Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prediction of Drifter Trajectory Using Evolutionary Computation

We used evolutionary computation to predict the trajectory of surface drifters. The data used to create the predictive model comprise the hourly position of the drifters, the flow and wind velocity at the location, and the location predicted by the MOHID model. In contrast to existing numerical models that use the Lagrangian method, we used an optimization algorithm to predict the trajectory. As the evaluation measure, a method that gives a better score as the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) when the difference between the predicted position in time and the actual position is lower and the Normalized Cumulative Lagrangian Separation (NCLS), which is widely used as a trajectory evaluation method of drifters, were used. The evolutionary methods Differential Evolution (DE), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES), and ensembles of the above were used, with the DE&PSO ensemble found to be the best prediction model. Considering our objective to find a parameter that minimizes the fitness function to identify the average of the difference between the predictive change and the actual change, this model yielded better results than the existing numerical model in three of the four cases used for the test data, at an average of 19.36% for MAE and 5.96% for NCLS. Thus, the model using the fitness function set in this study showed improved results in NCLS and thus shows that NCLS can be used sufficiently in the evaluation system.
ROLE OF SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS IN MAXILLOFACIAL ABSCESS OF ODONTOGENIC ORIGIN ODONTOJENİK ORJİNLİ MAKSİLLOFASİYAL APSELERDE SOSYOEKONOMİK FAKTÖRLERİN ROLÜ

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the socioeconomic factors, etiology, location, microbiology and management of maxillofacial infections of odontogenic origin. Materials and methods: The records of 91 elderly patients who were diagnosed as maxillofacial abscesses were reviewed. Spilka's system was used to categorize each maxillofacial infection. Kuppuswamy revised classification was used to assess the socioeconomic status and literacy of all patients. Results: There were 91 patients with ages ranging from 16 to 71 years. Most of the patients (86.8 %) were of low socioeconomic status and 75.8 % illiterate or primary school certificate. 80 % of the patients live in rural area. Submandibular space was the most frequently encountered location. 75.8 % of the patients had poor oral hygiene. Smoking was the most common addictions. Pain, fever, and dysphagia were the most common presenting symptoms. Conclusions: Low socioeconomic status, poor oral hygiene and smoking may play an important role in the occurrence of maxillofacial infections. Early diagnosis and treatment are critical in the management of patients with maxillofacial abscess
Impacts of trawling disturbance on the trophic structure of benthic invertebrate communities

Bottom trawling causes chronic and widespread disturbance to the seabed in shallow shelf seas and could lead to changes in the trophic structure and function of benthic communities, with important implications for the processing of primary production and the wider functioning of the marine ecosystem. We studied the effects of bottom trawling on the trophic structure of infaunal and epifaunal benthic communities in 2 regions (Silver Pit and Hills) of the central North Sea. Within each region, we quantified long-term (over 5 yr) differences in trawling disturbance at a series of sites (using sightings data from fishery protection flights), and related this to differences in the biomass and trophic structure of the benthic community. There were 27- and 10-fold differences in levels of beam trawl disturbance among the Silver Pit and Hills sites respectively, and we estimated that the frequency with which the entire area of the sites was trawled ranged from 0.2 to 6.5 times yr -1 in the Silver Pit and 0.2 to 2.3 times yr -1 in the Hills. The impacts of fishing were most pronounced in the Sil- ver Pit region, where the range of trawling disturbance was greater. Infaunal and epifaunal biomass decreased significantly with trawling disturbance. Within the infauna, there were highly significant decreases in the biomass of bivalves and spatangoids (burrowing sea-urchins) but no significant change in polychaetes. Relationships between trophic level (estimated using nitrogen stable isotope composition, δ 15 N) and body mass (as log2 size classes) were rarely significant, implying that the larger individuals in this community did not consistently prey on the smaller ones. For epifauna, the relationships were significant, but the slopes or intercepts of the fitted linear regressions were not significantly related to trawling disturbance. Moreover, mean δ 15 N of the sampled infaunal and epi- faunal communities were remarkably consistent across sites and not significantly related to trawling disturbance. Our results suggest that chronic trawling disturbance led to dramatic reductions in the biomass of infauna and epifauna, but these reductions were not reflected in changes to the mean trophic level of the community, or the relationships between the trophic levels of different sizes of epifauna. The trophic structure of intensively trawled benthic invertebrate communities may be a robust feature of this marine ecosystem, thus ensuring the efficient processing of production within those animals that have sufficiently high intrinsic rates of population increase to withstand the levels of mortality imposed by trawling.
Healthy, wealthy or busy? Self-employment and healthcare services utilization in Europe

In this paper we investigate the relationship between different types of self-employment and healthcare utilization across Europe. The empirical analysis is based on 2004 and 2014 individual data for 21 European countries from the European Social Survey (ESS), which, in these two waves, contains detailed information on individual employment status and use of healthcare services. After controlling for selection into employment status, our estimates point out that, compared to the employees, the self-employed without employees are significantly less likely to use healthcare services, while no statistically significant differences emerge for the other type of self-employed (i.e., those with employees). Further exploratory analyses seem to indicate that these differences are driven by a number of factors, such as differences in perceived health, wealth and opportunity costs. An important role is played by cross-country differences in healthcare systems: in particular, we find that self-employed without employees are much less likely to use healthcare services where the latter are provided by private actors.
Radiation Hydrodynamical Turbulence in Protoplanetary Disks: Numerical Models and Observational Constraints

Planets are born in protostellar disks, which are now observed with enough resolution to address questions about internal gas flows. Magnetic forces are possibly drivers of the flows, but ionization state estimates suggest that much of the gas mass decouples from magnetic fields. Thus, hydrodynamical instabilities could play a major role. We investigate disk dynamics under conditions typical for a T Tauri system, using global 3D radiation-hydrodynamics simulations with embedded particles and a resolution of 70 cells per scale height. Stellar irradiation heating is included with realistic dust opacities. The disk starts in joint radiative balance and hydrostatic equilibrium. The vertical shear instability (VSI) develops into turbulence that persists up to at least 1600 inner orbits (143 outer orbits). Turbulent speeds are a few percent of the local sound speed at the midplane, increasing to 20%, or 100 m s−1, in the corona. These are consistent with recent upper limits on turbulent speeds from optically thin and thick molecular line observations of TW Hya and HD 163296. The predominantly vertical motions induced by the VSI efficiently lift particles upward. Grains 0.1 and 1 mm in size achieve scale heights greater than expected in isotropic turbulence. We conclude that while kinematic constraints from molecular line emission do not directly discriminate between magnetic and nonmagnetic disk models, the small dust scale heights measured in HL Tau and HD 163296 favor turbulent magnetic models, which reach lower ratios of the vertical kinetic energy density to the accretion stress.
The recycling and disposal of electrical and electronic waste in China—legislative and market responses

The development of new legislation on collection, recycling and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as well as the scaling-up and privatisation of the WEEE processing industry, are indications of major changes for WEEE management in China. However, China’s attempts to regulate the industry and establish a financially viable, environmentally benign and safe WEEE management system are facing significant challenges. The existence of an extensive informal sector, combined with a lack of environmental awareness among WEEE collectors, recyclers and consumers, are contributing to China’s difficulties in developing a financially and environmentally sound recycling and disposal system. This paper discusses the current status of WEEE recycling and disposal in China, and its impacts on the environment, human health, and the economy. It also examines the legislative and market responses to the WEEE issue, and how these will be affected by Chinese attitudes and practices towards WEEE recycling. D 2005 Elsevier
Long time existence for fully nonlinear NLS with small Cauchy data on the circle

In this paper we prove long time existence for a large class of fully nonlinear, reversible and parity preserving Schrodinger equations on the one dimensional torus. We show that for any initial condition even in $x$, regular enough and of size $\varepsilon$ sufficiently small, the lifespan of the solution is of order $\varepsilon^{-N}$ for any $N\in\mathbb{N}$ if some non resonance conditions are fulfilled. After a paralinearization of the equation we perform several para-differential changes of variables which diagonalize the system up to a very regularizing term. Once achieved the diagonalization, we construct modified energies for the solution by means of Birkhoff normal forms techniques.
Profiling non-executive directors in Australia

This paper presents a profile of non-executive directors of Australia’s largest public companies. Using descriptive data, it assesses the extent to which these companies adhere to the requirements set down in the Australian Stock Exchange’s Principles of Good Corporate Governance. In relation to these profiles, the generic roles of non-executive directors are discussed and evaluated in terms of their actual and perceived independence from management. The paper concludes with an examination of the need for independence and questions whether competence, among other characteristics, is a more valuable characteristic of a nonexecutive director than independence.
The role of customer satisfaction in enhancing customer loyalty in Malaysian Islamic banks

This study examines the role of customer satisfaction in enhancing the loyalty of Muslim and non-Muslim customers in the Malaysian Islamic banking industry. Respondents are the customers (Muslim and non-Muslim customers) visiting the bank counters and have an account with Islamic banks. A total of 660 questionnaires were distributed, and 440 were returned. The results indicate that customer satisfaction has a statistically significant positive effect on customer loyalty and intentions to switch for Muslim and non-Muslim customers. However, there were significant differences in the effects of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and intention to switch for Muslim and non-Muslim customers. The effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty and intention to switch is greater for the non-Muslim than the Muslim customers.
Interpreting Psychophysiological States Using Unobtrusive Wearable Sensors in Virtual Reality

One of the main challenges in the study of human behavior is to quantitatively assess the participants’ affective states by measuring their psychophysiological signals in ecologically valid conditions. The quality of the acquired data, in fact, is often poor due to artifacts generated by natural interactions such as full body movements and gestures. We created a technology to address this problem. We enhanced the eXperience Induction Machine (XIM), an immersive space we built to conduct experiments on human behavior, with unobtrusive wearable sensors that measure electrocardiogram, breathing rate and electrodermal response. We conducted an empirical validation where participants wearing these sensors were free to move in the XIM space while exposed to a series of visual stimuli taken from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Our main result consists in the quantitative estimation of the arousal range of the affective stimuli through the analysis of participants’ psychophysiological states. Taken together, our findings show that the XIM constitutes a novel tool to study human behavior in life-like conditions. Keywords-Affect analysis, affective states, ecological validity, EDR, HRV, wearable sensors, XIM
PERMIAN-TRIASSIC EVOLUTION OF THE BIVALVIA: EXTINCTION-RECOVERY PATTERNS LINKED TO ECOLOGIC AND TAXONOMIC SELECTIVITY

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Awareness of Viral Hepatitis in ten villages of District Nowshera

Background: Viral hepatitis is a cause of great concerns the world over and more so in the developing countries like Pakistan. Its incidence has increased to alarming proportions and is likely to increase further in near future. This study was conducted to assess awareness of a rural community to Hepatitis B and C. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2007 to October 2008, in ten villages of District Nowshera. Questionnaire was designed to assess their knowledge about viral Hepatitis. Data was computed using SPSS version 10. Results: A total of 3654 respondents were interviewed, 642 (17.6%) were aware that Hepatitis B and C were diseases of liver and transmitted by a virus. Respondents reported that there were multiple routes of transmission of this disease. Used syringes were the most common factor reported to be responsible for spread of this disease, followed by dental apparatus, injuries caused by nail cutters and sexual contact. One fifth (20%) of the respondents were unable to identify any physical sign or symptom of the disease. Television, Doctors and Radio appeared to be the most popular sources of information used for obtaining health information on these diseases this was reported by 43%. 42% and 40% of the population respectively. Conclusion: Knowledge and awareness regarding the causative agent, mode of transmission and the consequences of Hepatitis B and C are poor in rural communities.
The Role of Curvature in the Transformation Frontier for Measuring Technology Shocks

In the usual version of the neoclassical growth model used to identify neutral (N-Shock) and investment shocks (I-Shock), a linear transformation frontier between consumption and investment goods is assumed. This paper extends the original framework, allowing for curvature in the transformation frontier, and studies how this affects the relative price of investment goods and hence the identification of investment shocks. A concave frontier allows a substantial improvement in the prediction of the saving rate. Furthermore, a concave frontier induces short-run aggregate effects of relative demand shifts, thereby fostering the propagation of the shocks under consideration, which overall account for 86% of the aggregate fluctuations. When I identify shocks with curvature, the Nshock appears to be stationary while the I-shock is a unit root. This leads the N-shock to play a major role: 91% of the fluctuations explained are due to the Nshock.
Analytical modelling prediction by using wake oscillator model for vortex-induced vibrations

Explorations by oil and gas companies have moved from shallow to deep water to satisfy consumers' changing needs. A circularshaped cylinder structure placed in deep water is also known spar platform, is normally floated and subjected to severe conditions which cause unpleasant motions and fatigue damage to the structure. Wake oscillator model is considered a semi-empirical model that is most suitable for the evaluation of Vortexinduced Vibrations (VIV) structure features during the design stage. This work focuses on validation of wake oscillator model for VIV with previously semi-empirical method. Wake oscillator and structure oscillator models are coupled based on the Van der Pol Equation. The coupled models were evaluated and analytically validated. The results showed a qualitative and quantitative agreement with previous analytical, at the same maximum peak amplitude response, y0 = 0.22, with 1.2% percentage error . Meanwhile, experimental results from literature only showed a qualitative agreement but not in quantitative agreement. Analytical modelling may offer potential means for investigating VIV features and provide a fundamental analysis by using a cost saving but reliable method. Further works should be done to characterise the VIV and Vortex-induced Motions phenomenon for spar platform.
Differences in Parents' and Teachers' Ratings of ADHD Symptoms and Other Mental Health Problems

Background and objectives: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and other mental health problems appear early in life and proper treat- ment is essential for a positive long-term outcome. The present study examines the level of agreement, and potential gender differences, between parents' and teachers' reports of ADHD symptoms and other mental health problems in 305 Greek children aged between 6-9 years. Methods: Parents and teachers of 147 boys and 158 girls attending the first three grades of 10 primary schools in the wider area of Northern Greece completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ- Goodman, 1997) and the Child Attention Profile (CAP- Barkley, 1990). Results: The level of agreement between parents' and teachers' reports was low to moderate for the SDQ (0.16-0.34) and satisfactory for the CAP (0.60-0.66). Parents reported more hyperactivity, emotional, and conduct problems than teachers according to SDQ and more overactivity and attention-deficit with hyperactivity according to CAP. Gender differences in ratings were found as well, since boys were reported as being more hyperactive according to SDQ and as having more overactivity and attention-deficit with hyperactivity according to CAP than girls. Conclusions: Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of using multiple infor- mants to gather data on disruptive behaviour through rating scales.
EVALUATION OF ACID PREVENTION TECHNIQUES USED IN SURFACE MINING

Surface coal mining was conducted in a potentially acid producing region of central West Virginia between 1979 and 1986. Seven different surface mining operations were conducted at the complex with different acid preventative techniques employed at six of the operations. No acid preventative techniques were utilized on the first operation that serves as the control for this evaluation. Water quality, treatment reagents and acid preventative costs were closely monitored from the time the operations were started to several years after reclamation. The evaluation indicates that 50% to 70% of the control acidity was prevented by the techniques employed at the facility. The evaluation also indicates that the acid generation at these facilities has a defined life of 16 to 20 years. The economics of the evaluation indicates that the preventative techniques employed at the facility were more expensive than treating the drainage from the sites with no preventative techniques employed. Additional
Sanitation dynamics: toilet acquisition and its economic and social implications in rural and urban contexts

This paper uses primary micro-data from Indian households residing in rural villages and poor urban neighbourhoods to shed light on household sanitation decision-making. We use a theoretical economic model to reduce the dimensionality and complexity of this process. Beyond the most commonly analysed motivator, health, we consider economic and non-pecuniary benefits. We provide empirical evidence that each of these margins matter, and do so in both rural and urban contexts, and discuss how our findings can be explored in sanitation policy and programme design.
Pain and Suffering Damages in Personal Injury Cases: An Empirical Study

Many jurisdictions award pain and suffering damages, yet it is difficult for judges or juries to quantify pain. Several jurisdictions, such as California, cap pain and suffering damages or other noneconomic damages, and legal scholars have proposed ways to control such damages. Reforms and proposals, however, have been based on limited empirical evidence. It remains an open question whether components of economic damages explain pain and suffering damages. This study employs a unique data set of Taiwan district court cases and uses detailed information on the components of pecuniary damages. Pain and suffering damages highly correlate with the plaintiff’s medical expenses, level of injury, and the amount requested by the plaintiff. The association with the amount requested by the plaintiff persists when one accounts for the likely quantifiable influences on pain and suffering damages, evidence of a possible anchoring effect. The strong correlation between economic damages and noneconomic damages persists in a large U.S. dataset of judge and jury trials, in which the noneconomic fraction of total damages is no greater than the pain and suffering fraction of total damages in Taiwan. Judges and juries consistently produce coherent patterns of noneconomic damages.
A HARDWARE-EFFICIENT BLOCK MATCHING UNIT FOR H.265/HEVC MOTION ESTIMATION ENGINE USING BIT-SHRINKING -

The main objective of this work is to enhance the processing performance of the recently introduced video codec H. 265/HEVC. Since most of the computations of H. 265/HEVC still occur in the motion estimation engine which is inherited from its predecessor H.264/AVC, we propose a bit-shrinking approach with a modified logic functionality to design an efficient and simplified block matching unit that replaces the already used Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD) unit. The hardware complexity of the proposed unit itself is reduced and the number of its generated output bits are reduced as well which in turn simplifies all the subsequent units of motion estimation. The hardware complexity, the consumed power and the processing delay of the motion estimation engine are therefore reduced significantly with only marginal deterioration in both the bit-rate and the peak-signal-to-noise-ratios (PSNR) of the tested High Definition (HD) and Ultra-high Definition (UHD) H.265/HEVC compressed videos. We simulate our design using HM16.6 and perform system logic synthesis using Synopsys’s Design Compiler, targeting ASIC, for evaluation purposes.