerging-market economies, and discusses how monetary policy can be used to manage these effects. We make use of a model developed for such economies by Adam et al. (2007). We examine the e¤ects of four things which this model features, which we take to be typical of such economies. These are: the existence of a tradeables/non-tradeables production structure, the fact that international capital movements are - at least initially - confined to the effects of currency substitution by domestic residents, the use of targets for financial assets in the implementation of monetary policy, and the pursuit, in some countries, of a fixed exchange rate. We then modify the model to examine the effect on such economies of three major changes, changes which we take to be part of the transition by such economies towards more fully- fledged emerging-market status: an opening of the capital account so that uncovered- interest-parity comes to hold, a move to floating exchange rates, and the replacement of fixed stocks of financial aggregates by the pursuit of a Taylor rule in the conduct of monetary policy.
A Novel Approach for Detection of Copy Move Forgery using Completed Robust Local Binary Pattern

Copy-move forgery is one of the most popular tampering artifacts in digital images. Where copies, one part of the image and pastes into another part in the same image. Despite several established methods for detecting copy-move forgery, perceiving forged areas in the presence of noise, blur and rotated region before pasting are complicated.to solve this problem. A Novel approach is presented for detection of copy move forgery using completed robust local binary pattern (CRLBP). The algorithm consists of ﬁve main steps, where the suspicious image is ﬁltered using a hybrid ﬁlter before being divided into overlapping blocks. The CRLBP operator is then applied to produce an invariant rotation descriptor to extract feature for each block and then sorted the feature vectors using lexicographical sorting. The forged regions are identiﬁed by comparing the feature vector using Euclidean distances. Finally, we introduced a new technique to reduce false matches which caused by ﬂat region. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is able to detect forged areas eﬃciently even in the presence of image distortion such as rotation, additive noise, blurring and compression. And can also solve the false match problem. Results with precision and a false positive rate give better performance as compared to other techniques.
Quality of Context: What It Is And Why We Need It

When people interact with each other, they implicitly make use of context information while intuitively deducing and interpreting their actual situation. Compared to humans, IT infrastructures cannot easily take advantage of context information in interactions. Typically, context information has to be provided explicitly. Recently, cellular network operators have been showing interest in offering Context-Aware Services (CAS) in the future. For a service to be context-aware it must be able to use context information in order to adapt its behavior or the content it provides. Examples of CASs are restaurant finders, tour guides and dating services. These services will depend on the availability of context information which must be provided at the right time, in the right quality, and at the right place. The quality of this context information is neither identical to Quality of Service (QoS), nor to the quality of the underlying hardware components, i.e., Quality of Device (QoD). Rather, the precision, probability of correctness, trustworthiness, resolution, and up-to-dateness of context information form a new set of quality parameters which we call Quality of Context (QoC). In this paper, we will discuss what QoC is, what its most important parameters are and how QoC relates to QoS and QoD. These three notions of quality are unequal, but not unrelated. Based on several examples we will show the interdependence between them. We will argue that QoC as a new notion of quality is necessary to allow for the provisioning of CASs in an interorganizational manner.
Symbol adaptation assessment in outdoor augmented reality

A challenge in presenting augmented reality information, particularly in outdoor environments, is to distinguish the virtual symbols from the background image. In this paper we report on a user study that leverages prior knowledge about adaptations to improve symbol conspicuity by expanding its application to outdoor environments and mobile handheld devices. We considered two types of adaptation that yielded good results indoors, namely adding a border around the symbol and adjusting the colour luminosity, and tested them outdoor in daylight. We also introduced partial and total adaptation modes that differed in the scope of the symbols to adapt: only the ones that are almost imperceptible from the background versus every symbol overlaying the real world image. Results from users' questionnaires reveal that the border adaptation continues to be the favourite regardless of the outdoor lighting conditions, and yet we did not find differences in symbol detection performance in comparison with adjusting colour luminosity. The border adaptation was also considered the best to preserve symbol semantics when combined with the total adaptation mode, thus making it a versatile option for augmented reality applications.
A digest of Supreme Court decisions affecting education

t lection of school board members, taxation for school district budgets, collective bargaining and tenure for teachers, vaccination and suspension of pupils, instruction in the Darwinian theory and in foreign language. School prayers, loyalty oaths, flag salutes, pro test armbands, maternity leaves, race discrimination. The list of topics dealt with in U.S. Supreme Court cases goes on and on, extending to virtually all aspects of school operation. Are school leaders aware of the do's and don'ts of these
Community-Based Learning: A Foundation for Meaningful Educational Reform

Perhaps more important than the views of adults are the views of young people about themselves and their schools. Students often complain that their classes are irrelevant, not related to what occurs outside of the classroom, and lacking opportunities for hands-on applications. They feel they are treated as children instead of being given adult responsibilities. They feel cut off from meaningful relationships with caring adults. As a result, they are often unmotivated to study and view education as something imposed by adults rather than an exciting opportunity for them to develop their skills and contribute to others. In short, there is a growing consensus that change is needed in education, not only in reforming what is taught but also in how and where it is taught.