Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lessons from the Asian Crisis: An Open Economy Credit Channel Model where Export Status Matters *

There are some surprising parallels between the 1997-8 Asian crisis and the recent financial crisis that provide lessons for policymakers. This paper provides a theoretical model of an open economy credit channel including currency mismatch and financial fragility where exporting firms have access to international credit but non-exporting firms do not. We propose three channels through which exporters and non-exporters are affected by the crisis. We test and confirm the predictions of the model on a panel of Korean firms over the sample 1990–2006. As our model predicts, exporters are more likely to obtain foreign currency loans and experience significantly higher sales after the crisis compared to non-exporters.
Positive factorizations of mapping classes

In this article, we study the maximal length of positive Dehn twist factorizations of surface mapping classes. In connection to fundamental questions regarding the uniform topology of symplectic 4-manifolds and Stein fillings of contact 3-manifolds coming from the topology of supporting Lefschetz pencils and open books, we completely determine which boundary multitwists admit arbitrarily long positive Dehn twist factorizations along nonseparating curves, and which mapping class groups contain elements admitting such factorizations. Moreover, for every pair of positive integers g,n, we tell whether or not there exist genus-g Lefschetz pencils with n base points, and if there are, what the maximal Euler characteristic is whenever it is bounded above. We observe that only symplectic 4-manifolds of general type can attain arbitrarily large topology regardless of the genus and the number of base points of Lefschetz pencils on them.
Relationship between physical activity , muscle strength and body composition in a sample of nursing students

Background: Regular physical activity promotes health and quality of life, and contributes to the prevention of chronic noncommunicable diseases. Objectives: To assess the physical activity level (PAL) and its relationship with sociodemographic variables, muscle strength tests, and body composition. Methodology: Analytical cross-sectional study. PAL was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), muscle strength using leg press and dynamometry, and body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Results: The sample was mostly composed of female participants (76.7%). The mean age of participants was 21 years. Students (n=86) had low (58.1%), moderate (29.1%), and high (12.8%) PALs. An association was found between PAL and gender (.013) and some strength tests, namely right and left handgrip (p=.000; p=.005) and peak isometric quadriceps strength (p=.010). PAL influenced the amount of lean and fat body mass (p=.012; p=.042). Conclusion: The profile of the more physically active students showed increased muscle strength and mass, and a lower percent body fat. These are relevant indicators of the health of the population under analysis.
Metabolic syndrome in patients with chronic plaque psoriatic disease: a case-control study from western Uttar Pradesh, India

Background: Various studies on psoriasis and metabolic syndrome have shown a large variation in their results. An increasing frequency is imposing a substantial burden on the overall health of psoriasis patients that needs to be appropriately foreseen and addressed. Aim of this study was to study various aspects of metabolic syndrome in patients with chronic plaque psoriatic disease in northern Indian region. Methods: A cohort of patients registering for treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis at Dermatology outpatients’ department formed the study population. Detailed history was captured. General physical examination was carried out. A thorough cutaneous examination was undertaken which captured details on type, distribution and arrangement of primary lesions and secondary changes in patients. After overnight fasting, venous blood samples were collected from the subjects and were analysed for serum glucose, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol. Results: Metabolic syndrome in psoriasis was associated with higher age. Gender wise male preponderance was observed. Among the psoriasis cases, 64% had metabolic syndrome whereas among the control subjects 48% had the condition (p-value 0.158). The mean for serum triglyceride level for psoriasis patients (159.42 mg/dL) was higher than controls (144.25 mg/dL). Forty six percent of cases fulfilled elevated triglycerides ≥150 mg/dl as a criterion of metabolic syndrome, compared to 40% of controls. Conclusions: We observed a higher frequency of metabolic syndrome among psoriasis cases in a northern Indian population. An association of dyslipidemia with psoriasis was also noted. Routine screening of the condition to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment should be undertaken.
Moral Intuitions of Promise Keeping

Promises are a pervasive and important feature of real-world economic exchange situations. We investigate lay people(cid:146)s intuition of promise keeping. We study the e⁄ect of mutual promises, the dynamic of promising and performance over time, the e⁄ect of continuous as opposed to binary performance decisions, the e⁄ect of income, and the role the receipt of a promise plays on promise-keeping. Assuming that law serves as a backstop of moral intuitions, our results cast some light on the mutuality requirement, on the doctrine of substantial performance, doctrines of divisible obligations, and doctrines of contract formation.
Incomplete Financial Markets: Volatility and Transaction Costs

This paper studies the set of competitive equilibria in financial economies with intermediation costs. We consider an arbitrary dividend structure, which includes options and equity with limited liabilities. We show a general existence result and upper-hemi continuity of the equilibrium correspondence. Finally, we prove that when intermediation costs approach zero, unbounded volume of asset trades is a necessary and sufficient condition, provided that, there is no financial equilibrium without intermediation costs. JEL classification:. D41; D52; D53;
Breeding male grey seals exhibit similar activity budgets across varying exposures to human activity.

Human-wildlife interactions can be incidental or direct through activities such as wildlife tourism. In the presence of anthropogenic activities, some animals exhibit behavioural alterations such as increased vigilance or spatial displacement. Thus, chronic exposure could be adverse to individual fitness through loss of energy or time. Pinnipeds are exposed to human activities in the aquatic environment and on land, but the degree of exposure varies across a species’ geographic distribution. For example, breeding colonies of grey seals Halichoerus grypus along the mainland coast of England are exposed to anthropogenic disturbance in the forms of tourism and military activities; however, many offshore colonies are relatively undisturbed. Due to the recent expansion of mainland colonies, the impacts of human presence during the breeding season are of urgent interest for managers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test for any behavioural adjustments associated with anthropogenic presence by comparing the activity budgets of individual male grey seals at a mainland colony with activity budgets from 2 isolated colonies. We found no evidence of differences in the male activity budgets for time spent in non-active behaviours across colonies, and of the 3 colonies, males on the mainland spent the least amount of time alert. This indicates that as capital breeders, selection for conservation of energy is potentially overriding short-term costs of local stressors or that males at the mainland colony have habituated to human presence. Our results demonstrate the importance of understanding species- and lifehistory-stage-specific selection pressures when considering management actions.
Asteroseismology of red giants from the first four months of Kepler data: Fundamental stellar parameters

Context. Clear power excess in a frequency range typical for solar-type oscillations in red giants has been detected in more than 1000 stars, which have been observed during the first 138 days of the science operation of the NASA Kepler satellite. This sample includes stars in a wide mass and radius range with spectral types G and K, extending in luminosity from the bottom of the giant branch up to high-luminous red giants, including the red bump and clump. The high-precision asteroseismic observations with Kepler provide a perfect source for testing stellar structure and evolutionary models, as well as investigating the stellar population in our Galaxy. Aims. We aim to extract accurate seismic parameters from the Kepler time series and use them to infer asteroseismic fundamental parameters from scaling relations and a comparison with red-giant models. Methods. We fit a global model to the observed power density spectra, which allows us to accurately estimate the granulation background signal and the global oscillation parameters, such as the frequency of maximum oscillation power. We find regular patterns of radial and non-radial oscillation modes and use a new technique to automatically identify the mode degree and the characteristic frequency separations between consecutive modes of the same spherical degree. In most cases, we can also measure the small separation between l = 0, 1, and 2 modes. Subsequently, the seismic parameters are used to estimate stellar masses and radii and to place the stars in an H-R diagram by using an extensive grid of stellar models that covers a wide parameter range. Using Bayesian techniques throughout our entire analysis allows us to determine reliable uncertainties for all parameters. Results. We provide accurate seismic parameters and their uncertainties for a large sample of red giants and determine their astero
Seasonal and interannual variations in the abundance of jellyfish in a southern coastal waters of Iyo-Nada, Japan: Influence of cyclonic gyre transport

The longterm data on daily abundance of jellyfish (mostly Aurelia aurita) trapped in the intake gates of the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant on the south coast of the central part of Iyo-Nada in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan was examined for a 14-year period (April 1998 to March 2012) in relation to environmental variables, i.e. temperature, salinity, and residual current, of which the last was measured in February, May, August and November. The jellyfish abundance, expressed as wet weight, generally increased in April, reached a maximum in September, markedly decreased from October to November, and was very low or null from December to March. The annual mean jellyfish abundance varied markedly. The interannual variations in the monthly mean jellyfish abundance were not signifi- cantly correlated with water temperature or salinity in any month, while correlations with eastward velocity of the residual current in May and August were generally significantly positive. These results indicate that the jellyfish population at the study site had been introduced from the Hayasui strait about 25 km westward, where jellyfish were more abundant. Since the eastward residual current is considered as a part of the cyclonic gyre in Iyo-Nada during the warm, stratification period, it is inferred that the strength of the cyclonic gyre is the main factor affecting seasonal and interannual variations in jellyfish abundance along the south coast of Iyo-Nada.
Chemotaxonomy and Numerical Taxonomy of the Genus Nocardiopsis Meyer 1976

A total of 15 strains of the genus Nocardiopsis were characterized chemotaxonomically and physiologically in an attempt to resolve their taxonomy. These strains fell into two taxa, which differed in cell wall composition and menaquinone, phospholipid, and fatty acid patterns. Ten of the strains assessed in this study belong to the genus Nocardiopsis and can be assigned to five species on the basis of their physiology. Nocardiopsis dassonvillei subsp. dassonvillei is heterogeneous; N. dassonvillei remains centered on the type strain (strain DSM 43111), and the remaining strains form a new subspecies, Nocardiopsis albus subsp. albus sp. nov. (type strain, strain DSM 43377). The former N. dassonvillei subsp. prasina is recognized as a close relative of the latter organism and is designated N. albus subsp. prasina comb. nov. Two formerly misclassified species of the genus Actinomyces not on the Approved Lists are revived as Nocardiopsis alborubidus sp. nov. and Nocardiopsis listeri sp. nov. The remaining five Nocardiopsis species (Nocardiopsis coeruleofusca, Nocardiopsis flava, Nocardiopsis longispora, Nocardiopsis mutabilis, and Nocardiopsis syringae) appear to be misclassified, and, on the basis of their similarities to the type species Saccharothrix australiensis, reclassification in the genus Saccharothrix should be considered. Nocardiopsis atra and Nocardiopsis africana were not included in this study.
Industry Productivity, Infrastructure and Road Transport Liberalization in Europe

In this paper we assess the impact of both the highways network and the degree of regulation in the road freight sector on industry productivity by estimating a Cobb-Douglas production function on a panel of twenty one manufacturing and service sectors of eleven EU countries observed over the period 1980-2003. The production function estimates suggest that the highways network elasticity � ��
Auralisation of truck engine sound – preliminary results using a granular approach

There is an interest in night-time delivery using heavy duty vehicles, motivated by a potential alleviation in traffic flow and congestion during daytime. The current project focuses on urban environments and the sound indoors due to delivery vehicles. Recent work within auralization of road traffic has shown significant progress (e.g. [1-6]). However, to the knowledge of the authors, the source modelling of heavy duty road vehicles are currently lacking in auralization models.
THE PERFORMANCE OF CASSAVA FLOUR AS A WATER-REDUCING ADMIXTURE FOR CONCRETE

The performance of cassava flour as a water reducing admixture in concrete was investigated. Four concrete mixes of widely differing water/cement ratios were made and each of the mixes contained three different dosage levels of cassava flour as admixture. The properties tested include workability of the fresh concrete, saturated density and compressive strength of the hardened concrete. These properties were compared with those of similar concrete mixes made without admixture. It was observed that cassava flour has appreciable fluidifying action in the fresh concrete so that, under appropriate conditions, it either considerably improved the workability of the fresh concrete at normal water content or permitted a water reduction of at least 8% to be made while maintaining a given workability. Results of the tests also show that the 28 day compressive strength of concretes containing cassava flour admixture is higher than those of control concretes and that the compressive strength values obtained at 28 days exceeded those to be expected from water reduction alone.
Gaussian to Exponential Crossover in the Attenuation of Polarization Echoes in NMR

An ingenious pulse sequence devised by Zhang, S. , Meier, B. H. , and Ernst, R. R. , 1992, Phys. Rev. Lett. , 69, 2149 reverses the time evolution (‘spin diffusion’) of the local polarization in a dipolar coupled 1H spin system. This refocusing originates a polarization echo, whose amplitude attenuates by increasing the time t R elapsed until the dynamics are reversed. Different functional attenuations are found for a set of dipolar coupled systems: ferrocene, (C5H5)2Fe, cymantrene, (C5H5)Mn(CO)3, and cobaltocene, (C5H5)2Co. To control a relevant variable involved in this attenuation a pulse sequence has been devised to progressively reduce the dipolar dynamics. Since it reduces the evolution of the polarization echo it is referred to as the REPE sequence. Two extreme behaviours were found while characterizing the materials. In systems with a strong source of relaxation and slow dynamics the attenuation follows an exponential law (cymantrene). In systems with strong dipolar dynamics the attenuation is mainly .
A Comparative Analysis of the returns on Provincial and Federal Canadian Bonds

Our empirical analysis unveils a striking uniformity between the returns of Canadian federal and provincial bonds. Furthermore, the return spreads between these debt instruments are shown to be white noise. Relying on tests for mean-variance spanning, we also show that market participants are unlikely to benefit from expanding portfolios of federal bonds with debt securities issued by the Canadian provinces.
Tracer Tests Using Naphthalene Di-Sulfonates in Mindanao Geothermal Production Field, Philippines

Complete injection of hot brine from separators has been practiced in Mindanao Geothermal Production Field (MGPF) since 1997. About 200 kg/s of brine is injected into Matingao (MT) re-injection wells and more than 150 kg/s of brine is injected into Kullay (KL) re-injection wells both located at the outflow area of the geothermal system. As early as middle of 1998, significant increase in chloride and other chemical components have been noted in discharge fluids of production wells close to the injection sectors. To establish fluid breakthrough in the production area from the re-injection wells, tracer tests using naphthalene di-sulphonates (NDS) were conducted. Four hundred kilograms of 1,6-NDS and 400 kilograms of 2,6NDS were injected into wells MT2RD and KL1RD respectively. Well SK2D, the steam producer nearest to MT2RD in terms of bottom hole distance showed significant RI fluid breakthrough. Tracer returns in SK2D are about 20% based on simple one-dimensional flowchannel tracer transport model calculations. Production temperature predicted from cooling model of the well is matched with historical data and showed good conformity.
Personal and interpersonal factors with the inclination to relapse

This study aims to identify a relationship between the personal factor of coping; the interpersonal factors of familial, friend, and societal support and the inclination to relapse. This study involves the participation of 169 former addicts that completed their treatment and rehabilitation period, by utilising four instruments: the Inventory of Drug-Taking Situations, (IDTS) by Annis and Martin (1985); Coping Strategy Inventory (COPE) by Carver and the Social Provisions Scale (SPS) by Russell and Cutrona (1984). The findings shows the inclination to relapse among former addicts are at a high level for the eight dimensions of the inclination to relapse. This means the participants of this study are at a high risk of relapsing into drug use. The descriptive analytical results towards the problem-focused coping, the emotional coping and evasive coping variables show it at a low level. This also applies to the analysis for the family, friend, and societal support variables. In addition, the correlation analysis for the variables of problem-focused, emotional, and evasive coping, selfefficacy , and family, friend, and societal support, shows a negative significant relationship with the inclination to relapse, with the relationship strength between r=-. 60 and r=-. 80. Therefore this study shows the importance of the personal and interpersonal factors in reducing the problem of inclination to relapse among former addicts that completed their treatment and rehabilitation period. In conclusion, results show the importance of the personal and interpersonal factor in the problem of inclination to relapse.
International Statebuilding and the Ideology of Resilience

This article seeks to draw out the ideological nature of discourses of resilience, and traces their rise in international statebuilding approaches. It suggests that this shift to resilience follows disillusionment with liberal internationalist understandings that Western or international actors could resolve problems of development, democracy and peace through the export of liberal institutions. Interventionist discourses have increasingly stressed the importance of local capacities, vulnerabilities and agencies and, in doing so, have facilitated the evasion of Western responsibility for the outcomes of statebuilding interventions through problematising local practices and understandings as productive of risks and threats and as barriers to liberal progress.
Multiple links between species diversity and temporal stability in bird communities across North America

Background: In experimental systems, the temporal stability of entire ecological communities usually increases with the number of species (called ‘species richness’). In contrast, ecology has not discovered the pattern of stability with the complement of richness, which is evenness of species abundances. The job has been more difficult because many measures of species diversity combine richness with evenness. Questions: Does the correlation of richness with stability occur in natural systems? What is the relationship of evenness to stability? Does diversity increase or decrease the stability of individual species populations? What mechanisms explain the relationships, if any, between diversity and stability? Data: The 1966–2009 results of 1676 North American Breeding Bird (BBS) survey routes across the USA and Canada. Altogether, 617 bird species were registered with an average of 105 species observed per route. Climate variables were taken from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Climate Services Canada databases. Analytical methods: Disentangle richness from evenness and study their separate effects on stability. Perform statistical analysis of biological variables developed from the BBS data. Control for biological and climatic influences. Results: Both the number of bird species and the evenness of their distributions positively affect the stability of entire bird communities. But richness and evenness do so through a contrasting set of mechanisms. Also, richness and evenness both positively affect the stability of individual populations. The link between evenness and mean population stability can be partly, but not completely, explained in terms of a previously established relationship between the mean and variance of abundance known as Taylor’s Law.
Balanced Scorecard and Strategic Alignment: A Malaysian Case

The research is aimed at identifying patterns of implementation of regional programs for energy saving and increasing energy efficiency in the context of innovative development of the construction industry. Authors held a critical analysis of the existing regional programs in the field of energy saving, the development of proposals for improvement of existing and development of new energy efficiency programs for the building complex, including low-rise housing construction. The study applies economic and statistical methods as to establish quantitative relationships and evaluation of existing programs for the development of new instruments of territorial-sectoral development. The conclusions are made on the overall inefficiency of the implementation of existing regional programs on energy saving and energy efficiency, as well as the need to change them in terms of the introduction of industrial components. Implementation of the results can lead to performance improvement of both the regional energy efficiency programs, and the development of the construction industry. Keywords: construction industry, regional development, energy conservation, energy efficiency. JEL Classifications: R63, R11, Q48