Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climate Change and the Future Impacts of Storm-Surge Disasters in Developing Countries

As the climate changes during the 21st century, larger cyclonic storm surges and growing populations may collide in disasters of unprecedented size. As conditions worsen, variations in coastal morphology will magnify the effects in some areas, while largely insulating others. In this paper, we explore the implications for 84 developing countries and 577 of their cyclone-vulnerable coastal cities with populations greater than 100,000. Combining the most recent scientific and demographic information, we estimate the future impact of climate change on storm surges that will strike coastal populations, economies and ecosystems. We focus on the distribution of heightened impacts, because we believe that greater knowledge of their probable variation will be useful for local and national planners, as well as international donors. Our results suggest gross inequality in the heightened impact of future disasters, with the most severe effects limited to a small number of countries and a small cluster of large cities.
Peace in Patani? The Prospect of a Settlement in Southern Thailand

The Kingdom of Patani was formally incorporated into the Kingdom of Siam a little over 100 years ago and has been in varying states of rebellion since then. This resistance has at times had a violent character, as it does right now, but has also involved a resilient attachment to various aspects of the local identity, such as the religion, language, and local historic narrative. While the right of the inhabitants of the area to legally claim self-determination under international law is tenuous, a broader understanding of self-determination may be able to support the concept of a regional autonomy arrangement within the Thai state. Prima facie, an autonomy arrangement has the potential to address many of the grievances of the Malay-Muslim community in the Patani region. There are also now some positive Southeast Asian examples of autonomy solutions made under similar circumstances, particularly Aceh and Mindanao. This possibility has entered mainstream political discussion in Thailand in recent years. However, credible and committed leadership would be needed from both sides in order for some kind of negotiated settlement to be agreed upon and implemented. Talks between an insurgent group and the Thai government began in 2013. However, these have highlighted significant challenges that would surround any peace process, particularly the dispersed nature of the insurgency.
Numerical Simulation of Wall-Bounded Flows using a Spectral Method with Volume Penalization

The volume penalization method, which allows to impose no-slip boundary conditions, is assessed for wall-bounded flows. For the numerical solution of the penalized equations a spectral method is used. Considering a two-dimensional Poiseuille flow, the solution of the Navier-Stokes penalized equation is computed analytically and the convergence of the numerical solution is studied. To illustrate the properties of the approach we compute a three-dimensional turbulent channel flow imposing a constant flow rate. The obtained results are compared with reference data of Kim et al . [10].
Logging and indigenous hunting impacts on persistence of large Neotropical animals

Areas allocated for industrial logging and community‐owned forests account for over 50% of all remaining tropical forests. Landscape‐scale conservation strategies that include these forests are expected to have substantial benefits for biodiversity, especially for large mammals and birds that require extensive habitat but that are susceptible to extirpation due to synergies between logging and hunting. In addition, their responses to logging alone are poorly understood due to their cryptic behavior and low densities. In this study, we assessed the effects of logging and hunting on detection and occupancy rates of large vertebrates in a multiple‐use forest on the Guiana Shield. Our study site was certified as being responsibly managed for timber production and indigenous communities are legally guaranteed use‐rights to the forest. We coupled camera‐trap data for wildlife detection with a spatially explicit dataset on indigenous hunting. A multi‐species occupancy model found a weak positive effect of logging on occupancy and detection rates, while hunting had a weak negative effect. Model predictions of species richness were also higher in logged forest sites compared to unlogged forest sites. Density estimates for jaguars and ocelots in our multiple‐use area were similar to estimates reported for fully protected areas. Involvement of local communities in forest management, control of forest access, and nesting production forests in a landscape that includes protected areas seemed important for these positive biodiversity outcomes. The maintenance of vertebrate species bodes well for both biodiversity and the humans that depend on multiple‐use forests.
Lethal and non‐lethal effects of multiple indigenous predators on the invasive golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata)

1. We investigated the individual and combined effects of two predators (the climbing perch, Anabas testudineus, and the wetland crab, Esanthelphusa nimoafi) indigenous to wetlands in Laos, on the behaviour and survival of the invasive South American golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata). The snail is considered a pest, consuming large amounts of rice and other aquatic vegetation in the region. 2. Snail avoidance reactions to released predator chemical cues were investigated in aquaria while the effects of predators on a mixed snail population were studied in field enclosures that contained native aquatic plants (Salvinia cucullata, Ludwigia adscendens and Ipomoea aquatica). 3. In the aquaria experiment, neonate (2-3 mm) and medium-sized snails (8-10 mm) responded to fish chemical cues by going to the surface, whereas adult snails (35-40 mm) went to the bottom. In contrast, no size class of snails reacted to chemical cues released by crabs. 4. In the field experiment, fish reduced the abundance of neonate snails, and crabs reduced the abundance of all size classes. The effect of the combined predators could not be predicted from the mortality rate observed in single predator treatments. The survival of neonate and medium-sized snails was greater and of adults less than expected. The presence of predators did not affect egg production. Snails consumed significant amounts of plants despite the presence of predators. 5. Our findings suggest that some indigenous Asian predators have lethal and sublethal effects on P. canaliculata that depend on snail size and predator type. When in the presence of several predators the response of snails to one predator may either increase or decrease the vulnerability of snails to the others.
Citation: Hall, Steve and McLean, Craig (2009) A tale of two capitalisms: preliminary spatial and historical comparisons of homicide rates in Western Europe

This article examines comparative homicide rates in the United States and Western Europe in an era of increasingly globalized neoliberal economics. The main finding of this preliminary analysis is that historical and spatial correlations between distinct forms of political economy and homicide rates are consistent enough to suggest that social democratic regimes are more successful at fostering the sociocultural conditions necessary for reduced homicide rates. Thus Western Europe and all continents and nations should approach the importation of American neo-liberal economic policies with extreme caution. The article concludes by suggesting that the indirect but crucial causal connection between political economy and homicide rates, prematurely pushed into the background of criminological thought during the ‘cultural turn’, should be returned to the foreground.
Market Design with Centralized Wind Power Management: Handling Low-predictability in Intraday Markets

Abstract This paper evaluates the benefits for an agent managing the wind power production within a given power system to trade in the intraday electricity markets, in a context of massive penetration of intermittent renewables. Using a simple analytical model we find out that there are situations when it will be costly for this agent to adjust its positions in intraday markets. A first key factor is of course the technical flexibility of the power system: if highly flexible units provide energy at very low prices in real-time there is no point in participating into intraday markets. Besides, we identify the way wind production forecast errors evolve constitutes another essential, although less obvious, key-factor. Both the value of the standard error and the correlation between forecasts errors at different gate closures will determine the strategy of the wind power manager. Policy implications of our results are the following: low liquidity in intraday markets will be unavoidable for given sets of technical parameters, it will also be inefficient in some cases to set discrete auctions in intraday markets, and compelling players to adjust their position in intraday markets will then generate additional costs.
Diversity and Community Structure of Littoral Zone Macroinvertebrates in Southern Illinois Reclaimed Surface Mine Lakes

Abstract Surface mine lakes are common in parts of the Midwest, but little is known about the communities that inhabit them or the factors shaping them. Our objectives were to: (1) characterize littoral zone macroinvertebrate communities in surface mine lakes; (2) identify factors that influence macroinvertebrate diversity and community structure; and (3) examine the utility of some commonly used bioassessment metrics to assess habitat quality based on macroinvertebrates. Fourteen lakes on a 1133 ha parcel in southern Illinois were sampled in spring 2003 using a dip net that was swept over two (small lakes) or three (large lakes) littoral zone transects. Three hundred macroinvertebrates were randomly removed from each sample and identified. Stepwise multiple regressions were used to examine relationships between several physicochemical and biological variables and macroinvertebrates. Oligochaetes were typically the most abundant taxon, followed by Hyalella, Chironomidae, Physella and Caenis. Seventy percent of the macroinvertebrates collected from the lakes were predators, while collector-gatherers and scrapers constituted 20% and 9%, respectively. Macroinvertebrate richness was positively related to sunfish abundance and macrophyte cover (R2 = 0.91, P = 0.001). Simpson diversity was positively related to lake area, percent rock and gravel substrates and simazine concentration and negatively related to bank slope and transparency (R2 = 0.92, P = 0.0003). Richness and diversity metrics, % Oligochaeta, % Chironomidae, % insect taxa and % dominance varied across lakes, while a Hilsenhoff index and the EPT index appeared less useful for biological assessments in these habitats. Results indicate that macroinvertebrate communities in these lakes are typical of littoral habitats in other lentic systems and that macroinvertebrate diversity might be enhanced during creation and management of these systems by manipulating coarse mineral substrates and vegetation.
Measuring the return on investment in international assignments: an action research approach

This article progresses the debate on the under-researched topic of return on investment (ROI) in international assignments by complementing and extending recent research streams on the conceptual understanding and challenging nature of measuring ROI. The study reported in this article applies an action research methodology. Working in close collaboration with nine multinational companies, a set of metrics were developed to explore and gauge the ROI of international assignments. An in-depth exploration of the assignment purpose and individual and organizational outcomes over time highlights the importance of context and the dynamic nature of the task of assessing ROI. These themes have significant implications for international assignment strategy policy and practice. Insights from an action research perspective are discussed.
Spectral bounds for the connectivity of regular graphs with given order

The second-largest eigenvalue and second-smallest Laplacian eigenvalue of a graph are measures of its connectivity. These eigenvalues can be used to analyze the robustness, resilience, and synchronizability of networks, and are related to connectivity attributes such as the vertex- and edge-connectivity, isoperimetric number, and characteristic path length. In this paper, two upper bounds are presented for the second-largest eigenvalues of regular graphs and multigraphs of a given order which guarantee a desired vertex- or edge-connectivity. The given bounds are in terms of the order and degree of the graphs, and hold with equality for infinite families of graphs. These results answer a question of Mohar.
Convex incentives in financial markets: an agent-based analysis

We investigate whether convex incentive contracts are a source of instability of financial markets as indicated by the results of a continuous double-auction asset market experiment performed by Holmen et al. (J Econ Dyn Control 40:179–194, 2014). We develop a model to replicate the setting of the experiment and perform an agent-based simulation where agents have linear or convex incentives. Extending the simulation by varying features of actual asset markets that were not studied in the experiment, our main results show that increasing the number of convex incentive contracts increases prices and volatility and decreases market liquidity, measured both as bid–ask spreads and volumes. We also observe that the influence of risk aversion on traders’ decisions decreases when there are convex contracts and that increasing the differences in initial wealth among the traders has similar effects as increasing number of convex incentive contracts.
Continuous Signaling within Partitions: Capital Structure and the FIFO/LIFO Choice

This paper considers a setting in which managers have private information about the values of their firms and can communicate it to uninformed investors through the use of two signals: capital structure and inventory accounting method. We show conditions under which a separating equilibrium with debt alone does not exist. The two-signal equilibrium involves a partitioned separation in which the highest quality firms choose FIFO and the lower quality firms choose LIFO, and all firms then distinguish themselves within these two partitions through capital structure choices. The analysis helps to explain the many observed empirical regularities about firms' capital structure choices and LIFO/FIFO choices and, in addition, produces numerous testable predictions about the relation between capital structure and inventory accounting method.
Bradykinin-stimulated cyclooxygenase activity stimulates porcine and human vas deferens epithelial anion secretion in vitro

Epithelia lining the male reproductive duct modulate fertility by altering the luminal environment to which sperm are exposed. Although vas deferens epithelial cells reportedly express high levels of cyclooxygenases (Ptgs), and activation of bradykinin (BK) receptors can lead to upregulation of PTGS activity in epididymal epithelia, it remains unknown whether BKs and/or PTGSs have 5 any role in modulating epithelial ion transport across vas deferens epithelia. Porcine and human vas deferens epithelial cell primary cultures and the PVD9902 cell line responded to lysylbradykinin with an increase in short circuit current (Isc; indicating net anion secretion), an effect that was 60-93% reduced by indomethacin. The BK effect was inhibited by the B2 receptor subtype (BDKRB2) antagonist HOE140, while the B1 receptor subtype agonist des10 Arg-BK had no effect. BDKRB2 immunoreactivity was documented in most epithelial cells composing the native epithelium and on Western blots derived from cultured cells. Gene expression analysis revealed that the PTGS2 transcript is 20 times more abundant than its PTGS1 counterpart in cultured porcine vas deferens epithelia and that BDKRB2 mRNA is likewise highly expressed. Subsequent experiments revealed that prostaglandin E2, 1-OH prostaglandin 15 E1 (prostaglandin E receptor 4 [PTGER4] agonist) and butaprost (PTGER2 agonist) increase Isc in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas sulprostone (mixed PTGER1 and PTGER3 agonist) produced no change in Isc. These results demonstrate that autacoids can affect epithelial cells to acutely modulate the luminal environment to which sperm are exposed in the vas deferens by enhancing PTGS activity leading to the production of prostaglandins that act at 20 PTGER4 and/or PTGER2 to induce or enhance anion secretion.
Effect of Duration of Stacking on the Nutritional Profile of Sorghum Spent Grain and the Effects of its Dietary Inclusion on the Performance of Broilers

Fresh Sorghum spent grain (SSG) from local beer commonly called Dussa collected from local production centers was divided into three parts to evaluate the effect of duration of stacking on the nutrient profile and the effects of its subsequent dietary inclusion on the performance of broiler chickens. One part of the SSG was sundried fresh to obtain fresh sun dried SSG (FSSG), the second part was sundried after stacking for 48 hours to obtain (STK48) while the third part was sundried after stacking for 72 hours to obtain STK72. The differently processed SSG was analyzed for the proximate composition and thereafter included in broiler feeds. Seven experimental diets were formulated with diet 1 serving as the control without sorghum spent grain. Each treatment consists of two levels (i.e. 15 and 30% inclusion). Diets 2, 4 and 6 had 15% fresh, STK48 and STK72 inclusion respectively, Diets 3, 5and 7 had 30% fresh, STK48 and STK72 respectively. 140 day old arbor acre strain of broilers was used for the experiment. The birds were randomly assigned to seven dietary treatments after weight balancing. The treatments were replicated four times at the rate of five birds per replicate to make 20 birds per treatment in a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment in a factorial arrangement. The results of the processing showed a slight numerical variations on the nutrient composition of sorghum spent grain (SSG) as the stacking period’s increases (Crude protein rose from 20.52 (FSSG) to 21.17 for STK72, while thefibre did not show noticeable reduction. Broilers fed fresh sun dried SSG had highest (P<0.05) final weight (1.81kg) while the birds fed STK72 had the lowest (P<0.05), (1.56kg). Effect of inclusion levels shows higher performance (1.80kg) at 15% inclusion and the least value (1.57kg) was observed at 30% inclusion compare with the control diet (1.70kg). The processing methods and inclusion levels had a negative interaction effect on the final weight gain, daily weight gain but positive effect (reduction in feed intake as the stacking and inclusion levels increased) on daily feed intake of the broilers at STK72 and 30% inclusion level. It could be concluded that, up to 15% inclusion of SSG and freshly sundried SSG can be used in the diet of broilers without adverse effects on performance.
Comparing Direct and Extended Contact in Cyprus

Examining the victim’s causal attributions and attribution style associated with sexual abuse may add to the understanding of how survivors make meaning of such experiences and create the related narratives. Through the use of optimism in narrative therapy, the survivor is encouraged to deconstruct the dominant story of being a victim and making new, personal meanings in order to broaden the possibility for other plot-lines and preferred stories with the problems related to sexual abuse being attributed to external, unstable and specific factors. By using the questions that the authors of this paper propose, the therapist can help to deconstruct their dominant stories and create a more optimistic subjugated story.
Large eddy simulation of flow over a twisted cylinder at a subcritical

The wavy cylinder has a sinusoidal variation in cross sectional area along the spanwise direction and the twisted cylinder has been newly designed by rotating the elliptic cross section along the spanwise direction, so that the cylinder surface has a twisted spiral pattern. A twisted cylinder is investigated to observe the effect of twisted spiral pattern of the flow fields. It guarantees the accuracy of the present numerical methods that the excellent comparisons with previous studies for the cases of a smooth circular cylinder. The effect of surface torsion which is newly designed in here has been predicted and assessed in terms of the mean drag and root-mean-square (RMS) value of fluctuating lift at the subcritical Reynolds number of 3000. Subsequently, the mechanisms of enhancing the aerodynamic performance and passive control of vortexinduced vibrations are also investigated by careful analysis with the flow structures. The iso-surface of swirling strength has been imposed to identify the vortical structures in the turbulent wake. Key-Words: Twisted cylinder, Large eddy simulation, Subcritical Reynolds number, Drag, Lift, Passive control
Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes: Current Knowledge and Newer Concepts

Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) is a rare but devastating event for the athlete’s family and for the community and occurs most often during sport activity. The prevalence of SCD ranges from 1 per 50,000 to 1 per 200,000 athletes per year. The risk seems higher in the athletes than in the non-athlete population, higher in men than in women and higher in competitive athletes than in non-professional athletes. The mechanisms of SCD was believed until recently to be the result of interactions of an underlying undetected heart disease with a number of acute and transient triggering factors. In athletes over 35 years of age, coronary artery disease is the dominant cause. In athletes younger than 35 years, congenital anomalies, inherited syndromes related to channelopathies are common associated conditions. Recently experimental evidence and clinical observations lead to believe that heavy and prolonged exercise may induce changes primarily in the right ventricular structure that mimic the familial arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. The origin of these changes could not be ascribed to a genetic predisposition only and requires further investigation Preparticipation screening of athletes at risk and its cost-effectiveness is still the subject of debate because of the lack of evidence-based data. Detection of athletes at risk implies for detected individuals restriction regarding sports practice or /and competition. Despite these limitations, several scientific societies from both sides of the Atlantic have issued guidelines on the recommended work-up for detecting athletes at risk of SCD and on sports restriction which are discussed here.