Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The BAHAMAS project : the CMB-large-scale structure tension and the roles of massive neutrinos and galaxy formation

Recent studies have presented evidence for tension between the constraints on Omega_m and sigma_8 from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and measurements of large-scale structure (LSS). This tension can potentially be resolved by appealing to extensions of the standard model of cosmology and/or untreated systematic errors in the modelling of LSS, of which baryonic physics has been frequently suggested. We revisit this tension using, for the first time, carefully-calibrated cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, which thus capture the back reaction of the baryons on the total matter distribution. We have extended the BAHAMAS simulations to include a treatment of massive neutrinos, which currently represents the best motivated extension to the standard model. We make synthetic thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, weak galaxy lensing, and CMB lensing maps and compare to observed auto- and cross-power spectra from a wide range of recent observational surveys. We conclude that: i) in general there is tension between the primary CMB and LSS when adopting the standard model with minimal neutrino mass; ii) after calibrating feedback processes to match the gas fractions of clusters, the remaining uncertainties in the baryonic physics modelling are insufficient to reconcile this tension; and iii) invoking a non-minimal neutrino mass, typically of 0.2-0.4 eV (depending on the priors on the other relevant cosmological parameters and the datasets being modelled), can resolve the tension. This solution is fully consistent with separate constraints on the summed neutrino mass from the primary CMB and baryon acoustic oscillations, given the internal tensions in the Planck primary CMB dataset.
Determination of Iron in Water Solution by Time-Resolved Femtosecond Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

The influence of the energy of femtosecond laser pulses on the intensity of Fe I (371.99 nm) emission line and the continuous spectrum of the plasma generated on the surface of Fe3+ water solution by a Ti: sapphire laser radiation with pulse duration < 45 fs and energies up to 7 mJ is determined. A calibration curve was obtained for Fe3+ concentration range from 0.5 g/L to the limit of detection in water solution, and its saturation was detected for concentrations above 0.25 g/L, which is ascribed to self-absorption. The 3σ- limit of detection obtained for Fe in water solution is 2.6 mg/L in the case of 7 mJ laser pulse energy. It is found that an increase of laser pulse energy insignificantly affects on LOD in the time-resolved LIBS and leads to a slight improvement of the limit of detection.
An Overview of Empirical Analysis of Behavior of Fishermen Facing New Regulations

The biological resources of the sea have long fascinated man. The mystery of what lies beneath the surface has stimulated his imagination and nurtured hope that in this vast area there are resources capable of feeding a growing and a still hungry population for centuries to come. But, at the same time, realization of this hope is impeded by the opacity, instability, and sheer magnitude of the medium itself - by man's inability to see and hold. Fishing - one of man's earliest callings - is still haphazard and subject to the vagaries of weather, ocean currents, and mysterious migrations (Christy and Scott, 1965, p. v).
Color Separation for Image Segmentation

Image segmentation is a fundamental problem in computer vision that has drawn intensive research attention during the past few decades, resulting in a variety of segmentation algorithms. Segmentation is often formulated as a Markov random field (MRF) and the solution corresponding to the maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) is found using energy minimization framework. Many standard segmentation techniques rely on foreground and background appearance models given a priori. In this case the corresponding energy can be efficiently optimized globally. If the appearance models are not known, the energy becomes NP-hard, and many methods resort to iterative schemes that jointly optimize appearance and segmentation. Such algorithms can only guarantee local minimum. Here we propose a new energy term explicitly measuring the L1 distance between object and background appearance models that can be globally maximized in one graph cut. Our method directly tries to minimize the appearance overlap between the segments. We show that in many applications including interactive segmentation, shape matching, segmentation from stereo pairs and saliency segmentation our simple term makes NP-hard segmentation functionals unnecessary and renders good segmentation performance both qualitatively and quantitatively.
THE ROLE OF CD40 LIGAND IN EARLY DETECTION OF CHROMIUM-INDUCED IMMUNOTOXIC EFFECTS AMONG EXPOSED WORKERS

Objective: the immunological effect of chromium exposure among workers in tanning industry was assessed by studying the incidence of structural chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes. Early monitoring of immunotoxicity and possibility ofcarcinogenecity using the CD40 ligand member of the tumor necrosis superfamily of trans-membrane proteins was evaluated. Methods: levels of chromium in blood (S-Cr) and urine (U-Cr) were measured using the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The CD40 Ligand (CD40L) was determined using ELISA. Whole blood was treated and chosen metaphases were recorded and scored for morphological aberrations and rearrangements.Results: the study was carried out on 30 workers exposed to chromium in chrome-tanning for 17.13 ± 8.09 years, and a matched group of 28 administrative workers. The mean serum chromium levels (S-Cr) were 4.35 ± 1.46 and 1.89 ± 1.31 μg/dl among exposed and control groups, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant, P<0.00±. The CD40L assessment revealed decreased levels among the exposed population, difference was statistically non-significant. The genotoxic changes in the form of chromosomal and chromatid gaps and breaks as well as dicen-actitricchanges were significantly higher among exposed workers, correlating significantlywith the levels of chromium in both serum and urine after correction for creatinine.A significant negative correlation was reported for the deletions with the level of CD40 ligand. The effect of age, smoking and cumulative exposure indices were dealt with.Conclusion: the use of cytogenetic monitoring of human populations exposed to chemicals has proved to be a useful tool for detecting the chemical's mutagenic effects.CD40L, which is a member of the tumor necrosis factor, may be used as an additional marker to assess the presence of chronic inflammation, an early warning indication of potentially adverse genetic and somatic effects.
The Role of Central Banks in Maintaining Monetary Stability During the Global Financial Crisis

The issue of central bank independence (CBI) and its relation to growth and inflation has been a subject of lively debate over the past two decades. Prior empirical work has suggested a relationship between CBI and inflation, with only a tenuous link to growth. In the wake of the global financial crisis, did CBI continue to influence inflation? Did CBI have any effect on either interest rate policies or the growth of credit seen before the crisis? Examining 91 countries from 2003-2010, the author finds that more independent central banks were correlated with lower interest rates from 2003 onward, but showed lower inflation and more restrained bank credit. The results suggest that, in line with earlier theory, independent central banks are a more desirable form of institutional arrangement, but other, better arrangements may exist.
The Impact of Informal Institutions on Microfinance Performance

In recent years, microfinance has evolved as an alternative method of providing credit to poor borrowers in developing countries. Despite high expectations and appraisals, the performance of microfinance institutions has been found to differ significantly between different countries. Previous research has focused mainly on formal institutions and macroeconomic conditions as potential explanations for these differences. Due to the informal characteristics of microfinance, however, this thesis shifts focus by instead analysing the effects of informal institutions on the cross-national variation in microfinance performance. Empirically, this is done in a number of cross-country multiple linear regression models. Average country-level microfinance performance data over the years 2003-2010 is used together with survey data on informal and formal institutions. In its largest sample, this study covers 72 developing countries from all over the world. The results of this study generally support the hypothesis that informal institutions are important determinants of microfinance performance. In particular, the microfinance interest rates are found to be significantly lower in countries with relatively strong collectivist cultural norms. Moreover, microfinance institutions tend to perform better in countries that have higher levels of social trust, a more equal income distribution, and that are more culturally homogeneous. As such, the results also confirm the idea that social collateral can serve as a substitute for physical collateral. All in all, this study concludes that microfinance can work as a viable substitute for formal financial institutions in countries where formal institutions are weak, but cooperative informal institutions are strong.
Hydrophilic MacroRAFT-Mediated Emulsion Polymerization: Synthesis of Latexes for Cross-Linked and Surfactant-Free Films

A major drawback of conventional emulsion polymers arises from the presence of migrating low molar mass surfactants that contribute to poor water barrier properties and low adhesion to substrates. In this paper, we demonstrate how living polymer chains obtained by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) can be used as an efficient stabilizer in emulsion polymerization, leading to the production of surfactant-free latexes, which then form cross-linked films with beneficial properties. Hydrophilic poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) chains obtained by RAFT performed in water are used to mediate emulsion polymerization and produce film-forming latex particles from mixtures of methyl methacrylate, n-butyl acrylate, and styrene. Stable dispersions of particles with sizes between 100 and 200 nm are obtained, with very low amounts of coagulum (<0.5 wt %). The particles are stabilized by the PMAA segment of amphiphilic block copolymers formed during the polymerization. Remarkably, low amounts of PMAA ch.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, OWNERSHIP, COMPANY STRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE: EVIDENCE FROM SAUDI ARABIA

This study examines the Environmental Disclosure (ED) practices in Saudi Arabia and the potential relationship with Corporate Governance (CG) , ownership and company structure, following the application of the Saudi 2006 CG code in 2007. The study deepens the understanding of ED and its main determinants in one of the largest economies in the Middle East. A self-constructed ED checklist, based on ISO 26000, is used. We employ regression and content analyses to examine a sample of 267 annual reports covering the period 2007-2011. The analysis finds that the average ED has improved following the application of the Saudi 2006 CG code to 30%, more than double the 14.61% found by Al-Janadi et al. (2013) during 2006-2007. The analysis also finds that audit committee effectiveness, role duality, state and institutional ownerships, firm profitability, and industry sensitivity positively affect ED. However, board independence, family ownership, and firm size are found not to be significant determinants, while a negative significant correlation was found with firm leverage. The results imply that CG regulators and stakeholders should acknowledge the importance of active audit committees comprising relevant experts and independent directors, in addition to the role of state and institutional ownership in enhancing ED. The study covers a five-year period, contrary to the majority of ED studies which focus on only one year. The study helps to fill the gap in ED literature in developing countries. Finally, the study provides a recent evaluation for the Saudi CG code recently applied in 2007.
Repeated Reading as a Fluency Intervention with a Struggling Intermediate Reader

Given the recent trends in education focusing on oral reading fluency, this action research is an attempt to determine strategies teachers can use with struggling intermediate readers. The research focused on a single participant in sixth grade, with identified special needs, in an urban elementary school. Methodology included using repeated readings and analyzing the video recordings to determine accuracy rates and increases in oral reading scores. Data analysis indicates that repeated reading was an effective strategy at increasing words correct per minute, words read per minute, accuracy rates, and oral reading scores while decreasing the amount and type of miscues. This implies that this is an effective strategy teachers can implement within the context of a classroom setting with ease. Document Type Thesis Degree Name MS in Literacy Education Department Education First Supervisor Gloria E. Jacobs Subject Categories Education This thesis is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_ETD_masters/21 Repeated Reading as a Fluency Intervention with a Struggling Intermediate Reader
Potential impact of initialization on decadal predictions as assessed for CMIP5 models

To investigate the potential for initialization to improve decadal range predictions, we quantify the initial value predictability of upper 300 m temperature in the two northern ocean basins for 12 models from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5), and we contrast it with the forced predictability in Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 climate change projections. We use a recently introduced method that produces predictability estimates from long control runs. Many initial states are considered, and we find on average 1) initialization has the potential to improve skill in the first 5 years in the North Pacific and the first 9 years in the North Atlantic, and 2) the impact from initialization becomes secondary compared to the impact of RCP4.5 forcing after 6 1/2 and 8 years in the two basins, respectively. Model‐to‐model and spatial variations in these limits are, however, substantial.
On the determinants of household debt maturity choice

This article jointly analyses a behavioural and a cultural concept to explain household debt portfolio choice. The behavioural approach explores the role of time preferences on household debt maturity in a theoretical model and a numerical analysis. We derive a positive relationship between the long-term discount factor δ and the optimal maturity of household loans. The cultural approach examines whether national culture is a reasonable predictor for household debt maturity. We show that culture is an important factor for households’ borrowing decisions and has even more predictive power than time preferences. Countries with higher scores on the Hofstede dimension of long-term orientation tend to have shorter household debt maturity. Time preferences incur a primarily mediating role, because the effect of national culture on the borrowing decision is reduced, as the long-term discount factor δ increases.
Poverty alleviation: The educational planning perspective

A well planned education system is expected to respond to the socio-economic needs as well as the political objectives of any country. Education contributes to poverty reduction by increasing the value of efficiency of the labour force and thus enhances economic growth. This economic growth is expected to translate into higher income lowering poverty levels. This is because the more educated an individual is; the more productive he is expected to be both in the labour market and the household. Therefore, more education provision can raise income levels in general and remove groups from absolute poverty. This paper examines the extent to which education in Kenya has been planned to foster economic growth and alleviate poverty. It also looks at the factors hindering the realization of this objective and finally offers recommendations on how education can be systematically planned to elevate society and social systems towards a better and more humane life. Key words: Socio-economic, poverty, growth, development, efficiency, labour force.
Can German wine cooperatives compete on quality

The paper analyzes how German cooperative wineries compete with private (i.e. non-cooperative) wineries regarding reputation, quality categorization and varietal selection. Among the reasons why German cooperatives lag behind in terms of reputation for quality wine are organization principles of cooperatives and the difficulty to manage growers supplying grapes of different qualities. Cooperatives turn their supply of grapes into wine often classified as quality wine without much distinction. Conversely, privately owned wineries growing their own grapes may have more control over quality along their production chain and are able to produce more distinctive wines. In turn, they gain more reputation with final consumers with respect to quality. We analyze data for private and cooperative wineries from Germany. Our objective is to identify key differences in terms of reputation for quality wine production. Specifically, we look at interaction effects based on organizational form (cooperative vs. private) and the German wine quality categorization (i.e. basic quality wine vs. Kabinett, Spatlese, or Auslese) as well as varietal effects. We employ a hedonic pricing model to test the hypothesis that wines produced by private producers receive a reputation premium relative to cooperatives. Moreover, we hypothesize that private wineries receive a price premium relative to coopera- tives for other than basic quality wines and distinct varieties such as Riesling and Pinot Noir. The empirical analysis confirms both hypotheses. The estimated coefficients indicate that cooperatives are unable to gain quality premium for most quality cat- egories and gain price premiums only for non-distinct varieties such as Lemberger and Dornfelder. We can argue that German cooperatives are stuck in the low quality corner of the quality and variety spectrum and are currently not able to compete with private wineries in terms of quality. This result supports the observation that cooperatives typically compete on price with their wines being sold in discount stores.
SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS DUE TO SEX, AGE AND MORPHO- LOGY IN GREAT TITS PARUS MAJOR WINTERING IN A MOUNTAINOUS HABITAT OF CENTRAL SPAIN

SUMMARY. —Social relationships due to sex, age and morphology in Great Tits Parus major wintering in a mountainous habitat of Central Spain. Social relationships within a Great Tit Parus major population in a mountanious area in central Spain under winter conditions and in two consecutive years were studied. Three hierarchical classes were established using aggressive interactions between the individuals over artificial feeders: dominants, subdominants and subordinates. Sex, age and morphology were found to be factors responsible of the social organisation in the Great Tit. Adult males were the most dominant individuals and juvenile females the most subordinate. Juvenile males and adult females, contrary to prior expectations, were distributed among social classes in a way that did not differ from a random distribution. Individuals in the different social classes differed morphologically, dominants being larger and heavier than subordinates. Morphological differences among classes disappeared when the effect of sex was removed, whereas they remained when the effect of age was removed. Therefore, morphological differences among the social classes were due to differences in sex-ratios among classes. We suggest that sex per se is the main factor responsible for social dominance, although other factors such as a previous link with the area (site relation) or mating with a highly ranked bird (high ranking match) may reverse social relationships.
Performance Evaluation in a Dynamic Context: A Laboratory Study of the Impact of a Prior Commitment to the Ratee

A dynamic view of performance evaluation is proposed that argues that raterswho are provided with negative performance data on a previously promotedemployee will subsequently evaluate the employee more positively if they, ratherthan their predecessors, made the earlier promotion decision. A total of 298business majors participated in the study. The experimental group made a pro-motion decision by choosing among three candidates, whereas the control groupwas told that the decision had been made by someone else. Both groups evaluatedthe promoted employee's performance after reviewing 2 years of data. The hy-pothesized escalation of commitment effect was observed in that the experimentalgroup consistently evaluated the employee more favorably, provided larger re-wards, and made more optimistic projections of future performance than did thecontrol group.After a long history of attempting to identifyoptimal performance appraisal instruments andtechniques (cf. Landy & Farr, 1980), recent re-search has moved towards studies that describethe processes involved in making a judgmentabout performance (Borman, 1975; Feldman,1981; Schneier, 1977; Zedeck & Kafry, 1977). This article represents this latter paradigm andspecifically addresses the dynamic processes thatoccur within a rater across multiple judgments ofthe same ratee. It is concerned with a longitudinalview of the rating process in order to focus onjudgmental demands associated with rating thesame ratee at multiple points in time. This articlepresents: (a) a brief review of the trend towardsunderstanding rating processes, (b) presentationof a longitudinal viewpoint, (c) development ofa set of hypotheses from this new viewpoint, and(d) discussion of the results of the empirical testof these hypotheses.The traditional view of performance evaluationassumes that a rater has both a complete set ofinformation about the behavior of the ratee andan organizationally provided performance ap-praisal instrument. The instrument provides the
Spoor density as a measure of true density of a known population of free‐ranging wild cheetah in Botswana

Knowledge of the abundance of animal populations is essential for their management and conservation. Determining reliable measures of abundance is, however, difficult, especially with wide-ranging species such as cheetah Acinonyx jubatus. This study generated a correction factor to calculate true cheetah density from spoor survey data and subsequently tested its accuracy using the following season's data. Data were collected from October 2005 to December 2006 on a known population of wild, free-ranging cheetah in the Jwana Game Reserve, Botswana. The cheetahs in the area were captured, tagged and photographed. The reserve was divided into twelve 9 km transects covering all vegetation types and prey densities. The total sampling distance was 8226 km, with a spoor density of 2.32 individual cheetah spoor per 100 km2. To determine a precise and accurate spoor density, it was necessary to sample for a longer period during the dry season (April–September) than during the wet season (October–March). This difference may be due to cheetah behavioural changes with seasonal variations in habitat and prey. The true density was 5.23 cheetahs per 100 km2 ranging from 3.33 to 7.78 at the low and high points of the population, respectively. A positive linear correlation between spoor and true density was observed. This relationship differed in the wet and dry season and required refinement with the following season's data. Correction factors may be viable, but require further testing taking the behavioural responses to seasonal, habitat and prey variations into consideration.