Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interviewing insights regarding the fatalities inflicted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract. One hundred fifty survivors of the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (Tohoku-oki earthquake) (Mw = 9.0) were interviewed to study the causes of deaths from the associated tsunami in coastal areas of Tohoku. The first official tsunami warning underestimated the height of the tsunami and 40% of the interviewees did not obtain this warning due to immediate blackouts and a lack of communication after the earthquake. Many chose to remain in dangerous locations based on the underestimated warning and their experiences with previous smaller tsunamis and/or due to misunderstanding the mitigating effects of nearby breakwaters in blocking incoming tsunamis. Some delayed their evacuation to perform family safety checks, and in many situations, the people affected misunderstood the risks involved in tsunamis. In this area, three large tsunamis have struck in the 115 yr preceding the 2011 tsunami. These tsunamis remained in the collective memory of communities, and numerous measures against future tsunami damage, such as breakwaters and tsunami evacuation drills, had been implemented. Despite these preparedness efforts, approximately 18 500 deaths and cases of missing persons occurred. The death rate with the age of 65 and above was particularly high, four times higher than that with other age groups. These interviews indicate that deaths resulted from a variety of reasons, but if residents had taken immediate action after the major ground motion stopped, most residents might have been saved. Education about the science behind earthquakes and tsunamis could help save more lives in the future.
Myopia and Anchoring

We develop an equivalence between the equilibrium effects of incomplete information and those of two behavioral distortions: myopia, or extra discounting of the future; and anchoring of current behavior to past behavior, as in models with habit persistence or adjustment costs. We show how these distortions depend on higher-order beliefs and GE mechanisms, and how they can be disciplined by evidence on expectations. We finally illustrate the use of our toolbox with a quantitative application in the context of inflation, a bridge to the HANK literature, and an extension to networks. (JEL C53, D83, D85, E12, E31, E37)
Entanglement-assisted classical communication can simulate classical communication without causal order

Phenomena induced by the existence of entanglement, such as nonlocal correlations, exhibit characteristic properties of quantum mechanics distinguishing from classical theories. When entanglement is accompanied by classical communication, it enhances the power of quantum operations jointly performed by two spatially separated parties. Such a power has been analyzed by the gap between the performances of joint quantum operations implementable by local operations at each party connected by classical communication with and without the assistance of entanglement. In this work, we present a new formulation for joint quantum operations connected by classical communication beyond special relativistic causal order but without entanglement and still within quantum mechanics. Using the formulation, we show that entanglement assisting classical communication necessary for implementing a class of joint quantum operations called separable maps can be interpreted to simulate "classical communication" not respecting causal order. Our results reveal a new counter-intuitive aspect of entanglement related to spacetime.
MID-INFRARED HIGH-CONTRAST IMAGING OF HD 114174 B: AN APPARENT AGE DISCREPANCY IN A “SIRIUS-LIKE” BINARY SYSTEM

We present new observations of the faint “Sirius-like” companion discovered to orbit HD 114174. Previous attempts to image HD 114174 B at mid-infrared wavelengths using NIRC2 at Keck have resulted in a non-detection. Our new L′-band observations taken with the Large Binocular Telescope and L/M-band InfraRed Camera recover the companion (ΔL = 10.15 ± 0.15 mag, ρ = 0.″675 ± 0.″016) with a high signal-to-noise ratio (10σ). This measurement represents the deepest L′ high-contrast imaging detection at subarcsecond separations to date, including extrasolar planets. We confirm that HD 114174 B has near-infrared colors consistent with the interpretation of a cool white dwarf (WD; J − L′ = 0.76 ± 0.19 mag, K − L′ = 0.64 ± 0.20). New model fits to the object's spectral energy distribution indicate a temperature Teff = 4260 ± 360 K, surface gravity log g = 7.94 ± 0.03, a cooling age tc ≈ 7.8 Gyr, and mass M = 0.54 ± 0.01 M☉. We find that the cooling ages given by theoretical atmospheric models do not agree with the age of HD 114174 A derived from both isochronological and gyrochronological analyses. We speculate on possible scenarios to explain the apparent age discrepancy between the primary and secondary. HD 114174 B is a nearby benchmark WD that will ultimately enable a dynamical mass estimate through continued Doppler and astrometric monitoring. Efforts to characterize its physical properties in detail will test theoretical atmospheric models and improve our understanding of WD evolution, cooling, and progenitor masses.
PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION FOR GLOBAL OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS

In this paper, the particle swarm optimization (PSO), originated as a simulation of a simplified social system with swarm intelligence and having exploring and exploiting characteristics of the particle swarm, is adopted to deal with the global optimization problems. To begin with, four non-linear two-dimensional functions are adopted as benchmark examples for determining the suitable ranges of parameters in the PSO. It is found that uses of the PSO can make the search quickly converge to the global optimum. Then, several benchmark functions below ten-dimensions are adopted especially for comparisons of search efficiency on the PSO and other algorithms. Results show that the proposed approach is not only superior to other algorithms but also has the higher success rate. Finally, the PSO is also applied to deal with the optimization problem of a grillage structure. Optimization solutions of the success rate and the used average generation show that the PSO also has the better performance for the optimal design of structures with constraints.
Inclusive B -> X_s l^+ l^-: Complete angular analysis and a thorough study of collinear photons

We investigate logarithmically enhanced electromagnetic corrections of all angular observables in inclusive B -> X_s l^+ l^-. We present analytical results, which are supplemented by a dedicated Monte Carlo study on the treatment of collinear photons in order to determine the size of the electromagnetic logarithms. We then give the Standard Model predictions of all observables, considering all available NNLO QCD, NLO QED and power corrections, and investigate their sensitivity to New Physics. Since the structure of the double differential decay rate is modified in the presence of QED corrections, we also propose new observables which vanish if only QCD corrections are taken into account. Moreover, we study the experimental sensitivity to these new observables at Belle II.
Contributions to High-Performance Big Data Computing

Our project is at the interface of Big Data and HPC -High-Performance Big Data computing and this paper describes a collaboration between 7 collaborating Universities at Arizona State, Indiana (lead), Kansas, Rutgers, Stony Brook, Virginia Tech, and Utah. It addresses the intersection of High-performance and Big Data computing with several different application areas or communities driving the requirements for software systems and algorithms. We describe the base architecture including the HPC-ABDS, High-Performance Computing enhanced Apache Big Data Stack, and an application use case study identifying key features that determine software and algorithm requirements. We summarize middleware including Harp-DAAL collective communication layer, Twister2 Big Data toolkit and pilot jobs. Then we present the SPIDAL Scalable Parallel Interoperable Data Analytics Library and our work for it in core machine-learning, image processing and the application communities, Network science, Polar Science, Biomolecular Simulations, Pathology and Spatial systems. We describe basic algorithms and their integration in end-to-end use cases. Keywords​. HPC, Big Data, Clouds, Graph Analytics, Polar Science, Pathology, Biomolecular simulations, Network Science, MIDAS, SPIDAL Corresponding Author, Digital Science Center, Indiana University Bloomington, IN, USA. E-mail:
The Pecking Order Hypothesis or Static Tradeoff Theory : Research on capital structure based on a U.K. sample

This master thesis aims to test two important theories in the field of capital structure, e.g. the pecking order hypothesis and the static tradeoff theory, under the UK setting. Thus the main research question of the thesis is:” Which theory can better explain the UK non-financial firms’ capital structure, the pecking order hypothesis or the static tradeoff theory? ” By using the sample of non-financial firms headquartered in the UK during the period from 2006 to 2011, the relationship between financing deficit and long-term debt ratio is investigated in order to test the pecking order hypothesis, and the leverage determinants assumed by the tradeoff theory are used to verify whether the relationships are consistent with the prediction of tradeoff theory. The main conclusion is that the tradeoff theory has much more explanatory power than the pecking order hypothesis in UK firms’ capital structure. Specifically, debt ratio is negative with non-debt tax-shields and volatility but positive with profitability and tangibility of assets. The negative relation between the change of debt ratio and financing deficit implies that the UK firms do not follow a specific financing hierarchy and it is plausible there is a target debt ratio. UK firms’ seem to utilize tax-shields effect and they are affected by the costs of financial distress when finance externally. However, to verify whether there is an actual target debt ratio, new models should be adopted in the further study.
The Comparative Economics of Catch-Up in Output Per Worker, Total Factor Productivity and Technological Gain in Sub-Saharan Africa

After investigating the effect of external financial flows on total factor productivity and technological gain, we use the beta catch-up and sigma convergence to compare dispersions in output per worker, total factor productivity and technological gain in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the years 1980-2010. The comparative evidence is articulated with income levels, years of schooling, and health factors. We find; first, a positive association between foreign direct investment, trade openness, foreign aid, remittances and total factor productivity. However, when foreign direct investment is interacted with schooling, it is direct effect becomes negative on total factor productivity. Second, beta catch-up is between19.22% and 19.70% per annum with corresponding time to full catch-up of 25.38 years and 26.01 years respectively. Third, we find sigma-convergence among low-income nations and upper-middle income nations separately, but not for the entire sample together. Fourth, schooling in SSA is not yet a significant source of technology, but it can make external financial inflows more effective. Policies to induce external financial flows are not enough for development if absorptive capacity is low. More policy implications are discussed.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) NR 4 A nuclear receptors in atherosclerosis

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva. nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
CER-ETH – Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich Household heterogeneity, aggregation, and the distributional impacts of environmental taxes

This paper examines how the general equilibrium incidence of an environmental tax depends on the effect of different incomes and preferences of heterogeneous households on aggregate outcomes. We develop a Harberger-type model with general forms of preferences and substitution between capital, labor, and pollution in production that captures the impact of household heterogeneity and interactions with production characteristics on the general equilibrium. We theoretically show that failing to incorporate household heterogeneity can qualitatively affect incidence. We quantitatively illustrate that this aggregation bias can be important for assessing the incidence of a carbon tax, mainly by affecting the returns to factors of production. Our findings are robust to a number of extensions including alternative revenue recycling schemes, preexisting taxes, non-separable utility in pollution, labor-leisure choice, and multiple commodities.
Subsidence of the Kerguelen Plateau: The Atlantis Concept

Ocean Drilling Program Leg 119 and 120 results from the Southern Kerguelen Plateau provide important constraints on the subsidence history of this large igneous province. Following emplacement of the plateau at —110 Ma, sedimentary facies indicate that portions of the feature remained above sea level or in shallow water for up to 40 m.y. I use previously determined age-depth relationships for oceanic lithosphere to determine the level of emplacement for five sites on the Southern Kerguelen Plateau. If thermal subsidence was the dominant tectonic process affecting the Southern Kerguelen Plateau following emplacement, then large portions of the feature were emplaced and began subsiding far above sea level. This resulted in significant erosion and redeposition of volcanic material mixed with biogenic sediment, and a gradual development of facies from terrestrial through terrigenous to shallow water and pelagic. I propose the "Atlantis" concept for this early evolution of the Kerguelen Plateau and of other large igneous provinces that produced a sedimentary record intermediate between continental and oceanic.
Quasiparticles and charge transfer at the two surfaces of the honeycomb iridate Na 2 IrO 3

Direct experimental investigations of the low-energy electronic structure of the Na$_2$IrO$_3$ iridate insulator are sparse and draw two conflicting pictures. One relies on flat bands and a clear gap, the other involves dispersive states approaching the Fermi level, pointing to surface metallicity. Here, by a combination of angle-resolved photoemission, photoemission electron microscopy, and x-ray absorption, we show that the correct picture is more complex and involves an anomalous band, arising from charge transfer from Na atoms to Ir-derived states. Bulk quasiparticles do exist, but in one of the two possible surface terminations the charge transfer is smaller and they remain elusive.
Response of peach tree growth and cropping to soil water deficit at various phenological stages of fruit development

SummaryFour- and five-year-old ‘Merrill Sundance’ peach trees, protected from rainfall by polyethylene film covers, were fully irrigated using micro-sprinkler (irrigation scheduling based on a tensiometer technique), or subjected to water stress at different phenological stages of fruit growth. Water deficit imposed during the first phase of rapid growth significantly increased fruit size at harvest during two experimental years when compared with the control full-irrigation treatment, while smaller fruits were produced from trees receiving an imposed water deficit during the final accelerated fruit growth, or throughout the fruit development period. When water deficit was applied to the trees during the pit hardening phase and the first two phases of fruit development, fruit size was not affected. However, shoot extension growth and limb diameter increases were limited whenever water supply was restricted. After-effects on limb expansion growth and benefits of water stress on fruit growth were obvious du.
Synthesis and characterization of pillared buserite

Synthetic Na-buserite, a layered manganese oxide formulated as Na{sub 4}Mn{sub 14}O{sub 26}{center dot}{chi}H{sub 2}O, was pillared with polyoxo cations of aluminum known widely as Keggin ions, (Al{sub 13}O{sub 4}(OH){sub 24}(H{sub 2}O){sub 12}){sup 7+}, with a diameter of 8.6 {angstrom}. The synthetic Na-buserite was first expanded with n-hexylammonium cations to produce hexylammonium ion-expanded buserite. This process expands the buserite interlayer free spacing from 1.94 to 12.94 {angstrom}, thus allowing subsequent ion-exchange reaction with Keggin ions to proceed. The presence of pillars between the interlayers of the buserite structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and surface area measurements. N{sub 2} adsorption-desorption studies showed that the Keggin ion-pillared buserites are microporous in nature. Particular interest was focused on the studies of the thermal stability of the various materials in different gaseous environment. By complementary studies between X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis, the intermediates and the final products of these reactions can be identified.
The effect of foam roller exercise and Nanoparticle in speeding of healing of sport injuries

Strenuous physical exercise commonly results in muscle injury , especially when that exercise is intense, prolonged . Most common sports injuries are long muscle groups laceration such as hamstrings muscle. The aim of this study is to reveal the role of foam roller exercise program and drug Omega 3, 6, 9, vitaminE on Growth Hormone, stem cells CD34+% and speed of healing for fourth year in physical education with hamstrings muscle injury. 14 students (3 experimental groups) with injury were recruited for this study and 3 healthy students (control group) aged (20-22 yrs). Exercise program for 3 weeks (4 days / week) were used foam roller exercise, (Omega 3-6-9 vitamin E) 2 capsules in a day per 3 weeks . They were estimated using Immunophenotyping stem cells CD34+% , Growth Hormone and flexibility tests. Results: revealed a significant increases of GH and flexibility tests, a significant decreases of CD34+ % in (Second and Third) experimental groups. It is concluded that foam roller exercise and use of nanoparticle (Omega 3, 6, 9, vitamin E) affect all parameters positively. [Amany Waheed Ebrahim and Abeer Waheed Abd Elghany. The effect of Foam roller exercise and Nano particle in speeding of healing of sport injuries. J Am Sci 2013; 9(6): 450-458]. (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.americanscience. org. 56
THE INFLUENCE OF USER ’ S PERSONALITY AND GENDER ON THE PROCESSING OF VIRTUAL AGENTS ’ MULTIMODAL BEHAVIOR

Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) are virtual characters appearing in computer interfaces and interacting with users via speech, gestures and facial expressions. They are expected to enhance naturalness and intuitiveness of humancomputer interaction, especially in assistance or e-learning contexts. Previous studies of multimedia educational appliances have shown that the behavioral strategy of the virtual tutor agent can influence the efficiency of the lesson: for example, if the agent’s speech and gesture are redundant, learning increases. Likewise, users’ personality may also influence the interaction with the agent and the processing of the lesson. The present chapter reports on a study about the effects of users’ personality (Introversion / Extraversion) on the processing of the agent’s behavior: are extraverts and introverts influenced to the same extent by the agent’s communication strategy? We first review psychology literature about the behavioral and cognitive correlates of Introversion / Extraversion, as well as previous studies using ECAs for investigating similar topics. Since theoretical predictions appear inconsistent, we built our own experiment: 81 users (38 extraverts and 43 introverts) attended short presentations performed by ECAs and had to recall the content of presentations and to evaluate the agents. Our results show a subtle interaction between personality and gender: all users but female introverts were influenced by the virtual tutor’s behavioral strategy. We discuss this result in terms of the influence of personality on learning cognitive processes. We also discuss the usefulness of ECA platforms as a research tool for conducting Psychology experiments and enriching existing models of human behavior. * Corresponding author: E-mail : stephanie.buisine@paris.ensam. fr, Phone: +33.1. 44.24. 63.77, Fax: +33.1. 44.24. 63.59 Stéphanie Buisine and Jean-Claude Martin 2
Multimedia courseware: never mind the quality how much will it cost to develop?

Baker (1994) humorously described the failure of teachers, companies, organizations and governments over the last twenty-five years to deliver the volume of courseware which would spark the active-learning revolution. Hardware now exists to deliver multimedia, but the cost of developing quality courseware remains high. What chance does multimedia-based active learning have of widespread adoption if developers cannot reliably estimate the development effort of multimedia courseware? This paper presents expert estimation of development effort to learner time ratios found in the literature, before investigating four alternative methods for estimating multimedia development effort. The results of the estimates are then compared against the actual project data. DOI: 10.1080/0968776950030118
A Large Scale Study of Data Center Network Reliability

The ability to tolerate, remediate, and recover from network incidents (caused by device failures and fiber cuts, for example) is critical for building and operating highly-available web services. Achieving fault tolerance and failure preparedness requires system architects, software developers, and site operators to have a deep understanding of network reliability at scale, along with its implications on the software systems that run in data centers. Unfortunately, little has been reported on the reliability characteristics of large scale data center network infrastructure, let alone its impact on the availability of services powered by software running on that network infrastructure. This paper fills the gap by presenting a large scale, longitudinal study of data center network reliability based on operational data collected from the production network infrastructure at Facebook, one of the largest web service providers in the world. Our study covers reliability characteristics of both intra and inter data center networks. For intra data center networks, we study seven years of operation data comprising thousands of network incidents across two different data center network designs, a cluster network design and a state-of-the-art fabric network design. For inter data center networks, we study eighteen months of recent repair tickets from the field to understand reliability of Wide Area Network (WAN) backbones. In contrast to prior work, we study the effects of network reliability on software systems, and how these reliability characteristics evolve over time. We discuss the implications of network reliability on the design, implementation, and operation of large scale data center systems and how it affects highly-available web services. We hope our study forms a foundation for understanding the reliability of large scale network infrastructure, and inspires new reliability solutions to network incidents.