Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climate impact on floods – changes of high-flows in Sweden for the 1 past and future ( 1911-2100 ) 2

There is an on-going discussion whether floods are more frequent nowadays than in the past 7 and whether they will increase in a future climate. To explore this for Sweden we merged observed 8 time-series from 69 sites across the country (450 000 km 2 ) for the past century with high-resolution 9 dynamic model projections of the up-coming century. The results show that the changes of daily 10 annual high flows in Sweden oscillate between dry and wet periods, but there is no significant trend of 11 the past 100 years. Temperature was found to be the strongest climate driver for changes in river high12 flows, as these are mainly related to snow melt in Sweden. In the future, the daily annual high-flows 13 may decrease by on average -1% per decade, mainly due to lower peaks from snow melt in the spring 14 (-2% per decade) caused by higher temperatures and shorter snow season. On the contrary, autumn 15 flows may increase by 3% per decade due to more intensive rainfall. This indicates a shift in flood 16 generating processes in the future, with more influence of rain-fed floods. Climate impact may be 17 more significant in some specific rivers than what it found on the average for the whole country. For 18 selected catchments, the temporal pattern of daily high-flow in the future was found to shift to about 19 one month earlier spring floods in the North/Central part of Sweden and more frequent high flows in 20 the south. Moreover, the current border between snow-driven floods in North/Central Sweden and 21 rain-driven floods in the South, may be moved towards higher latitudes due to less snow accumulation 22 in the south and at low altitudes. A tendency towards the modelled projections could be found for the 23 last 25 years regarding timing in daily high flow. Uncertainties related to the study are discussed in the 24 paper, both for observed data and for the complex model chain of climate impact assessments in 25 hydrology. 26 Key-words: long-term records, S-HYPE, climate change, catchment modelling, river flow, 27 trend analysis 28
Platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor binding activity of the roots of Enicosanthellum pulchrum

Context: Enicosanthellum pulchrum (King) Heusden (Annonaceae) is a coniferous tree that is confined to mountain forests. The chemical constituents of this species have been studied previously; however, its biological activity has never been investigated before and is reported here for the first time. Objective: The extracts, fractions and compounds from the roots of E. pulchrum were investigated for their inhibitory effects on platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor binding to rabbit platelets using 3H-PAF as a ligand. Materials and methods: The PAF receptor binding inhibitory effect using rabbit platelets was determined in vitro by measuring the difference between total amount of bound 3H-PAF in the presence and the absence of excess unlabelled PAF. The compounds were isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques. Results and discussion: Among the extracts tested, the ethyl acetate extract was the most active with 85.6% inhibition, while hexane and methanol extracts showed 40.2 and 42.5% inhibition, respectively. Fractionation of the ethyl acetate extract using vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) yielded six fractions AEA(I-–VI). Chromatography fraction AEA(VI) yielded a new compound, 1-(2′,3′,4′-trimethoxyphenyl)hexan-1-ol, while fraction AEA(III) afforded three compounds, namely liriodenine, cleistopholine and dehydroanonaine. 1-(2′,3′,4′-Trimethoxyphenyl)hexan-1-ol, cleistopholine and dehydroanonaine showed relatively strong inhibition with IC50 values of 26.6, 50.2 and 45.4 µM, respectively. Conclusion: The results suggest that these compounds could be responsible for the PAF antagonistic activity of the ethyl acetate extract of this plant.
The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (Isew) for Italy

We try to build a macroeconomic index, that includes some non-market variables, to be compared to the traditional GDP. Over the last twenty years answers to the welfare accounting problem have been different. Economists have used dynamic optimization to rigorously derive an index that can be used to evaluate small projects and their contribution to well being. National Accountants are trying to extend the System of National Accounts (SNA) in the form of satellite accounts by increasing the system boundary. There is also a number of other studies which cannot be included in either of the previous categories and that we may call indices of welfare. They are not rigorously founded and start from common sense ideas of what should and what should not be considered as determinants of well being. This type of indices, however, has received wide attention thanks to their immediate comparability with GDP and to their characteristic of emphasizing the long run trend of "welfare" as compared to GDP. Our work falls in the third category. We start from the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) built up by Cobb and Daly in 1989 and we reproduce it for Italy, though revisiting the methodology associated to the construction of some of the variables. The results show that up to the seventies the Italian GDP only slightly overestimates the growth of economic welfare, but since then it seems to have been misleading, at least as compared to our index. While GDP has continued to rise, economic welfare has been stagnating. The importance of the environmental variables included seems to be decreasing over time, going from 38% in 1980 to 31% in 1990. The cost of pollution (air, water and noise) has a greater weight in the sixties (about 13%) and falls to 8% in 1990. The ratio between GDP and environmental degradation has remained constant over the decades under consideration, thus contradicting the idea that the demand for environmental quality increases with income.
LEVY ON LOCAL TRAFFIC CONGESTION : THE CASE OF 3 NOTTINGHAM UK

5 Authors: Mr Simon Dale *, Dr Matthew Frost, Prof. Stephen Ison , Prof. 6 Mohammed Quddus, and Mr Peter Warren 7 8 a Centre for Innovative and Collaborative Constructi on Engineering, Loughborough 9 University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK, LE11 3TU, Tel +441509222605, 10 S.G. Ison@lboro.ac. uk , M.W. Frost@lboro.ac. uk , simon.dale@nottinghamcity.gov. uk 11 12 b Highway Metrics Team, Nottingham City Council Loxl ey House ,Station Street, 13 Nottingham, UK, NG2 3NG, Tel +441158765271, peter.warren@nottinghamcity.gov. uk , 14 simon.dale@nottinghamcity.gov. uk 15 16 * Corresponding author: Centre for Innovative and C ollaborative Construction Engineering, 17 Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershi re, UK, LE11 3TU, Tel 18 +447795055149, s.dale@lboro.ac. uk 19 20
College Drinking, Greek Affiliation And The Need To Fit In: An Analysis Of Social Norms And Motivations Associated With Fraternity and Sorority Binge Drinking

This study proposes that members of Greek social organizations have higher rates of binge drinking as compared to other college students due to their greater acceptance of norms and motives that support binge drinking. The College Alcohol Study, a survey conducted by the Harvard School of Public Heath, was administered to 10, 904 university students. The survey measured various aspects of students’ experiences at their respective universities including experiences with and perceptions of alcohol use. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine normative and motivational predictors of binge drinking for Greek and non-Greek students. The results show that Greek members binge drink at higher levels than do other students. The results also indicate that social norm and motive variables, which were thought to be predictive of binge drinking practices for all students, are better predictors of binge drinking for non-Greek members. Implications of theses findings, discussion of results, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research are presented.
Theories of the Political Process, Political Opportunities Structure and Local Mobilizations. The Case of Italy

: Local mobilizations against infrastructures perceived as harmful to population and territory are, in Italy, one of the forms of collective action which in recent years have grown more. The contrast to party system and the tension between representation and participation are central elements of collective identity in these protests. They have also built innovative experiences in local politics, which have been directly involved in electoral competitions. For all these reasons, local mobilizations are an interesting case to analyze the evolution of the relationship between collective protest and political systems, and to test the most widely used apparatus in the study of this relationship: the theory of political opportunities structure (POS). In this article, the POS model is confronted with a major Italian local mobilization in recent years, the protest in Vicenza against the realization of the Dal Molin military base, and other major Italian local mobilizations. In the Conclusions, three main findings are pinpointed: 1 ) Unlike what the POS thesis states, a closure of the political opportunity structures incentivizes collective protest; 2 ) The crisis of mass party and the redefinition of the classic parameters of statehood, necessitate a theoretical re-discussion of the relationship between popular protest and institutional politics; 3 ) the relationship between social movements and parties is redefining on the base of a new hybridization between the party-form and the movement-form, and through the direct assumption of electoral tasks by social movements.
Relevance of Keynesianism in Nepal: An Empirical Analysis

In this paper, the relevance of Keynesian postulates has been examined in the Nepalese context for the period 1975-2012 using annual time series data. The empirical results from the Johansen co-integration tests clearly show that there is long run equilibrium relationship between government expenditure and real GDP, private consumption and gross fixed capital formation. Likewise, Granger Causality test confirms that there is bilateral causal relationship between government expenditure and gross fixed capital formation in Nepal. However, no causal relationship is observed between government expenditure and real GDP and private consumption. Thus, it is confirmed by this study that the Keynesian postulates are relevant for capital formation rather than for increasing real GDP growth and private consumption in Nepal.
Application of Network Technology in Distance Education of Physical Education Curriculum-Take the Football Course as an Example*

Modern distance physical education is a complex system engineering, so we must set up an open sports concept. In this paper, we take the football course as an example, a networked learning platform for school physical education based on network technology has been designed. This kind of learning platform makes full use of the advantages of network education and uses the openness and sharing of network technology to build a remote network learning platform which is beneficial to students' independent learning, cooperative learning and exploratory learning. This platform can provide students with abundant sports learning resources, increase the time and space for students to learn independently, and promote the transformation of sports learning methods. The development of distance education in China's physical education curriculum is still in its infancy. In this context, the development of physical education to modern distance education is particularly necessary.
Serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 and fibrin degradation product levels correlate with clinical disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE Plasmin and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) have been linked to articular destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We compared circulating levels of plasmin-mediated fibrin degradation product (FDP D-dimer) and MMP-3 with traditional parameters of disease activity in RA to determine their clinical utility. MATERIALS AND METHODS Serum levels of MMP-3 and D-dimer were determined by enzyme-linked immunoassays in 60 patients with RA. Twenty healthy females and 21 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) served as controls. RESULTS MMP-3 (436.8 +/- 474.2 ng/ml) and D-dimer levels (351.2 +/- 296.3 ng/ml) were markedly elevated in the sera from RA patients as compared with healthy controls (43.9 +/- 15.2 ng/ml and 63.0 +/- 64.1 ng/ml, p < 0.0001, respectively). Both levels strongly correlated with each other (r = 0.627, p < 0.0001) and were closely associated with various clinical parameters for the disease activity of RA, including the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and the Lansbury's activity index (p < 0.0001). MMP-3 levels were more highly correlated with articular parameters such as the swollen and painful joint counts (r = 0.454, p = 0.0002), whereas D-dimer levels correlated well with C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (r = 0.581, p < 0.0001). In SLE patients, MMP-3 (239.1 +/- 199.6 ng/ml, p < 0.0001) and D-dimer levels (86.9 +/- 85.2 ng/ml, p = 0.0278) were also higher than in healthy controls. Both levels correlated with each other (r = 0.612, p = 0.0025), and were associated with ESR and CRP levels, as was observed in RA patients, but not with most of the other clinical indicators for SLE. CONCLUSIONS Serum levels of MMP-3 and D-dimer are clinically useful indicators for disease activity in RA. Our results further support the hypothesis that MMP-3 and plasmin may interact in the inflammatory synovial tissues, and thus augment the articular destruction seen in RA. In SLE patients, however, MMP-3 producing cells could be different from in RA patients, and further studies will be required to clarify the pathogenetic mechanism underlying the raised serum levels of MMP-3 and/or D-dimer.
Emancipation, equality and education: Rancière's critique of Bourdieu and the question of performativity

Jacques Rancière's work has had significant impact in philosophy and literary theory, but remains largely undiscussed in the field of education. This article is a review of the relevance of Rancière's work to education research. Rancière's argument about education emerges from his critique of Bourdieu, which states that Bourdieu reinforces inequality by presuming it as the starting point of his analysis. What is at stake is the question of performativity, and the means by which discourse has effects. This debate has implications for considering the basis of claims to truth in literary and social science discourse. Parallels are drawn between Judith Butler's and Rancière's portrayal of the relationship between discourse and subjection, as well as their attention to discursive ‘imitation’ in making inequality representable. The article concludes with a discussion of the problematic which Rancière's work suggests for education research.
New Experiences from Voluntary Risk Disclosures. Operational Risk in Nordic Banks

Basel II simultaneously introduced a regulatory framework for operational risk and shifted the regulatory focus from top-down to bottom-up governance, prompting increased reliance on self-evaluation and market discipline. In this paper we assess the relevance of market discipline to regulation of operational risk and the implications of voluntary disclosure. We study the development, determinants and quality of operational risk disclosure in the Nordic banking sector following the implementation of Basel II. Our results reveal that the extent of disclosure has increased and that size is the main determinant. However, the quality of operational risk disclosure is poor and it does not assist stakeholders' evaluation of banks' operational risk. Based on our results, we discuss whether disclosure studies can capture quality in terms of content, the impact of regulation on banks of different sizes and whether market discipline is an effective regulatory effort to reduce bank risk.
Efficacy of Diquat and Carfentrazone-ethyl on Variable-leaf Milfoil

J. Aquat. Plant Manage. 45: 2007. Sytsma, M. D. and L. W. J. Anderson. 1993a. Biomass, nitrogen, and phosphorus allocation in parrotfeather ( Myriophyllum aquaticum ). Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 31:244-248. Van, T. K. , V. V. Vandiver, Jr. and R. D. Conant, Jr. 1986. Effect of herbicide rate and carrier volume on glyphosate phytotoxicity. J. Aquat. Plant Manage. 24:66-69. Weed Science Society of America. 2002. Herbicide Handbook, 8th Edition. W. K. Vencill (ed.). Lawrence, KS. 493 pp. Westerdahl, H. E. and K. D. Getsinger. 1988. Aquatic Plant Identification and Herbicide Use Guide; Vol II: Aquatic Plants and Susceptibility to Herbicides. Technical Report A-88-9, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS.
Fractalkine/CX3CL1 engages different neuroprotective responses upon selective glutamate receptor overactivation

Neuronal death induced by overactivation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) is implicated in the pathophysiology of many neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. This toxic effect is mainly mediated by NR2B-containing extrasynaptic NMDARs, while NR2A-containing synaptic NMDARs contribute to cell survival, suggesting the possibility of therapeutic approaches targeting specific receptor subunits. We report that fractalkine/CX3CL1 protects hippocampal neurons from NMDA-induced cell death with a mechanism requiring the adenosine receptors type 2A (A2AR). This is different from CX3CL1-induced protection from glutamate (Glu)-induced cell death, that fully depends on A1R and requires in part A3R. We show that CX3CL1 neuroprotection against NMDA excitotoxicity involves D-serine, a co-agonist of NR2A/NMDAR, resulting in cyclic AMP-dependent transcription factor cyclic-AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation.
Using an Imagery Intervention to Train Visual Exploratory Activity in Elite Academy Football Players

Football players adapt their movements to opportunities within the surrounding environment by engaging in visual exploratory activity (VEA) to pick up information. This study adds to the extant literature by using a 6-week PETTLEP imagery intervention to train VEA and improve performance with the ball. A single-case, multiple baseline across participants' design was conducted with 5 elite academy football players. Results indicated that a PETTLEP imagery intervention improved VEA, particularly in center midfielders. In addition, indications of improvements in performance with the ball were present within some participants. Future researchers could examine the processes underpinning VEA to enhance applied interventions for this skill.
Simulation-Based Verification of Cardiac Pacemakers With Guaranteed Coverage

The testing of medical devices poses numerous challenges due to continuous interactions between the physical processes and the cyber components. This paper highlights the main challenges for the design and verification of pacemakers and describes a framework based on discrepancy functions for investigating and validating the time-bounded safety properties as well as determining the safe ranges for the system parameters.
Effect of Dividend Policies on Firm Value: Evidence from quoted firms in Nigeria

This study examines the possible effects of dividend policy on firm value. The study covers 10 quoted companies studied for the period of 1995-2015. In so doing, the methodology adopted is the ordinary least square regression analysis for primary data analyses and multiple regression analysis for the secondary data analyses with models MPS (Market Price Per Share) as dependent variable, EPS (Earnings Per Share) and DPS (Dividend Per Share) as independent variables. The co-efficient of determination is R 2 to evaluate the data collected from the ten studied companies and the Nigerian stock exchange. The study shows the relevance of dividend, dividend as a signaling model and proves that firm value is greatly influenced by dividend policy as far as public limited companies are concerned.
Fe–Ni composition dependence of magnetic anisotropy in artificially fabricated L1 0-ordered FeNi films

We prepared L10-ordered FeNi alloy films by alternate deposition of Fe and Ni monatomic layers, and investigated their magnetic anisotropy. We employed a non-ferromagnetic Au–Cu–Ni buffer layer with a flat surface and good lattice matching to L10-FeNi. An L10-FeNi film grown on Au6Cu51Ni43 showed a large uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energy (Ku = 7.0 × 106 erg cm−3). Ku monotonically increased with the long-range order parameter (S) of the L10 phase. We investigated the Fe–Ni composition dependence by alternating the deposition of Fe 1 − x and Ni 1 + x monatomic layers (− 0.4 < x < 0.4). Saturation magnetization (Ms) and Ku showed maxima (Ms = 1470 emu cm−3, Ku = 9.3 × 106 erg cm−3) for Fe60Ni40 (x = −0.2) while S showed a maximum at the stoichiometric composition (x = 0). The change in the ratio of lattice parameters (c/a) was small for all compositions. We found that enrichment of Fe is very effective to enhance Ku. The large Ms and Ku of Fe60Ni40 indicate that Fe-rich L10-FeNi is promising as a rare-earth-free permanent magnet.
The Effects Of The 2008-2009 Financial Crisis On U.S. Corporate Debt Structure

This paper evaluates the relationships of liquidity, firm size, price change, asset maturity and leverage relative to debt maturity for a sample of U.S. non-financial firms. Secondarily, the objective of the research is to identify any measurable changes in firms' behavior during the 2008-2009 financial crisis with respect to their choice of debt maturity. During the period from 2002 through 2009, data from the sampled firms show significant correlations between liquidity, firm size, asset maturity, and leverage and debt maturity. That is, firms appear to consider liquidity risk when determining the maturity of liabilities. Firms also appear to make an effort to signal their value to the market as a way to reduce mispricing of securities due to information asymmetry. This research therefore provides additional support for the liquidity risk hypothesis, as well as the signaling hypothesis. During the crisis itself, changes in the variables tested did not cause firms to make notable modifications in their behavior, with two exceptions. Firms with increased leverage ratios tend to have longer debt maturity, and this association is even more significant during the crisis. In addition, firms with reduced asset maturity turned to longer-term debt. The recent financial crisis did not appear to significantly affect the other determinants of corporate debt structure. Leverage and asset maturity, however, had a greater impact on firms' decisions during the financial crisis, suggesting that changes in the economic environment affect these determinants individually, but not broadly.
Testing relationships between firm size and perceptions of growth and profitability: An investigation into the practices of Australian ICT SMEs

Gibrat’s Law mandates the independence of firm size and growth, while the resource-based view of the firm implies a positive relationship between firm size and profits, to be concluded in a profit–growth trade-off. Empirical studies of entrepreneurial success however, have demonstrated firms’ ability to reach a state of high growth and profitability, despite the trade-offs encapsulated within the profit–growth nexus. Upon assessing the relationships between past profitability, current firm growth and size in Australian ICT SMEs, results demonstrate positive relationships between all three indicators. This suggests that profitability can be considered the most important precursor of entrepreneurial success, and also that successful businesses do not suffer from the trade-offs implied by theory.