Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of alcohol arrest referral pilot schemes (Phase 1).

Occasional Paper 101 presents findings from an evaluation of the first phase Alcohol Arrest Referral pilots which operated between 2007 and 2008 in four police forces. Brief interventions to attempt to tackle alcohol-related offending were offered to adults, arrested and deemed to be under the influence of alcohol. Overall, the intervention did not appear to reduce re-arrests for this client group. Two schemes saw a statistically significant reduction in alcohol consumption but it was not possible to assess how much this reduction was attributable to the intervention as there was no control group. Break-even analysis suggested that the schemes would have needed to reduce between 0.6 and 6.0 arrests for every 100 interventions delivered to break even.
Bank Risk Exposures in the East Asian Region

ABSTRACT Risk management is a pivotal factor for managing financial institutions. Efficient and sustainable banking activity requires managers to take all sources of instability into account and to adopt strategies against risks. The objective of the present paper is to investigate the sources of bank risks with a straightforward and comprehensive risk measurement for the East Asian region. The Z-risk index and a three-factor Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) are adopted to estimate the probability of insolvency, systematic bank risks and unsystematic bank risks. The results demonstrate that banks in East Asian countries are exposed to a variety of risk exposures. Also, the findings show that banks with lower unsystematic risks do not necessarily have lower insolvency risks, indicating that the sources of insolvency risk are complicated and need further research. Finally, a regional cooperation strategy among banks is suggested so that exchange rate and interest rate risks can be reduced. Keywords: East Asian banks; insolvency risk; three-factor CAPM; stock market; debt market; foreign exchange market ABSTRAK Pengurusan risko merupakan faktor penting bagi pengurusan institusi kewangan. Institusi perbankan yang efisyen dan mampan memerlukan pengurus mengambilkira semua sumber yang menyumbang kepada ketidakstabilan ekonomi. Di samping itu, kecekapan dan kelestarian bank juga bergantung kepada sejauhmana bank melaksanakan strategi untuk mengurangkan risiko. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk melihat sumber-sumber risiko bank melalui pengukuran yang mudah dan komprehensif bagi wilayah Asia Timur. Khususnya, kajian ini menggunakan keadah indek risiko-Z dan Model Penetapan Harga Aset Modal (CAPM) tiga faktor (CAPM) bagi menganggar kebarangkalian bank untuk menjadi tidak solven serta risiko sistematik dan tidak sistematik yang dihadapi oleh bank. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa institusi perbankan di wilayah Asia Timur terdedah kepada pelbagai jenis risiko. Hasil kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa bank yang mempunyai tahap risiko tidak sistematik yang rendah tidak semestinya mempunyai tahap risiko tidak solven yang rendah, seterusnya menggambarkan bahawa punca kepada risiko tidak solven adalah canggih dan rumit serta memerlukan kajian lanjut. Di samping itu, kajian ini menyarankan strategi kerjasama bank di peringkat serantau agar pendedahan risiko terhadap turun-naik kadar tukaran wang asing dan kadar faedah dapat dikurangkan. Kata kunci: Bank di wilayah Asia timur; risiko bank tidak solven; CAPM tiga-faktor; pasaran saham; pasaran hutang; pasaran tukaran asing
The Resolution of Macroeconomic Uncertainty: Evidence from Survey Forecast

We develop an unobserved components approach to study surveys of forecasts containing multiple forecast horizons. Under the assumption that forecasters optimally update their beliefs about past, current and future state variables as new information arrives, we use our model to extract information on the degree of predictability of the state variable and the importance of measurement errors on that variable. Empirical estimates of the model are obtained using survey forecasts of annual GDP growth and inflation in the US with forecast horizons ranging from 1 to 24 months. The model is found to closely match the joint realization of forecast errors at different horizons and is used to demonstrate how uncertainty about macroeconomic variables is resolved.
Effects of Intraguild Predation: Evaluating Resource Competition between Two Canid Species with Apparent Niche Separation

Many studies determine which habitat components are important to animals and the extent their use may overlap with competitive species. However, such studies are often undertaken after populations are in decline or under interspecific stress. Since habitat selection is not independent of interspecific stress, quantifying an animal's current landscape use could be misleading if the species distribution is suboptimal. We present an alternative approach by modeling the predicted distributions of two sympatric species on the landscape using dietary preferences and prey distribution. We compared the observed habitat use of kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) and coyotes (Canis latrans) against their predicted distribution. Data included locations of kit foxes and coyotes, carnivore scat transects, and seasonal prey surveys. Although habitats demonstrated heterogeneity with respect to prey resources, only coyotes showed habitat use designed to maximize access to prey. In contrast, kit foxes used habitats which did not align closely with prey resources. Instead, habitat use by kit foxes represented spatial and behavioral strategies designed to minimize spatial overlap with coyotes while maximizing access to resources. Data on the distribution of prey, their dietary importance, and the species-specific disparities between predicted and observed habitat distributions supports a mechanism by which kit fox distribution is derived from intense competitive interactions with coyotes.
An examination of cash holding policies in U.S. casino firms

The purpose of this reason is to examine the cash holding policies of U.S. casino firms. More specifically, we attempt to understand why casinos hold the amounts of cash that they do and what the implications of these policies are. Our results support the notion that risky dividend-paying firms hold more cash. However, we find that there is no relationship between risk and cash holdings for all firms. Furthermore, we find that casino firms that use more debt tend to hold more cash. This is the opposite finding in the literature and is worthy of further investigation.
Internet Banking and Client Attitudes Towards Adoption. A Zimbabwean Study 2008-2012

The primary objective of the study was to investigate internet banking benefits and client attitudes towards its adoption. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and convenience sampling was applied in collecting the study sample. Primary data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. The major findings of the research were that internet banking offered numerous benefits to clients, but despite these, clients had not fully adopted it due to negative attitude, inaccessibility of internet facilities, and perceived risk of online transactions. The major recommendations were that banks needed to improve their marketing of internet banking to remove negative client perceptions and internet service providers should increase their geographical reach and improve connectivity to improve internet accessibility.
Research on Combinational Forecast Models for the Traffic Flow

In order to improve the prediction accuracy of the traffic flow, this paper proposes two combinational forecast models based on GM, ARIMA, and GRNN. Firstly, the paper proposes the concept of associate-forecast and the weight distribution method based on reciprocal absolute percentage error and then uses GM(1,1), ARIMA, and GRNN to establish a combinational model of highway traffic flow according to the fixed weight coefficients. Then the paper proposes the use of neural networks to determine variable weight coefficients and establishes Elman combinational forecast model based on GM(1,1), ARIMA, and GRNN, which achieves the integration of these three individuals. Lastly, these two combinational models are applied to highway traffic flow on Chongzun of China and the experimental results verify their effectiveness compared with GM(1,1), ARIMA, and GRNN.
The impact of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) on Cross-Cultural Job Satisfaction (CCJS) and International Related Performance (IRP)

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) referring to the adaptation to cross-cultural situation, interacting and working effectively in cross-cultural situations is the subject of this study. Globalization and international activities of companies have increased the cross-cultural interaction and commercial links, which in turn have resulted in the need for knowledge and competence about different culture. Within these dynamics, the success of the managers who are in charge of international activities depends on their CQ. The studies related to CQ reveal that it helps to cope with multi-cultural situations, to perform in culturally diverse work groups, to manage culture shock and facilitate effective cross-cultural adjustment, decision making and performance. This study particularly investigates the role of CQ on Cross-Cultural Job Satisfaction (CCJS) and International Related Performance (IRP). The study also looks at the link between CCJS and IRP. A research model along with the related hypotheses was developed and tested based on the data collected through survey method from textile companies in Turkey. The results reveal that CQ is positively related to CCJS. The partial support is also obtained from the data regarding the link between CQ and IRP. In addition, the research finds no relationship between CCJS and IRP. The findings are discussed in relation to theory and practice in the conclusion part of the study.
Suppression of SiN-induced boron penetration by using SiH-free silicon nitride films formed by tetrachlorosilane and ammonia

Applications of SiH-free silicon nitride (SiN) films, formed by tetrachlorosilane (TCS) and ammonia, have been proved to effectively suppress the SiN-induced boron penetration. The SiN-induced boron penetration has been investigated in detail by using boron-doped polysilicon gated capacitors with several kinds of thick SiN films. It was clarified for the first time that the SiN-induced boron penetration becomes worse with SiH content in SiN films and deposition technique of SiH-free TCS-SiN films is essential for realization of the high-performance PMOSFETs.
Study of Thermal Degradation of PLGA, PLGA Nanospheres and PLGA/Maghemite Superparamagnetic Nanospheres

Poly(glycolide-co-lactide) (PLGA) nanospheres containing magnetic materials have been extensively studied because of its biomedical applications. Therefore, it is very important to know thermal properties of these materials in addition to other physical properties. Thermal degradation activation energy (Eα) of PLGA nanospheres with maghemite entrapment (PLGA-Mag), PLGA nanospheres (hollow spheres) (PLGA-H) obtained by an emulsion method and unprocessed PLGA (PLGA-R) were calculated by isoconversional Vyazovkin method based on data of TG analysis in order to evaluate modifications in thermal behavior caused by nanospheres obtainment process or by maghemite entrapment. Both hydrodynamic diameter in the range of 200-250 nm and polydispersity index lower than 0.3 are considered satisfactory. Thermal degradation of PLGA-R begins at higher temperatures than those of PLGA-H and PLGA-Mag, but processed samples presented increase in thermal stability, which was greater before processing by emulsion and in the presence of the magnetic materials. PLGA-Mag presents superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature.
Growth and Yield of Maize as Influenced by Sequential Application of Herbicides

The renowed Nobel Laureate, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug believed that “The last two decades saw the revolution in rice and wheat, the next few decades will be known for maize era”. Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most versatile and miracle food crop of global importance. It is cultivated in the tropics, sub-tropics, temperate and semi-arid regions. It is one of the most efficient crop gives high biological yield as well as grain yield in a short period of time due to its unique C4 photosynthetic mechanism. Maize is also called as “King of Cereals”. It ranks third most important cereal crop after rice and wheat. In India, maize was cultivated in an area of 9.18 million hectares with a production of 24.17 million tonnes and average productivity of 2632 kg ha -1 during 2014-15. In Andhra Pradesh, it was grown in an area of 3 lakh hectares with production of 19.38 lakh tonnes and average productivity of International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 05 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Evaluation of the Electromagnetic Power Absorption in Humans Exposed to Plane Waves: The Effect of Breathing Activity

The safety aspects of the exposure of people to uniform plane waves in the frequency range from 900 MHz to 5 GHz are analyzed. Starting from a human body model available in the literature, representing a man in resting state, two new anatomical models are considered, representing different phases of the respiratory activity: tidal breath and deep breath. These models have been used to evaluate the whole body Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and the 10-g averaged and 1-g averaged SAR. The analysis is performed using a parallel implementation of the finite difference time domain method. A uniform plane wave, with vertical polarization, is used as an incident field since this is the canonical exposure situation used in safety guidelines. Results show that if the incident electromagnetic field is compliant with the reference levels promulgated by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection and by IEEE, the computed SAR values are lower than the corresponding basic restrictions, as expected. On the other side, when the Federal Communications Commission reference levels are considered, 1-g SAR values exceeding the basic restrictions for exposure at 4 GHz and above are obtained. Furthermore, results show that the whole body SAR values increase passing from the resting state model to the deep breath model, for all the considered frequencies.
Characteristics of PM2.5 Haze Episodes Revealed by Highly Time-Resolved Measurements at an Air Pollution Monitoring Supersite in Korea

Hourly measurements of PM2.5, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), inorganic ionic species, and elemental constituents were made between February 1 and March 31, 2011, at a South Area Supersite at Gwangju, Korea. Over the two-month study period, daily PM2.5 mass concentration exceeded the 24-hr average Korean NAAQS of 50.0 μg/m^3 on 20 days, of which two pollution episodes (episodes I and II) are investigated. Episode I (February 01-08) is associated with regional pollution along with wild fire smoke emissions over southern China, and also characterized by high CO/NOx ratios and high K+ concentrations. While episode II (March 11-12) is characterized by locally produced pollution with low CO/NOx ratios, and broad variations in OC, EC, and NO3- concentrations.For episode I, the 1-hr PM2.5 mass concentration ranged from 27 to 159 μg/m^3 with a mean of 88 μg/m^3. Although a low OC/EC ratio (3.4) was observed for February 04-05 when high K+ concentrations occurred, significant linear relationships between EC - OC (R2 = 0.82), OC - K+ (R2 = 0.77), and K+ - K+/OC (R2 = 0.77) suggest the contribution of carbonaceous aerosols from long-range transport of biomass burning plumes occurring in the southern regions of China during episode I, as well as local traffic emissions.For episode II, the hourly PM2.5 mass concentration ranged from 23 to 116 μg/m^3 with a mean of 78 μg/m3. Hourly maximum contributions of SO4 2- and NO3- to the PM2.5 mass were 54 and 66%, respectively. An elevated NO3- concentration was observed along with high OC and EC concentrations, suggesting the influence of local emissions. The pattern of SO4^2- variations in relation to wind direction and the strong correlation between SO2 and SO4^2- suggest local SO2 emissions were likely an important source of SO4^2- at the site.
The biology and fecundity of the citrus red mite Panonychus citri (McGregor) (Acari: Tetranychidae) at different temperatures under laboratory conditions

The developmental time and fecundity of Panonychus citri (McGregor 1916) (Acari: Tetranychidae) on Washington navel sweet orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb. ) leaves were determined at 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 ± 1 °C, 65 ± 10% RH, and a 16:8-h (L:D) photoperiod under laboratory conditions. Total development time of P. citri females was 37.2, 16.6, 12.2, 9.8, and 9.0 days at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 ± 1 °C, respectively. Total and daily egg production levels of P. citri were highest at 25 °C (25.6 and 2.1 eggs), followed by 20 °C (22.1 and 1.8 eggs) and 30 °C (16.6 and 1.7 eggs). The lowest total and daily egg production levels were at 15 °C (16.5 and 0.8 eggs). The development threshold for female eggs and egg to adult stages was 9.22 °C and 9.77 °C, respectively, while total effective temperature was 100 and 192.30 degree-days, respectively. The intrinsic rate of increase (rm) at 30, 25, 20, and 15 °C was 0.148, 0.160, 0.111, and 0.042 females female-1 day-1, respectively.
Comparative digestive ability and rumen microbial community of N'Dama and N'Dama x Jersey cattle fed different diets

Rumen fluid collected from three rumen fistulated N’Dama and three crossbred animals fed three different diets at medium supplementation level, was used to compare the plant cell wall degrading community of the two breeds of cattle. In vivo digestibility was also examined and compared using 12 animals (six of each breed) fed the same diets. The microbial community of the rumen was analyzed by 16S rRNA hybridisation, using phylogenetic probes of different levels: a universal probe, domain-specific probes for Bacteria, Eukarya and Archaea, and probes targeting cellulolytic organisms: Chytridiomycetes, Fibrobacter spp. , Ruminococcus albus and Ruminococcus flavefaciens. In vivo , organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility were significantly higher in N’Dama compared to crossbred animals when they were fed either baby corn stover and concentrate, or groundnut hay and moringa. In contrast, when the animals were fed groundnut hay and concentrate there was no difference in OM and NDF digestibility between the two breeds. Results of the microbial community analysis showed that RNA concentration of total Bacteria and Archaea was not affected by the breeds of animal, but were significantly affected by diet. The eukaryotic RNA concentration was higher in crossbred animals compared to the N’Dama and was not affected by the diet. Fibrobacter and R. flavefaciens RNA concentrations (μg/mL) were significantly dependent on diet and breed. Ruminococcus albus and Chytridiomycetes RNA concentrations were neither affected by the breed, nor by the diet of the animals. This suggested that the differences between breeds observed in digestibility could be partially explained by the composition of the cell wall degrading community. ________________________________________________________________________________
Combined lubricant–surface system perspective: Multi-scale numerical–experimental investigation

Frictional losses are one of the main causes of reduced energy efficiency in all machines and mechanisms. In particular, there is mounting pressure upon manufacturers of all forms of vehicle to comply with increasingly stringent legislation and directives with regard to harmful emissions. Therefore, reduction of friction has become an imperative issue. The traditional approach of dealing with surface material and lubricant formulation in isolation has been replaced by a lubricant–surface system approach. This paper presents multi-scale experimentation from nano/meso-scale lateral force microscopy of ultra-thin surface adsorbed films through to micro-scale precision sliding tribometry to investigate lubricant–surface friction optimisation within the mixed regime of lubrication, using lubricants with different organic and inorganic friction modifying species. These affect the parameters of the system, commonly used as input to models for mixed and boundary regimes of lubrication. Therefore, the precise measurement of these parameters at different physical scales is important. The study also makes use of detailed numerical predictions at micro-scale through combined solution of the average Reynolds equation as well as interaction of wetted asperities in mixed and boundary regimes of lubrication. Good agreement is found between the predictions and measurements at micro-scale tribometric interactions. Furthermore, the same trends are observed in testing across the physical scales.
A New Head Design for Multi Track Perpendicular Magnetic Recording

A new head design of a planar configuration for multi track perpendicular magnetic recording is proposed. The new planar multi-track head consists 4 single-pole-type inductive write heads and 2 ring-yoke-type spin-valve MR read heads. In reproducing process, each MR head can read simultaneously signals from two tracks all together. To realize close-packed track recording, length direction of magnetic yoke of the write heads and head pole are arranged in the track and scan direction, respectively. Though this head consists of even 6 head-elements, the head fabrication process is almost the same as that of a conventional planar head.
Interactive comment on “ The Importance of Considering Sub-grid Cloud Variability When Using Satellite Observations to Evaluate the Cloud and Precipitation Simulations in Climate Models ” by Hua

bridges models and observations. This is rarely questioned as far as I can tell. As the authors point out in line 91 page 4, there are some basic resolution issues in coupling a GCM to COSP and trying to pull out something like a satellite pixel. I would almost suggest that the authors move their comments on line 91-98 into the abstract somehow so that people who just skim it will have this brought to their attention as it is critically important. However, this change is not required scientifically and may be disregarded by the authors. This paper will be a very useful reference in the COSP documentation for people trying to set their model up to run with COSP.
Robustness of rule sets using VHR imagery to detect informal settlements - a case of Mumbai, India

Robust monitoring approaches for informal settlements using very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery can deliver essential information for supporting the formulation of pro-poor policies. Such information can complement census methods or participatory approaches. With the increasing availability of VHR satellite imagery, detection of the informal settlements benefits from the conceptualization of location-specific knowledge in the form of a locally-adapted generic slum ontology (GSO). In this study, we developed the local slum ontology for Mumbai, India, by incorporating local knowledge with image-based proxies. Then, we translated the local ontology into a rule set using Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) to identify informal settlements by using spectral, spatial, geometric and texture measures. The method was applied to three subsets of a Worldview-2 imagery. The robustness of the initial rule set was analysed with the help of membership functions. The results showed that the normalized difference ratio of near infrared (NIR) and blue band and grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) features are most effective in all three subsets in the identification of informal settlements. The results suggest that the rule sets developed in this study can potentially be applied to other study areas of Worldview-2 imagery for informal settlements identification.