Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling Directions of Technical Change in Agricultural Sector

This paper reviews the economic models explaining the directions of technical change. The application to agricultural sector is also explored. The induced innovation model extensively used in agricultural development studies has left unexplained stylized facts in several empirical evidences. This leads to the motivation of this paper to find an alternative model. While the induced innovation relies heavily on the change of relative factor price on biased technical change, the directed technical change model developed by Acemoglu (2002, 2007, 2009) endogenizes investment on research and explains the incentives of technology monopolists. The directed technical change model is developed and applied to agricultural sector. Given a hypothetical situation of increasing relative scarce agricultural labor, the model provides insights of which the policy direction for technical change in agricultural sector can be expected.
Phthalocyanines: structure and vibrations

Raman scattering for a range of metal phthalocyanines using excitation frequencies from 457.9 to 1064 nm have been interpreted in the light of the recent DFT calculation on zinc phthalocyanine. The intention was to determine the features of the spectra that might be used for in situ analysis of specific phthalocyanines. B1 bands were found to be the most intense. The frequency of one band with a large C–N–C ring displacement is particularly sensitive to the metal ion size. The effect is determined not only by the size of the ion but also by the effect it has on ring shape. First and second order overtone bands of zinc and copper phthalocyanines are broadly similar, with some coupling differences at about 2000 cm−1. The region between 1350 and 1550 cm−1 has been little studied previously. It shows a remarkable sensitivity to the metal ion present and provides a specific signature for each phthalocyanine studied. In contrast, a study of α-, β-, γ- and e-copper phthalocyanines using 514.5 nm excitation showed very few differences, suggesting that intra- rather than intermolecular markers are most efficiently determined by Raman scattering. The study enables the interpretation of the Raman spectra of the phthalocyanines in terms of molecular structure and due to the resonant enhancement involved will enable the in situ identification of specific phthalocyanines in matrices.
Mutual Control of Cholinergic and Low-Threshold Spike Interneurons in the Striatum

The striatum is the largest nucleus of the basal ganglia and is crucially involved in action selection and reward processing. Cortical and thalamic inputs to the striatum are processed by local networks in which several classes of interneurons play an important, but still poorly understood role. Here we investigated the interactions between cholinergic and low-threshold spike (LTS) interneurons. LTS interneurons were hyperpolarized by co-application of muscarinic and nicotinic receptor antagonists (atropine and mecamylamine, respectively). Mecamylamine alone also caused hyperpolarizations, while atropine alone caused depolarizations and increased firing. LTS interneurons were also under control of tonic GABA, as application of the GABAA receptor antagonist picrotoxin caused depolarizations and increased firing. Frequency of spontaneous GABAergic events in LTS interneurons was increased by co-application of atropine and mecamylamine or by atropine alone, but reduced by mecamylamine alone. In the presence of picrotoxin and tetrodotoxin (TTX), atropine and mecamylamine depolarized the LTS interneurons. We concluded that part of the excitatory effects of tonic acetylcholine (ACh) on LTS interneurons were due to cholinergic modulation of tonic GABA. We then studied the influence of LTS interneurons on cholinergic interneurons. Application of antagonists of somatostatin or neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptors or of an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (L-NAME) did not cause detectable effects in cholinergic interneurons. However, prolonged synchronized depolarizations of LTS interneurons (elicited with optogenetics tools) caused slow-onset depolarizations in cholinergic interneurons, which were often accompanied by strong action potential firing and were fully abolished by L-NAME. Thus, a mutual excitatory influence exists between LTS and cholinergic interneurons in the striatum, providing an opportunity for sustained activation of the two cell types. This activation may endow the striatal microcircuits with the ability to enter a high ACh/high nitric oxide regime when adequately triggered by external excitatory stimuli to these interneurons.
How student gender, SAT score, and interest in science relates to performance in introductory engineering technology coursework

This pilot study explores the relationship between engineering technology students' performance in their first engineering class and their SAT score, interest in science, and gender. This study is based upon data collected from an introductory electric circuits theory class in fall of 2013. The students' SAT scores (both composite and math and verbal as separate items) were obtained and their interest in science was measured by their selection of high school science electives beyond what was required for graduation - both Living Environment and Earth Science are high school courses that typically fulfill the NYS Regents requirements. It is particularly interesting to note whether the students took Physics and/ or Chemistry in high school. The two dominant factors discovered in this study indicate that students' SAT scores, particularly SAT Math, along with their performance in optional extra science classes, namely, Physics and Chemistry, explained approximately 80% of the variance of the engineering and technology students' grades in their introductory course. The broader impact of this study for the engineering education community is to help gain a better understanding of factors in high school preparation or background that may affect their performance as freshmen in the engineering technology curriculum. The results of this study may be used to assist enrollment management, recruitment, and course scheduling at the college level. These results may also be used by high school counselors to advise students interested in pursuing engineering and technology careers. This study will inform efforts to improve retention in engineering technology majors.
Wavelet-based blind watermarking of 3D models

Watermarking of 3D meshes has received a limited attention due to the difficulties encountered in extending the algorithms developed for 1D (audio) and 2D (images and video) signals to topological complex objects such as meshes. Other difficulties arise from the wide variety of attacks and manipulations 3D watermarks should be robust to. For this reason, most of the 3D watermarking algorithms proposed so far adopt a non-blind detection. In this paper we present a new blind watermarking algorithm for 3D meshes. In order to simultaneously achieve watermark imperceptibility and robustness a multiresolution framework is adopted. To do so we assume that host meshes are semi-regular ones, a property that permits to first perform a wavelet decomposition and then to embed the watermark at a suitable resolution level. Watermark detection is accomplished by computing the correlation between the watermark signal and the to-be-inspected mesh. Robustness against geometric transformations such as rotation, translation and uniform scaling is achieved by embedding the watermark in a normalized version of the host mesh, obtained by means of Principal Component Analysis. Experimental results show the validity of the proposed algorithm both in terms of imperceptibility and robustness against a wide class of attacks including noise addition, smoothing and cropping.
Parametric Utilization Bounds for Fixed-Priority Multiprocessor Scheduling

Future embedded real-time systems will be deployed on multi-core processors to meet the dramatically increasing high-performance and low-power requirements. This trend appeals to generalize established results on uniprocessor scheduling, particularly the various utilization bounds for schedulability test used in system design, to the multiprocessor setting. Recently, this has been achieved for the famous Liu and Lay land utilization bound by applying novel task splitting techniques. However, parametric utilization bounds that can guarantee higher utilizations (up to 100%) for common classes of systems are not yet known to be generalizable to multiprocessors as well. In this paper, we solve this problem for most parametric utilization bounds by proposing new task partitioning algorithms based on exact response time analysis. In addition to the worst-case guarantees, as the exact response time analysis is used for task partitioning, our algorithms significantly improve average-case utilization over previous work.
Intelligent decision support in Intensive Care : towards technology acceptance

Decision support technology acceptance is a critical factor in the success of the adoption this type of systems by the users. INTCARE is an intelligent decision support system for intensive care medicine. The main purpose of this system is to help the doctors and nurses making decisions more proactively based on the prediction of the organ failure and the outcome of the patients. To assure the adoption of INTCARE by the doctors and by the nurses, several requirements had taken into account: process dematerialization (information is now in electronic format); interoperability among the systems (the AIDA platform was used to interoperate with other information systems); on-line data acquisition and real-time processing (a set of software agents has been developed to accomplish these tasks). A technology acceptance methodology has been followed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Centro Hospitalar do Porto in order to assure the most perfect alignment between the functional and technical characteristics of INTCARE and the user expectations. Results showed that the ICU staff is permeable to the system. In general more than 90 % of the answers are scored with 4 or 5 points which gives a good motivation to continue the work.
Nurture versus Nature: Long-Term Impact of Forced Right-Handedness on Structure of Pericentral Cortex and Basal Ganglia

Does a conflict between inborn motor preferences and educational standards during childhood impact the structure of the adult human brain? To examine this issue, we acquired high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance scans of the whole brain in adult “converted” left-handers who had been forced as children to become dextral writers. Analysis of sulcal surfaces revealed that consistent right- and left-handers showed an interhemispheric asymmetry in the surface area of the central sulcus with a greater surface contralateral to the dominant hand. This pattern was reversed in the converted group who showed a larger surface of the central sulcus in their left, nondominant hemisphere, indicating plasticity of the primary sensorimotor cortex caused by forced use of the nondominant hand. Voxel-based morphometry showed a reduction of gray matter volume in the middle part of the left putamen in converted left-handers relative to both consistently handed groups. A similar trend was found in the right putamen. Converted subjects with at least one left-handed first-degree relative showed a correlation between the acquired right-hand advantage for writing and the structural changes in putamen and pericentral cortex. Our results show that a specific environmental challenge during childhood can shape the macroscopic structure of the human basal ganglia. The smaller than normal putaminal volume differs markedly from previously reported enlargement of cortical gray matter associated with skill acquisition. This indicates a differential response of the basal ganglia to early environmental challenges, possibly related to processes of pruning during motor development.
What Can Social Preferences Tell Us about Charitable Giving? Evidence on Responses to Price of Giving, Matching, and Rebates

This chapter investigates the relationship between heterogeneous social preferences and charitable giving under alternative prices of giving and types of subsidies. Using 10 allocation decisions, we categorize participants’ social preferences as self-interested, inequity averse, or social surplus maximizing. In subsequent charitable giving treatments, analysis of within-person decision-making gives support for several predictions consistent with social preference types: social surplus maximizers are most likely to give to a charity that increases production; inequity averters give more to charity than do other groups; all preference types give more when the price of giving declines; and social surplus maximizers are more responsive to the price of giving than are inequity averters.
Who Are the Value and Growth Investors?

This paper investigates value and growth investing in a large administrative panel of Swedish residents. We show that over the life-cycle, households progressively shift from growth to value as they become older and their balance sheets improve. Furthermore, investors with high human capital and high exposure to macroeconomic risk tilt their portfolios away from value. While several behavioral biases seem evident in the data, the patterns we uncover are overall remarkably consistent with the portfolio implications of risk-based theories of the value premium.
Neuroprotectant minocycline depresses glutamatergic neurotransmission and Ca2+ signalling in hippocampal neurons

The mechanism of the neuroprotective action of the tetracycline antibiotic minocycline against various neuron insults is controversial. In an attempt to clarify this mechanism, we have studied here its effects on various electrophysiological parameters, Ca2+ signalling, and glutamate release, in primary cultures of rat hippocampal neurons, and in synaptosomes. Spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents and action potential firing were drastically decreased by minocycline at concentrations known to afford neuroprotection. The drug also blocked whole‐cell inward Na+ currents (INa) by 20%, and the whole‐cell Ca2+ current (ICa) by about 30%. Minocycline inhibited glutamate‐evoked elevation of the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c) by nearly 40%, and K+‐evoked glutamate release from synaptosomes by 63%. Minocycline also depressed the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents, but did not affect the whole‐cell inward current elicited by γ‐aminobutyric acid or glutamate. This pharmacological profile suggests that the neuroprotective effects of minocycline might be associated with the mitigation of neuronal excitability, glutamate release, and Ca2+ overloading.
On the role of aspect to quantify water transit times in small mountainous catchments

In the current empirical study, we provide evidence about how the hydrologic responses of small mountain catchments are related to aspect (slope direction and exposure) at Redondo Peak, located in the Valles Caldera, New Mexico, United States. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that the transit time of water is related to the catchment aspect. Aspect is an easily measurable and transferable topographic characteristic that is related to the amount of direct solar radiation a particular catchment receives, and therefore, different catchments with different aspects have different rates of snow ablation, evapotranspiration, and water cycling in general. Transit times, which describe the time between when water enters the catchment as precipitation and when it leaves as stream flow, captures many hydrologic features such as flow path variability and the combined effects of water storage and water fluxes. We have designed an experiment that involves field data collection, isotopic analysis of stream and precipitation samples, and the estimation of transit times using lumped‐parameter convolution for 15 sites in small (1–15 km2) catchments that drain different aspects of Redondo Peak. Our data suggest that isotopic variability and estimated transit times are both related to aspect. Other potential relationships between topographical features (such as flow path length, slope gradient, and elevation) and isotopic measurements of stream water suggest that landscape and hydrological features are interconnected at Redondo Peak, but these links are not conclusive, suggesting that these topographic indicators do not fully explain the variability of water cycling in these small mountain catchments.
What Works in Student Retention? Four-Year Public Colleges.

It has been quite some time since ACT has engaged in a comprehensive study of college student retention practices. This study would not have been possible however, had it not been for the earlier efforts of ACT staff members Lee Noel and Susan Cowart who conducted " What Works in Student Retention " studies and published results in 1980 and 1987, respectively. And, this study could not have been completed without the continuing support of Jon Erickson, ACT Vice President of Educational Services. No study of this magnitude could be complete without efforts of a multitalented team. The staff of ACT's Survey Research Area, directed by Michael Valiga, was the backbone of this team. This team was supportive, creative, thorough, and responsive. Specific thanks go to the following people: • Peggy Loveless provided statistical analysis and responded promptly to requests for just one more data run. • Vi Bitterman managed a multilevel, complex mailing and return strategy. • Elizabeth McBride handled data entry and far more. Elizabeth had the magical ability to massage, manipulate, and mine the database to produce a never-ending stream of charts and tables. • Randy McClanahan (co-author) served all phases of this study. She was instrumental in the design of the survey. She supervised the data collection. She wrote the review of the literature and assembled the bibliography. She critiqued the manuscript mercilessly, and necessarily. In an undertaking as major as this survey, one could simply not ask for a better colleague. Deb Anderson is responsible for the production of the final manuscript. Whether interpreting my scribbled notes, gently suggesting changes that should have been obvious, adjusting the size and or tables, and producing unknown number of drafts, Deb has been unflappable and unerring. Deb has always been, and continues to be, my right arm. Finally, I acknowledge the readers of this report, particularly those who recognize that there is much at stake if college students are to be successful. If this report, in some small way, provides the stimulus and creates a resolve to for you to enhance campus retention practices, then it will have served its purpose.
Design and performance analysis of a magnetically levitated vertical axis wind turbine based axial flux PM generator

This paper presents an innovative concept to design of a magnetically levitated axial flux permanent magnet generator used in vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). Conventional PM axial flux generator's efficiency needs to be improved by reducing frictional losses. This novel design incorporates magnetic levitation concept using rare earth permanent magnets between dual rotors to reduce the losses. The levitation force is generated using the magnetic repulsion. The levitated generator design without bearings and gears provides an almost frictionless flow of energy minimizing noise and hence friction losses are also reduced. At the same time the gentle running of fewer moving components guarantees minimal material wear, which reduce the maintenance cost. The performance of the proposed prototype magnetically levitated VAWT based axial flux PM generator is also tested experimentally. The generator design presented in this work could be a potential candidate for all vertical axis wind turbines.
Urban housing and the role of 'underclass' processes: the case of Ireland

Rising levels of urban deprivation and a perception that poverty has become more concentrated in such areas and has taken on a qualitatively different character have provoked a variety of popular and academic responses. The potentially most fruitful set of hypotheses focuses on the unintended consequences of social change. A combination of weak labour force attachment and social isolation is perceived to lead to behaviour and orientations that contribute to a vicious circle of deprivation. In examining the value of this conceptual framework in the Irish case we proceed by measuring directly the social-psychological factors which are hypothesized to mediate the 'underclass' process. A significantly higher level of poverty is found in urban public-sector tenant households. This finding cannot be accounted for entirely by socio-demographic differences. It is the assessment of this net or residual effect that is crucial to an evaluation of vicious circle explanations. Controlling for the critical social-psychological factors we found that net effect was reduced by less than a quarter and concluded that the remaining effect is more plausibly attributed to the role of selection than to underclass processes. Analysis of the changing relationship between urban public-sector tenancy and poverty provides support for this interpretation. For the main part the distinctiveness of social housing tenants is a consequence of the disadvantages they suffer in relation to employment opportunities and living standards. Ultimately it is these problems that policy interventions, whatever the level at which they take place, must address.
Does Economic Structure Determine Financial Structure?

In this paper, we examine the relationship between the structure of the real economy and a country's financial system. We consider whether the development of the real economic structure can predict the direction of evolution of a country's financial structure. Using data for 108 countries, we find a significant relationship between real economic structure and financial structure. Next, we exploit shocks to the economies in India, Finland and Sweden, and South Korea and show that changes in the economic structure of a country influence the evolution of its financial system. This suggests that financial institutions and capital markets change in response to the structure of industries.