Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Refinement of the structures of GeS, GeSe, SnS and SnSe

The orthorhombic structures (Pbnm-Di~; No. 62) of GeS, GeSe, SnS and SnSe have been refined (X-ray diffractometer data: 319 hkl, R = 0.029; 370 hkl, R = 0.061 ; 386 hkl, R = 0.062; 506 hkl, R = 0.076). The bond distances are: Ge S = 2.438(1), 2.448(2) A; Ge-Se = 2.574(2),2.564(3) A; Sn-S = 2.665(2),2.627(4) A; SnSe = 2.793(2), 2.744(3) A. The structures of these compounds reveal systematic variations of bond lengths, bond angles and of nonbonding distances. These properties as well as their temperature dependence compared to those of related compounds allow to treat these structures as different configurations of a hypothetical reaction path of a phase transition GeS type ---+ TII type ---+ NaCl type.
The role of allergen challenge chambers in the evaluation of anti‐allergic medication: an international consensus paper

Summary Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common condition with quality of life and economic implications for those affected. Numerous studies have attempted to evaluate treatments for rhinitis, seeking clinically meaningful efficacy and safety results to enable evidence-based treatment decisions. Traditional studies of medications for AR are hampered by many confounding environmental factors as well as suboptimal medication compliance. They are also an unsuitable setting for determination of precise pharmacodynamic properties of medications, including onset and duration of action. Allergen challenge chambers (ACCs) were developed to provide predetermined, controlled allergen levels and to limit variables inherent in traditional studies. An ACC hosts a number of allergen-sensitive subjects who may receive either medication or placebo in a closed environment regulated for temperature, humidity and other variables. Subjects' allergic responses are monitored using subjective and objective assessments throughout the study, and the resultant information contributes significantly to the clinical profile of a medication. This consensus paper provides an in-depth review of the role of ACCs as a means to evaluate treatments in AR, and concludes that ACC trials fulfil an important supportive role in the assessment of anti-allergic medication.
Intellectual Capital Measurement: Using the Earnings Per Share Model of Quoted Insurance Companies in Nigeria

The earnings per share of insurance companies may be influenced by the intellectual capital capabilities of such firms. Intellectual capital is the aggregate of the workers’ efforts towards the growth of an enterprise. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which these efforts may affect the earnings per share model of quoted insurance firms in Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was used for the secondary data selection. Using the purposive sampling technique, 150 workers were used as the target population selected from the human resources, accounts and marketing departments of 18 active insurance companies.150 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents with a response rate of 74%. To validate the measuring instruments, face validity, content validity and pilot tests were employed. The result from the primary data revealed that the effect of human capital was negatively insignificant on EPS (P>0.05). The result from the secondary data showed that structural capital had insignificant negative effect on EPS (P>0.05). The study concluded that human capital (HC), structural capital (SC) and relational capital (RC) each had a statistical insignificant relationship with earnings per share (EPS) of insurance companies in Nigeria. The study recommended that a standard on intellectual capital accounting be issued by the International Financial Reporting Committee (IFRC) to enable firms measure and record their intellectual capital values as they relate to earnings per share in their income statements.
Adsorption of copper and lead in single and binary metal system onto Fumaria indica biomass

Among heavy metals, lead and copper pose a significant threat to the due to their toxicity, incremental accumulation in the food chain and persistence in the ecosystem. Lead and copper are introduced into water from various industries and other human activities. Present study was aimed to remove lead and copper from aqueous media using Fumaria indica biomass as a function of metal ions initial concentration. Both metal removal was investigated in single and binary system. For comparison isotherm models i.e., Langmuir and Freundlich were applied on experimental adsorption data. Results showed that the copper behavior was different in single and binary metal system, whereas lead adsorption remained the same in both single and binary metal systems. The Freundlich isotherm model fitted well to the adsorption data of both single and binary metal system. The thermodynamic parameters i.e., ∆G 0 , was measured to get insight into adsorption phenomenon and negative value of ∆G 0
The effect of steam and hot water blanching on some quality attributes of cocoyam leaf

Cocoyam leaf, an African Indigenous vegetable locally referred to as kontomire among the Akans in Ghana is used in the preparation of sauces (‘kontomire’ stew) and soups (‘ebunebunu’). The work aimed at determining the effect of steam and hot water blanching methods on colour, flow rate, total soluble solids, pH and sensory attributes of cocoyam leaf puree. Cocoyam leaf puree was produced using both steam and hot water blanching methods. Fifty (50) panellists evaluated the organoleptic properties of soups made from the produced purees using a 9-point hedonic scale. There was significant difference (p<0.05) between steam and hot water blanched purees in terms of colour, consistency and mouth feel. The hot water blanched puree sample was the most preferred in terms of all the attributes. There was a significant difference between steam blanched and hot water blanched puree samples in terms of their pH, flow rate and colour. The pH of steam and hot water blanched purees were 6.06±0.01 and 6.40±0.02 respectively. Hot water blanched samples recorded a lower flow rate while steam blanched samples recorded a higher a-value in terms of colour. There was no significant difference in the total soluble solids contents of steam blanched and hot water blanched puree samples. The sensory attributes, flow rate and total soluble solids content of hot water blanched puree makes it a better method for the processing of cocoyam leaf puree.
Factors Affecting the Success of Construction Projects in Gaza Strip

The construction sector is the main pillar in the Palestinian economy, where the Qatari Grant projects form the largest part of the construction projects spent in Gaza Strip. This research aims to improve the performance of all parties involved in the Qatari projects by identifying the factors of success and revising the factors of failure dominating the construction projects in Gaza strip. This study was carried out through distributing ninety-three questionnaires to the contracting companies working in Qatari grant projects, the consulting offices supervising Qatari grant projects, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, and the Qatari committee. The study found that the most affecting factors are: the clear scope of the project, the experience of the design team, the experience of the contractor, closure of crossing points, the highly qualified technical staff, the availability of funding, the mechanism of payments, reputation of the contractor, delay in obtaining fund and sufficient time for design. The results have led to several recommendations aimed to achieve the success of construction projects in general and Qatari projects in Gaza Strip in particular. These are: the need to give sufficient time to design, sufficient consideration of all proposals, the inclusion of all parties in the design phase, studying the surrounding circumstances, identifying alternatives to materials to be used instead of others, and the need to employing a highly experienced technical team and conducting training courses. In addition, the contractor's interest in delivering a high-quality work that satisfies all parties must be taken into consideration.
Majoritarian Contests with Asymmetric Battlefields: An Experiment

We investigate a version of the classic Colonel Blotto game in which individual battles may have different values. Two players allocate a fixed budget across battlefields and each battlefield is won by the player who allocates the most to that battlefield. The winner of the game is the player who wins the battlefields with highest total value. We focus on the case where there is one large and several small battlefields, such that a player wins if he wins the large and any one small battlefield, or all the small battlefields. We compute the mixed strategy equilibrium for these games and compare this with choices from a laboratory experiment. The equilibrium predicts that the large battlefield receives more than a proportional share of the resources of the players, and that most of the time resources should be spread over more battlefields than are needed to win the game. We find support for the main qualitative features of the equilibrium. In particular, strategies that spread resources widely are played frequently, and the large battlefield receives more than a proportional share in the treatment where the asymmetry between battlefields is stronger.
Level Shifts in Volatility and the Implied-Realized Volatility Relation

We propose a simple model in which realized stock market return volatility and implied volatility backed out of option prices are subject to common level shifts corresponding to movements between bull and bear markets. The model is estimated using the Kalman filter in a generalization to the multivariate case of the univariate level shift technique by Lu and Perron (2008). An application to the S&P500 index and a simulation experiment show that the recently documented empirical properties of strong persistence in volatility and forecastability of future realized volatility from current implied volatility, which have been interpreted as long memory (or fractional integration) in volatility and fractional cointegration between implied and realized volatility, are accounted for by occasional common level shifts.
Willingness to Be a Partner in Musharakah Mutanaqisah Home Financing: Empirical Investigation of Psychological Factors (Kesediaan Menjadi Rakan dalam Pembiayaan Rumah Musharakah Mutanaqisah: Kajian Empirikal Faktor-Faktor Psikologi)

This study is aimed at explaining factors influencing the intention to be a partner amongst bank customers in musharakah mutanaqisah home financing. Drawing upon the theory of planned behavior ( TPB), this study assesses the model in order to examine the effects of three explanatory factors namely attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on the intention to be a partner in the context of Islamic home financing. This study modifies the TPB to reflect musharakah mutanaqisah home financing. The model of the study is assessed using survey data from 168 respondents among bank customers. The findings suggest that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control are significantly influencing the intention to be a partner. The relationship between attitude and subjective norm is also significant. The findings demonstrate the applicability of the TPB in the musharakah mutanaqisah home financing context. The findings are also useful to bank managers in effectively managing Islamic home financing facilities.
Following People Through Time: An Analysis of Individual Residential Mobility Biographies

The life course framework guides us towards investigating how dynamic life course careers affect residential mobility decision-making and behaviour throughout long periods of individual lifetimes. However, most longitudinal studies linking mobility decision-making to subsequent moving behaviour focus only on year-to-year transitions. This study moves beyond this snapshot approach by analysing the long-term sequencing of moving desires and mobility behaviour within individual lives. Using novel techniques to visualise the desire–mobility sequences of British Household Panel Survey respondents, the study demonstrates that revealing the meanings and significance of particular transitions in moving desires and mobility behaviour requires these transitions to be arranged into mobility biographies. The results highlight the oft-neglected importance of residential stability over the life course, uncovering groups of individuals persistently unable to act in accordance with their moving desires.
FAMILY CONTROLLED FIRMS : EVIDENCE FROM INDONESIA

We analyse the relationship between board structure and firm performance in familycontrolled firms, using a sample of Indonesian non-financial companies. We find that the share of independent directors on the board has an insignificant relationship with firm performance. We suspect that the result is driven by the lack of institutional reforms in relation to the appointment of independent directors. Our analysis shows strong empirical support for the proposition that family control (family ownership and family involvement on the board) is negatively related to firm performance. However, the significant effect of family ownership disappears when family involvement on the board is taken into the model. This result indicates that family ownership is more detrimental to firm performance whenever the family is highly involved in control decisions. Our results suggest that Indonesia needs to implement governance reforms that prevent majority owners from exercising excessive control over firms. Asian-Pacific Economic Literature ANU College of Asia & the Pacific The Australian National University JG Crawford Building No. 13 Canberra ACT 0200 Australia T: +61 2 6125 0407 F: +61 2 6125 8448 E: apel@anu.edu.au W: apel.anu.edu.au A P E L Your guide to the best economic and policy literature on the Asian-Pacific region
RUNNING HEAD: SEX AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MORAL COGNITION Sex and gender differences in moral cognition

This study examined the source of individual variation in moral cognition, specifically in moral judgment and moral construal. It was hypothesised that psychological gender (sex-role identity) of participants would show greater differences than those found between males and females; specifically that feminine and androgynous participants would attain higher developmental stages than masculine participants. Participants (N= 280) were recruited from a student subject pool and the general community to obtain a cross-sectional sample of ages across the lifespan. Participants completed online or paper surveys, containing criterionjudgment tasks on a range of issues to test moral construal, the short form version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1981a) to measure gender, and the Defining Issues Test (DIT; Rest, 1979b) of moral judgment. A subset of participants (n = 84) were also interviewed face-to-face, completing the Ethic of Care Interview (ECI; Skoe, 1993) to measure care-based moral judgment. As hypothesised, psychological gender was a stronger predictor of moral judgment than biological sex, even after controlling for age and education. Feminine participants were more developed than masculine participants in developmental stage of justice-based moral judgment (d= .42) and care-based moral judgment (d= .64), while there was no difference between feminine and androgynous participants. Previous inconsistencies in support for, or rejection of sex differences may be partially explained by variation in sex-role identity of samples, and the use of primarily younger student subject pools in recruitment. Additionally, differences were found between males and females on tasks of moral construal. The implications of these findings are discussed, and how measurement of psychological gender might be used to identify those who would benefit from educational interventions aimed at facilitating higher developmental stages of moral judgment. Author : David Reilly Supervisor: Heather Green Submitted : October, 2010
Improved seismic tomography offshore northeastern Taiwan: Implications for subduction and collision processes between Taiwan and the southernmost Ryukyu

SUMMARY To improve the resolution in imaging the 3-D VP and VP/VS structures in the Taiwan region, especially offshore eastern Taiwan, we combine the arrival times from eleven ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) and from seismic stations of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) with those from the permanent stations of Taiwan Central Weather Bureau Seismic Network (CWBSN) and Taiwan Strong Motion Instrumentation Program (TSMIP). By doing so, we have obtained a new 3-D tomographic model for Taiwan and its surrounding regions with a better resolution, especially in the area offshore northeastern Taiwan. We also used this new tomography model to relocate the hypocentres of the earthquakes in northeastern Taiwan and determined the focal mechanisms of relatively large events. Our tomography results indicate that in the region northeast of Taiwan, the subducting oceanic Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian continental lithosphere is characterized by a high VP layer, surrounded by lower VP areas. This P-wave velocity characteristics of the subducting slab provides a better constraint on the geometry of the subduction interface, especially in its shallower portion. In the hangingwall (Eurasian) block above the subduction interface, a vertically elongated high VP/VS body appears to originate from the interface at depths between 100 and 140 km. We suggest that it represents the partially melted materials that are related to the magmatic activity of the Ryukyu volcanic arc.
Diagnosis of Osteoarticular - Solution is in Peripheral Blood!!

Osteoarticular tuberculosis, a cause of deformity and lifelong disability is usually neglected due to major emphasis on open cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in almost all the developing countries. However, it needs to be detected and treated early. Approximately 10% of tuberculous infections are extrapulmonary, and 10% of such infections involve the musculoskeletal system.
Managerial Recalibration : Do CFOs Learn ?

Using 14,800 forecasts of one-year S&P 500 returns made by Chief Financial Officers over a 12-year period, we track the individual executives that provide multiple forecasts to evaluate how they adapt and recalibrate their forecasts in response to return realizations. We focus on the confidence intervals that each CFO provides in their forecast. A simple model of Bayesian learning suggests that confidence intervals should be impacted by return realizations. We find that the confidence intervals significantly widen when realizations fall outside CFOs’ ex ante confidence ranges and narrow when realizations fall within their ex ante intervals. While these results are consistent with CFOs learning, we find that CFOs are still badly miscalibrated.
The low or retrograde spin of the first extragalactic microquasar: implications for Blandford-Znajek powering of jets

Transitions to high mass accretion rates in black hole X-ray binaries are associated with the ejection of powerful, relativistically moving jets. The mechanism that powers such events is thought to be linked to tapping of the angular momentum (spin) of the black hole, the rate of accretion through the disc or some combination of the two. We can attempt to discriminate between these different possibilities by comparing proxies for jet power with spin estimates. Because of the small number of sources that reach Eddington mass accretion rates and have therefore been suggested to act as ‘standard candles’, there has been much recent debate as to whether a significant correlation exists between jet power and black hole spin. We perform continuum fitting to the high-quality, disc-dominated XMM–Newton spectra of the extragalactic microquasar discovered in M31. Assuming prograde spin, we find that for sensible constraints the spin is always very low (a∗ ≤ 0.15 at 3σ ). When combined with a proxy for jet power derived from the maximum 5 GHz radio luminosity during a bright flaring event, we find that the source sits well above the previously reported, rising correlation that would indicate that spin tapping is the dominant mechanism for powering the jets, i.e. it is too ‘radio loud’ for such a low spin. The notable exceptions require the inclination to be improbably small or the jet to be very fast. We investigate whether this could be a byproduct of selecting prograde-only spin, finding that the data statistically favour a substantially retrograde spin for the same constraints (a∗ ≤−0.17 at 3σ ). Although theoretically improbable, this remarkable finding could be confirmation that retrograde spin can power such jets via spin-tapping, as has been suggested for certain radio quasars. In either case this work demonstrates the value of studying local extragalactic microquasars as a means to better understand the physics of jet launching.
Caldera subsidence and magma chamber depth of the Olympus Mons volcano, Mars

Observations of the distribution of tectonic features and their relationship to local surface topography indicate that the floor of the oldest and largest crater of the summit caldera of Mars' Olympus Mons volcano may have undergone subsidence in response to depressurization of a subsurface magma chamber. In this study, we construct an axisymmetric finite element model to calculate elastic stresses in a volcanic edifice to investigate the relationship between surface tectonism, caldera subsidence, and the physical characteristics of Olympus Mons' magmatic reservoir. Constraints on the model are provided by the stress field within the crater indicated by the distribution of radial ridges and circumferential graben that we hypothesize formed due to a postcollapse and postresurfacing phase of subsidence of the caldera floor. Model results show that the surface stress state is not strongly sensitive to the aspect ratio or pressure distribution of the magma chamber, or to the contrast in stiffness between the magma chamber and surroundings, but is strongly dependent on the width and depth of the chamber. For a range of plausible model parameters, we find the maximum depth to the top of the magma chamber to have been ≤16 km, which indicates that the chamber, at the time of crater floor subsidence, was positioned within the Olympus Mons edifice, at a level much shallower than the estimated source depth of Martian magmas (∼140–200 km). The allowable range of solutions indicates that the vertical position of the magma chamber may have been controlled by the neutral buoyancy level of ascending magma. Our results suggest a gross similarity between the configurations of the magmatic plumbing systems of Olympus Mons and several well-studied terrestrial volcanoes such as the Hawaiian shields.
The win-first probability under interest force

In a classical risk model under constant interest force, we study the probability that the surplus of an insurance company reaches an upper barrier before a lower barrier. We define this probability as win-first probability. Borrowing ideas from life-insurance theory, hazard rates of the maximum of the surplus before ruin, regarded as a remaining future lifetime random variable, are studied, and provide an original derivation of the win-first probability. We propose an algorithm to efficiently compute this risk-return indicator and its derivatives in the general case, as well as bounds of these quantities. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is compared with adaptations of other existing methods, and its interest is illustrated by the computation of the expected amount of dividends paid until ruin in a risk model with a dividend barrier strategy.