Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Testing the Relationship between Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigeria and South Africa

Energy demand, supply and pricing impact on socio-economic development, living standards and the overall quality of life of people. The role of energy in the industrial sector activities underscores its link with economic development. For more than three decades, economists and policymakers have been preoccupied with the classic debate on energy consumption and economic growth nexus. This Paper examines the causal relationship between energy consumption disaggregated into coal, hydro and oil, and economic growth in Nigeria and South Africa. Several studies have adopted the standard Granger causality method which places some minimum restriction on the stationarity property of data. Thus, the Hsiao’s Granger causality version was applied to correct these restrictions for the comparative analysis. The estimated results reveal that economic growth causes total energy consumption in South Africa while energy consumption causes economic expansion in Nigeria. The economic implication of this finding is that sub-optimal utilization of energy resources through energy conservative policy may not lead to significant positive effect on economic growth in Nigeria. However, energy enhancement policy could engender economic growth in South Africa. Key words: Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and Energy policy.
Evaluation of FLT 3 mutations in Patients with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia

Introduction: The secondary genetic changes other than the PML-RARA fusion gene may contribute to the acute promyelocytic leukemogenesis. Chromosomal alterations and mutation of FLT3 tyrosine kinase receptor are the frequent genetic alterations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, the prognostic significance of FLT3 mutations in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is not firmly established. Patients & Methods: FLT3 ITD screening by fragment length analysis and FLT3 D835 mutation by melting curve analysis in 23 APL samples was screened in this study. Results: About13% of the patients had FLT3 internal tandem duplications (ITDs), and 26% had D835 point mutation. FLT3 ITD mutation was associated with higher white blood cell (WBC) count at presentation and poor prognosis. Conclusions: As the PML-RARA is not sufficient to develop APL, we assume FLT3 mutations and additional chromosomal alterations in this APL series may cooperate with PML-RARA in APL development.
Causes of Robust Seasonal Land Precipitation Changes

Historical simulations from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) archive are used to calculate the zonal-mean change in seasonal land precipitation for the second half of the twentieth century in response to a range of external forcings, including anthropogenic and natural forcings combined (ALL),greenhousegasforcing,anthropogenic aerosolforcing,anthropogenic forcingscombined,andnatural forcing. These simulated patterns of change are used as fingerprints in a detection and attribution study applied to four different gridded observational datasets of global land precipitation from 1951 to 2005. There are large differences in the spatial and temporal coverage in the observational datasets. Yet despite these differences, the zonal-mean patterns of change are mostly consistent except at latitudes where spatial coverage is limited. The results show some differences between datasets, but the influence of external forcings is robustly detected in March‐May, December‐February, and for annual changes for the three datasets more suitable for studying changes. For June‐August and September‐November, external forcing is only detected forthedatasetthatincludesonly long-term stations.Fingerprintsforcombinationsofforcingsthatincludethe effect of greenhouse gases are similarly detectable to those for ALL forcings, suggesting that greenhouse gas influence drives the detectable features of the ALL forcing fingerprint. Fingerprints of only natural or only anthropogenic aerosol forcing are not detected. This, together with two-fingerprint results, suggests that at least some of the detected change in zonal land precipitation can be attributed to human influences.
Current accumulation at an asymmetric 3D null point caused by generic shearing motions

Context. Here we investigate the dynamical evolution of the reconnection process at an initially linear 3D null point that is stressed by a localised shear motion across the spine axis. The difference to previous investigations is that the fan plane is not rotationally symmetric and this allows for different behaviours depending on the alignment of the fan plane relative to the imposed driver direction. Aims. The aim is to show how the current accumulation and the associated reconnection process at the non-axisymmetric null depends on the relative orientation between the driver imposed stress across the spine axis of the null and the main eigenvector direction in the fan plane. Methods. The time evolution of the 3D null point is investigated solving the 3D non-ideal MHD equations numerically in a Cartesian box. The magnetic field is frozen to the boundaries and the boundary velocity is only non-zero where the imposed driving for stressing the system is applied. Results. The current accumulation is found to be along the direction of the fan eigenvector associated with the smallest eigenvalue until the direction of the driver is almost parallel to this eigenvector. When the driving velocity is parallel to the weak eigenvector and has an impulsive temporal profile the null only has a weak collapse forming only a weak current layer. However, when the null point is stressed continuously boundary effects dominates the current accumulation. Conclusions. There is a clear relation between the orientation of the current concentration and the direction of the fan eigenvector corresponding to the small eigenvalue. This shows that the structure of the magnetic field is the most important in determining where current is going to accumulate when a single 3D null point is perturbed by a simple shear motion across the spine axis. As the angle between the driving direction and the strong eigenvector direction increases, the current that accumulates at the null becomes progressively weaker.
ENGAGING ABSENT FATHERS: LESSONS FROM PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT PROGRAMS *

This paper provides the first comprehensive analysis of the causal effects of in-hospital voluntary paternity establishment (IHVPE) programs on paternity establishment rates and consequent family structure and behavior. Using variation in the timing of IHVPE program initiation across states and years, I first show that IHVPE programs increase paternity establishment rates by 40 percent. Then, using data from the March and April Current Population Survey Supplements, I show that IHVPE programs reduce the likelihood of marriage postchildbirth. The decrease in marriage leads to an increase in the average characteristics of both married and unmarried fathers. Accounting for selection out of marriage, private health insurance provision for children declines, while maternal labor supply increases. The results from my analysis are consistent with a framework where fathers, who are heterogeneous in quality, must make transfers to mothers in exchange for rights to their children. Maternal utility is more sensitive to father quality in marriage than outside marriage, so a decrease in the cost of paternity establishment induces more mothers to choose higher partial transfers outside marriage over full transfers and interaction with lower-than-desired quality fathers in marriage. I provide evidence that the timing of IHVPE program implementation is uncorrelated with numerous state timevarying characteristics and that the results are not driven by pre-existing trends. My results are robust to the inclusion of numerous controls for maternal, child, and state time-varying characteristics, state and year fixed effects, state-specific time trends, and across several specifications, methods, and data sets.
Conjugacy as a Distinctive Feature of the Dirichlet Process

Abstract. Recently the class of normalized random measures with independent increments, which contains the Dirichlet process as a particular case, has been introduced. Here a new technique for deriving moments of these random probability measures is proposed. It is shown that, a priori, most of the appealing properties featured by the Dirichlet process are preserved. When passing to posterior computations, we obtain a characterization of the Dirichlet process as the only conjugate member of the whole class of normalized random measures with independent increments.
Computer games and health: a proof of concept

Government and other surveys highlight the problem of youth inactivity and obesity. A contributory factor to this problem is the enticement of computer games which have been believed to displace healthy physical exercise. There is some evidence that the intrinsic appeal of computer games lures individuals into sedentary game playing as an alternative to other activities of a more physical nature e.g. sport. An alternate view is that the infrastructure of computer games technology presents the individual game player with a wider range of opportunities than those afforded by traditional sports (e.g. control, participation, social constructs etc). An earlier study by the authors highlighted the possible contribution of computer games as physical activity specialists. In order to substantiate this possible avenue of research a series of ad hoc experiments have been carried out utilising fitness metrics such as heart rate and blood pressure in a variety of scenarios. Although the sample tested was small and in no way indicates a rigorous medical field trial, the results indicate that this approach could yield a new paradigm in the battle to combat such diseases as obesity and coronary heart fitness.
Free vibration analysis of thin-walled rectangular box beams based on generalized coordinates

An eight degree-of-freedom dynamic theory is presented for the free vibration analysis of thin-walled rectangular box beams. With the newly proposed parameters to prescribe the cross-section deformations, governing differential equations of the thin-walled rectangular beam are deduced using the principle of minimum potential energy. For the finite element implementation, two different displacement fields are constructed with generalized coordinates to formulate the stiffness matrix and the mass matrix, respectively. Dynamic equations of motion are deduced with Hamilton’s principle, and approximated with C0 continuous interpolation functions. The validity of this study is confirmed both by published literature and by extensive finite element solutions from MSC/NASTRAN.
A self-assessment of entry-level PC skills by newly qualified Irish chartered accountants

This article examines the extent to which Irish university accounting curricula provide the PC skills necessary to prepare graduates for a career in accountancy. The entry-level selfperceived PC skills of accounting/commerce (relevant) degree holders are compared with the entry-level self-perceived PC skills of those holding other qualifications for all newly qualified members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland admitted in one year. Significant differences were found between the two groups in almost all of the PC skills identified. The findings revealed that relevant degree-holders were much more PC literate when they commenced professional training than those holding other qualifications. No significant difference in entry-level self-perceived PC skills was discovered between male and female Irish chartered accountants. When the gender analysis was extended to include entrance qualification, the difference between relevant degree holders and those holding other qualifications, discovered in the main analysis, was confirmed within the gender groupings.
Phonetic content influences voice discriminability

We present results from an experiment which shows that voice perception is influenced by the phonetic content of speech. Dutch listeners were presented with thirteen speakers pronouncing CVC words with systematically varying segmental content, and they had to discriminate the speakers’ voices. Results show that certain segments help listeners discriminate voices more than other segments do. Voice information can be extracted from every segmental position of a monosyllabic word and is processed rapidly. We also show that although relative discriminability within a closed set of voices appears to be a stable property of a voice, it is also influenced by segmental cues ‐ th at is, perceived uniqueness of a voice depends on what that voice says.
Fiscal Policy and Interest Rates: The Role of Sovereign Default Risk

Recent events have highlighted the potential importance of nonlinear efiects of flscal variables (notably debt and deflcits) on interest rates: While in times when government solvency is not a concern the standard crowding-out efiects are of moderate magnitude, in times when default risk becomes an issue the interest rate efiects can become very large. This paper provides new evidence on the magnitude of these efiects. For the case when default risk is not a concern, it uses an arbitrage-free term structure model to estimate the dynamic efiects of flscal policy shocks on interest rates along the entire maturity spectrum. For the case when default risk becomes a concern (thereby violating a central assumption of the term structure model), I present evidence based on EMU government bond spread regressions on time-varying efiects of national flscal policies on spreads as well as the time-varying sensitivity of yield spreads to international risk aversion as a function of the state of flscal policy. JEL classiflcation: E6, H6.
NONLINEAR EXPECTATIONS AND NONLINEAR MARKOV CHAINS

This paper deals with nonlinear expectations. The author obtains a nonlinear generalization of the well-known Kolmogorov's consistent theorem and then use it to construct filtration-consistent nonlinear expectations via nonlinear Markov chains. Compared to the author's previous results, i.e., the theory of g-expectations introduced via BSDE on a probability space, the present framework is not based on a given probability measure. Many fully nonlinear and singular situations are covered. The induced topology is a natural generalization of Lp-norms and L∞-norm in linear situations. The author also obtains the existence and uniqueness result of BSDE under this new framework and develops a nonlinear type of von Neumann-Morgenstern representation theorem to utilities and present dynamic risk measures.
The Updip Seismic/Aseismic Transition of the Sumatra Megathrust

Great subduction earthquakes exhibit segmentation both within the rupture of individual events and in the long term history of the margin. The 2004 December 26 Aceh-Andaman and 2005 March 28 Nias event in northern Sumatra are two of the largest earthquakes in recent years, with both co- and post-seismic displacements constrained in unprecedented detail. Using aftershock locations from a temporary seismic array in the boundary region between both events and waveform modelling of large aftershocks, we demonstrate that the vast majority of aftershocks in the study region occur on the plate interface within a narrow band ( 20 km) seaward of the outer arc high. Comparing the seismicity distribution to the co- and post-seismic displacements, we infer that the seismic band marks the transition between the seismogenic zone and stable sliding. The location of the band and therefore the transition appears to be correlated with the ∼500 m bathymetry contour. This close correspondence is disrupted at the boundary between the two great earthquakes, where the transition to seismogenic behaviour occurs further landward by ∼25 km. To the west of Simeulue, where seafloor bathymetry throughout the forearc is deeper than 500 m, the seismic band terminates abruptly and the focus of aftershock activity is found near the trench. The seismic efficiency of afterslip varies dramatically along strike: the segment below the Banyak islands, in the gap between the two main asperities of the Nias earthquake, accommodates a much larger proportion of afterslip seismically.
Proximate determination of male horn dimorphism in the beetle Onthophagus taurus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

The existence of discrete phenotypic variation within one sex poses interesting questions regarding how such intrasexual polymorphisms are produced and modified during the course of evolution. Approaching these kinds of questions requires insights into the genetic architecture underlying a polymorphism and an understanding of the proximate mechanisms determining phenotype expression. Here we explore the genetic underpinnings and proximate factors influencing the expression of beetle horns – a dramatic sexually selected trait exhibiting intramale dimorphism in many species. Two relatively discrete male morphs are present in natural populations of the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus (Scarabaeidae, Onthophagini). Males exceeding a critical body size develop a pair of long, curved horns on their heads, while those smaller than this critical body size remain essentially hornless. We present results from laboratory breeding experiments designed to assess the relative importance of inherited and environmental factors as determinants of male morphology. Using father–son regressions, our findings demonstrate that horn length and body size of male progeny are not predicted from paternal morphology. Instead, natural variation in an environmental factor, the amount of food available to larvae, determined both the body sizes exhibited by males as adults and the presence or absence of horns. The nonlinear scaling relationship between the body size and horn length of males bred in the laboratory did not differ from the pattern of variation present in natural populations, suggesting that nutritional conditions account for variation in male morphology in natural populations as well. We discuss our results by extending ideas proposed to explain the evolution of conditional expression of alternative phenotypes in physically heterogeneous environments toward incorporating facultative expression of secondary sexual traits. We use this synthesis to begin characterizing the potential origin and subsequent evolution of facultative horn expression in onthophagine beetles.
LIFE CYCLE, REPRODUCTIVE PATTERNS AND THEIR YEAR-TO-YEAR VARIATION IN A FIELD POPULATION OF THE WOLF SPIDER PIRATA PIRATICUS (ARANEAE, LYCOSIDAE)

Abstract Patterns of growth, phenology and reproduction were studied in a field population of the wolf spider Pirata piraticus from November 1997 until October 1998 and in June 1999 to unravel the intrapopulation variation and co-variation of these traits. Individuals of P. piraticus overwinter as juveniles of different instars while adults were found from the end of April until September. Strong year to year variation in the age and size of overwintering juveniles was present, resulting in a corresponding difference in adult size in the subsequent breeding season. The main period of reproduction occurred from May until August with larger individuals breeding earlier in the season. The size at which adults breed was also significantly different in the successive years. Clutch mass (cocoon mass), clutch volume and fecundity are dependent on the size of the female according to a weakly negative allometric relationship. The differences in those reproductive traits between the succesive years are therefore proportionate to the differences in female size. This was in clear contrast to egg size, a life history trait that shows much less variation and appears to be independent of female size. Therefore, egg size was not significantly different between spring 1998 and spring 1999. There is, however, some variation in fecundity due to egg size and number independent of female size. When corrected for female size, females with larger eggs produce relatively fewer eggs indicating a trade-off between these two reproductive characters.
ARE FARMERS COMPLETELY RATIONAL CONSUMERS AND DO THEY SUFFER FROM A BORROWING CONSTRAINT?: THE DUTCH CASE /доклад на 10 конгрессе ЕААЕ, Exploring Diversity in the European Agri-Food System, Zaragoza, Spain, 28-31 August 2002

There is some confusion in the literature on the consumption behaviour of farmers. We try to clear up some of the issues surrounding this confusion by elaborating and testing a model. Euler equations have been derived from a constant relative risk aversion utility function for total consumption expenditure, household expenditure and other expenditure, which includes durable goods. According to a test of Euler equations, farm households are not simply optimising lifetime utility. Rather, these households follow simple consumption rules, strongly influenced by habit formation. In line with most of the literature, we find that farm households are not borrowing constrained in their consumption expenditures.
A preliminary field study of indoor chemistry

In order to document the potential impact of outdoor ozone and NOx on indoor air quality, a field campaign has been organized from June to October 2004 in the CSTB experimental houseMARIA. New building materials have been selected and installed in a test room where ventilation conditions are precisely controlled. During the experiments, the mean I/O NOx (mainly as NO2) ratio was close to 0.9 regardless of the AER, while the mean ozone ratio was 0.2, 0.09 and 0.04 with a respective AER of 2.4, 1.0 and 0.6 h-1. This sharp depletion of the I/O ozone ratio is an evidence of ozone-induced reactions occurring in the test room both on indoor surfaces and in the gas-phase with specific VOC emitted by the new materials. Detailed experiments performed during photochemical pollution episodes showed the apparition of ozone-initiated reactions products indoors. In particular, formaldehyde, hexanal and presumably submicron particles peaked indoors just after the ozone peaked outdoors.
Land cover and its transformation in the backward trajectory footprint region of the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory

Abstract. The Amazon rain forest experiences the combined pressures from human-made deforestation and progressing climate change, causing severe and potentially disruptive perturbations of the ecosystem's integrity and stability. To intensify research on critical aspects of Amazonian biosphere–atmosphere exchange, the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) has been established in the central Amazon Basin. Here we present a multi-year analysis of backward trajectories to derive an effective footprint region of the observatory, which spans large parts of the particularly vulnerable eastern basin. Further, we characterize geospatial properties of the footprint regions, such as climatic conditions, distribution of ecoregions, land cover categories, deforestation dynamics, agricultural expansion, fire regimes, infrastructural development, protected areas, and future deforestation scenarios. This study is meant to be a resource and reference work, helping to embed the ATTO observations into the larger context of human-caused transformations of Amazonia. We conclude that the chances to observe an unperturbed rain forest–atmosphere exchange at the ATTO site will likely decrease in the future, whereas the atmospheric signals from human-made and climate-change-related forest perturbations will increase in frequency and intensity.