Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parameter uncertainty analysis of common infiltration models

Water infiltration is a driving force influencing crop growth, soil erosion, and chemical leaching processes. Knowledge of the relative precision and accuracy of infiltration models is needed for best characterization of the infiltration parameters. The two-parameter GreenAmpt and Philip, three-parameter Horton, Mezencev, Swartzendruber, and Parlange et al., and four-parameter Barry et al. infiltration models were compared for their precision and accuracy of estimated parameter confidence intervals using simulated infiltration reference data. To account for potential levels of uncertainty, three levels of measurement error were included using a Monte Carlo analysis. Reference data were generated for a clay and a sandy loam soil using an adaptive-grid finite-element code. Results show that extending the measurement period provided parameter estimates with higher confidence, a more precise estimate of that confidence, and better defined minima in the objective function. The empirical Horton model resulted in the worst fits due to model bias, which also prevented estimation of parameter uncertainty for this model. The semianalytical Swartzendruber and the physically based Parlange et al. and Barry et al. models provided the best fits. Considering all selected criteria, the Swartzendruber model was a reasonable compromise under the conditions imposed in this study. M ANY APPROACHES have been presented to solve the problem of vertical infiltration of water into a homogeneous, semi-infinite soil. Youngs (1995) reviewed the historic development of infiltration theory including the classic solutions based on the Richards equation. Kutflek and Nielsen (1994, p. 140-159) presented a comprehensive review of analytical and empirical solutions. Typically, such parameterized solutions are fitted to measured infiltration data. The optimized parameters serve as a convenient, condensed description of the infiltration process. Moreover, model parameters can be used for predictive purposes, and physically based infiltration models allow estimation of soil hydraulic properties. Prediction uncertainty, inherent in model simulations, needs to be estimated and reported. It is caused by errors due to violation of assumptions implicit in the model and by uncertainty in the model parameters. When obtaining parameters by fitting measured data, the error of the fitting model will in general be unknown, but the parameter uncertainty as caused by measurement errors can be estimated using confidence intervals. This uncertainty estimate is derived from the objective function in the vicinity of the optimized parameter set, and is statistically accurate for linear fitting models with zero model error and independent measurements of known uncertainty (Press et al., 1992, p. 663). In con
Utilizing Electronic Reading Device (Kindle) in English as Foreign Language Reading Class

With the evolutionary change in information and communication technologies (ICT), the definition of literacy has undergone substantial change to include the skills and strategies required to successfully adapt to the rapidly changing ICT contexts. This new definition presents an urgent need to acknowledge the gap between the types of reading experiences students come across at school and those they regularly practice outside the school. One way to bridge such gap is to expand the reading instruction to incorporate electronic reading device, like Kindle, to engage students in electronic reading. Many e-books feature multimodal functionalities, including audio, video, hyperlinks, and interactive tools. Research on this form of reading is still in its infancy in spite of some positive prospects for fostering literacy development and reading comprehension. Therefore, adopting a mixed method approach with 36 college freshmen in central Taiwan, the current study intended to fill in the void by investigating any difference in readers’ reading comprehension and reading motivation, between the Kindle group and the print-based group. The results indicate that embedding aspects of technology into a traditional reading instruction boosted the participants’ motivation to read. Nevertheless, the novelty-driven enthusiasm for electronic reading might not sustain students’ reading motivation long enough to cultivate long-lasting reading habits. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in reading comprehension between two groups. Implications for utilizing electronic readers in EFL classes are also provided.
Assessment of Building Maintenance Projects Success Factors in Developing Countries

Building maintenance projects have been characterized by poor quality delivery, which leads to client dissatisfaction. The maintenance contractor’s personnel evolve around the uncertainties that surround maintenance decisions, which make the success of a maintenance project dicey. Hence, this study seeks to identify critical success factors that determine the performance outcome of building maintenance projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. A quantitative research approach was adopted for the study using a questionnaire survey for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for the analysis of the data collected. The findings of the study indicate that the eighteen identified factors can be grouped under six critical success factors named team integration and knowledge transfer, project learning and maintenance methodology, stakeholders’ early project assessment, planning and control, information and communication management within project stakeholders, and quality and risk control. The effective management of these factors will improve building maintenance project’s outcomes in Nigeria and adaptable for other similar developing countries.
A Synergy- and Value-based view of economic organization

In this paper we propose a synergy- and value-based view of economic organization. We argue that the decision on the governance mode for an activity must account for both the benefits generated by the activity as well as the costs caused by it. Moreover we argue that these costs and benefits of one activity do not exclusively depend on the governance mode of one single activity but on the whole bundle of activities a firm accomplishes and the governance modes used for this purposes. We review the fundamental concepts of the approach – activity bundles, value, and synergy – and show the difference to existing approaches by an numerical example. Possible applications, limiations, and opportunities for future research are discussed briefly.
Closed doors everywhere? A meta-analysis of field experiments on ethnic discrimination in rental housing markets

ABSTRACT Discrimination is long seen as a meaningful factor for ethnic inequalities on rental housing markets. Yet empirically, the extent of discrimination is still debatable. For the first time, this article provides a quantitative meta-analysis of field experiments (in person audits and correspondence tests) that were run over the last four decades in the United States, Canada and Europe (N = 71). Special focus is given to a possible inflation of effect sizes by publication bias; to time trends; and to evidence for statistical discrimination. Taken together, nearly all experiments document the occurrence of ethnic discrimination. Effect sizes are inflated by publication bias, but there is still substantial evidence left once the bias is removed. The analysis reveals a consistent decline in the extent of discrimination over time, from moderate levels of discrimination in the 1970s and 1980s, up to only small but still statistically significant levels in the 1990s and 2000s. A significant part of the discriminatory behaviour can be attributed to missing information about the social status of applicants, which supports theories on statistical discrimination. It is discussed how future research could move our knowledge on the underlying mechanisms forward.
The Theory of Relative ‐ Price Changes , Money , and Demand Factors

Concentrating on the period of quantitative easing in Japan,this paper re-examines the correlation between the asymmetry of sectoral relative-price changes and the aggregate inflation rate proposed by Ball and Mankiw (1995). While this correlation is widely interpreted as evidence that short-run inflation is determined by supply-side factors, we study whether monetary environment and aggregate demand can explain this correlation, as well as the inflation rate. Using producer price index data, we first show that the positive and significant effect of relative-price change asymmetries on inflation is not robust with respect to various indicators of asymmetry. Second, indicators of aggregate demand and monetary environment do affect the measures of asymmetries. Third, demand and monetary factors themselves play roles in explaining inflation. In our examination of the dynamic impact of various factors on inflation, we obtain robust evidence from impulse responses based on vector autoregressive models that demand and money influence inflation and that aggregate demand also affects the asymmetry of relative price-changes. Thus, for the quantitative easing period, we reject the claim that the recent disinflation/deflation period can be understood as primarily a supply-side phenomenon. Hiroyuki Ono TCER and Toyo University Faculty of Economics 5-28-20 Hakusan Bunkyo-ku, 112-8606 Tokyo, Japan hiroono@toyonet.toyo. ac.jp Bernd Hayo Philipps-University Marburg Universitaetsstr Faculty of Business Administration and Economics 24, D-35037 Marburg, Germany hayo@wiwi.uni-marburg.de
The Implementation of Reciprocal Teaching Technique to Improve the Students' Reading Comprehension Achievement

reciprocal . Populasi penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas tiga SMPN 2 natar. Penelitian ini menggunakan pre-test dan post-test satu kelompok dan para siswa diajar sebanyak tiga kali. Data dianalisa dengan menggunakan t-test Pengukuran Berulang . Pada pre-tes, nilai rata-rata adalah 52.74 dan menjadi 69.63 pada post test. Ini berarti bahwa ada peningkatan sebesar 16.89. Hasil t-test menunjukkan bahwa t-ratio lebih tinggi daripada t-table (16.698 > 2.042) dengan signifikan level p< 0.05 dan signifikan 2-tailed p=0.000. Dapat dikatakan bahwa teknik pembelajaran reciprocal dapat meningkatkan pemahaman membaca siswa dan memberikan tanggapan yang positif. Abstract reading comprehension and to identify the student response before and after being treated reciprocal teaching technique . The sample of the research was IX C as try out test and IX B as Experimental class. The study employed one group pretest and posttest design and the students were given three treatments. The data were obtained by using Repeated Measure t-test . In pre test, the mean score is 52.74 and it becomes 69.63 in post test. It means that there is an increase of 16.89 points. The result of t-test shows that t-ratio is higher than t-table (16.698 > 2.042) with the level of significant is p < 0.05 and significant two tail is p=0.000. It can be said that reciprocal teaching technique improves the VWXGHQWV¶(cid:3)UHDGLQJ(cid:3)FRPSUHKHQVLRQ(cid:3) and gives a positive response.
Do Mutual Funds Remain Persistent? Evidence from Pakistan

This study investigates the performance persistence of 78 mutual funds of Pakistan for the period 2009-2015. The sample period is divided into two sub-periods, based on movement of KSE 100 index closing value. A skilled manager is a manager who can outclass the market consistently during both sub-periods. This study first estimates outer performance, selectivity, market timing and volatility timing skills using Capital Asset Pricing Model. The results show absence of persistence regarding Jensen alpha, selectivity and market timing skill. The study is making novel contribution by investigating persistence in volatility timing skill. The result reveals week evidence of persistence for volatility timing skill under four-index model.
Financial Intermediation, House Prices, and the Welfare Effects of the U.S. Great Recession

This paper quantifies how the welfare costs of the U.S. Great Recession are distributed across borrowing and saving U.S. households. For this purpose, we use a calibrated dynamic general equilibrium model of housing and household debt with shocks to aggregate income and shocks to the financial intermediation sector. The model matches the boom-bust cycle in house prices, the dynamics of household mortgage debt, and the increase in wealth inequality observed in the U.S. between 2001-2013. We find larger welfare costs of the Great Recession for borrowers than for savers. Borrowers experience a larger drop in consumption than savers who relatively benefit from a redistribution of housing wealth during the recession. We show that the size of this redistribution mechanism would have been significantly lower if (i) mortgage spreads would have remained at the low pre-crisis levels during the recession or if (ii) aggregate leverage would have remained at pre-2001 levels.
Atmospheric Muon Neutrino Fraction above 1 GeV

A 2.1 ktonyr exposure of data from the Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven detector has yielded 72 atmospheric neutrino events with a vertex contained inside the fiducial volume and at least 0.95GeV of visible {hacek C}erenkov energy. The ratio of these two ratios ((muon li ke)/(tot al)){sub Data}/( (muonl i ke)/(tot al)){sub MC} was found to be 1.1{sup +0.07}{sub {minus}0.12}(stat) {plus_minus}0.11(syst) . The zenith angle dependence of this ratio of ratios is consistent with being flat. The region of sin{sup 2}(2{theta} ){gt}0.5 and {delta}m{sup 2}{gt}9.8{times}10{sup {minus}3} eV{sup 2} has been excluded to the 90{percent} confidence level for {nu}{sub {mu}}{r_arrow}{nu}{sub e} oscillations while the region of sin{sup 2}(2{theta} ){gt}0.7 and {delta}m{sup 2}{gt}1.5{times}10{sup {minus}2} eV{sup 2} has been excluded to the 90{percent} confidence level for {nu}{sub {mu}}{r_arrow}{nu}{sub {tau}} oscillations. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
M STARS IN THE TW HYA ASSOCIATION: STELLAR X-RAYS AND DISK DISSIPATION

To investigate the potential connection between the intense X-ray emission from young low-mass stars and the lifetimes of their circumstellar planet-forming disks, we have compiled the X-ray luminosities (LX) of M stars in the ∼8 Myr old TW Hya Association (TWA) for which X-ray data are presently available. Our investigation includes analysis of archival Chandra data for the TWA binary systems TWA 8, 9, and 13. Although our study suffers from poor statistics for stars later than M3, we find a trend of decreasing with decreasing Teff for TWA M stars, wherein the earliest-type (M0–M2) stars cluster near and then decreases, and its distribution broadens, for types M4 and later. The fraction of TWA stars that display evidence for residual primordial disk material also sharply increases in this same (mid-M) spectral type regime. This apparent anticorrelation between the relative X-ray luminosities of low-mass TWA stars and the longevities of their circumstellar disks suggests that primordial disks orbiting early-type M stars in the TWA have dispersed rapidly as a consequence of their persistent large X-ray fluxes. Conversely, the disks orbiting the very lowest-mass pre-MS stars and pre-MS brown dwarfs in the Association may have survived because their X-ray luminosities and, hence, disk photoevaporation rates are very low to begin with, and then further decline relatively early in their pre-MS evolution.
Structure of pond vegetation of a vereda in the Brazilian Cerrado

This is the first report on aquatic macrophytes in ponds of veredas (palm swamps) in the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna). We studied a pond in a vereda in Terenos, Mato Grosso do Sul state, central-western Brazil, during drought and flood periods to assess plant community structure and the relationship between species distribution and water depth. Sampling was carried out in five permanent transects, along which we placed sampling units of 1 m quadrats every 5 m. We estimated visually the relative cover of each species, bare ground, dead matter, and exposed water. We also measured water depth. We recorded 77 species of 49 genera and 31 families. The number of species varied between seasons, and in the rainy season the amphibious life form was predominant. The richest families were Poaceae (15 species), Cyperaceae (11), Asteraceae (4) and Lentibulariaceae (4). The richest genera were Rhynchospora (4), Utricularia (4), Eleocharis (4), Aeschynomene (3), Bacopa (3), Ludwigia (3) and Panicum (3). We found six new occurrences for the cerrado. Eleocharis acutangula had the highest relative cover (rainy and dry seasons), followed by Bacopa reflexa (rainy season), Paspalum lenticulare (rainy and dry seasons), Leersia hexandra (rainy and dry seasons), and Sagittaria rhombifolia (rainy season). Some species were distributed mainly at shallower depths, others occurred in deeper water, whereas some species varied greatly in terms of depth. Heliotropium filiforme and Ludwigia nervosa were found only in the dry season. In the rainy season, as expected, the exclusive species were mostly true aquatics.
Determinants of the Levels of Development Based on the Human Development Index: A Comparison of Regression Models for Limited Dependent Variables

This paper aims to examine the factors affecting the level of development of countries using various regression models for limited dependent variables including binary logit, probit and Tobit analyses. In this manner, the paper may suggest a road map for high developed countries to achieve very high developed levels. For this purpose, Human Development Indices of 84 countries were involved in the analysis with respect to nine independent variables. The results of the all regression models indicates that determinants including life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling, labour force participation rate (female-male ratio), and GDP per capita have statistically significant effects on the level of development.
Formation of proto-clusters and star formation within clusters: apparent universality of the initial mass function?

Context. It is believed that the majority of stars form in clusters. Therefore it is likely that the gas physical conditions that prevail in forming clusters largely determine the properties of stars that form, in particular, the initial mass function (IMF). Aims. We develop an analytical model to account for the formation of low-mass clusters and the formation of stars within clusters. Methods. The formation of clusters is determined by an accretion rate, the virial equilibrium, as well as energy and thermal balance. For this, both molecular and dust cooling are considered using published rates. The star distribution is computed within the cluster using the physical conditions inferred from this model and the Hennebelle & Chabrier theory.
Measuring Concentration and Competition in the U.S. Nonprofit Sector: Implications for Research and Public Policy

Abstract In an era of dramatic financial challenges, pressure is growing for U.S. nonprofit organizations to consolidate. Yet, we know little about the current concentration of the sector and even less about the degree of competition in various nonprofit subsectors. In this paper we offer a detailed analysis of concentration patterns across the sector and analyze variations in these patterns by subsector and metropolitan areas. It is well known that measuring concentration is not identical to assessing effective competition and is but a starting point for a more thorough competitive analysis. An important distinction is made between the concentration of resources within larger subsector organizations and inequality in the distribution of resources across those organizations. Some subsectors may be concentrated yet behave competitively because resources are distributed relatively equally among several large organizations. By contrast, other concentrated subsectors may behave less competitively because resources are very unequally controlled by a few organizations. Understanding the patterns of both concentration and inequality in the nonprofit sector is likely a prerequisite to drawing defensible conclusions about the degrees of competition in the sector and the desirability of further consolidation. This analysis has implications for both public policy and philanthropy. It bears on the issues of whether antitrust policy should be forcefully applied to the nonprofit sector, whether government funding programs should encourage nonprofit consolidation or competition, and whether philanthropic institutions should implore nonprofit organizations to consolidate further or to compete more vigorously.
Assessing the profitability of small scale local shea butter processing: Empirical evidence from Kaleo in the Upper West region of Ghana

Abstract This paper assesses profitability of small scale local shea butter production in Ghana. The study used cross-sectional data from 110 sampled shea butter processors randomly selected from Kaleo in the Upper West region of Ghana. Profitability methods such as gross margins, net incomes and net returns on investments of production units were employed to evaluate the profitability of shea butter producers. Simple linear regression model was also employed to estimate identified determinants of profitability using gross margin as the dependent variable. The results showed that shea butter making in the study area is profitable with positive average values of gross margins, net incomes and net returns on investments. Access to market information, access to credit, length of production cycle (time), savings, experience and household size were found to be significant determinants of gross margin. It is recommended that existing producer groups/cooperatives where members interact to gain understanding of the market trend besides, negotiations on prices and other terms of trade should be strengthened to attract more members, prioritize business-development through routine training and also explore market opportunities both locally and internationally. Furthermore, microcredit and financial institutions should develop low cost lending models in order to provide affordable credit to small scale local shea butter processors in Ghana.
A Note on heights in certain infinite extensions of Q

— We study the behaviour of the absolute Weil height of algebraic numbers in certain infinite extensions of Q. In particular, we obtain a Northcott type property for infinite abelian extensions of finite exponent and also a Bogomolov type property for certain fields which are a p-adic analog of totally real fields. Moreover, we obtain a non-archimedean analog of a uniform distribution theorem of Bilu in the archimedean case.