Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Sustainable Human Development: Gender Auditing in a Capability Approach

An important social dimension of sustainable human development is gender equity. Women's increasing exclusion and vulnerability require not only targeted government spending for equal opportunities between sexes, but also gender-sensitive policy making. Feminist studies have developed several tools to assess the gender impact of public policy and, in particular, of public budgets. They commonly audit the gender impact of public policies by analyzing public spending through elementary indicators. Their starting idea is that without systematic gender auditing, public policies may generate new (or perpetuate old) inequalities between men and women. According to the Capability Approach, a multidimensional auditing methodology is needed to assess the impact of public policy on women's well- being. In this paper, we introduce an innovative approach to Gender Auditing (GA) of public budgets inspired by the capability approach. This approach has been experimented in a recent attempt to develop gender budgets in Emilia Romagna (Italy) with reference to the Region and to Modena Municipality and Provincial District. Different tools have been designed and experimented. In particular, at regional level, individual well-being is defined in terms of extensions of capability sets and inequalities are seen as multiple dis-functionings in a social space where women are disadvantaged in terms of access to resources, education, health, control over their bodies. Hence, by identifying some dimensions of women's empowerment and some public policy domains, we build a GA matrix together with some simple indicators for GA. At provincial level, the list of capabilities used to define a multidimensional well-being is derived from the capabilities implicit and embodied in the administrative structure and assumed as political responsibilities of the local government with regard to the well-being of residents. The methodology used for the Provincial District is an extended reproductive well-being approach that not only challenges women's inequality but also introduces a new concept of sustainability in the light of women's experience of the fragility of dominant subjects and of the normality of the actual economic system. Finally, at municipality level, the focus is set on the net of institutions that cooperate to guarantee local well-being and particular attention is given to the capability of caring.
Why so Gloomy? Perceptions of Economic Mobility in Europe and Central Asia

Despite significant improvements in per capita expenditures and a marked decline in poverty over the 2000s, a large fraction of Eastern Europe and Central Asia's population reports their economic situation in the late 2000s to be worse than in 1989. This paper uses data from the Life in Transition Survey to document the gap between objective and subjective economic mobility and investigate what may drive this apparent disconnection. The paper aims at identifying some of the drivers behind subjective perceptions of economic mobility, focusing on the role of perceptions of fairness and trust in shaping people's perceptions of their upward or downward mobility. The results show that close to half of the households in the region perceive to have experienced downward economic mobility, that is, that their position in the income distribution has deteriorated. The results also show that perceptions of higher inequality, unfairness, and distrust in public institutions are associated with downward subjective economic mobility. The findings from this study confirm that factors beyond objective well-being are associated with the perceptions of mobility observed in Europe and Central Asia and may explain why the region has had such a pessimistic view of economic mobility during the past two decades. Understanding what drives people's perceptions of their living standards and quality of life is important, because regardless of objective measures, perceptions could influence people's behavior, including support for reforms and labor market decisions. For Eastern Europe and Central Asia, a region that has undergone substantive transformations and which is still going through a reform process, accounting for these aspects is critical.
Intrinsic Versus Identified Regulation in Distinct Political Campaigns: The Consequences of Following Politics for Pleasure Versus Personal Meaningfulness

Intrinsic and identified regulation were examined in the context of two Canadian political campaigns. It was anticipated that identification (but not intrinsic motivation) would lead to positive outcomes when one is involved in an activity that is not necessarily fun but self-relevant, such as following a personally valued political event. Questionnaires were completed by 216 college students 1 week before and 1 week after the 1995 New Brunswick election and Quebec referendum. As predicted, results revealed that identification (but not intrinsic motivation) was significantly positively associated with the personal relevance of the vote, pleasant emotions about the vote outcome, and reported voting. Surprisingly, in the highly emotional Quebec referendum, intrinsic motivation was significantly associated with experiencing less pleasant emotions about a favorable vote outcome. The personal relevance of the campaign also mediated the process by which identification predicted to positive outcomes.
Vibration actuator capable of movement on magnetic substance based on new motion principle

In every country, the construction of large steel bridges, such as cable-stayed bridges, is carried out actively, and the number of bridges has been progressively increasing. In the case of large steel bridges, inspections must be carried out every five years. Because frequent inspections of such bridges are required, working robots capable of performing inspections in difficult environments would be very useful. This paper proposes a vibration actuator with a very simple structure capable of movement on a magnetic substance via the inertial force of a mass–spring model. Through theoretical analysis using the energy method, it was determined that the vibration actuator is propelled by the difference between the frictional forces acting during the forward and backward motions of the actuator. The experimental and analytical results were compared, verifying the validity of the novel motion principle. Additionally, based on the asymmetric magnetic field that arises when a copper wire is asymmetrically wound around the iron core of an electromagnet, a method of increasing the magnetic field strength at one pole of the electromagnet is newly proposed. By attaching an iron plate to the iron core of the electromagnet, the effects of the resulting asymmetric magnetic field of the electromagnet on the actuator motion were examined. The experimental results indicate that the actuator is able to climb upward while pulling a load mass of 110 g. The maximum efficiency of the actuator was 20.5 % for an actuator pulling its own weight. The efficiency of the actuator with the attached iron plate was considerably greater than that without the iron plate.
Stress levels and quality of sleep in subjects with temporomandibular joint dysfunction

Purpose: The aim of this study was to test the association between quality of sleep and stress in individuals with temporomandibular disorder (TMD). Methods: The study sample consisted of 354 adult subjects (males and females) from the municipality of Piacatu, Sao Paulo state, in the Southeast region of Brazil. Data were collected using the Fonseca’s Questionnaire to record the level of TMD, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess quality of sleep and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) to record stress level. The data were analyzed by the software Epi Info 2000 version 3.2 using a chi-square test at the 0.05 level of significance. Results: One hundred and eighty (50.8%) subjects had some level of TMD. The statistical analysis showed a significant relationship between the three stress scores and the presence or absence of sleep disorders, considering an overall PSQI score > 5 as an indicator of a subject with sleep problems (P<0.01). Conclusion: Both quality of sleep and stress levels were associated with TMD in this sample.
Comparison of the Properties of Fiberboard Composites with Bamboo Green, Wood, or their Combination as the Fibrous Raw Material

The potential of bamboo green (B), an abundant lignocellulosic residue from the bamboo processing industry, was evaluated to serve as an alternative fibrous raw material in the production of fiberboard. Urea-formaldehyde resin-bonded fiberboards were prepared from B, wood fiber (W), and a mixture of the two (BW). The board type depended on the mass fraction of B in fibrous raw materials (including B and W), which were 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%. The analytical methods used to characterize fibers and fiberboards included X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, contact angle analysis, physical-mechanical analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Compared with W, B showed a higher crystallinity index and thermogravimetric stability, but lower surface hydrophilicity and weaker interactions with urea-formaldehyde resin. Compared with W fiberboards, B fiberboards possessed a lower interfacial adhesion but fibrous raw materials in B fiberboards were better dispersed; moreover, B fiberboard displayed a higher dynamic viscosity, thermogravimetric stability, surface wettability, water absorption, and flexural modulus, but lower thickness swelling and flexural strength. The fiberboards produced with BW had better performances than the fiberboards produced with B and W. The 40% B mass fraction resulted in BW fiberboards with the best physical-mechanical properties.
Accreting Black Hole Binaries in Globular Clusters

We explore the formation of mass-transferring binary systems containing black holes (BHs) within globular clusters (GC). We show that it is possible to form mass-transferring BH binaries with main sequence, giant, and white dwarf companions with a variety of orbital parameters in GCs spanning a large range in present-day properties. All mass-transferring BH binaries found in our models at late times are dynamically created. The BHs in these systems experienced a median of ∼30 dynamical encounters within the cluster before and after acquiring the donor. Furthermore, we show that the presence of mass-transferring BH systems has little correlation with the total number of BHs within the cluster at any time. This is because the net rate of formation of BH–non-BH binaries in a cluster is largely independent of the total number of retained BHs. Our results suggest that the detection of a mass-transferring BH binary in a GC does not necessarily indicate that the host cluster contains a large BH population.
The Application of Finite Element Analysis as a New Approach in Corrosion and Integrity Assessment Programs

Structural integrity assessment procedures are interesting areas in many industrial plants, e.g., oil and gas, and petrochemical for ensuring the safety and economy of an operating sector. The remaining strength of components (e.g. pipelines, risers) with corrosion defects is a prevalent project in the oil and gas industry, and it has been investigated for years via using experimental, numerical and analytical methods. Obtaining the stress distribution in the vicinity of corrosion defects is a decisive phase in understanding the structural integrity of corroded components under high internal pressure. In the corrosion based management programs, finite element analysis (FEA) can provide valuable results in the integrity assessment. Also, FEA can be applied to corrosion monitoring of structures by considering different parameters such as protecting current distribution, electrochemical potential grid and coating degradation. This research discusses the application of FEA in the corrosion and integrity assessment process based on three areas including, in-service performance of corroded parts, repairing methods and corrosion monitoring techniques.
REDESCRIPTION AND SYSTEMATICS OF TRIMERESURUS CORNUTUS (SERPENTES: VIPERIDAE) BASED ON MORPHOLOGY AND MOLECULAR DATA

We redescribe Trimeresurus cornutus, a species that has not been reported for more than half a century, based on a recently collected live specimen from the Annamite Mountains of Central Vietnam. Besides new data on the distribution and habitat, we compare coloration and morphological data of the first known male of the species with the type specimen and a third known specimen from North Vietnam. We describe male genital morphology and analyze the systematic relationships of the species using external morphology, hemipenial morphology and molecular data. A phylogenetic hypothesis, based on four mitochondrial genes, suggests that the species is most closely related to Protobothrops jerdonii. The external morphology and hemipenial morphology are consistent with this placement. Based on the few specimens available, Protobothrops cornutus comb. nov. exhibits a very patchy distribution, with an altitudinal range reaching from 150–2000 m.
Harmonisation and trends of 20-year tropical tropospheric ozone data

Abstract. Using a convective-cloud differential (CCD) method, developed in-house and applied to retrievals of total ozone and cloud data from three European satellite instruments (viz. GOME/ERS-2, 1995–2003; SCIAMACHY/Envisat, 2002–2012 and GOME-2/MetOp-A, 2007–2015), monthly mean tropical tropospheric columns of ozone (TTCO) have been retrieved, which are in good agreement with ozonesondes (biases less than 6 DU). As small differences in TTCO between the individual instruments were evident, it was necessary to develop a scheme to harmonise the three datasets into one consistent time series starting from 1996 until 2015. Correction offsets (biases) between the instruments using SCIAMACHY as intermediate reference have been calculated and six different harmonisation or merging scenarios have been evaluated. Depending on the merging approach, the magnitude, pattern and uncertainty in the trends strongly vary. The harmonisation or merging represents an additional source of uncertainty in the trends (2 DU decade−1 on average, in most of the cases exceeding the uncertainty from the regression). For studying further details on tropospheric ozone trends on various spatial scales in the tropics, we stick with one preferred merged dataset that shows best agreement with ozonesondes. In this merged dataset, no correction was applied for GOME, and mean biases with respect to SCIAMACHY in the overlapping period (2007–2012) were calculated and applied for GOME-2 in each grid box (2.5° × 5°). In contrast with other studies we found that the tropospheric trend averaged over the tropics (−15° S to 15° N) is not statistically significant. The mean tropospheric ozone trend equals −0.2 ± 0.6 DU decade−1 (2σ). Regionally, tropospheric ozone has a statistically significant increase of ∼ 3 DU decade−1 over southern Africa ( ∼ 1.5 % yr−1), the southern tropical Atlantic ( ∼ 1.5 % yr−1), southeastern tropical Pacific Ocean ( ∼ 1 % yr−1), and central Oceania ( ∼ 2 % yr−1) and by ∼ 2 DU decade−1 over central Africa (2–2.5 % yr−1) and south India ( ∼ 1.5 % yr−1). On the other hand, tropospheric O3 decreases by ∼ 3 DU decade−1 over the Caribbean Sea and parts of the North Pacific Ocean ( ∼ 2 % yr−1), and by less than 2 DU decade−1 over some regions of the southern Pacific and Indian oceans ( ∼ 0.5–1 % yr−1).
NOVEL MULTIPLEX PCR TO SPECIFICALLY DETECT BACTERIAL FOODBORNE PATHOGENS

Bacterial foodborne pathogens prevalent in poultry, especially Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. , Shigella spp. , and Listeria monocytogenes, have been reported in many countries including Thailand. Rapid methods for identification and detection of these dominant foodborne pathogens are still required. In our study, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (m-PCR) was developed for detecting multiple bacterial foodborne pathogens. Specific genes for the m-PCR primers were screened and selected. m-PCR targeting the uspA, fimY, ipaH, and prfA gene was used to detect E. coli, Salmonella spp. , Shigella spp. , and L. monocytogenes, respectively. The optimum conditions for the m-PCR reaction were found to be primer concentrations of 0.02 μM ipaH, 0.036 μM fimY, 0.06 μM uspA,0.12 μM prfA, and 0.4 μM 16S rRNA gene (used as internal control) for at least 10 ng of each bacterial total genomic DNA; and 52 o C was the annealling temperature. The expected PCR products of 884, 489, 422, and 398 bp were obtained from specific amplification of E. coli, Salmonella spp. , Shigella spp. , and L. monocytogenes, respectively, of the reference strains and strains isolated from fresh chicken intestine. Cross amplification from non-target bacteria which have been frequently found in enrichment culture were not detected. These results indicated that the developed m-PCR could be used to detect multiple foodborne pathogens with no cross-reactivity with the non-target bacteria found in the enrichment culture. Alternatively, this method could also be used to identify the presumptive colonies of interest on selective agar with considerable timesaving when compared with the biochemical characterization of the conventional method.
Quantitative Methods Inquires 1 EVALUATING SOCIAL TRACKING IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL : EVIDENCE FROM THE LOMBARDY REGION ( ITALY ) 1

Recently, the Italian schools were deeply affected by the “social tracking” phenomenon, intended as the process of segregating students into socio-economic classes. Typically, this phenomenon occurs within the lower secondary school. In such a perspective, the study reported in the paper is innovative, since addressed to investigate the actual presence of the social tracking phenomenon as an event starting from the primary school. For this purpose, we considered data provided by Invalsi (Istituto Nazionale per la Valutazione del Sistema di Istruzione e Formazione) with regard to students of the fifth grade of primary schools in the Lombardy region (Italy). The study was carried out following two different approaches. First, a preliminary descriptive analysis of the segregation phenomenon was carried out by computing the Gini coefficient of the the socio-economic status average at class level. Second, due to the usual hierarchical structure of educational data, multilevel models were considered with the aim of partitioning the pupils’ socio-economic status variability within the student, class and school level. In this way, school and class social segregation indicators were obtained. Subsequently, a conditional multilevel model including school and class social segregation indicators as explanatory variables was built. Results underline that even though in general social tracking is not an actual threat for the Lombardy primary schools, a remarkable socio-economic heterogeneity among classes appears especially in some provinces of the Lombardy region.
The embedded indexical value of /s/-fronting in Afrikaans and South African English

Abstract This paper examines the indexical value of /s/-fronting in White Afrikaans and in White South African English (WSAfE). Prior research on this feature has shown that fronted articulations of /s/ in WSAfE serve as a regional and social indicator of the wealthy northern suburbs of Johannesburg, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the feature carries a similar meaning in White Afrikaans. This study therefore aims to examine whether the variable carries similar meanings across the two languages. Data are based on the evaluative reactions toward different experimental stimuli that were presented to 214 Afrikaans-English bilinguals in South Africa during a modified matched-guise task. The results indicate that /s/-fronting in a man’s voice is perceived in similar terms in White Afrikaans and WSAfE though it carries somewhat different meanings across the two languages when it occurs in a woman’s voice, a difference related in turn to different approaches to gender across the two speech communities. The results of this research, and the indexical value of /s/-fronting in the two languages, are therefore only understandable in terms of certain sociohistorical and sociological differences between the two speech communities. The article ends with some discussion relating to the possible source of the relevant similarities and differences, i.e., parallel innovation or sociophonetic transfer.
Observations on the occurrence and diversity of zooplankton in the surface water of three tropical ponds at Thiruparankundram near Madurai, Tamilnadu, India

The occurrence and diversity of zooplankton in three freshwater temple ponds at Thiruparankundram near Madurai as observed for a period of three years from September 2009 to August 2012 are reported. A total of 17 zooplankton species were encountered in the three temple ponds and were composed of rotifera (8), cladocera (4), copepoda (4) and ostracoda (1). However, only 11 species such as Brachionus calyciflorus, Brachionus angularis, Brachionus quadridentata, Brachionus diversicornis, Brachionus plicatilis, Alona rectangula rectangula, Moina brachiata, Moina micrura Mesocyclops thermocyclopoides, Mesocyclops aspericornis, and Stenocypris major were observed in all the temple ponds. The variation in the occurrence and diversity of zooplankton was found to be influenced by the seasonal changes and altitudinal variations.
The Economics of the Comovement of Stocks and Bonds

The purpose of this chapter is to provide some recently uncovered facts about the dynamics of the covariance of stocks and bonds as well as to provide a brief literature survey that attempts to explain this covariation. Given our taste for explaining stylized facts about asset prices with models of investors’ learning about the state of fundamentals, we give more than a fair share of space to this line of research. In particular we develop a model based measure of investors’ uncertainty about fundamentals and explicitly consider its implications for the stock-bond covariance. We then show that beliefs of professional forecasters extracted from survey data collected by the the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia are highly correlated with the model based beliefs, and have almost the same implications for the stock-bond covariance. We also find some supporting evidence for our model’s predictions in international data as well.