Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Natural Resources and FDI in GCC Countries

Natural resources are a blessing for some countries to attract FDI but cursed for others. Existing literature argues the suggestion that resource-rich countries attract less FDI because of resource (oil) price volatility. This study examines that natural resources discourage FDI in GCC countries (the FDI-Natural resources curse hypothesis), using panel data analysis for six oil dependent countries during 1980-2013 and applying several econometrics techniques. The main findings of this paper is that natural resources measured by oil rents have a negative association with FDI inflows; this negative impact is robust even when other FDI determinates of FDI are included. FDI inflows decreased between 0.15 and 0.92% when oil rents increased by 1%. In addition, the empirical results show that trade openness and labour force are the main factors that encourage FDI, while political instability and corruption deter FDI inflows into GCC countries.
Texture of the Upper 1000 m in the GRIP and NorthGRIP Ice Cores

In this study we discuss new and published profiles of c-axis fabric and size distributions of a large number of crystals in the upper 1000 m of the Greenland GRIP and NorthGRIP ice cores as obtained with an automatic c-axis fabric analyzer. We show that in both cores the fabric is strongly anisotropic already just below the firn (about 110 m depth) with a degree of orientation around 30%. We determine the mean crystal area profiles which are somewhat contrasting to earlier findings based on manual measurements. The crystal size distributions are compared to a simple 1D model which takes into account crystal growth and polygonization (rotation recrystallization). The model suggests that the crystal size distribution develops into a Bessel type distribution that differs from the commonly applied log normal distribution. Finally, we combine the fabric and microstructure results to determine the sub-grain boundaries in the GRIP samples. Both the size distribution model and the sub-grain study suggest that polygonization is significant already below the firn and that the physical processes governing the conventionally adapted ‘normal grain growth’ and ‘polygonization’ regimes are identical. The new measurements provide a dataset for ice sheet models that take into account the anisotropy of the Greenland ice sheet.
Lack of recreational fishing compliance may compromise effectiveness of Rockfish Conservation Areas in British Columbia

Compliance with spatial fishing regulations (e.g., marine protected areas, fishing closures) is one of the most important, yet rarely measured, determinants of ecological recovery. We used aerial observations of recreational fishing events from creel surveys before, during, and after 77 Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) were established in British Columbia, Canada. There was no evidence of a change in fishing effort in 83% of the RCAs, and effort in five RCAs increased after establishment. Fishing effort in open areas adjacent to the RCAs declined with time and was higher than effort in the RCAs in all 3 years. Next, we used compliance data for 105 RCAs around Vancouver Island to model the drivers of compliance. Compliance was related to the level of fishing effort around the RCA, the size and perimeter-to-area ratio of RCAs, proximity to fishing lodges, and the level of enforcement. Noncompliance in RCAs may be hampering their effectiveness and impeding rockfish recovery. Education and enforcement efforts to reduce fishing effort inside protected areas are critical to the recovery of depleted fish stocks.
ANALYSIS OF NATURAL GAMMA-RAY SPECTRA OBTAINED FROM SEDIMENT CORES WITH THE SHIPBOARD SCINTILLATION DETECTOR OF THE OCEAN DRILLING PROGRAM : EXAMPLE FROM LEG 1561

Natural gamma-ray (NGR) spectrometry allows estimation of the elemental concentrations of K, U, and Th, which can be used to help interpret sediment composition, provenance, and diagenesis. Spectral data obtained with the NGR multichannel device installed on the Ocean Drilling Program’s multisensor track in 1993 are presented here for the first time. The spectra were divided into 16 energy intervals using a minima search algorithm that defined all peaks observed in 79 sample NGR spectra. The intervals were further subdivided into peak area and background area segments using a peak baseline algorithm, which allows optimal assessment of the usefulness of spectral segments to estimate elemental abundance. Linear regression with laboratory (X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, and instrumental neutron activation analyses) data was used to estimate elemental concentrations of K, U, and Th for each spectral segment. Conservative estimation errors for the best estimator spectral segments are 16%, 30%, and 20% for K, U, and Th, respectively. These errors also reflect analytical errors of the reference data, and the true estimation error may be significantly smaller. Our method suggests that the best K e stimates ( ± 16%) are obtained using the peak area segment between 1335 and 1580 KeV. In our study, which uses 4-hr counting times, the best U and Th estimates are obtained using peak areas between 1695 and 1885 KeV and 550 and 700 KeV, respectively. If low counting times are used for routine core logging, however, regressions using the total counts of the entire spec trum yield more reliable U and Th estimates because of Poisson’s law, with maximum total errors of about 35% and 23%, respectively. Spectral analysis using 2048-channel data has no advantage over 256-channel analyses, even with the extremely high counting times used for our study. The full character of natural gamma-ray spectra, as revealed by scintillation detectors , can be defined and measured in full detail with 16 energy intervals.
Trends in Middle East climate extreme indices from 1950 to 2003

[1] A climate change workshop for the Middle East brought together scientists and data for the region to produce the first area-wide analysis of climate extremes for the region. This paper reports trends in extreme precipitation and temperature indices that were computed during the workshop and additional indices data that became available after the workshop. Trends in these indices were examined for 1950–2003 at 52 stations covering 15 countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey. Results indicate that there have been statistically significant, spatially coherent trends in temperature indices that are related to temperature increases in the region. Significant, increasing trends have been found in the annual maximum of daily maximum and minimum temperature, the annual minimum of daily maximum and minimum temperature, the number of summer nights, and the number of days where daily temperature has exceeded its 90th percentile. Significant negative trends have been found in the number of days when daily temperature is below its 10th percentile and daily temperature range. Trends in precipitation indices, including the number of days with precipitation, the average precipitation intensity, and maximum daily precipitation events, are weak in general and do not show spatial coherence. The workshop attendees have generously made the indices data available for the international research community.
Influence of Cooperative Learning on Students' Self-Perception on Leadership Skills: A Case Study in Science Education.

The aim of this study is to assess the self-perception of pre-service teachers on leadership after getting involved into a Cooperative Learning approach. For that purpose, a pre/post-test has been applied to 57 undergraduate students enrolled in a unit course on Natural and Social Science Education, compulsory in the curriculum of a degree in Primary Education. The inventory of the questionnaire included scales referring to the skills of teamwork, self-understanding, communication, decision making and leadership, regarded as essential for their future professional development. Results show that students perceive higher levels in all of them after a Cooperative Learning experience, which suggests the positive impact of cooperative student-centered teaching strategies to develop such important skills.
Prototype Design and Application of a Semi-circular Automatic Parking System

Nowadays, with the increasing population in urban areas, the number of vehicles used in traffic has also increased in these areas. This has brought with it major problems that are caused by insufficient parking areas, in terms of traffic congestion, drivers and environment. In this study, in order to overcome these problems, a multi-storey automatic parking system that automatically performs vehicle recognition, vehicle parking, vehicle delivery and pricing processes has been designed and the practical application of this system has been realized on a prototype. The vehicle recognition process in the designed system has been fulfilled through a software prepared on the personal computer connected to the webcam. A multi-storey semi-circular structure has been used as a parking area to resolve parking area deficiencies. Therefore, the carrying system that carries out the parking process in the system has been designed as a cylindrical coordinated robot that can move horizontally, vertically and in the forward-back direction. The control of whole system has been realized by PIC16F877A microcontroller. The results obtained from the prepared prototype have showed that the proposed system can provide significant contributions to the solution of problems resulting from parking area deficiencies.
Phylogenetic signal and linear regression on species data

1. A common procedure in the regression analysis of interspecies data is to first test the independent and dependent variables X and Y for phylogenetic signal, and then use the presence of signal in one or both traits to justify regression analysis using phylogenetic methods such as independent contrasts or phylogenetic generalized least squares.
A New Approach to Decentralized Adaptive Output Feedback Controller Design for Mismatched Uncertain Large-scale Systems Using Linear Matrix Inequalities

In this study, an adaptive sliding-mode controller was designed for use in a class of large-scale systems that exhibit mismatched uncertainties and exogenous disturbances. First, a new sliding mode controller was proposed using only output variables. Adaptation laws were developed for calculating the unknown upper bounds of mismatched uncertainties; these updated values were used to establish a class of decentralized adaptive output feedback controllers. Both sliding surfaces and adaptive sliding-mode controllers can be easily attained using a linear matrix inequality technique. Moreover, a stability analysis was conducted to assess the overall system. Finally, a numerical example was used to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method.
A Numerical Characterization of the Gravito-Electrostatic Sheath Equilibrium Structure in Solar Plasma

This article describes the equilibrium structure of the solar interior plasma (SIP) and solar wind plasma (SWP) in detail under the framework of the gravito-electrostatic sheath (GES) model. This model gives a precise definition of the solar surface boundary (SSB), surface origin mechanism of the subsonic SWP, and its supersonic acceleration. Equilibrium parameters like plasma potential, self-gravity, population density, flow, their gradients, and all the relevant inhomogeneity scale lengths are numerically calculated and analyzed as an initial value problem. Physical significance of the structure condition for the SSB is discussed. The plasma oscillation and Jeans time scales are also plotted and compared. In addition, different coupling parameters, and electric current profiles are also numerically studied. The current profiles exhibit an important behavior of directional reversibility, i.e., an electrodynamical transition from negative to positive value. It occurs beyond a few Jeans lengths away from the SSB. The virtual spherical surface lying at the current reversal point, where the net current becomes zero, has the property of a floating surface behavior of the real physical wall. Our investigation indicates that the SWP behaves as an ion current-carrying plasma system. The basic mechanism behind the GES formation and its distinctions from conventional plasma sheath are discussed. The electromagnetic properties of the Sun derived from our model with the most accurate available inputs are compared with those of others. These results are useful as an input element to study the properties of the linear and nonlinear dynamics of various solar plasma waves, oscillations and instabilities.
Limited flexibility in female Pacific field cricket (
 Teleogryllus oceanicus
 ) exploratory behaviors in response to perceived social environment

How populations adapt, or not, to rapid evolution of sexual signals has important implications for population viability, but is difficult to assess due to the paucity of examples of sexual signals evolving in real time. In Hawaiian populations of the Pacific field cricket (Teleogryllus oceanicus), selection from a deadly parasitoid fly has driven the rapid loss of a male acoustic signal, calling song, that females use to locate and evaluate potential mates. In this newly quiet environment where many males are obligately silent, how do phonotactic females find mates? Previous work has shown that the acoustic rearing environment (presence or absence of male calling song) during late juvenile stages and early adulthood exposes adaptive flexibility in locomotor behaviors of males, as well as mating behaviors in both sexes that helps facilitate the spread of silent (flatwing) males. Here, we tested whether females also show acoustically induced plasticity in walking behaviors using laboratory‐reared populations of T. oceanicus from Kauai (HI; >90% flatwings), Oahu (HI; ~50% flatwings), and Mangaia (Cook Islands; no flatwings or parasitoid fly). Though we predicted that females reared without song exposure would increase walking behaviors to facilitate mate localization when song is rare, we discovered that, unlike males, female T. oceanicus showed relatively little plasticity in exploratory behaviors in response to an acoustic rearing environment. Across all three populations, exposure to male calling song during development did not affect latency to begin walking, distance walked, or general activity of female crickets. However, females reared in the absence of song walked slower and showed a marginally non‐significant tendency to walk for longer durations of time in a novel environment than those reared in the presence of song. Overall, plasticity in female walking behaviors appears unlikely to have facilitated sexual signal loss in this species.
The effectiveness of selected chemical and biological insecticides in control of European corn borer [Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn.] on sweet corn

The trials conducted with selected chemical and biological insecticides in 1998-2000 showed the highest effectiveness of Karate Zeon 100 CS (lambda-cyhalotrine) in European corn borer (ECB) larvae control in sweet corn. The efficacy of biological insecticides containing Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. kurstaki: Biobit 3.2 WP and Lepinox WDG was very variable between the years. Reasons for insufficient efficacy of these products are discussed. The most appropriate time for the application of a chemical insecticide against ECB larvae are plant developmental stages since the beginning of pollen shedding to full blooming (63–67 BBCH scale). The efficacy of treatment was the highest at that time.
Hyperon photoproduction in the nucleon resonance region

High-statistics cross sections and recoil polarizations for the reactions gamma+p-->K++Lambda and gamma+p-->K++Sigma(0) have been measured at CLAS for center-of-mass energies between 1.6 and 2.3 GeV. In the K(+)Lambda channel we confirm a resonance-like structure near W=1.9 GeV at backward kaon angles. Our data show more complex s- and u- channel behavior than previously seen, since structure is also present at forward angles, but not at central angles. The position and width change with angle, indicating that more than one resonance is playing a role. Large positive Lambda polarization at backward angles, which is also energy dependent, is consistent with sizable s- or u-channel contributions. Presently available model calculations cannot explain these aspects of the data.
Galactic Centre star formation: the case of the missing gas disc

We study the dynamical evolution of stars and gas close to the centre of the Milky Way. Any plausible means of forming the young stars observed at the Galactic Centre leaves behind a residual gas disc at�0: 01pc radii. We show that the combined effects of viscous accretion and gravitational interactions with stars do not remove the residual gas effi ciently, and that a substantial gas disc, interior to the stellar disc, persist s for> 10Myr after the stars form. Since no such disc is currently seen at the Galactic Centre we argue that it has been accreted by the super-massive black hole. This scenario offers an attractive connection between nuclear star formation and black hole feeding, and we suggest that the ‘missing’ gas may have been used to power Sgr A � .
Dynamic Impact of Unprofitable Cross-buying on Purchase Incidence and Purchase Amount

This study investigates how unprofitable cross-buying, defined as the tendency to buy different product categories during price promotion, affects consumer decisions of whether and how much to buy in the short- and long-term periods. We utilize a type II Tobit model of purchase incidence and purchase amount and apply the model to purchase history data of an online shopping mall’s customers to capture the dynamic impacts of unprofitable cross-buying. The results reveal that unprofitable cross-buying behavior leads to lower purchase probability and purchase amount in the short-term. On the contrary, in the long-term, unprofitable cross-buying behavior appears to have positive impacts on both behavioral outcomes. Additionally, we also discovered the significant effects of customer characteristics and time variables on the extent to which customers engage in this behavior. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.
Achieving Organizational Commitment through HRM Practices: The Ghanaian Banking Sector Experience

Organizational Commitment indicates the degree to which HRM practices are able to cultivate emotional connection between firms and employee goals. This study sought to investigate the nature of the relationship between the implementation of HRM practices and organizational commitment in the banking industry in Ghana. Employing the three component model of Allen and Meyer as the underlying theory of organizational commitment, the researchers examined the six HRM practices in five selected commercial banks in Ghana. Adopting the quantitative method of research, a descriptive including a multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the existing relationship between the HRM practices and organizational commitment. Findings from the study revealed that affective and normative forms of commitment were preferred to continuance forms of commitment. Again whilst respondent’s affective and normative commitment included performance based pay, communication and information sharing, training and development and rewards recognition, that of the continuance commitment also included communication, information sharing, recruitment and selection performance appraisal as well as rewards and recognition. The study concludes that there is a positive relationship between the implementation of HRM practices and organizational commitment. A further study is therefore suggested towards the conduct of a qualitative study in all banks in Ghana to consider the applicability of generalizability on the subject matter.
A decade of remotely sensed observations highlight complex processes linked to coastal permafrost bluff erosion in the Arctic

Eroding permafrost coasts are likely indicators and integrators of changes in the Arctic System as they are susceptible to the combined effects of declining sea ice extent, increases in open water duration, more frequent and impactful storms, sea-level rise, and warming permafrost. However, few observation sites in the Arctic have yet to link decadal-scale erosion rates with changing environmental conditions due to temporal data gaps. This study increases the temporal fidelity of coastal permafrost bluff observations using near-annual high spatial resolution (<1 m) satellite imagery acquired between 2008–2017 for a 9 km segment of coastline at Drew Point, Beaufort Sea coast, Alaska. Our results show that mean annual erosion for the 2007–2016 decade was 17.2 m yr−1, which is 2.5 times faster than historic rates, indicating that bluff erosion at this site is likely responding to changes in the Arctic System. In spite of a sustained increase in decadal-scale mean annual erosion rates, mean open water season erosion varied from 6.7 m yr−1 in 2010 to more than 22.0 m yr−1 in 2007, 2012, and 2016. This variability provided a range of coastal responses through which we explored the different roles of potential environmental drivers. The lack of significant correlations between mean open water season erosion and the environmental variables compiled in this study indicates that we may not be adequately capturing the environmental forcing factors, that the system is conditioned by long-term transient effects or extreme weather events rather than annual variability, or that other not yet considered factors may be responsible for the increased erosion occurring at Drew Point. Our results highlight an increase in erosion at Drew Point in the 21st century as well as the complexities associated with unraveling the factors responsible for changing coastal permafrost bluffs in the Arctic.
The Selective Growth of Silicon Nanowires and Their Optical Activation

1.1 The selective growth of silicon nanowires via vapor-liquid-solid mechanism Compared with bulk semiconductors, 1D semiconducting nanowires possess some very unique properties such as quantum confinement effects, surface sensitivity, intrinsically miniaturized dimensions, and low leakage currents which make them attractive as building blocks for functional nanosystems and next generation electronics (Khanal et al., 2007; Andersen et al., 2007; Tilke et al., 2003, as cited in Wu, 2008; Huang et al., 2010). This can be inferred from the sharply increasing number of publications in this field. Figure 1.1 shows the number of publications on nanowires or nanowhiskers by year, determined from a CAS SciFinder search (Wang et al., 2006). Especially for Silicon Nanowires, there are more than 700 articles published in 2008, which is twice the number published in 2005 (Schmidt et al., 2010).