Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social and Environmental Responsibility in Small and Medium Enterprises in Latin America

This technical paper determines the extent to which small and medium enterprises (SMEs) behave responsibly, and propose measures to enhance and promote corporate social responsibility in SMEs. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has taken on a broader view and refers to the actions that firms take to carry out their activities in a responsible manner, respecting the environment, the community and the workforce, and also creating opportunities to enhance them. The study covers eight countries in Latin America and over 1,300 firms surveyed. As SMEs represent over 95 percent of all firms in Latin America, provide between 40 and 60 percent of all jobs, and account for 30 to 50 percent of GDP, their behavior can have a significant impact on society and the environment.
Who Gets Privatised? An Empirical Analysis of Polish Manufacturing

This paper employs a multinomial logit model to examine what determines the choice of a particular firm for a given privatisation method. A variety of hypotheses about possible determinants of ownership change are tested using an extensive data set for Polish manufacturing at the beginning of transition. The results at a firm as well as at a sector level give strong support to the hypothesis of the importance of resource constraints on the choice of ownership. Large firms with high financing requirement are more likely to be owned by outsiders. High sectoral capital intensity discourages small insider owned firms while high degree of product differentiation is a constraint for different investors, with the exception of outsiders. We also find that firm quality, measured by profitability and exporting outside the Soviet block, appeals to all types of investors but, additionally, privatisation offers outsiders ways of entering sectors with substantial entry barriers.
Increasing the Spatial Intelligence of 7th Graders using the Minecraft Gaming Platform

Dr. Nicholas Lux has is an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction in MSU’s Department of Education. His teaching and research interests are in the area of educational technology. He has worked in the ﬁelds of K-12 and higher education for 18 years, and currently teaches in the Montana State University Teacher Education Program. He has experience in educational technology theory and practice in K-12 contexts and teacher education, with a focus on STEM teaching and learning, technology integration, online course design and delivery, program evaluation, and assessment. Dr. Lux’s current research agenda is STEM teaching and learning in K-12 contexts, technology integration in teacher preparation and K-12 contexts, educational gaming design and integration, and new technologies for teaching and learning.
THE VALENCE AND SPECIATION OF SULFUR IN GLASSES BY X-RAY ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY

The geochemical behavior of sulfur in magmas depends strongly on the oxidation state of sulfur, but this is not easily determined by standard analytical methods. We have measured XANES absorption spectra at the sulfur K-edge and have found that such measurements are useful to characterize the oxidation state and speciation of sulfur in silicate glasses of geological rel evance. Measured spectra of a set of reference minerals show the effects of different oxidation states and coordination numbers of sulfur; there is a large shift in energy (~10‐12 eV) of the sulfur K-edge between S 2‐ and S 6+ . This large and easily detectable difference makes possible the measurement of the valence of sulfur in unknown samples by measuring the shift in energy of the absorption edge. This approach is applicable to both crystalline and glassy materials, and useful results have been obtained on samples with as little as 450 ppm S. We have used XANES measurements to characterize oxidation state and speciation of sulfur in a set of natural and synthetic sulfur-bearing glasses. The samples cover a range of composition from basaltic to almost rhyo litic, and some were synthesized over a range of pressure, temperature and oxygen fugacity; glass S content varies between 450 and 3000 ppm. XANES analyses, carried out in fluorescence mode at LURE, allowed determination of the sulfur oxidation state in all of the samples and clearly show that some samples contain a mixture of S 2‐ and S 6+ ; no other sulfur species were observed. Quantitative determination of the abundance of sulfide and sulfate shows good agreement with independent measurements based on electron-microprobe determination of the wavelength shift of sulfur K X-rays.
Synergistic Effect of Alkali Treatment and Microwave Irradiation on the Dyeing Properties of Polyester – Wool Blend Fabrics

: The synergistic effect of alkali treatment and microwave irradiation on the dyeing properties of polyester – wool (PES/W) blend fabrics with reactive and acid dyes under conventional and microwave heating conditions was studied. Critical factors included the mode of treatment, concentration of alkali; time of treatment and time of dyeing are investigated. Morphological structures observations of treated fabrics with potassium hydroxide (KOH) by conventional method (thermal heating) and microwave dielectric heating were examined in order to determine whether the microwave treatment could be used to maintain the morphological architecture of treated fabrics without damage. Results showed that the colour strength of treated fabrics with 4 g/l KOH using microwave heating for 2 min was three times higher than the fabrics treated using thermal heating. Besides, the microwave energy supplied for 20 min is adequate to accomplish the required dyeing balance that can bring about reasonable colour strength, percentage of fixation and fastness properties. However such dyeing balance is not achieved within the range of 5-20 min with thermal heating. The monitoring of morphological changes and physical properties indicated that microwave can guarantee the wool/polyester goods without deterioration inside and outside heat in a very short time with fabric dyeing uniformity, and good colour fastness.
Habitat characteristics and metapopulation dynamics of the copepod Tigriopus californicus

Many organisms live in spatially delimited habitat patches, where local extinctions are compensated by dispersal and recolonization of empty habitat patches. To predict the dynam- ics of such metapopulations in an era of large environmental changes, it is essential to understand the key abiotic factors affecting local occurrence and temporal variation in patch occupancy. Here, we investigated the metapopulation dynamics of the marine copepod Tigriopus californicus, which is restricted to high intertidal and supralittoral rock pools. We monitored populations of T. californicus in northern California for almost 2 yr and observed pronounced seasonal changes in patch occupancy with >80% population turnover annually. Copepod occupancy depended on the area, depth and desiccation of pools and shore height of pools. Most local extinctions were due to pool desiccation, and the pools with an intermediate desiccation risk and low shore heights were the most frequently occupied. We highlight the significance of both the spatial position of pools (shore height) and their ephemerality in explaining occupancy pattern.
Three New Species of Musseromys (Muridae, Rodentia), the Endemic Philippine Tree Mouse from Luzon Island

ABSTRACT We describe and name three new species of Musseromys from the mountains of northern Luzon based on morphological and DNA sequence data. Previously, Musseromys was known only from one species from the lowlands of central Luzon. These are the smallest-known members of the cloud rat clade of endemic Philippine murids, weighing only 15–22 g, an order of magnitude smaller than the previously smallest known members of the clade (Carpomys spp.), and more than two orders of magnitude smaller than the largest members (Phloeomys spp.). These discoveries raise the number of native murids documented on Luzon to 43, 93% of which are endemic, and 88% of which are members of two endemic Philippine clades. Musseromys is inferred to have originated in montane habitats, probably in the Central Cordillera of northern Luzon, with movement to two other areas on Luzon, one in montane habitat and one in lowland habitat, associated with the speciation process.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Dynamic choice , independence and emotions

From the viewpoint of the independence axiom of expected utility theory, an interesting empirical dynamic choice problem involves the presence of a “global risk,” that is, a chance of losing everything whichever safe or risky option is chosen. In this experimental study, participants have to allocate real money between a safe and a risky project. Treatment variable is the particular decision stage at which a global risk is resolved: (i) before the investment decision; (ii) after the investment decision, but before the resolution of the decision risk; (iii) after the resolution of the decision risk. The baseline treatment is without global risk. Our goal is to investigate the isolation effect and the principle of timing independence under the different timing options of the global risk. In addition, we examine the role played by anticipated and experienced emotions in the choice problem. Main findings are a violation of the isolation effect, and support for the principle of timing independence. Although behavior across the different global risk cases shows similarities, we observe clear differences in people’s affective responses. This may be responsible for the conflicting results observed in earlier experiments. Dependent on the timing of the global risk different combinations of anticipated and experienced emotions influence decision making.
prognostic markers in childhood acute myeloid leukemia expression are independent BAALC-ITD and high FLT 3 Presence of

Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (NOPHO) Gudmar Lönnerholm, Henrik Hasle, Lars Palmqvist, Hans Ehrencrona and on behalf of the Nordic Abrahamsson, Erik Forestier, Kirsi Jahnukainen, Ólafur G. Jónsson, Bernward Zeller, Josefine Palle, Anna Staffas, Meena Kanduri, Randi Hovland, Richard Rosenquist, Hans Beier Ommen, Jonas prognostic markers in childhood acute myeloid leukemia expression are independent BAALC -ITD and high FLT3 Presence of
Young People ’ s Views on the Importance of Conserving the Environment

Science curricula at all levels of the education system in Trinidad and Tobago stress the importance of sustainable development and, particularly, the role of environmental conservation as a fundamental factor in achieving sustainability. This article discusses the findings of a study of the views of 14and 15-year-olds on the importance of environmental conservation. The findings reveal that there was general disapproval among young people for human economic activities that threatened the environment. Interviews with students, however, indicated a discernible lack of willingness among students to raise awareness among the general public on issues related to environmental conservation. In general, though, students showed a positive attitude towards the need to conserve the environment.
Three-dimensional manifolds and their Heegaard diagrams

One of the outstanding problems in topology today is the classification of n-dimensional manifolds, n >3. Poincare, the founder of modern analysis situs, devoted several papers to it and allied problems. t HeegaardT, in a paper concerned primarily with another aspect of the subject, found it convenient to construct a pseudo-normal form for a 3-dimensional manifold, a form which we now call the Heegaard diagram. Dehn? and Veblenll gave modifications of his construction. The Heegaard diagram of a 3-dimensional manifold consists of a closed 2-dimensional manifold upon which are drawn a certain number of nonintersecting simple closed curves. Any diagram is an adequate representation of a 3-dimensional manifold in the sense that it completely determines such a manifold, but, unfortunately, a 3-dimensional manifold gives rise to an infinity of diagrams. The problem of classifying manifolds is thus transferred to the problem of classifying diagrams. Heegaard, in the paper cited above, studied (although not completely) the modifications that can be made on the curves and surface of a diagram which transformed it into another diagram but yet did not change the manifold which it represented. In this paper we extend Heegaard's results and study more completely the relationships between manifolds and their diagrams. We begin then (Part I) by introducing the notions of a canonical region, canonical surface and canonical curve of a manifold. The Heegaard diagram is then constructed from a canonical surface and curves. Then, before proceeding to a discussion of manifolds and their diagrams, we show (Part II) how to read off the usual invariants of a manifold from any one of its representative diagrams.
Contrast and Visual Saliency Similarity-Induced Index for Assessing Image Quality

Image quality that is consistent with human opinion is assessed by a perceptual image quality assessment (IQA) that defines/utilizes a computational model. A good model should take effectiveness and efficiency into consideration, but most of the previously proposed IQA models do not simultaneously consider these factors. Therefore, this paper attempts to develop an effective and efficient IQA metric. Contrast is an inherent visual attribute that indicates image quality, and visual saliency (VS) is a quality that attracts the attention of human beings. The proposed model utilized these two features to characterize the image quality. After obtaining the local contrast quality map and the global VS quality map, we added the weighted standard deviation of the previous two quality maps together to yield the final quality score. The experimental results for three benchmark databases (LIVE, TID2008, and CSIQ) demonstrated that our model performs the best in terms of a correlation with the human judgment of visual quality. Furthermore, compared with competing IQA models, this proposed model is more efficient. The MATLAB source code of the proposed method is public available online at http://www.scholat. com/vpost.html? pid=98172.
Political Budget Cycles and the Organization of Political Parties

This paper introduces a new explanation for political budget cycles: politicians have stronger incentives to increase spending around elections in the presence of younger political parties. Previous research has shown that political budget cycles are larger when voters are uninformed about politician characteristics and when politicians are less credible. The effects of party age can be traced to organizational differences between younger and older parties that also affect voter information and politician credibility. Parties organized around particular individuals, rather than around policy labels or a party machine, are less likely to survive the departure of party leaders, to adopt organizational attributes that promote voter information and political credibility, and to limit political budget cycles. Previous research has also shown larger political budget cycles in younger democracies. Evidence presented here indicates that party age accounts for this effect.
Dense Gas Towards the RX J1713.7–3946 Supernova Remnant

Abstract We present results from a Mopra 7 mm-wavelength survey that targeted the dense gas-tracing CS(1-0) transition towards the young γ-ray-bright supernova remnant, RX J1713.7–3946 (SNR G 347.3−0.5). In a hadronic γ-ray emission scenario, where cosmic ray (CR) protons interact with gas to produce the observed γ-ray emission, the mass of potential CR target material is an important factor. We summarise newly discovered dense gas components, towards Cores G and L, and Clumps N1, N2, N3, and T1, which have masses of 1 – 104 M⊙. We argue that these components are not likely to contribute significantly to γ-ray emission in a hadronic γ-ray emission scenario. This would be the case if RX J1713.7–3946 were at either the currently favoured distance of ~1 kpc or an alternate distance (as suggested in some previous studies) of ~6 kpc. This survey also targeted the shock-tracing SiO molecule. Although no SiO emission corresponding to the RX J1713.7–3946 shock was observed, vibrationally excited SiO(1-0) maser emission was discovered towards what may be an evolved star. Observations taken 1 yr apart confirmed a transient nature, since the intensity, line-width, and central velocity of SiO(J = 1-0,v = 1,2) emission varied significantly.
The outcome of inpatient psychotherapy and the duration of previous psychotherapy treatment

Summary Aim. The duration of previous psychotherapy treatment was the main independent variable. Material and method. Three hundred and one patients successively reporting for inpatient treatment in the Clinic of Neurotic Disorders received questionnaires. Two-hundred seventy-four patients who completed the treatment and returned all the tests were divided into three groups: a) those without any previous experience of psychotherapy, b) those with previous experience of short-term therapy, and c) those previously in long-term psychotherapy. The following tools were used: Hopkins Symptom Checklist, Sense of Coherence, Questionnaire of Motivation, and Adjective Checklist. Result. The duration of previous psychotherapy influenced symptoms, coherence, motivational factors and personality aspects, both at the beginning of psychotherapy and at the time of discharge from the hospital.
Depth dependency of the Paleocene‐Eocene carbon isotope excursion: Paired benthic and terrestrial biomarker records (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 208, Walvis Ridge)

The Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) coincided with a negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) in carbonate and organic matter, in terrestrial and marine records. Consequently the PETM global warming of 5–6°C has been attributed to the rapid emission of a large amount of isotopically light carbon into the ocean‐atmosphere system, and the magnitude of the CIE has been used to estimate the amount of carbon greenhouse gas emitted. However, there are large discrepancies between the magnitude of the CIE in marine and in terrestrial material, in different types of marine carbonate records (bulk carbonate, planktic and benthic foraminiferal carbonate), and in marine carbonate records from different locations. The marine carbonate record of the CIE may be incomplete in most deep‐sea (bathyal‐abyssal) locations because of ocean acidification and widespread dissolution of seafloor carbonates. We demonstrate that the CIE in benthic foraminiferal stable isotope records is relatively abrupt and not as gradual as portrayed in bulk carbonate records along the Walvis Ridge depth transect (SE Atlantic). The benthic CIE is about −1.5‰ at 3600 m paleodepth, in contrast to about −3.5‰ at 1500 m paleodepth, consistent with depth‐dependent truncation by carbonate dissolution. Strong covariance between the benthic record and the stable carbon isotope values of terrestrial n‐alkanes isolated from the same core (i.e., Site 1263) supports a relatively rapid excursion of at least −3.5‰ but no more than −5.0‰.
Mathematical Modeling of a Moving Planar Payload Pendulum on Flexible Portal Framework

Mathematical modeling of a moving planar payload pendulum on elastic portal framework is presented in this paper. The equations of motion of such a system are obtained by modeling the portal frame using finite element in conjunction with moving finite element method and moving planar payload pendulum by using Lagrange’s equations. The generated equations indicate the presence of nonlinear coupling between dynamics of portal framework and the payload pendulum. The combinational direct numerical integration technique, namely Newmarkand fourth-order Runge-Kutta method, is then proposed to solve the coupled equations of motion. Several numerical simulations are performed and the results are verified with several benchmarks. The results indicate that the amplitude and frequency of the payload pendulum swing angle are greatly affected by flexibility of structure and the cable in term of carriage speed.
A Real-World Feasibility Study of CareHPV assay, VIA/VILI and Pap Smear as Primary Screening in Rural China

Background: To compare the real-world performance of visual inspection with acetic acid and with Lugol’s iodine (VIA/VILI), cytology and careHPV DNA assay in rural China performed by local health providers. Methods: Eligible women living in rural areas in Xinmi County, Henan Province were invited to participate in cervical cancer screening program. Enrolled women were randomized into 3 intervention arms, screened by VIA/ VILI, pap smears, and careHPV assay respectively. Women had positive primary screening results were referred to colposcopy and/or biopsy. All the clinical and lab work was performed by local health providers. The final diagnoses of histopathology were based on the diagnosing of a senior histopathology expert from Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Questionnaires about the knowledge and attitudes towards the HPV and the screening program of the health providers at village clinics were collected. Results: 894 women had careHPV DNA test, 552 underwent VIA/VILI and 547 had Pap smears. The positive rates for careHPV assay, VIA/VILI and Pap smears were 10.6%, 18.1%, and 4.9% respectively (χ2=48.647, P<0.001). The overall CIN2+ detection rate was 0.5%, the CIN2+ detection rate for the three arms were not significantly different (0.7% for careHPV assay, 0.5% for VIA/VILI, 0.2% for pap smear, χ2=1.648, P=0.439). The knowledge of the health providers about HPV, HPV assay in screening was unsatisfactory. However, their attitudes about implementing HPV assay into the national program were positive. Conclusion: Implementing careHPV assay in low resource settings and performed by simply trained lab personnel is feasible. For large population screening program, extensive training and good quality control are needed to improve the quality. Education for implementing HPV assay in local health providers are needed.
Ensemble Kalman Filtering with a Divided State-Space Strategy for Coupled Data Assimilation Problems*

AbstractThis study considers the data assimilation problem in coupled systems, which consists of two components (subsystems) interacting with each other through certain coupling terms. A straightforward way to tackle the assimilation problem in such systems is to concatenate the states of the subsystems into one augmented state vector, so that a standard ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) can be directly applied. This work presents a divided state-space estimation strategy, in which data assimilation is carried out with respect to each individual subsystem, involving quantities from the subsystem itself and correlated quantities from other coupled subsystems. On top of the divided state-space estimation strategy, the authors also consider the possibility of running the subsystems separately. Combining these two ideas, a few variants of the EnKF are derived. The introduction of these variants is mainly inspired by the current status and challenges in coupled data assimilation problems and thus might be of inter.
BIKE: Bit Flipping Key Encapsulation

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. BIKE: Bit Flipping Key Encapsulation Nicolas Aragon, Paulo Barreto, Slim Bettaieb, Loïc Bidoux, Olivier Blazy, Jean-Christophe Deneuville, Philippe Gaborit, Shay Gueron, Tim Guneysu, Carlos Aguilar Melchor, et al.