Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Yang LE, Scheffran J, Susser D, Dawson R, Chen YD. Assessment of Flood Losses with Household Responses: Agent-Based Simulation in an Urban Catchment Area. Environmental Modeling and Assessment (2018)

Densely populated coastal urban areas are often exposed to multiple hazards, in particular floods and storms. Flood defenses and other engineering measures contribute to the mitigation of flood hazards, but a holistic approach to flood risk management should consider other interventions from the human side, including warning information, adaptive behavior, people/property evacuation, and the multilateral relief in local communities. There are few simulation approaches to consider these factors, and these typically focus on collective human actions. This paper presents an agentbased model that simulates flood response preferences and actions taken within individual households to reduce flood losses. The model implements a human response framework in which agents assess different flood scenarios according to warning information and decide whether and how much they invest in response measures to reduce potential inundation damages. A case study has been carried out in the Ng Tung River basin, an urbanized watershed in northern Hong Kong. Adopting a digital elevation model (DEM) as the modeling environment and a building map of household locations in the case area, the model considers the characteristics of households and the flood response behavior of their occupants. We found that property value, warning information, and storm conditions all influence household losses, with downstream and high density areas being particularly vulnerable. Results further indicate (i) that a flood warning system, which provides timely, accurate, and broad coverage rainstorm warning, can reduce flood losses by 30–40%; and (ii) to reduce losses, it is more effective and cheaper to invest early in response measures than late actions. This dynamic agent-based modeling approach is an innovative attempt to quantify and model the role of human responses in flood loss assessments. The model is demonstrated being useful for analyzing household scale flood losses and responses and it has the potential to contribute to flood emergency planning resource allocation in pluvial flood incidents.
Development of motor-life-skills: variations in children at risk for motor difficulties from the toddler age to preschool age

Abstract This article explores variations in development of everyday motor-life-skills in 661 children (329 girls and 332 boys) in Norwegian kindergartens of ages 2:9 (T1) and 4:9 (T2) years:months. The particular focus is on children at risk for problems in motor development (the 10% weakest children in the sample). The methodological approach chosen is authentic assessment, applying the Early Years Movement Skills Checklist (EYMSC). All correlations between motor-life-skills at ages 2:9 and 4:9 are statistically significant (p < 0.01), varying between r = 0.26 to 0.38 for the four section scores of EYMSC (Self-help skills, Desk skills, General classroom skills and Recreational and playground skills) and r = 0.39 for the EYMSC total score. The group composition of children assumed to be at risk for motor difficulties changes considerably between ages 2:9 and 4:9. Approximately, two-thirds of the 10% weakest at T1 do not belong to the 10% weakest at T2. Logistic regression failed to identify children at risk at T1 being among the 10% weakest at T2. However, for two sections of EYMSC (Self-help skills; Recreational and Playground skills), it was possible to distinguish between stable and flux groups.
Behavioural polymorphism in one of the world’s largest populations of loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta

To aid management and conservation of widely distributed marine vertebrate species, it is necessary to have a knowledge and understanding of their spatial ecology. We tracked 10 adult female loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta from Masirah Island, Sultanate of Oman, which hosts one of the world's largest breeding aggregations. Transmitters were specifically deployed early in the nesting season to enable tracking throughout the internesting and post-nesting habitats. Turtles dis- played a dichotomy in behaviour during the internesting period, with 6 remaining close to Masirah Island and the others undertaking circuitous oceanic loops, hundreds of kilometres in length. This behaviour did not appear to be related to body size. Tracking-derived minimum clutch frequency was on average (± SD) 4.8 ± 1.2 nests (n = 8 ind.). Post-nesting migrations revealed a propensity towards long-term utilisation of oceanic habitats in the region between Socotra Island (Yemen) and the mainland of Yemen/Oman, with 76 ± 15.4% of time spent in oceanic habitat (n = 8 ind.). The spatial footprint of our tracked turtles was found to be far less than that of a similar number of turtles that were tagged later in the same season (from a separate unpublished study) and from long-distance returns of flipper tags. The spatial and temporal sub-structuring of the population highlights the need for more comprehensive tracking projects, with deployments across the breeding season in multiple years, in order to obtain reliable estimations of high-use foraging habitats of widely dispersed marine vertebrates. Variation in behaviour patterns suggests the need for diverse conservation measures.
Determination of Scale Effects for a Scaled Physical Model of a Labyrinth Weir Using CFD

In the present study the three dimensional (3D) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Volume of Fluid (VOF) model is employed to reproduce the complex hydraulic flows over a labyrinth weir and a spillway for two flow rates, 40 m3/s and the PMF event of the scheme, 159.5 m3/s. The VOF model is implemented in two solvers: the open source platform OpenFOAM and the commercial CFD package ANSYS Fluent. Validation is undertaken by modelling the scaled physical model of the scheme. Prototype scale simulations of the two flow rates are undertaken, with comparisons between predictions at the two scales being used to establish discrepancies between the two scales. Overall the two solvers predict the prototype flows to be shallower and with higher velocities than those at model scale, but with these scale effects becoming less prominent for increasing flow rates. In the 40 m3/s case the wave structures in the prototype present elongation compared to those at model scale. In the PMF case, in addition to elongation, the wave structures also change in position. Work is currently underway with the modelling of further flow rates in order to investigate the discrepancies between scale and prototype simulations with increased detail and determine limits to minimise impact of scaling.
What do social sciences in North African countries focus on

There was only one library in the Arab countries (including the Gulf countries) that met these criteria, the King Abdulaziz Foundation library in Casablanca, Morocco. Since 1980, this library has been committed to gathering all publications originating from the Maghreb or dealing with it in the human and social sciences, whether published within or outside the Maghreb, and whether written by regional or foreign authors. It brings together the different publications through international but also local markets and publishers, and has an active policy of seeking information instead of waiting for publishers to deposit books and articles. All publications (articles, books and book chapters) are indexed through a thesaurus. Authors are described in a note that includes their citizenship and standardized name in Arabic and Latin letters, probably a unique feature worldwide. This extensive computerized database comprises topics, keywords and authors’ names, which are in one-to-one mapping with numbers so that the This article presents the main results of a comprehensive study of publications in the human and social sciences in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING A TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY FRAMEWORK FOR SMALL- TO MEDIUM-SIZED FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS TO IMPROVE COMPETITIVENESS

Low-technology firms, such as those found within the furniture manufacturing industry, have no framework or methodology to guide them successfully to acquire and integrate technology that enables them to operate more competitively. The aim of this article is to illustrate the development of a technology strategy framework for small- to medium-sized furniture manufacturers to assist them to improve their competitiveness. More specifically, this article presents an integrated technology strategy framework that enables management to integrate their business strategy with their technology requirements successfully, thus improving competitiveness.
Collaborating with Our Patrons: Letting the Users Select

Introduction Collection development librarians in academic libraries have long prided themselves on their professional role of making selection decisions for library materials. The art and science of collection development is well documented in library literature and cherished in library practice. Intellectual preparation for good collection development includes knowledge of the subject matter, knowledge of the user population, and analysis of usage patterns of existing material. However, the resulting collections may be questioned in terms of success, given that according to established estimates (Hardesty 1981; Kent et al. 1979) nearly half the monographs in a typical academic library collection never circulate. In the new world of electronic resources, capabilities exist for library patrons to participate in collection development. One of the biggest dangers faced by librarians today is that the user will bypass the library altogether in favor of content of their own finding. The Internet and American Life project ( Jones 2002) found that 73 percent of college students use the Internet more than the library and only 9 percent use the library more than the Internet for information searching. According to a recent Outsell Briefing, “a theme running through all our research on users is that self-service and self-sufficiency are the new paradigms” (Outlook 2003, 18). Librarians can either ignore this trend and risk losing their constituents, or they can use technological capabilities to empower users to make their own good decisions on information resources. In this paper, examples of new models of user selection are given for the Patron-Driven-Access program from netLibrary for monographs and the Freedom Plan from Elsevier Science Direct for journals.
Antimicrobial Activities and Phytochemical Analysis of Moringa oleifera Leaves on Staphylococus aureus and Streptococcus species

Objective: This study is aimed at determining appropriate solvent that is effective among the aqueous, ethanol, and petroleum ether extracts of Moringa oleifera leaves respectively, examined for their antimicrobial activities against selected clinical organisms including Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus species. Methods: Leaves of Moringa plant were collected in a clean bag within the town of Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria. About 200g of the plant prepared in powdered form were separately soaked in 400ml of 95% Ethanol, Distilled water and Petroleum ether in a 500ml reagent bottle and stoppered. This was allowed to stand for 14 days to permit full extraction of the active ingredients. The extracts were tested on the microbial isolates cultured on Mueller Hinton agarusing an agar-disc diffusion method. Plant filtrates were used for the phytochemical screening for flavonoids, tannins, saponins, alkaloids, reducing sugars, anthraquinones and anthocyanosides. The minerals components were also determined using standard biochemical methods. Results: This study showed that petroleum extract of Moringa oleifera is significantly more active against the growth of Streptococcus species with the 0.6g/ml concentration giving the highest measurement of zone of inhibition. Phytochemical screening shows that the plant sources contain some compounds like tannin, phenol, alkaloid, flavonoids, oxalate, saponin and phytate part which forms their bioactive components. While the minerals component from this sources (per 100g) are sodium(Na), potassium(K), calcium(C), magnesium(Mg), zinc(Zn), iron(Fe), lead(Pb), copper(Cu), manganese(Mn) and phosphorus(P). Conclusion: This study helps to determine the local and pharmaceutical value of Moringa oleifera leaves for treatment of some diseases including clinical organisms such as Staphylococus aureus and Streptococcus species. The data obtained in this study will be useful in discovery of new antibiotic for therapeutic purposes especially in overcoming some resistant strains problems.
Application of Business Risk Auditing among Audit Firms in Western Region, Kenya

Auditing remains an important tool of management oversight. Auditing theory indicates that the discipline draws its legitimacy on its ability to enhance confidence on the financial statements by its users. However, there has been increasing criticisms addressed to the audit profession in the recent past especially after the failure of several international and local firms which led to need to revisit the oversight role of audit. To remain relevant, auditors have been compelled to reengineer their audit approaches to be more responsive to business risks. In spite numerous calls of the departure from traditional audits, little is known as to how auditors in developing economies such as Kenya has responded to increasing business risks in their engagements. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of application of Business Risk among audit firms in Western Region, Kenya. Cross-sectional survey research design was used. The target population of the study is 48 Audit firms in which saturated sampling technique was used. Respondents comprised of Audit Senior and Audit manager selected purposively from each firm. Primary data was collected using self administered questionnaires which was pretested and supplemented by secondary data from published accounts of client firms. The study established that BRA approach is practiced only to a moderate extent in the study area (mean 3.367, SDEV 0.086 in a scale of 5). The study provides rationale for BRA and its findings provides direction for response to business risks among audit practitioners besides enriching the literature of audit risk and fee models with expanded variables and evidences from emerging economies. Key words : Business Risk Auditing, Audit firms, Kenya
Business strategy, strategic role of accountants, strategic management accounting and their links to firm performance: An exploratory study of manufacturing companies in Malaysia

Despite that there is no agreed theoretical framework for strategic management accounting (SMA), the academics generally agree that SMA is external long-term focused, assists managers in the strategic decision making process. This exploratory study investigates the mediating effect of SMA on the relationship between Porter’s (1980) competitive strategy and firm performance. The contingency model incorporates the two dimensions of SMA, i.e. the usage of SMA techniques and the changing role of accountants in the strategic decision-making process. The results of partial least squares appear to support SMA usage mediates partially the relationship between product differentiation strategy and firm performance. There is also a positive relationship between business strategy and strategic role of accountant. However, it is unable to find support on the positive association between strategic role of accountant and firm performance.
Rationality and exponential growth properties of the boundary operators in the Novikov Complex

The classical Morse-Thom-Smale construction associates to a Morse function g : M → R on a closed manifold a chain complex C∗(g) of free abelian groups, where the number of free generators of Cp(g) equals the number of critical points of g of index p for each p. The homology of this complex is isomorphic to the homology of the manifold , and the boundary operator in this complex is defined in a geometric way, using the algebraic number of trajectories of a gradient of g, joining critical points of g (see [5], [9], [13], [14], [15]). In the early 80s S.P.Novikov generalized this construction to the case of maps f : M → S ( see [6]). Here M is a closed connected manifold , f : M → S is a Morse map, non-homotopic to zero. The corresponding analog of Morse complex is a free chain complex C∗(f) over the ring Z((t)) of the formal power series with integer coefficients and finite negative part (that is Z((t)) = { ∑ ant n | an ∈ Z and ∃N : an = 0 for n < N}). The number of free generators of Cp(f) equals the number of critical points of f of index p, and the homology of C∗(f) equals to the completed homology of the corresponding cyclic covering of M . The boundary operator in this complex depends on the choice of a Riemannian metric on M or of a gradient-like vector field v for f . We prefer in our work the language of gradient-like vector fields (see §2 for precise definitions). To explicit the boundary operators, let M̄ P −→ M be the connected infinite cyclic covering for which f ◦P is homotopic to zero. Choose a lifting F : M̄ → R of f ◦ P and let t be the generator of the structure group (≈ Z) of P such that for every x ∈ M̄ we have F (xt) < F (x). For every critical point x of f choose a lifiting x̄ of x to M̄ . Choose orientations of stable manifolds of critical points. Then for every critical points
Changes in Pectin Structure during Epidermal Cell Elongation in Pea (Pisum sativum) and Its Implications for Cell Wall Architecture

Changes in cell wall architecture during elongation of epidermal cells in pea epicotyls were visualized by rapidfreezing and deep-etching (RFDE) techniques. The abundant network structure composed of the association of granular substances disappeared from the cell wall during elongation. The granular substances were demonstrated to be pectic polysaccharides by their disappearance upon EDTA treatment and by chemical analysis of the EDTA-extractable substances. Labeling with the monoclonal antibody JIM5, which recognizes unesterified pectins, was much more extensive in the cell walls of the non-elongating region than in those of the elongating region. The pore size of the cell wall was larger in the non-elongating region than in the elongating region. These observations suggest that the formation of the pectic gel itself is not involved in the control of the wall porosity. We proposed that the association of the granular substances is involved in the swelling of the cell walls in the elongating region.
Second Harmonic Generation in ZnO Nanowires

Second harmonic generation (SHG) is one of the most researched nonlinear material properties and finds applications in many fields ranging from laser projection to cancer detection to future optical switches for molecular devices. Studying SHG in ZnO nanostructures started few years ago and there is a long way to go to compete with the existing nonlinear crystals. Information gathered over the past few years in research on SHG of ZnO nanowires (NWs) is summarized in this chapter. Recent advancement in the growth techniques for various types of ZnO NWs used for SHG studies is also discussed. We present an extensive analysis and discussion on some key parameters that directly modify the efficiency of SHG in ZnO NWs. The key parameters considered for discussion are aspect ratio of NWs, doping, and external strain. At the end, current standing on the reported values of nonlinear coefficients and future outlook are presented.
Ethnic composition of the class and educational performance in primary education in The Netherlands

This article examines the effect of the ethnic composition in the school class on school performance in primary education, using COOL 2008 data for The Netherlands. We make an important distinction between the proportion of migrant children and the diversity with regard to the different ethnic groups in a school class. Due to the strong correlation between these 2 variables, we employ a residualized score of diversity on the proportion of migrants. The diversity indicator, which indicates the level of diversity given a particular share of migrant children, is negatively related to reading comprehension in Grade 8. For other grade years, we find little support for negative effects of diversity net of the share of migrants in a class.
Specific Immune Response Kinetics and Mortality Patterns of Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus on Post-Cocktail Vaccination Period against the Infection of Aeromonas hydrophila and Streptococcus agalactiae

ABSTRACT Fish vaccination aims to induce a specific immune response indicated by an increase of antibodies in vaccinated fish. However, in accordance with time the presence of antibodies will continue to decline. The purpose of this study was to determine the kinetics of specifik immune response and trend mortality against A eromonas hydrophila and S treptococcus agalactiae on tilapia following vaccination with cocktail vaccine. Fish vaccinated through immersion for 30 minutes in a solution of diluted vaccine. Challenge test was performed for three periods, on day 22, 50, and 78 post-vaccination, fish were challenged with single infection of A. hydrophila 10 8 cfu. mL -1 and S. agalactiae 10 4 cfu. mL -1 and co-infection of both bacteria by intraperitoneal. During rearing, the blood fish were taken for determining of serum antibodies, and its measured by ELISA. The results showed that the concentration of specific antibodies vaccinated fish were significantly higher than the control. The basal antibody levels of A. hydrophila before vaccination were higher than S. agalactiae with OD of 0.104 and 0.069 respectively. The maximum antibody response was reached within 70 days of the A. hydrophila OD= 0.264 and 56 days against S. agalactiae OD= 0.188. The mortality rate in the control group was significantly higher than vaccinated on all types and each challenge test period. The trend of mortality due to a single infection of A. hydrophila and co-infections occur more quickly than by S. agalactiae . Lowest mortality occurred in the vaccinated group at 50 day tested challenge. Keywords: kinetics antibody, Aeromnas hydrophila , Streptococcus agalactiae , Oreochromis niloticus
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HYBRID CARBON FIBER REINFORCED POLYETHYLENE AND EPOXY COMPOSITES

In this work, a hybrid polyethylene/epoxy combination matrix is reinforced with carbon fiber fabric. The objective is to develop a composite material with better tensile and impact properties. Three ratios of high molecular weight polyethylene powder were used as an additive to the epoxy matrix system. These composite materials were manufactured using hand-layup and vacuum bagging technique. The study carried out here is to find the effect of polyethylene weight fraction on tensile and impact properties of the carbon fabric reinforced epoxy composite material. The results show the tensile strength has been improved by the lowest used ratio of polyethylene additive while, all the hybrid composites exhibit higher tensile ductility. On the other hand, the Izod impact strength shows degradation in impact properties for the hybrid composites. Several suggestions are made about ways to improve the behavior of such materials.