Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of variability in continental low stratiform clouds based on observations of radar reflectivity

[1] The variability of overcast low stratiform clouds observed over the ARM Climate Research Facility Southern Great Plains (ACRF SGP) site is analyzed, and an approach to characterizing subgrid variability based on assumed statistical distributions is evaluated. The analysis is based on a vast (>1000 hours) radar reflectivity database collected by the Millimeter-Wave Cloud Radar at ACRF SGP site. The radar data are classified into two low cloud categories and stratified by scale and the presence of precipitation. Cloud variability is analyzed by studying statistical distributions for the first two moments of the probability distribution functions (PDF) of radar reflectivity. Results indicate that variability for a broadly defined low-altitude stratiform cloud type exhibits on average 40% greater standard deviation than canonical boundary layer clouds topped by an inversion. Cloud variability also dramatically depends on microphysical processes (as manifested in radar reflectivity) and increases by 2–5 times within a typical reflectivity range. Finally, variability is a strong function of scale and almost doubles in the 20–100 min temporal scale range. Formulations of subgrid variability, based on PDFs of reflectivity, are evaluated for the two cloud types and two scales of 10 and 30 km, taken to be representative of mesoscale and NWP model grid sizes. The results show that for these cloud types and scales the PDF of reflectivity can be reasonably well approximated by a truncated Gaussian function, specified by mean and standard deviation with the latter parameterized as a linear function of the mean.
The Effects of Subsidiary Roles and MNC Nationalities on the Top Management Teams Demography: Empirical Research on MNC Subsidiaries in Taiwan

The TMT perspective developed by Hambrick and Mason (1984) suggests that the demographic characteristics of the top management team may affect organizational outcomes. Little previous work examines the international dimension of the demographics of TMT and looks at the demographics of TMT as explanandum. This study investigates the effects of subsidiary roles and nationalities on subsidiaries' demographic characteristics of TMT. Results show that subsidiary roles are positively related to the TMT's education, social integration, and communication frequency and nationalities are positively associated with TMT's age, education, and tenure.
The influence of skepticism on green purchase behaviour

Marketing managers strive to understand the emerging “green”market and to identify the determinants of their purchasing behavior, in the last 30 years. While demographic characteristics were previously analyzed to explain purchase behavior of the green consumers, psychological variables also began to be used in the near future. However, green purchase behavior was not completely understood so far by the existing literature. In this study, besides to environmental concern and perceived consumer effectiveness, the influence of skepticism on green purchase behavior had been measured. The analyses results show that perceived consumer effectiveness is the most important determinant that positively influence to green purchase behavior. Skepticism has negative influence on green purchase behavior. At the same time, high level of skepticism significantly decreases to perceived consumer effectiveness, environmental concern and green purchase behavior.
The subgiant branch of ω Centauri seen through high-resolution spectroscopy. I. The first stellar generation in ω Cen?

We analysed high-resolution UVES spectra of six stars belonging to the subgiant branch of ω Centauri, and derived abundance ratios of 19 chemical elements (namely Al, Ba, C, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, La, Mg, Mn, N, Na, Ni, Sc, Si, Sr, Ti, and Y). A comparison with previous abundance determinations for red giants provided remarkable agreement and allowed us to identify the sub-populations to which our targets belong. We found that three targets belong to a low-metallicity population at [Fe/H] � –2.0 dex, [α/Fe] � +0.4 dex and [s/Fe] � 0 dex. Stars with similar characteristics were found in small amounts by past surveys of red giants. We discuss the possibility that they belong to a separate sub-population that we name VMP (very metal-poor, at most 5% of the total cluster population), which – in the self-enrichment hypothesis – is the best-candidate first stellar generation in ω Cen. Two of the remaining targets belong to the dominant metal-poor population (MP) at [Fe/H] � –1.7 dex, and the last one to the metal-intermediate (MInt) one at [Fe/H] � –1.2 dex. The existence of the newly defined VMP population could help to understand some puzzling results based on low-resolution spectroscopy for age differences determinations, because the metallicity resolution of these studies was probably not enough to detect the VMP population. The VMP could also correspond to some of the additional substructures of the subgiant-branch region found in the latest HST photometry. After trying to correlate chemical abundances with substructures in the subgiant branch of ω Cen, we found that the age difference between the VMP and MP populations should be small (0 ± 2 Gyr), while the difference between the MP and MInt populations could be slightly larger (2 ± 2 Gyr).
Foreign Direct Investment and Trade Components in Context of Pakistan

Objective of this paper was to evaluate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on trade components (exports and imports) of Pakistan using annual data from 1975 to 2013. Engle and Granger two step cointegration method was used for conducting the analysis. This method was adopted because all the variables of interest were non stationary in level and stationary at first difference. Results provide evidence of long run cointegrating relationship as well as short run relationship between FDI and trade components. A rise in FDI causes both exports and imports to increase. Based on these empirical findings, we strongly recommend Government of Pakistan to focus on the strategy of investment liberalization as well as trade openness.
Influence of Protoplast Fusion in Trichoderma Spp. on Controlling SomeSoil Borne Diseases

Protoplasts from Trichoderma harzianum NBAII Th 1 and T. viride NBAII Tv 23 were isolated using lysing enzymes. Protoplast fusion of T. harzianum and T. viride was carried out. The fused protoplasts generated and 21 fusant isolates were used to study their antagonistic activity and RAPD-PCR characterization in comparison with their parents. Among the fusant isolates, F7 isolate produced maximum growth inhibition pathogen (one and half-fold increase as compared to the parent strains). All the tested fusants isolates exhibited increased antagonistic activity against Fusarium oxysporum than the parent strains except fusant F21. Specific results for fingerprinting were obtained by the seven primers of RAPD. These markers produced different fragment patterns with varied number of bands and yielded a total of 79 distinct bands. Polymorphic bands came to be 16.5% whereas monomorphic bands came to be 83.5%. Moreover, the OPO-13 primer has showed the highest polymorphism 35.3%. While, the OPA-16 primer has shown the lowest polymorphism 9.0%. The Dendrogram based on RAPD marker results grouped the two parent strains and twenty-one fusants into two different clusters with about 83% genetic similarity. The first cluster contained the two parent strains and twenty fusants, and the second cluster contained the fusant F2. Our results in this study suggested that the protoplast fusion technique is useful for developing the superior hybrid strains and enhance antagonistic activity of Trichoderma spp. against tested pathogenic fungi.
Vector meson production in coherent hadronic interactions: Update on predictions for energies available at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the CERN Large Hadron Collider

In this Rapid Communication we update our predictions for the photoproduction of vector mesons in coherent $\mathit{pp}$ and $\mathit{AA}$ collisions at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies using the color dipole approach and the Color Glass Condensate formalism. In particular, we present our predictions for the first run of the LHC at half energy and for the rapidity dependence of the ratio between the $J/\ensuremath{\Psi}$ and $\ensuremath{\rho}$ cross sections at RHIC energies.
Shrinkage and swelling properties of flocculated mature fine tailings

In the atmospheric fines drying technique, mature fine tailings (MFT) are treated with polymers and deposited in thin layers on a sloped surface for sub-aerial drying. During the whole drying period, the tailings deposits can experience rewetting during periods of rainy weather or as result of the the placement of new layers. This paper addresses the shrinkage and swelling behavior of flocculated MFT (FMFT) under drying and rewetting cycles. The shrinkage and swelling paths of tailing samples were assessed by laboratory experiments. The results showed that the shrinkage-swelling process in a FMFT sample is reversible once the initial drying did not extend below the shrinkage limit of the soil or the soil reached an equilibrium stage which occurred after at least four shrinkswell cycles. The effects of the flocculation procedure on the shrinkage behavior were investigated.
Effect of concentration of air pollutants (PM10, O3 and H2S) on lung capacity in the cities Arak and Khomain, Iran

Background: The present study investigates the effect of different concentrations of air pollutants (PM10, O3. H2S) on the function of lung. Materials & Methods: Arak and Khomain cities were divided into 10 and 5 regions, respectively. A sample of air pollutants (PM10, O3 .H2S) was measured by PSI (pollution standard index) machine randomly from spring to winter. Two random samples consisting of 1069 non-smoker residents of the two cities (522 from Khomain and 547 from Arak) were selected. Regression test mode were used to analyze data. Results: PSI in the cities Arak and Khomain was 101.83±14.54 and 89.17±18.58, respectively. Predicted values of FVC, FEVI, FEF 25-75%, MEF 50%, and PEF in Arak were 10.2%, 11.7%, 35.5%, 30.9%, and 40% abnormal, respectively. These values in Khomain were 8.8%, 11.3%, 35.4%, 33.9%, and 40.6% abnormal, respectively. The concentrations of H2S in both cities were above the standard values. There was no significant relationship between the concentrations of O3, H2S, PM10 and vital capacity. However, there was a considerable correlation between the mean of FEF, FEF 25– 75%, and concentration of O3 at P<0.001 and P=0.016 level of significance, respectively. In Arak the correlation observed between FVC and concentration of O3 was not significant. In Khomain a negative correlation was observed between VC with H2S and PM10 on one hand and FVC with H2S and PM10 on the other. Conclusion: The main pollutants in Arak was PM10 and in Khomain were H2S and O3. Measuring these pollutants throughout the year is necessary.
Long-Run Relationship between Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth in Asia : Evidence Using Pedroni ’ s Cointegration

This paper investigates the long-run relationship between fiscal policy and economic growth in Asia between 1982 and 2001 through the application of Pedroni’s Cointegration approach. It examines two different channels through which fiscal policy can affect long-run economic growth in Asian countries. The first channel is when components and aggregate government expenditure affect the real per capita GDP, and the second channel is when the distortionary taxation, budget balance, and aggregate of other fiscal variables affect the real per capita GDP. There is a positive and statistically significant impact of health and education expenditure, aggregate of government expenditure, and aggregate of other fiscal variables on real per capita GDP. It was found that the defence expenditure, distortionary taxation, and budget balance are significantly and negatively related to real per capita GDP. The Pedroni Cointegration result establishes a long-run relationship between fiscal policy and economic growth.
Average Air Temperature Inside a Room With a Semitransparent Wall With a Solar Control Film: Effect of The Emissivity

In this paper a theoretical study on conjugated heat transfer (natural convection, radiation and conduction) in a square room (cavity) with turbulent flow is presented, taking into account variation on the opaque wall emissivity. The room is formed by an isothermal vertical wall, two adiabatic horizontal walls and a semitransparent wall with and without a control solar radiation film. The governing equations for turbulent flow in 2D were solved using a finite volume formulation and k-  turbulent model. Results for an isothermal wall at 21°C and an external temperature of 35°C are presented. The size of the room is 4.0 m length and height and the solar radiation falling directly on the semitransparent wall was 750 W/m2 (AM2). The emissivity of the opaque walls was varied between 0.1 ≤ * ≤ 1.0. Results show that, based on the air average temperature and the effective heat flux inside the room, the solar control film under study was advantageous for energy saving purposes, for emissivity values of * ≤ 0.46. A correlation on this system for the heat transfer as a function of the emissivities was determined.
The strength of glulam beams with holes - A survey of tests and calculation methods

A compilation of available test results relating to the strength of glulam beams with holes is presented. A total of 182 individual tests from 8 different sources are described concerning material, test setup and recorded crack loads and failure loads. A brief description of some available methods for strength analysis of timber is given and specific calculation approaches for the strength of glulam beams with holes are compiled. Design rules according to some European codes are reviewed and compared to experimental test results. Fundamentally different design approaches are found among the reviewed codes and the comparison reveals significant discrepancies between the predicted strengths according to the different codes. (Less)
Environmental Attitudes and Household Electricity Use among Budapest Residents

Abstract: This paper addresses the question of whether the evidence on positive relationship between environmental attitudes and household energy consumption in advanced post-industrial societies can be extended to emerging economies. In this study, we focused on electricity use and utilized multivariate regression to test the above hypothesis on a sample of residents of Óbuda (Budapest) in February 2011. The analysis suggests that the findings on the positive environmental attitude-behaviour relationship in advanced post-industrial societies can be extended to some (relatively affluent) communities in post-socialist societies. Our data also showed that the effects of housing type and demography are much larger compared to the effects of the attitudes. We emphasize that our findings do not provide evidence against the hypothesis on the interaction between the effects of societal culture and individual attitudes on pro-environmental behaviour.
Response of Chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) Varieties to Nitrogen on a Calcareous Vertisols

An experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2010-12 to study the response of chickpea varieties to nutrients levels on a calcareous vertisols. The experiment comprised of four varieties i.e., NBeG-3, NBeG-28, JG-11 and KAK-2 and with four nitrogen levels i.e., 0, 20, 30 and 40 kg/ha laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. Among the varieties significantly higher dry matter production at harvest was recorded with JG-11 while it was lowest with KAK-2. More number of pods per plant and seed yield were recorded with JG-11 followed by NBeG-3 and NBeG-28, while lowest with KAK-2. Interaction effect among the different varieties and nitrogen levels was non significant with yield attributes. Significantly higher seed yield was recorded with JG-11 @ 40 kg of N/ha but was at par with N @ 20 and 30 kg /ha, followed by NBeG-3 and NBeG-28.
Equivalent Circuit Model for Designing of Jerusalem Cross-Based Artificial Magnetic Conductors

This paper introduces an equivalent circuit model to estimate the resonant frequency and reflection phase of Jerusalem cross-based artificial magnetic conductor (JC-AMC) structures for waves normally incident on the structure. The JC-AMC structure is composed of an array of Jerusalem cross-shaped frequency selective surfaces (JC-FSSs) printed on a metal-backed dielectric slab without vias. This approach is based on the coupled microstrip lines and transmission line theories. Analytical expressions for the resonant frequency and reflection phase resulting from our model are thoroughly verified by full-wave simulations for different samples reported in the open literature. A comprehensive parametric study of the design parameters of JC-AMC structure and the influence of these parameters on the reflection phase properties are presented. This model can easily be extended to complexshaped AMCs.
Towards a Decentralized Information Systems Success Model

This paper conceptualizes the decentralized information systems success model. Based on theoretical and empirical findings in the realm of Information Systems (IS) and Open Source Software (OSS) acceptance and success research as well as various IS enabled socio-economical trends, we define ten constructs (societal norms, economic boundaries, intention to contribute, intention to use, objective quality, heuristic/perceived quality, level of contribution, level of usage, intellectual net benefit and economic net benefit) as well as their relationships. To enhance the understanding of the proposed constructs and relationships, we give examples of the contribution to and the usage of cryptocurrencies. We contribute to the IS research stream of IS acceptance and success by providing a model that allows for an effective examination of decentralized IS success.
Climate intercomparison of GPS radio occultation, RS90/92 radiosondes and GRUAN from 2002 to 2013

Abstract. Observations from the GPS radio occultation (GPSRO) satellite technique and from the newly established GCOS Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) are both candidates to serve as reference observations in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Such reference observations are key to decrease existing uncertainties in upper-air climate research. There are now more than 12 years of data available from GPSRO, with the recognized properties high accuracy, global coverage, high vertical resolution, and long-term stability. These properties make GPSRO a suitable choice for comparison studies with other upper-air observational systems. The GRUAN network consists of reference radiosonde ground stations (16 at present), which adhere to the GCOS climate monitoring principles. In this study, we intercompare GPSRO temperature and humidity profiles and Vaisala RS90/92 data from the "standard" global radiosonde network over the whole 2002 to 2013 time frame. Additionally, we include the first years of GRUAN data (using Vaisala RS92), available since 2009. GPSRO profiles which occur within 3 h and 300 km of radiosonde launches are used. Overall very good agreement is found between all three data sets with temperature differences usually less than 0.2 K. In the stratosphere above 30 hPa, temperature differences are larger but still within 0.5 K. Day/night comparisons with GRUAN data reveal small deviations likely related to a warm bias of the radiosonde data at high altitudes, but also residual errors from the GPSRO retrieval process might play a role. Vaisala RS90/92 specific humidity exhibits a dry bias of up to 40% in the upper troposphere, with a smaller bias at lower altitudes within 15%. GRUAN shows a marked improvement in the bias characteristics, with less than 5% difference to GPSRO, up to 300 hPa. GPSRO dry temperature and physical temperature are validated using radiosonde data as reference. We find that GPSRO provides valuable long-term stable reference observations with well-defined error characteristics for climate applications and for anchoring other upper-air measurements.
Missed vaccination opportunities at a secondary health facility in Ilorin, Nigeria

Background: Immunization remains a key strategy in the control of childhood diseases, with a child expected to have five visits according to the current National Programme on Immunization. The study aimed to identify missed vaccination visits and the associated factors in children presenting at the general out-patient clinic of a secondary health facility in Ilorin, Nigeria. Method: Through a descriptive cross-sectional study, the vaccination data of all children seen at the out-patient clinic were critically reviewed over a period of one month. Socio-demographic and immunization details were obtained and reasons for missed vaccination documented. Those that had missed vaccination were commenced on the needed vaccine(s) after counselling of their parent(s), and adequate follow-up was instituted. Results: Eighty-two (5.1%) children out of 1603 seen had missed at least one vaccine visit. The mean (SD) age of the children was 20.1(14.9) months. The male to female ratio was 1.1:1. Thirty-nine (47.2%) children had missed one visit while 43(52.7%) had missed two or more visits; 16(19.5%) had missed all five visits. Major reasons for missed visits were ill child(26.8%), ignorance about routine vaccine but received vaccine during the National Immunization Days(NID) (19.5%), mother travelled (14.6%), forgot(9.8%), and reaction to previous vaccine(6.1%). Conclusion: The missed opportunity for immunization is high therefore health care providers should enquire about the vaccination status of children at all contact. There is a need to increase awareness on illnesses that are not contra-indications to vaccination, and routine vaccine status should be checked during NID. Keywords: Missed, Opportunity, Vaccination, Children, Routine, Immunization