Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A perspective on sustained marine observations for climate modelling and prediction

Here, I examine some of the many varied ways in which sustained global ocean observations are used in numerical modelling activities. In particular, I focus on the use of ocean observations to initialize predictions in ocean and climate models. Examples are also shown of how models can be used to assess the impact of both current ocean observations and to simulate that of potential new ocean observing platforms. The ocean has never been better observed than it is today and similarly ocean models have never been as capable at representing the real ocean as they are now. However, there remain important unanswered questions that can likely only be addressed via future improvements in ocean observations. In particular, ocean observing systems need to respond to the needs of the burgeoning field of near-term climate predictions. Although new ocean observing platforms promise exciting new discoveries, there is a delicate balance to be made between their funding and that of the current ocean observing system. Here, I identify the need to secure long-term funding for ocean observing platforms as they mature, from a mainly research exercise to an operational system for sustained observation over climate change time scales. At the same time, considerable progress continues to be made via ship-based observing campaigns and I highlight some that are dedicated to addressing uncertainties in key ocean model parametrizations. The use of ocean observations to understand the prominent long time scale changes observed in the North Atlantic is another focus of this paper. The exciting first decade of monitoring of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation by the RAPID-MOCHA array is highlighted. The use of ocean and climate models as tools to further probe the drivers of variability seen in such time series is another exciting development. I also discuss the need for a concerted combined effort from climate models and ocean observations in order to understand the current slow-down in surface global warming.
The Bloom’s Syndrome Helicase Unwinds G4 DNA*

BLM, the gene that is defective in Bloom’s syndrome, encodes a protein homologous to RecQ subfamily helicases that functions as a 3′-5′ DNA helicase in vitro. We now report that the BLM helicase can unwind G4 DNA. The BLM G4 DNA unwinding activity is ATP-dependent and requires a short 3′ region of single-stranded DNA. Strikingly, G4 DNA is a preferred substrate of the BLM helicase, as measured both by efficiency of unwinding and by competition. These results suggest that G4 DNA may be a natural substrate of BLM in vivo and that the failure to unwind G4 DNA may cause the genomic instability and increased frequency of sister chromatid exchange characteristic of Bloom’s syndrome.
Consequences of Climate Policy for International Tourist Arrivals in Developing Countries

Abstract One of the major implications of climate change for tourism destinations is the potential impact that mitigation policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the rapidly growing aviation sector could have on travel costs and tourist mobility. Such impact is particularly salient for long-haul destinations. Recently tourism organisations such as the unwto have also expressed concern that aviation sector-focused mitigation policies in wealthy nations that are the major international tourism outbound markets will negatively affect tourism development and wealth transfers to tourism-dependent developing nations. This article reviews emerging climate policies in major tourism outbound markets that have direct implications for the aviation sector and examines the potential consequences for travel costs and tourism demand in 10 tourism-dependent less developed island states with diverse geographic and tourism market characteristics. The analysis confirms that aviation mitigation policies would affect tourism demand to these nations. ‘Carbon smart’ tourism market restructuring approaches to reduce the emissions intensity of tourism, and market risk to climate policy changes anticipated over the next 10–20 years, are subsequently discussed.
Employing subgoals in computer programming education

Abstract The rapid integration of technology into our professional and personal lives has left many education systems ill-equipped to deal with the influx of people seeking computing education. To improve computing education, we are applying techniques that have been developed for other procedural fields. The present study applied such a technique, subgoal labeled worked examples, to explore whether it would improve programming instruction. The first two experiments, conducted in a laboratory, suggest that the intervention improves undergraduate learners’ problem-solving performance and affects how learners approach problem-solving. The third experiment demonstrates that the intervention has similar, and perhaps stronger, effects in an online learning environment with in-service K-12 teachers who want to become qualified to teach computing courses. By implementing this subgoal intervention as a tool for educators to teach themselves and their students, education systems could improve computing education and better prepare learners for an increasingly technical world.
A Dual-Channel 23-Gbps CMOS Transmitter/Receiver Chipset for 40-Gbps RZ-DQPSK and CS-RZ-DQPSK Optical Transmission

This paper describes a dual-channel 23 (20 to 27) Gbps chipset designed in a 40-nm CMOS process for 40 Gbps differential quadrature phase-shift keying (DQPSK) optical transmission. The transmitter has a 2-tap FIR filter and generates two channels of full-rate data. Data outputs exhibit 10 ps rise/fall times, 0.2 psrms RJ, 0.8 pspp DJ, and a ±0.5 UI skew adjustment relative to the full-rate and half-rate clock outputs. The receiver has two 20-27-Gbps input channels, with each channel including a peaking filter, decision threshold adjustment, and 1-tap loop-unrolled DFE. It achieves a 7- mVppd input sensitivity and a 0.7-UIpp high-frequency jitter tolerance. The transmitter and receiver dissipate 0.63 and 1.2 W, respectively.
INVESTMENT AND Q IN SPANISH MANUFACTURING FIRMS

In this paper, the authors present estimates of Tobin's Q for a panel of Spanish firms over the period 1983-87 and test the Q theory of investment. The results are threefold. First, Q is significant in the investment equation but a variable proxying for liquidity constraints is also significant. Second, once those variables are included, sales are not significant. Third, the adjustment costs implied by the authors' estimated parameter are lower than those found in international empirical literature. Copyright 1994 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Essays on Business Models and Empirical Analysis of the Online Daily Deal Industry

With the spread of information technology (IT), consumers can easily purchase products and spread opinions about their purchases. Social media has become a force in the marketplace. Not surprisingly, retailers have sought to develop and implement innovative strategies to leverage social media. In the online daily deal industry, coupon offerings are frequently linked with convenient access to social media to “spread the word” and enhance coupon sales. But the online daily deal industry is fairly new and little rigorous analysis has been directed at understanding the causal relationships between deal characteristics and deal outcomes, the causal factors leading to repeat daily deal promotions, or the causal interrelationships among daily deal promotions, social media commentary, and changes in firm ratings. This dissertation investigates all three questions in depth. Throughout, we link our investigations to an overall consideration of the implications for developing an empirically validated business model of the industry. This thesis consists of three separate but related essays and employs a significant data set that we developed by accessing publicly available Groupon sites. At various points, this data set is paired with data we gathered electronically from Yelp and demographic data directly from the 2010 U.S. Census. The first essay focuses on the impacts of the minimum requirements, a unique deal characteristic of Groupon deals, on social media sharing and deal outcomes. Gang Wang – University of Connecticut, 2015 The second essay focuses on e-WOM and local competition factors on retailers’ initial and return Groupon promotion decisions. The final essay focuses on the main effect of Groupon promotions on e-WOM, and investigates mediators and moderators of the main effect. Our study contributes to the literature of various areas, including e-WOM, local competition, business customer loyalty, and online daily deals. Our findings provide important implications for retailers and online daily deal platforms. Essays on Business Models and Empirical Analysis of the Online Daily Deal Industry
Challenges to Implementing Strategic Performance Measurement Systems in Multi-Objective Organizations: The Case of a Large Local Government Authority

A case study of the implementation of the balanced scorecard in a large local government authority is reported. Based on interview data, the factors that were perceived by senior managers to be important to the success or failure of the implementation are analysed. It is determined that scorecard measures were not effectively cascaded down to lower levels of the organization. Various inter-related problems of leadership, training, feedback, employee empowerment and weak incentive schemes combined to cause communication difficulties which prevented the cascading problem from being effectively addressed.
Knowlege networks for innovation in small Scottish software firms

This paper examines the emergence of small indigenous software companies in Scotland, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the region's socio-economic infrastructure as a foundation for innovative new business ventures. Following a brief review of some of the accepted wisdom on high-tech start-ups and regional economic development the paper provides some background information on the Scottish region, comparing new firms in the software industry with the foreign multinationals that dominate the local IT industry. A framework - the ‘sociotechnical constituencies’ approach - is then proposed that allows the author to examine networks of specialist knowledge that underlie new business development. Agglomeration effects and the influence of ‘clusters’ of complementary types of knowledge, expertise and innovative competencies at the regional level are at the heart of the analysis. The framework is applied to a sample of local firms, looking at how ‘learning’ via sociotechnical networks underlies their evolution. Policy-makers' attempts to boost the region's new business birth rate and promote the hoped-for ‘silicon glen’ effect are viewed in the light of the study's findings.
The Effect of Further Training on Wage Growth in West Germany, 1984-1992

In this paper, the authors use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) to examine the effect of further training on wage growth in West Germany for the period 1984 to 1992. After controlling for the endogeneity of the training participation decision and the presence of unobserved fixed effects, the authors estimate a wage growth equation which reveals that further training positively affects wage growth. However, significant differences regarding the effectiveness of further training exist between male and female workers. The authors' results complement the findings of previous studies supporting the view that further training enhances gender inequality in the German labor market. Copyright 1997 by Scottish Economic Society.
Molecular analysis of Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolated from human patients and shellfish during US Pacific north‐west outbreaks

Aims: The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence and distribution of haemolysin genes, plasmid profile, serogroup analysis and cellular urease activity for Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates from infected human patients and oysters from the Pacific north‐western United States between 1988 and 1997.
Clonidine in the Central Nervous System: Site and Mechanism of Hypotensive Action

The data presented in this paper must be considered in conjunction with the fact that clonidine is both a partial alpha-adrenergic agonist and a partial alpha-adrenergic antagonist. In the anterior hypothalamus, clonidine, acting as an alpha-agonist, excites a pathway that inhibits excitatory cardiovascular neurons. Thus, the effect of neurons from the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) in inhibiting sympathetic outflow from the vasomotor center is effectively increased. In the posterior hypothalmus, clonidine, acting as an alpha-antagonist, decreases excitation of excitatory cardiovascular neurons, or acting as an alpha-presynaptic agonist to decrease norepinephrine release, decreases excitation of excitatory cardiovascular neurons. Again the effect of neurons from the NTS in inhibiting sympathetic outflow from the vasomotor center is effectively increased. In the medulla, clonidine, acting as an alpha-antagonist, inhibits excitatory input to the sympathetic nervous system and thereby appears to enhance the excitatory vagal cardiac reflex and the inhibitory baroreceptor reflex. All of these actions produce the same final response: diminished sympathetic outflow from the CNS, which translates clinically into decreased arterial blood pressure. In addition, these sites and mechanisms of action provide a rational basis for the lack of orthostatic hypotension seen following clonidine and offer a possible mechanism of the post-treatment syndrome.
Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the essential oils from Pimpinellatragium Vill. subsp. glauca (C. Presl.) C. Brullo & Brullo (Apiaceae) growing wild in Sicily

The essential oils from flowers, leaves and stems hydrodistilled from Pimpinella tragium Vill, subsp. glauca were characterised by GC and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. The C-12 nor-sesquiterpenes are the principal class of metabolites (56.6–70.6%) among which geijerene (28.9÷49.3%) and pregeijerene (10÷19.1%) predominate. Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were evaluated. The minimum inhibitory concentration values indicate that oil obtained from the stems is the most active for antimicrobial activities and the sample with the biggest antioxidant capacity is the flower oil.
Development and Prevention of Running-Related Osteoarthritis

Studies investigating the effect of running on risk for developing osteoarthritis at weight-bearing joints have reported with conflicting results. Generally, moderate-level running is not likely detrimental to joint health. However, many factors may be associated with the increased risk of developing osteoarthritis in runners. Factors often implicated in the development of osteoarthritis comprise those that increase joint vulnerability and those which increase joint loading. It is therefore suggested that running has different effects on different people. Efforts should be made to identify those with joint vulnerability and joint loading, and measures should be taken to have those factors and/or their running programs modified to run safely. Further investigations are needed to examine the effect of running on joint health under different conditions to confirm the association between exposure to risk factors and development of osteoarthritis, as well as to validate the effectiveness of measures for preventing running-related osteoarthritis.
Auditor Resignations and Auditor Industry Specialization

SYNOPSIS: The increase of Big 4 auditor resignations in the newly regulated auditing environment creates a rich setting to examine the supply-side effects of auditor industry specialization. The authors estimate logistic regressions to examine whether audit firms consider industry specialization at both the local and national levels when deciding on whether to retain or resign from audit clients. The results show a negative relation between auditor industry specialization and auditor resignations when the auditor is a joint specialist (i.e., a specialist at both the national and local levels) and when the auditor is a local specialist only (i.e., a local specialist but not a national specialist). The national specialization alone variable (i.e., the auditor is a national specialist but not a local specialist) is not significant for our primary analysis; however, additional analyses reveal that the significance of this variable varies when incorporating alternative measurements for auditor specialization i.
Tibiotalar Contact Area and Pressure Distribution: The Effect of Mortise Widening and Syndesmosis Fixation

An unconstrained cadaver ankle model was designed to reevaluate the effect of ankle mortise widening and syndesmotic fixation on the load-bearing characteristics of the tibiotalar joint. Tibiotalar contact area, centroid shift, and mean contact pressure were quantified using a pressure-sensitive film technique. Six fresh-frozen below-knee amputation specimens were axially loaded with 500 N in three positions: neutral, 10° of dorsiflexion, and 20° of plantarflexion. The tibiotalar contact area and centroid position for each specimen in its intact state were first determined and then compared with values obtained after syndesmotic fixation, mortise widening of 2 and 4 mm, and deep deltoid ligament transection. Syndesmotic fixation significantly decreased joint contact area but did not consistently affect centroid position. However, unlike earlier studies, which used more constrained ankle fracture models, mortise widening with or without deltoid rupture was not found to significantly affect contact area, centroid position, or joint contact pressure. When statically loaded, the talus moved to its position of maximal congruence in the mortise, rather than displacing laterally along with the lateral malleolus.
Madwoman, Queen, and Alien-Being: The Experiences of First-Time Women Presidents at Small Private Colleges

Dr. C. Carney Strange, Advisor This study examined the experiences, challenges, and transitions of eight college and university presidents who were the first women senior executives at their respective institutions. A qualitative research method, following the principles of the constructivist paradigm, was used as the underlying framework. Two in-depth sequential interviews were conducted with each president. Case studies were created for each participant and were aggregated to form the basis for these results. Most of the participants in this study did not plan to become presidents. Usually the role emerged as a possibility later in their careers, while priorities—such as being with their families, remaining professionally challenged, and serving others—shaped their career directions. Although cognizant of gender, most did not believe that it significantly impacted their presidencies; yet because in each case, a woman, instead of a man, was appointed for the first time, several changes and adjustments occurred. In their view, the influence of gender was essentially peripheral, meaning that it affected major operations and concerns less than smaller matters located on the edge of their agendas. The professional demands of the presidency inevitably affected their personal lives, and finding a balance between professional and personal responsibilities often proved challenging. Several factors, such as individual management strategies or the kinds of external services employed, impacted the personal demands placed on them. The greatest challenges frequently related to the state of the institution when they assumed the office, addressing various leadership issues, and resolving intrapersonal issues. The participants
Calculating implied volatility using the bisection algorithm: a note

In a recent article in this journal Jiang (2002) argues that the bisection method is unable to cope with the task of calculating implied volatility from either the Black Scholes or Merton's jump diffusion option pricing models. A re-examination of the bisection method fails to support Jiang's contention. The bisection method proves capable of correctly calculating the implied volatility in a wide range of circumstances. The circumstances in which the bisection and other root finding methods struggle are highlighted.
Correlates of self-esteem in preadolescence : the role of gender

The purpose of the present thesis is to investigate the correlates of self-esteem in pre-adolescence. In addition, the thesis aims to identify certain gender-specific factors which may differentiate girls and boys with respect to levels of self-esteem. The sample in this research derived from eight public elementary schools situated at an average socioeconomic level district of Athens. It comprises 147 6" grade pupils of both sexes and 103 mothers. Children were administered the relevant questionnaires during two regular work periods in the normal classroom. The mothers were contacted by telephone and those who agreed to participate completed relevant questionnaires at home. Among the factors which were examined were: the child's perceptions as regards beliefs of control and social support, the presence of stressful events in children's lives, behaviour problems in children at home and school, individual physical and social qualities of children, as assessed by the mother, and father's involvement with children's everyday activities. Further, the quality of family functioning as perceived by both the mother and child. Finally, sociodemographic variables referring to certain characteristics of the family, such as structure and socioeconomic status, and children's characteristics, such as weight height and physical health. Results indicate that externality of locus of control is the factor which correlates most strongly with self-esteem and this applies for both sexes. Lack of social support, mother's age and the child's satisfaction with family functioning are also influential. Weaker correlations were observed between a child's self-esteem and the child's perception of family cohesion, the distance between mother's ideal self and mother's image of the child, the mother's viewing the child as lacking effectiveness, the mother's perception of family adaptability and the average score of negative events in the child's life. Results from separate analyses among boys and girls are discussed.
Orthostatic hypotension following spinal cord injury: impact on the use of standing apparatus.

INTRODUCTION Upright posture confers numerous medical and social benefits to a spinal cord injured (SCI) patient. Doing so is limited by symptoms of orthostatic hypotension. This is a common secondary impairment among tetraplegic sufferers. OBJECTIVE Establish the proportion of SCI patients who are restricted from using standing apparatus, such as standing frames and standing wheelchairs, because of inducing symptomatic orthostatic hypotension or the fear of developing these disabling symptoms. STUDY DESIGN Survey conducted by Internet-accessible electronic questionnaire. Questionnaire validated for reliability and accuracy. RESULTS 293 respondents. Mean age 44.6; 76% male. Median time from injury: 7 years. 38% suffered with orthostatic hypotension; majority were complete injuries and all (except one - T12) were T5 or above level. 52% replied that they were using standing wheelchairs or frames. Of these, 59 (20% of total) stated that orthostatic hypotension symptoms were limiting the use of their upright apparatus. Of those who did not use standing wheelchairs or frames, 16 (5.5% of total) reported that this was because of the fear of worsening their orthostatic hypotension. CONCLUSION Orthostatic hypotension restricts standing apparatus use in a large proportion (a total of 25.5% of respondents in this survey) of SCI patients.