Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of North American Seismic Screening Methods Applied to School Buildings

An ongoing project at McGill University is aimed at developing an adapted seismic screening method for schools in the province of Quebec, Canada. As part of this project the "FEMA154 Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazard" and the "NRC92 Manual for Screening of Buildings for Seismic Investigation" were used to assess 102 school buildings located in the city of Montreal. Results for both methods are in reasonable agreement, with 65% of the buildings requiring a detailed evaluation according to FEMA154 and 50% according to NRC92. Findings highlighted the particular characteristics of educational facilities: they are low rise buildings with high incidence of structural irregularities. Accounting for them in the screening phase is essential, and is better achieved by NRC92. However, this method is largely based on expert opinion, which makes it difficult to update, while FEMA154 uses a rational methodology for calculating vulnerability scores based on the capacity spectrum approach. The FEMA154 analytical procedure allows updating and adapting the method to its use outside its intended scope.
Airport Privatization and International Competition

We provide a simple theoretical model to explain the mechanism whereby the privatization of international airports can improve welfare. The model consists of a downstream (airline) duopoly with two inputs (landings at two airports) and two types of consumers. The airline companies compete internationally. We show that the outcome in which both airports are privatized is always an equilibrium, whereas that in which no airport is privatized is an equilibrium only if the degree of product differentiation is large. We also discuss airport congestion problems within the model framework.
Coccinellidae captured in blacklight traps: Seasonal and diel pattern of the dominant species Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Two blacklight traps were operated in a non-agricultural setting in Cary, North Carolina, USA, from spring through fall in 2004 and 2005 and all Coccinellidae collected and identified. More than 1300 lady beetles were collected in each of the two years, with Harmonia axyridis dominant (> 98%) and collected consistently over the course of the trapping period. Although other cocci- nellid species were observed in the vicinity of the traps during photophase, their appearance in blacklight traps was negligible. Har- monia axyridis exhibited a distinct diel periodicity in appearance at the traps, beginning approximately an hour after sunset and ending about midnight. Sunrise and sunset collections from flight interference and sticky traps in a local alfalfa field suggest that H. axyridis may be more flight active during the scotophase than Coleomegilla maculata, Hippodamia convergens, and Coccinella sep- tempunctata. This study supports the suggestion that blacklight traps give a biased depiction of coccinellid species composition in a given area, and indicates that seasonal and circadian thresholds for flight activity, phototaxis, or both in H. axyridis may diverge from those in most other Coccinellidae.
Prevalence, impact, and management of depression and anxiety in patients with Parkinson's disease

Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) exhibit higher rates of depression and anxiety than the general and other medically disabled populations. Evidence suggests that mood and anxiety symptoms are related to disease pathology. Rates of depression and anxiety in PD vary depending on how these symptoms are measured, but they are estimated to occur in up to 40% of patients. These conditions have adverse effects on patient and caregivers' quality of life, level of disability, and mortality, with several studies suggesting greater contribution than motor symptom severity. Pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions, particularly in combination, have demonstrated efficacy in treating depression and anxiety in PD. However, additional randomized controlled trials are needed to better delineate when and how to best treat these disabling symptoms.
Constraints on global oceanic emissions of N 2 O from observations and models

Abstract. We estimate the global ocean N2O flux to the atmosphere and its confidence interval using a statistical method based on model perturbation simulations and their fit to a database of ΔpN2O (n = 6136). We evaluate two submodels of N2O production. The first submodel splits N2O production into oxic and hypoxic pathways following previous publications. The second submodel explicitly represents the redox transformations of N that lead to N2O production (nitrification and hypoxic denitrification) and N2O consumption (suboxic denitrification), and is presented here for the first time. We perturb both submodels by modifying the key parameters of the N2O cycling pathways (nitrification rates; NH4+ uptake; N2O yields under oxic, hypoxic and suboxic conditions) and determine a set of optimal model parameters by minimisation of a cost function against four databases of N cycle observations. Our estimate of the global oceanic N2O flux resulting from this cost function minimisation derived from observed and model ΔpN2O concentrations is 2.4 ± 0.8 and 2.5 ± 0.8 Tg N yr−1 for the two N2O submodels. These estimates suggest that the currently available observational data of surface ΔpN2O constrain the global N2O flux to a narrower range relative to the large range of results presented in the latest IPCC report.
Control Structures and Payout Policy

This paper examines the payout policies of UK firms listed on the London Stock Exchange during the 1990s.It complements the existing literature by analyzing the trends in both dividends and total payouts (including share repurchases). In a dynamic panel data regression setting, we relate target payout ratios to control structure variables.Profitability drives payout decisions of the UK companies, but the presence of strong block holders or block holder coalitions considerably weakens the relationship between corporate earnings and payout dynamics.While the impact of the voting power of shareholders coalitions on payout ratios is found to be always negative, the magnitude of this effect differs across different categories of block holders (i.e. industrial firms, outside individuals, directors, financial institutions). The controlling shareholders appear to trade off the agency problems of free cash flow against the risk of underinvestment, and try to enforce payout policies that optimally balance these two costs.Finally, the paper improves upon some methodological flaws of the recent empirical studies of payout policy.
Can Stressed Employees Perform Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Organizational citizenship behavior is beneficial for organizations to sustain long-term profitability. As such, organizations today constantly expect the employees engage in organizational citizenship behavior. However, the demonstration of organizational citizenship behavior is truly depends on the willingness of the employees. Meanwhile, employees have no formal obligation to perform organizational citizenship behavior. Surprisingly, there is a dearth of studies to investigate whether stressed employees can still contribute to the positive behaviors in the organization. Hence, this study used 474 bank officers to investigate the negative relationship between stress and organizational citizenship behavior. The findings of this study confirmed the hypothesized relationship between emotional stress and organizational citizenship behavior.
The Relationship between Personality Types and the Type of Correction in EFL Writing Skill

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between two personality types, namely, extroversion vs. introversion, and two types of correction (self-correction and teacher correction) in an EFL writing context. Review of literature revealed that a few studies have been conducted on the efficacy of error correction techniques with regard to different personality traits of the language learners in an EFL context. Moreover, empirical studies that aim at determining the correlation between extroversion and language performance tend to yield inconsistent results. Therefore, an attempt was made in this study to investigate the relationship between self and teacher correction methods with the personality traits of Extraversion/Introversion among Iranian FL students. For this purpose, 48 medical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, taking the academic writing course, participated in the study. In the beginning, the questionnaire devised by Marie G. Mclntyre (2010) was used to determine their personality types, i.e. extroversion and introversion. Then, the students were assigned into two classes. In one class, self-correction of the assignments was used and teacher correction was used in the other. Then, data were subjected to independent t-test as an indication of inferential statistics. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the two personality types and the two types of correction.
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Strategy for high-accuracy-and-precision retrieval of atmospheric methane from the mid-infrared FTIR network

We present a strategy (MIR-GBM v1.0) for the retrieval of column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of methane (XCH4) with a precision<0.3 % (1-σ diurnal variation, 7-min integration) and a seasonal bias <0.14 % from mid-infrared ground-based solar FTIR measurements of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC, comprising 22 FTIR stations). This makes NDACC methane data useful for satellite validation and for the inversion of regional-scale sources and sinks in addition to long-term trend analysis. Such retrievals complement the high accuracy and precision near-infrared observations of the younger Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) with time series dating back 15 years or so before TCCON operations began. MIR-GBM v1.0 is using HITRAN 2000 (including the 2001 update release) and 3 spectral micro windows (2613.70–2615.40 cm −1, 2835.50–2835.80 cm −1, 2921.00– 2921.60 cm−1). A first-order Tikhonov constraint is applied to the state vector given in units of per cent of volume mixing ratio. It is tuned to achieve minimum diurnal variation without damping seasonality. Final quality selection of the retrievals uses a threshold for the goodness of fit ( χ2 < 1) as well as for the ratio of root-mean-square spectral noise and information content ( <0.15 %). Column-averaged dryair mole fractions are calculated using the retrieved methane profiles and four-times-daily pressure-temperature-humidity profiles from National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) interpolated to the time of measurement. MIR-GBM v1.0 is the optimum of 24 tested retrieval strategies (8 different spectral micro-window selections, 3 spectroscopic line lists: HITRAN 2000, 2004, 2008). Dominant errors of the non-optimum retrieval strategies are Correspondence to: R. Sussmann (ralf.sussmann@kit.edu) systematic HDO/H2O-CH4 interference errors leading to a seasonal bias up to ≈5 %. Therefore interference errors have been quantified at 3 test sites covering clear-sky integrated water vapor levels representative for all NDACC sites (Wollongong maximum = 44.9 mm, Garmisch mean = 14.9 mm, Zugspitze minimum = 0.2 mm). The same quality ranking of the 24 strategies was found for all 3 test sites with one optimum, i.e. MIR-GBM v1.0. Seasonality of XCH4 above the Zugspitze (47 ◦ N) shows a minus-sine shape with a minimum in March/April, a maximum in September, and an amplitude of 16.2 ± . 9 ppb (0.94± 0.17 %). This agrees well with the WFM-DOAS v2.0 scientific XCH4 retrieval product. A conclusion from this paper is that improved spectroscopic parameters for CH 4, HDO, and H2O in the 2613– 2922 cm−1 spectral domain are urgently needed. If such become available with sufficient accuracy, at least two more spectral micro windows could be utilized leading to another improvement in precision. The absolute inter-calibration of NDACC MIR-GBM v1.0 XCH4 to TCCON data is subject of ongoing work.
Short-lived radioisotopes in meteorites from Galactic-scale correlated star formation

Abstract Meteoritic evidence shows that the Solar system at birth contained significant quantities of short-lived radioisotopes (SLRs) such as 60Fe and 26Al produced in supernova explosions and in the Wolf-Rayet winds. Explaining how they travelled from these origin sites to the primitive Solar system before decaying is an outstanding problem. In this paper, we present a chemo-hydrodynamical simulation of the entire Milky Way to measure for the distribution of 60Fe/56Fe and 26Al/27Al ratios over all stars in the Galaxy. We show that the Solar abundance ratios are well within the normal range. We find that SLRs are abundant in newborn stars because star formation is correlated on Galactic scales, so that ejecta preferentially enrich atomic gas that will subsequently be accreted onto existing GMCs or will form new ones. Thus new generations of stars preferentially form in patches of the Galaxy contaminated by previous generations of stellar feedback.
Online Business Letter Corpus KWIC Concordancer and an Experiment in Data-driven Learning/Writing

This experiment was conducted for a period of three months between May and July, 2000, to empirically prove the effectiveness of the Online Business Letter Corpus KWIC Concordancer (BLC Concordancer) as a writing tool for non-native learners/users of English for business purposes. The hypothesis was that use of the BLC Concordance in the writing process will significantly reduce the number of linguistic surface errors and thereby improve the overall quality of the messages they write. A total of 40 subjects consisting of Japanese business people were divided into two groups, Control Group and Experiment Group. They were given the same letter-writing assignments, Tests 1 through 7, and errors they made in two most problematic areas for non-native writers of English, i.e., articles and prepositions, were counted and compared. In writing the assignments (except Test 1), the Experiment Group was specifically instructed to make full use of the BLC Concordance, while the Control Group wrote all the assignments without using it. It was found that the average numbers of errors the Experiment Group made in Tests 2 through 7 were significantly lower than those made by the Control Group, while no significant difference was observed in the average numbers of errors the two groups made in Test 1. This result can only be attributed to the main controlling factor of the experiment, i.e., the use of the BLC Concordancer, thus confirming the initial hypothesis that the BLC Concordancer -and the datadriven writing/learning methodology associated with it -is in fact very effective in reducing some of the most prominent and recurring errors found in most "interlanguage" written messages. Online BLC KWIC Concordancer and an Experiment in Data-driven Learning/Writing (Yasumasa Someya, 2000)
Groups, Networks and Hierarchy in Household Private Transfers: Evidence from Fiji

While economists have studied private transfers exchanged among households within a network extensively, those exchanged directly with groups to which the household belongs—such as ritual gifts, communal work and church donations—in developing countries have received very limited attention. Using original household survey data gathered in rural Fiji, this paper demonstrates that: the group-based transfers are much greater than the network-based transfers, probably because of significant household contributions to groups for the provision of local public goods; and group-based transfers influence network-based transfers through the social hierarchy. A comparison of various groups (e.g. kin and church groups) and social ranks (e.g. those determined by gender, disability, kin elite and religious elite) indicates that network-based transfers adjust to hierarchy bias in group-based transfers, depending on the physical and social connections of groups and networks.
N-2 fluxes in sediments of the Elbe Estuary and adjacent coastal zones

ABSTRACT: The conversion of reactive nitrogen species to N 2 during denitrification in sedimentsmay be one of the most valuable ecosystem services provided by estuarine and intertidal environ-ments near river discharge areas. To quantify the rates and limiting factors of denitrification in theestuary of the Elbe River and adjacent Wadden Sea (SE North Sea), we measured sediment N 2 fluxes across subtidal and intertidal sediments, and along gradients in nitrate and organic matterconcentrations. We conducted 2 sampling campaigns, in March and September 2009, duringwhich N 2 fluxes were quantified by N 2 /Ar measurements in sediment core incubations, and com-pared to isotope pairing results in September 2009. At ambient nitrate concentrations, sediments inthe inner Elbe Estuary produced N 2 fluxes of up to 156 µmol N m −2 h −1 . In September, nitrate con-centration in bottom water and organic matter content in sediments limited N 2 production; suchlimitations were not observed in March. We extrapolated the estuarine sediment nitrogen removalof March and September to the present-day area of intertidal and subtidal sediments in the ElbeEstuary between the port of Hamburg and the transition to the North Sea. Our estimate suggeststhat 3.3 ± 1.2 kt nitrate-N are removed in sediments in this region in spring and summer. This im-plies that reactive nitrogen removal in the inner Elbe Estuary reduces the spring/summer load ofthe Elbe River (47 kt N) by around 7%, a reduction that is much lower than commonly assumed forestuaries, and significantly lower than nitrate removal in the Elbe was in historical times.KEY WORDS: Denitrification · Nitrogen cycle · Eutrophication · Elbe Estuary
Endogenous and Exogenous Money: an empirical investigation from Iran

This paper is about money supply being determined by banking behaviour, or by the behaviour of central bank of Iran. That money is endogenously determined is a proposition of post-Keynesian (PK) economists suggesting that money supply is determined by the behaviour of commercial banks as banks adjust money creation in response to credit demands by the public. This theory challenges the monetarist view of exogenous money supply, where the central bank is said to control money supply. The empirical tests conducted begin with unit root and Johansen cointegration tests to test for stationarity of the variables and whether the variables are cointegrated, followed by vector error-correction models (VECM) and Granger causality tests to test whether there is one-way or bidirectional causality in the long run and in the short run. These tests are used to determine (1) whether money is endogenous or exogenous, (2) if money is endogenous, which of the three views of PK theory is supported in this study.
A Study of Preparation, Structural, Optical, and Thermal Conductivity Properties of Zinc Oxide Nanofluids

The Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanofluids were prepared by the one-step solvothermal method. The crystal structure and average crystallite size of the ZnO nanofluids were determined by X-ray diffraction pattern. The morphology and particle size were studied using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is used to calculate the particle size of the ZnO nanofluids. UV-Visible absorption spectrum is used to analyze the optical property of the ZnO nanofluids. The thermal conductivity properties of ZnO nanofluids were examined.
Supply Response of Selected Agricultural Export Commodities in Nigeria

This study investigates the supply response of seven (7) agricultural export commodities from Nigeria between 1970 and 2010. An econometric Error Correction Model (ECM) was employed to estimate export supply behaviors of the seven commodities chosen: cocoa, benniseed, rubber, palm-oil, ground nut, cotton seed, and soybeans. Results indicate that: the response of export supply to changes in relative price was positive and fairly significance for five (5) commodities except cocoa and soybeans, output growth and more credits to agricultural sector have positive and significance influence on the export supply of the commodities, change in road network positively and significantly affects export supply of three commodities. Exchange rate was significance for four commodities and was unexpectedly positive in most cases, rainfall was positive and significance to only perennial crops (cocoa, rubber and palm-oil), short-run export supplies responses range between 0.01 and 0.77 and were generally smaller than the long-run responses (0.22 to 28.09), Short-run price and non-price elasticities were less than unity (0.01 to 0.77 inelastic), Individual commodities shows different patterns of responses to price and non-price variables. These results point to three conclusions: First, the significance sensitivity of the commodities under consideration to output growth, credits to agricultural sector and improved road network suggest that price incentives alone are not sufficient to generate the desired export, attempt to increase the export supply of these commodities should focus more on the productivity of these commodities. Second, exchange rate appreciation may not hurt exports of these commodities much, if at all. Third, policies to stimulate commodity production and exports should attach significance consideration to the agro-climatic conditions as well as cropping patterns of the commodities. Key word : Supply, Response, ECM, Agricultural export, Nigeria
Transformational leadership contributions and job satisfaction in the development of innovative behavior of employees

AB S T RA C T PLN (State-owned Electricity Company) in North Surabaya area are demanded to always improve their services to the public. The service improvement needs to be done for the electrical energy needs of the community that is always increasing. The leaders are supposedly able to apply transformational leadership in fostering innovative behavior of employees. In addition, the employees must also be satisfied with their jobs so as to encourage innovative behavior. This study aims to determine the direct effect transformational leadership and job satisfaction on the employees’ innovative behavior, especially in North Surabaya Area Office PLN. This quantitative study took 57 employees of PLN office in North Surabaya area using probability sampling method and simple random sampling technique. Data analysis was done by using descriptive analysis with the statistical average of the category Three-box Method and inferential analysis using Partial Least Square (PLS). It shows namely: (a) transformational leadership affects the innovative behavior of employees (b) job satisfaction affects the innovative behavior of employees (c) leadership transformational affects job satisfaction (d) transformational leadership and job satisfaction influences the innovative behavior of employees and (e) leadership transformational effect on employee satisfaction.