Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of paste volume and concrete properties on size independent fracture energy

Post peak tensile behavior of concrete, softening, can be described using bi-linear curve. The area under this curve is the fracture energy G F which is necessary for the structural design. RILEM presented a recommendation for calculating G F but unfortunately the obtained value is size dependent. In this paper a large number of experimental Forces – Crack Mouth Opening Displacement (F-CMOD) curves, obtained from three points bending tests, were analyzed through an inverse analysis procedure to obtain the size independent fracture parameters. The effect of compressive strength, aggregate size, and paste volume on the fracture behavior of concrete were studied and compared with the empirical formulas found in the literature. A new empirical relationship for the prediction of size independent fracture energy of concrete from compressive strength, aggregate size and paste volume was proposed. It is shown that the proposed model can predict the size independent fracture energy with a good accuracy.
Space-time combined correlation integral and earthquake interactions

Scale invariant properties of seismicity argue for the presence of complex triggering mechanisms. We propose a new method, based on the space-time combined generalization of the correlation integral, that leads to a self-consistent visualization and analysis of both spatial and temporal correlations. The analysis has been applied on global medium-high seismicity. Results show that earthquakes do interact even on long distances and are correlated in time within defined spatial ranges varying over elapsed time. On that base we redefine the aftershock concept.
Performance of older people at different levels of task complexity

Technological innovations and career changes have made the workers' need for training/retraining an important issue in organizations. However, due to presumed age differences in the ability to benefit from training, employers are sometimes concerned about spending money on training for older workers. Therefore it is essential to know whether the observed differences are due to age-related decline in ability or to other factors. This study investigated the relationship of age with attitudes about computer training (self-efficacy and anxiety) and training performance at different levels of task complexity. Four hypotheses were proposed in this study: (1) Trainees' attitudes towards training (self-efficacy and anxiety) would moderate the relationship between age and training performance; (2) Selfefficacy would positively correlate with performance; (3) Anxiety would negatively correlate with performance; and (4) There would be an interaction of age and task complexity in training performance. The results'found support for some of the hypotheses proposed. Trainees' attitudes towards training (self-efficacy and anxiety) moderated the relationship between age and performance. Also, trainees' self-efficacy correlated positively and anxiety correlated negatively with their performance. The fourth hypotheses was not supported. ' The results found no significant
Customer loyalty: Toward an integrated conceptual framework

Customer loyalty is viewed as the strength of the relationship between an individual’s relative attitude and repeat patronage. The relationship is seen as mediated by social norms and situational factors. Cognitive, affective, and conative antecedents of relative attitude are identified as contributing to loyalty, along with motivational, perceptual, and behavioral consequences. Implications for research and for the management of loyalty are derived.
Essential or expendable supports? Assessing the relationship between school climate and student outcomes

Sociologists of education argue that school organizational practices and climates influence students’ academic outcomes. The predominant measure of school climates are aggregated student and teacher survey reports, which are diffusing into official educational statistics. Unfortunately, most studies are unable to rigorously assess the causal effects of these measures of school organization. This study does so by examining the effects of school climate experienced in grades 4–8 by different cohorts of students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Improvement in school climates has small positive associations with students’ eighth grade test scores and null to minimal associations with students’ chances of on-time ninth grade promotion and high school graduation.
Towards a Representational Model of Social Affordances from an Institutional Perspective

The paper investigates the connection of the concept of affordance with the concept of institution, fundamental in social sciences and in legal theory, with the purpose of delineating a working definition of social affordance. This hybrid concept enriches the representation tools to be used with agent-roles, knowledge components we use as basis in explaining and interpreting socio-legal scenarios. The paper shows how social affordances are of critical importance to model the agent-role embodiment mechanism.
Mimicking Media: Funny Means To Achieve Serious End

Although a literary term used primarily to ridicule somebody or some issue Satire has been used very effectively by the satirical media in Pakistan through various late night T.V talk shows. This article examines the role being played by T.V talk shows amalgamated with satire, irony or caricature to either develop the perception of the people or get them familiarized with on going socio-political, socio-economic and educational issues/happenings in Pakistan. The qualitative study was conducted, through focused group interview, on 100 University students. The subjects apparently appear to be appropriate sample because they represent a majority that remains unmoved because of monotony in various talk shows but is capable of steering socio-economic, educational and democracy boat in the right direction if attracted properly to un-talked issues in the country. In the light of the findings of the study it is concluded that such monotony takes the general masses, especially youth, away from ongoing debatable issues of Pakistan but the mimicking media has brought the same general masses and youth back to feel concerned about such issues to form their opinions. Further, the subjects suggest that free media in Pakistan is at growing stage and socio-economic, socio-political or educational, etc., issues may not be discussed bitterly but in a light tone and manner to educate people rather to irritate. Hence, mimicking media could be a very positive effort by T.V channels to educate people of Pakistan where much is to be done in social sector so that they may contribute effectively to make Pakistan socially, economically, educationally and politically a stable and progressive country.
Vertical Fluxes and Atmospheric Cycling of Methanol, Acetaldehyde, and Acetone In a Coastal Environment

We present here vertical fluxes of methanol, acetaldehyde, and acetone measured directly with eddy covariance (EC) during March to July 2012 near the southwest coast of the UK. The performance of the proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) for flux measurement is characterized, with additional considerations given to the homogeneity and stationarity assumptions required by EC. Concentrations and fluxes of these compounds vary significantly with time of day and wind direction. Higher values of acetaldehyde and acetone are usually observed in the daytime and from the direction of a forested park, most likely due to light-driven emissions from terrestrial plants. Methanol concentration and flux do not demonstrate clear diel variability, suggesting sources in addition to plants. We estimate air–sea exchange and photochemical rates of these compounds, which are compared to measured vertical fluxes. For acetaldehyde, the mean (1�) concentration of 0.13 (0.02) ppb at night may be maintained by oceanic emission, while photochemical destruction outpaces production during the day. Air-sea exchange and photochemistry are probably net sinks of methanol and acetone in this region. Their nighttime concentrations of 0.46 (0.20) and 0.39 (0.08) ppb appear to be affected more by terrestrial emissions and long distance transport, respectively.
Factors Influencing Portfolio Yield of Microfinance Institutions in Central Asia

We analyze the determinants of portfolio yield of microfinance institutions in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and China over the period 1998-2011. We confirm that targeting women borrowers improves the financial results of microfinance institutions whereas the effectiveness of group lending or advantages of rural lending, in contrast to the initial expectations, were not confirmed. We also consider the contributions of different governance forms of microfinance institutions and the macroeconomic factors potentially influencing the financial performance of microfinance institutions. As a part of this paper we also provide a self contained introduction to microfinance theory for a reader not familiar with microfinance
DEVELOPMENT OF A 500-KV PHOTO-CATHODE DC GUN FOR THE ERL LIGHT SOURCES IN JAPAN ∗

Energy recovery linac (ERL) based next generation light source such as X-ray FEL requires high brightness electron gun. We have developed a 500-kV, 10-mA photocathode DC gun. A segmented ceramic insulator with guard rings is employed to improve stability and robustness at high voltage operation by keeping field emission electrons away from the ceramic surface. A Cockcroft-Walton power supply and the insulator are installed in a SF6 tank and high voltage test up to 550kV was successfully done without a metal rod which supports a cathode electrode. All the vacuum chambers are made of chemically polished titanium alloy with very low out-gassing. A GaAs photocathode is activated in a separate preparation system. Up-to-date status of the gun development will be presented in detail.
A Controlled Study of the Risk Factors and Clinical Picture of Children with Autism in an Egyptian Sample

Background: Autism is one of the difficult child psychiatric disorders and its risk factors need to be better understood and identified. Objective: To investigate the socio-demographic characteristics and some of the risk factors associated with the occurrence of autism in a sample of Egyptian autistic children. Methods: To achieve our objectives 14 autistic patients attending regularly a local day care facility in Minia Governorate were chosen to participate in this study with their 28 nonautistic siblings taken as their own control group. Socio-demographic data sheet, pregnancy and birth complications sheet, Childhood Autism Rating Scale were applied to both groups, while full clinical psychiatric interview was done with autistic children only. Results showed that autistic children tended to be born in winter or summer, their mothers were generally older at time of their delivery than at time of delivering their non-autistic siblings, they had higher rate of exposure to prenatal and natal complications. Conclusion: Higher age of mothers at pregnancy in addition to poor peri-natal care and conditions carry a risk for developing autism in the coming baby. Proper health education regarding issues of pregnancy and delivery may be beneficial and important for prevention. [Egypt J Neurol Psychiat Neurosurg. 2011; 48(3): 271-276]
Large Vector Autoregressions with Stochastic Volatility and Flexible Priors

Recent research has shown that a reliable vector autoregressive model (VAR) for forecasting and structural analysis of macroeconomic data requires a large set of variables and modeling time variation in their volatilities. Yet, there are no papers jointly allowing for stochastic volatilities and large datasets, due to computational complexity. Moreover, homoskedastic VAR models for large datasets so far restrict substantially the allowed prior distributions on the parameters. In this paper we propose a new Bayesian estimation procedure for (possibly very large) VARs featuring time varying volatilities and general priors. This is important both for reduced form applications, such as forecasting, and for more structural applications, such as computing response functions to structural shocks. We show that indeed empirically the new estimation procedure performs very well for both tasks.
Effect of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizer Application on Soil Phosphorous Balance and Phosphorous Uptake and Use Efficiency of Potato in Arbegona District, Southern Ethiopia

Phosphorus is often an important limiting factor for crop yields, and in addition, low soil fertility and crop nutrient imbalances are major obstacles preventing Ethiopian farmers from realizing high agricultural productivity. Effect of the sole and combined application of farmyard manure (FYM) and inorganic fertilizers on tuber yield, nitrogen (N) uptake and use efficiency of Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) was assessed in a field experiment carried out in Arbegona district of Sidama zone in Southern Ethiopia. The studied nutrient management practices were control (without fertilizer) and farmyard manure (FYM), recommended N and phosphorus (P), blended (17.3 N3, 4.7 P2O5, 7.41 S2, 23 Zn0, 3 B within 100 kg) plus potassium (K) fertilizers and combined half FYM and recommended NP and combined half FYM and blended plus K fertilizer. Treatments arranged in randomized complete block design with three replications. The experimental soil was loamy and very strongly acidic, low in organic carbon and available P and medium in total N and available K. Results showed that the applied FYM and inorganic fertilizer individual and in combination were resulted positive N balances. Potato plants amended with sole blended fertilizer, combined half recommended NP and FYM, and combined half FYM and blended fertilizers improved total dry tuber yield and total N uptake more than twofold (100%) as compared to the control. In the amendments, average agronomic and physiological efficiency of N supply and uptake were 48 and 46 kg dry tuber, respectively. Furthermore, 112% of apparent recovery efficiency of N was obtained across the treatments. Soil amendments resulted the highest net benefits with acceptable marginal rate of return (above 100%). Generally, soil amendments either in sole or combined inorganic and organic fertilizers could be considered to improve soil fertility status and potato yield in the study area.
Perceptions des éleveurs et stratégies de gestion du risque trypanosomien dans le bassin du fleuve Mouhoun (Burkina Faso)

La pression trypanosomienne demeure un obstacle pour le developpement durable de l’elevage en Afrique subsaharienne, en particulier dans le bassin du Mouhoun, au Burkina Faso. Aujourd’hui, l’utilisation des savoirs locaux et l’implication des communautes rurales apparaissent indispensables dans les projets de lutte contre les trypanosomoses animales africaines (TAA). Deux methodes participatives ont ete utilisees : la rapid rural appraisal (RRA) et la methode acceleree de recherche participative (MARP). Elles ont permis de decrire deux types de systemes d’exploitation en se basant sur le mode d’elevage. La perception du risque dans les differents groupes a ete evaluee par des methodes qualitatives et par scoring sur la base de questionnaires semi-ouverts : elle etait principalement liee au site et concordait plus ou moins avec le risque estime par la serologie et l’entomologie, avec cependant moins d’exactitude et de precision. Les strategies de controle des TAA, basees essentiellement sur l’usage des trypanocides, etaient encore largement decidees et mises en œuvre par les eleveurs eux-memes. La MARP a revele que l’evitement des contacts hotes/vecteurs etait une strategie efficace mais rarement realisable. Ces methodes d’epidemiologie participative constituent des outils pratiques de conseil sanitaire adaptes au contexte.
General Aviation Pilot Performance Following Unannounced In-Flight Loss of Vacuum System and Associated Instruments in Simulated Instrument Meteorological Conditions

Forty-one instrument rated pilots were exposed to an unannounced failure of attitude and heading instrumentation during flight in single-engine general aviation aircraft: 25 in a Piper Archer PA-28 and 16 in a Beechcraft Bonanza A36. The PA-28 flights consisted of three groups: 1) Group A - a failure of the attitude indicator (AI) and directional gyro (DG), 2) Group B - same as Group A but received 30 minutes of partial-panel instruction in a personal computer based aviation training device (PCATD) prior to the flight, and (3) Group C - same as group A but had a failure-annunciator light (vacuum) on the panel. The A36 flights consisted of two groups: 1) Group A - a failure of the AI only, 2) Group B - a failure of the AI and the horizontal situation indicator (HSI). All of the PA-28 pilots maintained control of the aircraft, and 68% of them flew successful partial-panel approaches, and likely would have survived if it had been an actual emergency. However, 25% of the Bonanza pilots could not maintain control, and the evaluator had to assume control of the aircraft. Use of the PCATD prior to the data flight reduced the time required to recognize a failure while airborne, but there were no other observed differences in performance between the Archer groups. Recommendations are presented regarding both training and instrumentation.
Do financial markets react to regulatory sanctions? Evidence from France

The paper offers an empirical analysis of the effects of sanctions decided by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on the reputation of firms in France. Using an event study, we intend to show the impact of three events on the stock prices : opening of an investigation by the AMF ; issuance of a monetary sanction ; publication of the information about sanction a newspaper. The reputational impact issue raises the broader issue of understanding of financial regulation enforcement operates in concreto. We find a strong negative impact of the announcement of sanction in press on the firms’ stock prices. We observe a reputational loss of the deferred firm following the disclosure of sanction in press. We observe also a weak decrease in stock prices when the firm has been notified of the opening of investigation on its misconducts, however we find no evidence on the impact of announcement of sanction directly to the firm on the stock prices. We carry out an OLS cross-section regression to assess the impact of the amount of sanction on the reputational loss of firm. The amount of monetary sanctions are too low, compared the market size of deferred companies, to influence stock prices and contribute in reputational loss.
Population Structure of Rhododendron Campanulatum D. Don and Associated Tree Species along the Elevational Gradient of Manaslu Conservation Area, Nepal

Climate change is affecting the forest ecosystems worldwide. Impacts of climate change are more perceptible at higher altitudes and can be easily detected along the elevational gradient. The main aim is to study the impact of elevation on the population structure of Rhododendron campanulatum D. Don and associated trees species at Manaslu Conservation Area, central Nepal. A total of 30 quadrats were sampled from 3600-4100 meter above sea level (m asl.) at altitudinal difference of 100 m with 5 quadrates in each altitude. The present study showed that R. campanulatum, Betula utilis, Abies spectabilis and Sorbus microphylla are the treeline species. R. campanulatum was the most dominant species with highest importance value index (IVI) along the altitudinal gradient. At 4000 m asl. S. microphylla was the codominant species. B. utilis was the codominant species at 3600 -3900 m asl followed by S. microphylla and A. spectabilis . R. campanulatum and A. spectabilis showed a sustainable regeneration. No seedling of B. utilis was found along the altitudinal gradient indicating that the regeneration of this species might be affected by unfavourable micohabitat (eg. deep shade). R. campanulatum and S. microphylla were found above the treeline indicating that the climatic conditions were favourable for their growth. The height, diameter and density of the species differed along the elevational gradient and showed a species specific trend. Journal of Institute of Science and Technology Vol. 21, No. 1, 2016, page:
What Happens When the Research Ends? Factors Related to the Sustainability of a Technology-Infused

this study examines factors related to the sustainability of simcalc mathworlds (scmW), a technology-infused mathematics curriculum. We surveyed middle school teachers one year after their participation in a randomized trial where they were introduced to scmW curriculum, to identify factors related to their continued use of the materials in ways congruent with the developers’ intent. Fifty-two percent of teachers surveyed sustained their use of the scmW curriculum. Factors related to sustained use included student ses, preintervention student mathematics ability, teachers’ perceived coherence and perceived utility of the intervention, and the active nature of the scmW professional development.
Acoustic Features of Filled Pauses in Polish Task-Oriented Dialogues

Filled pauses (FPs) have proved to be more than valuable cues to speech production processes and important units in discourse analysis. Some aspects of their form and occurrence patterns have been shown to be speaker- and language-specific. In the present study, basic acoustic properties of FPs in Polish task-oriented dialogues are explored. A set of FPs was extracted from a corpus of twenty taskoriented dialogues on the basis of available annotations. After initial scrutiny and selection, a subset of the signals underwent a series of pitch, formant frequency and voice quality analyses. A significant amount of variation found in the realisations of FPs justifies their potential application in speaker recognition systems. Regular monosegmental FPs were confirmed to show relatively stable basic acoustic parameters, which allows for their easy identification and measurements but it may result in less significant differences among the speakers.
Temporal and spatial changes of Laika Glacier, Canadian Arctic, since 1959, inferred from satellite remote sensing and mass-balance modelling

Abstract The retreat of Laika Glacier (4.4 km2), part of a small ice cap situated on Coburg Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is analyzed using field data, satellite remote sensing and mass-balance modelling. We present a methodology for merging various data types and numerical models and investigate the temporal and spatial changes of a remote glacier during the past five decades. A glacier mass-balance and surface-evolution model is run for the period 1959–2006, forced with in situ weather observations and climate re-analysis data (ERA-40, NARR). The model is calibrated using the ice-volume change observed between 1959 and 1971, and measured seasonal mass balances. Calculated glacier surface elevation is validated against ICESat GLAS altimeter data and ASTER-derived elevation. Landsatderived glacier outlines are used to validate calculated ice extent. The piedmont tongue of Laika Glacier has retreated considerably and is in a state of disintegration. The modelled glacier mass balance between 1959 and 2006 was −0.41 m w.e. a−1, on average. Model results indicate a significant trend towards higher mass-balance gradients. A complete wastage of Laika Glacier by 2100 is predicted by model runs based on climate scenarios.