Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ON THE DEFINITION OF MACRO-SCALE PRESSURE FOR MULTI-PHASE FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA

Micro-scale models have proven to be powerful theoretical tools in groundwater flow and transport modelling. In addition to being useful in estimating traditional parameters, such as (relative) permeability and capillary pressure functions, micro-scale models have recently provided insight into complex multi-phase flow phenomena, such as the so-called dynamic capillary pressure, and are central in investigating theoretical developments in multi-phase flow modelling. To transfer the results of a micro-scale model to larger scales, a proper definition of macro-scale variables in terms of micro-scale quantities is crucial. One such variable is the pressure. Traditionally, macro-scale pressure of a given phase is defined in terms of the intrinsic phase average; i.e. the average of micro-scale pressure weighted by the volume of the phase. We show, by averaging of micro-scale momentum equations, that the macro-scale pressure in the Darcy equation, which we term the Darcy pressure, is not necessarily the intrinsic phase average of its micro-scale equivalent. This will be the case if there are gradients of porosity or saturation in the system, and these gradients lead to non-negligible changes on the scale of the averaging volume. We have formulated a modified interpretation of macro-scale pressure. The implications of this modification for parameters on the macro-scale are significant, in particular for dynamic relative permeability and capillary pressure. We show that recent interpretations of dynamic capillary pressure can change significantly when this modified definition of macro-scale pressure is used. We also show, through simple example calculations, that inadmissible relative permeability values (e.g. values larger than 1) can result when using the standard average to define macro-scale phase pressures, but that no such problems arise with the new Darcy pressure. These simple calculations also imply that dynamic capillary pressure effects may arise with the standard average, which do not appear with the new pressure definition.
Effects of Corporate Governance on Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure among Listed Firms in Nigeria

This study examined the effects of corporate governance (CG) mechanisms on corporate social and environmental disclosure (CSED) among firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Forty firms were selected for the study using judgmental sampling technique. A content analysis of information in the corporate annual reports and websites of the selected firms for the period 2006-2010 provided data for the study. CSED was measured using 50 items of information and CG mechanisms examined were CEO duality, Board size, proportion of nonexecutive directors and audit size. Data obtained were analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. Findings revealed a significant negative relationship between CEO duality and CSED; and significant positive relationships between proportion of non- executive directors, board size, audit size and CSED. The study concluded that an effective board with higher number of non executive directors (independent directors) and larger size and higher quality audits will be more supportive of firms disclosing a wider range of information to stakeholders including social and environmental information.
Noise Traders? Trigger Rates, FX Options, and Smiles

A contingent claims valuation model which allows to highlight the implications of program trading in spot markets for the pricing of European-style foreign currency options and for the volatility strike structure implicit in these contracts is devoloped. The curvature of the volatility strike structure is explained by focusing attention on the expected aggregate net volume and direction of standing orders executed when the exchange rate reaches certain implicit price barriers triggering program traders to reallocate financial wealth. The valuation framework allows to endogenously reproduce the characteristic convex shape of volatility strike structures documented in the empirical literature. A volatility-based test for implicit price barriers in foreign exchange markets is employed to examine whether empirical evidence supports the barriers hypothesis of the volatility strike structure proposed in the paper.
Segregation of foraging between two sympatric penguin species: does rate maximisation make the difference?

Macaroni Eudyptes chrysolophus and gentoo Pygoscelis papua penguins occur sympatrically at Bird Island (54degrees00'S, 38degrees02'W), South Georgia, and have a similar diet. Macaroni penguins forage at shallower depths and further from the island than gentoo penguins. We tested the hypothesis that differences in the optimal foraging behaviour at the level of individual dives help to explain this ecological foraging segregation. Using a rate maximising diving model, we predicted that macaroni penguins would obtain more energy per dive cycle than gentoo penguins only when they used patches shallower than 30 to 40 m. This prediction was supported by observations of actual dive depths. We conclude that different foraging efficiencies at different depths results in each species being differentially sensitive to the vertical distribution of prey in the water column. We suggest that differing capacities to exploit natural heterogeneity in the distribution of prey has an important role in maintaining these 2 species as sympatric predators of a common resource.
Cross-Border Bank Lending During the Taper Tantrum: The Role of Emerging Market Fundamentals

Cross-border bank lending to emerging markets slowed sharply during the taper tantrum. The abruptness of this slowdown varied considerably across both lenders and borrowers. We use newly available data to explain the drivers of this cross-sectional variation. Although the initial tapering shock originated from advanced economies, EME-specific factors explain the bulk of the variation in the slowdown across lender-borrower pairs.
A womanist exposition of pseudo-spirituality and the cry of an oppressed African woman

Women have for centuries suffered different forms of oppression and arguably continue to suffer in subtle forms in the 21st century. Marion Young points to five types of oppression, namely, violence, exploitation, marginalisation, powerlessness and cultural imperialism. For South African black women, all of these types of oppression have manifested three times more as they have suffered triple oppression of race, class and gender to employ the widely used notion of triple jeopardy in the womanist discourses and Black Theology of Liberation. The struggle of women to challenge the patriarchal culture of subordination is still pertinent for our context today. Patriarchy is a reality that has been inscribed in the minds, souls and bodies of these women. It arguably continues to be inscribed in subtle forms. Patriarchy and the oppression of women have been justified and perpetuated by a complex interplay of Christian teachings and practices fused with culture and the use of the Bible. Yet, for these women, church and the Bible continue to be central in their lives. This article looks at the cries of African women in juxtaposition to their prayers, faith and thus spirituality, and to argue that theirs is a pseudo-spirituality. This article is thus a womanist exposition of the pseudo-spirituality of an African woman in a quest for liberation of her spirituality.
Planar Motion Mechanism Test of the Mobile Harbor Running in Design Speed in Circulating Water Channel

Mobile Harbor (MH) is a new transportation platform that can load and unload containers onto and from very large container ships at sea. It could navigate near harbors where several vessels run, or it could navigate through very narrow channels. In the conceptual design phase when the candidate design changes frequently according to the various performance requirements, it is very expensive and time-consuming to carry out model tests using a large model in a large towing tank and a free-running model test in a large maneuvering basin. In this paper, a new Planar Motion Mechanism(PMM) test in a Circulating Water Channel (CWC) was conducted in order to determine the hydrodynamic coefficients of the MH. To do this, PMM devices including three-component load cells and inertia tare device were designed and manufactured, and various tests of the MH such as static drift test, pure sway test, pure yaw test, and drift-and-yaw combined test were carried out. Using those coefficients, course-keeping stability was analyzed. In addition, the PMM tests results carried out for the same KCS (KRISO container ship) were compared with our results in order to confirm the test validity.
Retained Placenta: Still a cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in a Nigerian Semi- urban Population

Background : Retained placenta is associated with morbidity and mortality when left untreated. This study was done to determine the occurrence of retained placenta in our setting as well as to ascertain the possible risk factors, morbidities and mortality. Method of study : This was a retrospective review of all cases of retained placenta over a three year period (March 2005 to March 2007). There were 3542 deliveries, and of which 64 cases were of retained placenta. Results : The incidence of retained placenta was 1.8% of all deliveries with a higher incidence in unbooked patients and a case fatality of 3.12%. The commonest complication was postpartum haemorrhage in 51(79.68%) of cases with blood transfusion rate of 47%. Conclusion : Complications associated with retained placenta could be reduced by adequate utilisation of health care facilities manned by skilled attendants; availability of blood transfusion services as well as effective and safe anaesthesia. Keywords : Haemorrhage, blood transfusion, anaesthesia
Weak inversion charge injection in analog MOS switches

The on-chip test circuit for examining the charge injection in analog MOS switches has been described in detail, and has been fabricated and characterized. Mixed-mode circuit and device simulations have been performed, creating excellent agreements not only with the experimental waveforms but also with the measured switch-induced error voltage. Further investigation of the experimental and simulated results has separated the charge injection into three distinct components: i) the channel charges in strong inversion; ii) the channel charges in weak inversion; and iii) the charges coupled through the gate-to-diffusion overlap capacitance. Important observations concerning the weak inversion charge injection have been drawn from the waveform of the current through the switched capacitor. In this work the channel charges in weak inversion have exhibited a 20% contribution to the switch-induced error voltage on a switched capacitor. >
WESTERGAARD SOLUTIONS RECONSIDERED

The pioneering analytical work of Harold Malcom Westergaard (1888-1950) has been at the heart of slab-on-grade pavement design since the 1920s. Every code of practice published since then makes reference to the "Westergaard solutions. " These solutions are only available for three particular loading conditions (interior, edge, and corner) and assume a slab of infinite or semi-infinite dimensions. Since their first appearance, beginning in the early 1920s, Westergaard equations have often been misquoted or misapplied in subsequent publications. To remedy this situation, a reexamination of these solutions using the finite element method is described in this paper. A number of interesting results are presented: (a) Several equations ascribed to Westergaard in the literature are erroneous, usually as a result of a series of typographical errors or misapplications, or both. The correct form of these equations and their limitations have now been conclusively established. (b) Westergaard's original equation for edge stress is incorrect. The long-ignored equation given in his 1948 paper should be used instead. (c) Improved expressions for maximum corner loading responses have been developed. (d) Slab size requirements for the development of Westergaard responses have also been established.
Demand and Supply of Vegetable Oil Products in the United States: A Short-Run Analysis

Over the last decade consumption of vegetable oil products in the United States has increased enormously. Per capita consumption of vegetable oil products rose from 30.6 pounds in 1965 to 43.1 pounds in 1975—an increase of more than 40 percent. This expansion continues a historic trend and represents the single largest ten-year increment in the last fifty years [1, 2, 3]. The principal vegetable oils used in domestic products are soybean, cottonseed and corn oil. For this reason the increase in consumer demand for vegetable oil products over the last decade has had an important effect on the derived demand for soybeans, cottonseed and corn.
Detection of Copper and Zinc (Heavy Metals) in Water of Lake Chamo, Arbaminch Ethiopia

This study, detection of copper and Zinc (heavy metals) in water of Lake Chamo, was done from July, 2011 to April, 2012. The water was taken from three different sites of the lake in July, October, January and April (in four different seasons) and analysis of phsico-chemical parameters and copper and zinc ions content of the lake water were done. When physical and chemical parameters compared with the previous studies, it is found that most of these parameters were higher than the recommended standards and this affect the biota in the studied area and form a public health problem.
Pre-monsoon air quality over Lumbini, a world heritage site along the Himalayan foothills

Abstract. Lumbini, in southern Nepal, is a UNESCO world heritage site of universal value as the birthplace of Buddha. Poor air quality in Lumbini and surrounding regions is a great concern for public health as well as for preservation, protection and promotion of Buddhist heritage and culture. We present here results from measurements of ambient concentrations of key air pollutants (PM, BC, CO, O3) in Lumbini, first of its kind for Lumbini, conducted during an intensive measurement period of 3 months (April–June 2013) in the pre-monsoon season. The measurements were carried out as a part of the international air pollution measurement campaign; SusKat-ABC (Sustainable Atmosphere for the Kathmandu Valley – Atmospheric Brown Clouds). The main objective of this work is to understand and document the level of air pollution, diurnal characteristics and influence of open burning on air quality in Lumbini. The hourly average concentrations during the entire measurement campaign ranged as follows: BC was 0.3–30.0 µg m−3, PM1 was 3.6–197.6 µg m−3, PM2. 5 was 6.1–272.2 µg m−3, PM10 was 10.5–604.0 µg m−3, O3 was 1.0–118.1 ppbv and CO was 125.0–1430.0 ppbv. These levels are comparable to other very heavily polluted sites in South Asia. Higher fraction of coarse-mode PM was found as compared to other nearby sites in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region. The ΔBC ∕ ΔCO ratio obtained in Lumbini indicated considerable contributions of emissions from both residential and transportation sectors. The 24 h average PM2. 5 and PM10 concentrations exceeded the WHO guideline very frequently (94 and 85 % of the sampled period, respectively), which implies significant health risks for the residents and visitors in the region. These air pollutants exhibited clear diurnal cycles with high values in the morning and evening. During the study period, the worst air pollution episodes were mainly due to agro-residue burning and regional forest fires combined with meteorological conditions conducive of pollution transport to Lumbini. Fossil fuel combustion also contributed significantly, accounting for more than half of the ambient BC concentration according to aerosol spectral light absorption coefficients obtained in Lumbini. WRF-STEM, a regional chemical transport model, was used to simulate the meteorology and the concentrations of pollutants to understand the pollutant transport pathways. The model estimated values were ∼ 1. 5 to 5 times lower than the observed concentrations for CO and PM10, respectively. Model-simulated regionally tagged CO tracers showed that the majority of CO came from the upwind region of Ganges Valley. Model performance needs significant improvement in simulating aerosols in the region. Given the high air pollution level, there is a clear and urgent need for setting up a network of long-term air quality monitoring stations in the greater Lumbini region.
FAMILY POWER IN GOVERNANCE OF FAMILY BUSINESSES: CASES FROM SRI LANKA

Family businesses have been widely researched over the years. For instance, scholars attempted to distinguish family businesses over nonfamily businesses using many criteria. Although there is no commonly accepted such criteria to identify family businesses more specifically, family power has been identified as a key criterion to explain the governance of family businesses. Following qualitative research approach and undertaking four case studies this paper aims to explain the ways in which family power shapes the governance of family businesses. The existing literature suggests, among other things, that family ownership and their involvement in management contribute heavily on the governance of family businesses. The notions of agency and stewardship theories propose that family power could create positive outcomes such as minimizing agency costs between owners and managers. However, it can also form governance issues due to lack of professional management particularly when the organizations become larger. Data were gathered through interviews of directors, owner-managers, family-tied non-executive employees of the four family owned businesses, and analyzed in three interactive processes, namely data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings suggest that the ownership control influence differently on the governance of family owned businesses depending on whether the family business is single owned or multiple owned. Further, the findings also suggest that the family management plays a significant role in the governance of family owned businesses. It was revealed that the level of involvement of family members on governance vary depending on the extent that family members represent at the directorate, managerial and non-managerial levels of the family businesses.
Duration Magnitude and Memory Resource Demand

Whether duration magnitude modulates the cognitive resources required to represent that duration in memory is a fundamental question about the cognitive architecture of interval timing. The amplitudes of the Event-Related Potential (ERP) Slow Waves (SWs) elicited when participants maintain representations of different durations (e.g., 1500 versus 3000 ms) in memory may provide an answer to this question because increased positive SWs have been associated with increased working memory demands in studies of verbal and spatial memory. Here, participants judged whether a probe stimulus (S2) was the same duration as the preceding sample stimulus (S1). SWs recorded during a 2 s delay interval between S1 and S2 presentation were significantly more positive in the 3000 ms condition than in the 1500 ms condition, particularly at frontal-central electrode locations. This result suggests that the magnitude of the duration to be remembered influences the cognitive resources required to represent that duration in working memory.
Bacillus thermoruber sp. nov., nom. rev., a Red-Pigmented Thermophilic Bacterium

The morphological, cultural, and physiological properties of a new species of Bacillus are reviewed. This microorganism, for which we propose the name Bacillus thermoruber, is motile, produces terminal or subterminal oval endospores in swollen sporangia, and shows optimal growth at 45 to 48°C. It is characterized by a high deoxyribonucleic acid guanine-plus-cytosine content (57 ± 0.8 mol%) and a red, endocellular, nondiffusible pigment. The type strain is strain BT2, which has been deposited in the collection of the Cattedra di Microbiologia Industriale, Universita degli Studi di Milano (Italy) as strain MIM 30.8. 38.
Liquidity Needs, Private Information, Feedback Trading: Verifying Motives to Trade

We analyse investors‟ motives for trading on international stock markets and investigate whether evidence for these motives is robust when time-varying market volatility, changes between calm and turbulent periods, and existence of international financial spillovers are controlled for. Applying the Markov-switching GARCH specification of the standard model commonly used in the literature, we find that trades conducted due to liquidity needs or driven by private information cannot be identified unequivocally in any market, and positive feedback trading becomes predominant when return spillovers from the US market are taken into account.
Trade Barriers or Trade Facilitators? The Heterogeneous Impact of Food Standards in International Trade

Recent research shows that the effect of food standards can be heterogeneous across sectors or countries: they sometimes act as barriers to trade, but in other cases may lead to increased trade. I present empirical evidence on Norwegian seafood exports showing that foreign food standards, measured by sanitary and phytosanitary notifications to the WTO, generally have a negative impact on total exports, the number of exporters and their average exports. However, for fresh seafood, there is a positive counteracting effect. I present a theoretical explanation for this, suggesting that food standards reduce consumer uncertainty about quality and safety and therefore increase demand.
Dimensional and Age Structure of Populations of Epiphytic Lichen Hypogymnia physodes (L.) Nyl. under Conditions of Atmospheric Pollution

Atmospheric pollution (SO 2 and heavy metals) causes consistent changes in the dimensional and age structure of local Hypogymnia physodes populations growing on fir trunks. The age states were distin- guished according to the quality of soralia and the degree of their development. Upon an increase in pollution, the frequency distributions of thallus weight and length shift toward smaller individuals, although their type remains relatively stable (exponential for weight, lognormal for length). Upon transition from the background to the impact zone, the spectrum of age states shifts from highly fertile to minimally fertile and sterile indi- viduals.
Interdependence of South Asian Equity Markets

This Study aimed at exploring the relationship between South Asian Equity Markets. Four major South Asian Equity Markets (Karachi Stock Exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange, Colombo Stock Exchange and Dhaka Stock Exchange) were taken to explore this relationship. Data was taken from the year 1999 to 2009 on monthly basis. Data Analysis was conducted using co-integration Analysis for the long run relationship and VECM (Vector Error Correction Model) for the short run relationship. For the purpose of stationary of data, Unit root test was used and all series were found integrated of at first difference. Co-integration Analysis indicated that there exists no long run relationship among the equity markets of South Asia. VECM shows the similar results and no relationship were found among these markets in short run. Granger Causality, Variance Decomposition and Impulse Response Function were used and unidirectional granger causality is found from CSE to DSE, KSE to BSE and BSE to CSE. It was found that most of the changes in Colombo Stock Exchange and Dhaka Stock Market were explained due to changes or innovations in their own market. Variance Decomposition Analysis shows that Variance is Karachi Stock Market is explained by changes in its market and changes in Bombay Stock Market. Similarly Variance is Bombay Stock Market is explained by its own markets innovations or changes in Karachi Stock Market. Impulse Response Function reveals most of the market shocks in KSE are explained by its own innovations and other markets do not have much influence on Karachi Stock Market. However, result of impulse response function shows that BSE is exerting some pressure on Karachi Stock Exchange in the end periods.