Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimization of Cr -Doped Saturable-Absorber -Switched Lasers

Cr -doped saturable absorbers are characterized by long excited state lifetime and appreciable excited state ab- sorption. In this paper, we first solve the three coupled rate equations describing the operation of Cr -doped saturable- absorber passively -switched lasers to obtain the expressions of pulse characteristics such as output energy, peak power, and pulsewidth. We then determine the key parameters of an optimally coupled passively -switched laser as functions of two variables concerning the amplifying medium, saturable-absorber medium, and pump level, and generate several design curves. These key parameters include the optimal normalized coupling parameter and the optimal normalized saturable-absorber pa- rameter which maximize the output energy (or maximize the peak power, or minimize the pulsewidth), and the correspond- ing normalized energy, normalized peak power, and normal- ized pulsewidth. The results are valid for not only Cr -doped saturable-absorber -switched lasers but also other any lasers passively -switched by saturable absorbers with long excited state lifetime and appreciable excited state absorption. Using the expressions and design curves, with the aid of a simple hand calculator, one can predict the pulse characteristics and perform the design of an optimally coupled passively -switched laser.
Challenges in Soft-Linking: The Case of EMEC and TIMES-Sweden

The aim of this study is to develop a method for how to soft-link a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model with a energy system model. The central research question is how the interaction between modellers and models can, both qualitatively and quantitatively, enable and facilitate a transparent energy and climate policy decision-making process at the national level. The paper describes this development in detail, and presents and discusses the results of the soft-linking methodology applied to a climate scenario. Important similarities and differences between two Swedish models, i.e. EMEC (a CGE model) and TIMES-Sweden (an energy system model), are identified. These findings are used to develop a robust and transparent method to translate simulation results between the two models, resulting in intermediate ‘translation models’ between EMEC and TIMES-Sweden. EMEC provides demand input to TIMES, while TIMES provides feedback on the energy efficiency parameters, the energy mix, and the prices of electricity and heat. These ‘translations’ can also be used stand-alone to feed into other energy system models. The presented soft-linking process demonstrates the importance of linking an energy system model with a macroeconomic model when studying energy and climate policy. With the same exogenous parameters, the soft-linking between the models results in a new picture of the economy and the energy system in 2035 compared with the corresponding model results in the absence of soft-linking. The study also leads to a better understanding of how the models can interact while preserving the respective models' strengths, to give an improved picture of both the flows in the economy and the impact of energy policy instruments.
Relation between Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature and Thermal Work Limit Indices with Body Core Temperature

Occupational exposure to heat stress in casting and smelting industries can cause adverse health effects on employees who working in such industries. The present study was set to assess the correlation and agreement of heat stress indices, including wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), and thermal work limit (TWL), and the deep body temperature indices in workers of several casting and smelting industries located in the vicinity of Tehran, Iran. In This cross-sectional study 40 workers randomly selected and were examined. WBGT and TWL were the indices used for assessing heat stress, and the tympanic temperature and the oral temperature were measured as the heat strain indices. The correlation and agreement of indices were measured using SPSS vs.16. The results of the assessment of WBGT, TWL, the tympanic temperature, and oral temperature showed that 80, 17.5, 40, and 32.5 percent of workers exposed to heat stress higher than permissible limits proposed by standard bodies. Moreover, the present study showed that the significant correlation coefficient between heat stress and heat strain indices was in the range of 0.844- 0.869. Further, there was observed a good agreement between TWL and heat strain indices. The agreement between TWL and the oral temperature was 0.63 (P-value≤ 0.001) and between TWL and tympanic temperature was 0.612 (P-value≤ 0.001). However, the agreement between WBGT and heat strain indices was not satisfactory. These values were 0.154 (P-value ≥ 0.068) and 0.215 (P-value≥ 0.028) for the oral temperature and the tympanic temperature, respectively. The TWL index had a better agreement than WBGT with heat strain indices so TWL index is the better choice for assessing the heat stress in casting and metal smelting industries.
Dividend Payment Decision and Earned/Contributed Capital Mix: A Test of Life Cycle & Catering Theory

Purpose of this research is to examine the effects of catering incentives and earn contributed capital mix on propensity to pay and decision to change dividend for Pakistani manufacturing concerns. Basic intent is to validate the most recently developed dividends theories with respect to Pakistani sample i.e. catering theory and Life Cycle Theory. This research is conducted on Pakistani non-financial companies duly listed on Karachi stock exchange from 1998 to 2009. Catering theory is measured by dividend premium, life cycle theory is measured by earned contributed capital mix, while the proxy used to measures dividend payment decisions are propensity to pay, and decisions to change dividend. Company’s age, Growth prospects, Market to book ratio, profitability, cash holding have positive impact on dividend increasing companies and negative to dividend decreasing. While catering incentives, taxation and leverage has negative impact on dividend paying companies vice versa for Decreasing and dividend omitting companies. Results confirm that catering theory holds in developing economy like Pakistan while life cycle theory provides little evidence. Pakistani stock exchange crises pose little effects on investors mind.
Values, environmental concern and economic concern as predictors of enterprise environmental responsiveness

AbstractThis article reports on examination of the relationships between manager’s personal values, their attitudes toward concern for environment, concern for economic results and enterprise environmental responsiveness. Schwartz’s list of values and statements about the environmental and economic concerns is used. We analyzed 1179 managers’ answers from Slovenian enterprises with structural equation modeling. Manager’s concern results: (a) for environment positively and significantly and (b) for economics negatively and insignificantly, in influence on enterprise environmental responsiveness. Two value dimensions significantly influence enterprise environmental responsiveness and one negatively. Environmental concern mediates the effect of three, and concern for economic results mediates the effect of two value dimensions on enterprise’s environmental responsiveness. Generalization can be limited due to the focus on one Central Europe country; future examination is needed. Findings are useful for the de.
Investigation of inflammatory response of macrophages and trophoblasts using structured illumination microscopy

Approximately 800 women die from pregnancy or childbirth-related pregnancy complications around the world every day. One of the major reasons for these complications is inflammation following infection. Approximately 40% cases of preterm births occur due to microbial invasion in the genitourinary track. During inflammation, macrophages present at the feto-maternal junction release an increased amount of nitric oxide (NO) and other important pro-inflammatory cytokines: TNF-α and INF-γ. This can disturb the trophoblast function which can lead to pregnancy complications, such as abortion, pre-eclampsia and birth defects. Here I aimed to study the cellular and sub-cellular morphological changes in macrophages (RAW264.7) and trophoblasts (HTR-8/SVneo) following externally supplied inflammatory agents: lipopolysaccharides (LPS), concanavalin-A (Con-A) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), in vitro. Nitric oxide (NO) produced by the cells under inflammatory response was measured quantitatively using the Griess reagent test. Morphological changes were examined in response to LPS, Con-A and TNF-α challenge on live macrophages and trophoblasts using structured illumination microscopy (SIM) and quantitative phase microscopy (QPM). LPS-challenged macrophages produced approximately 22 folds more NO as compared to controls, whereas no significant increase was seen after TNF-α or Con-Achallenge. No significantly increased amount of NO was detected in trophoblasts following LPS, TNF-α or Con-A-challenge. Superoxide (O·− 2 ) produced during respiration by mitochondria may react with NO to produce reactive nitrogen species (RNS) e.g. peroxynitrite (ONOO−), which have strong damaging effects on the mitochondria. SIM imaging showed changes in the morphology of mitochondria and plasma membrane in approximately 50− 60% of macrophages following LPS challenge (1μg/ml for 24hr), but no detectable changes in mitochondria or plasma membrane were observed after TNF-α (1ng/ml for 24hr) or Con-A challenge (1μg/ml for 24hr). QPM revealed that the phase value decreased by approximately 18% in LPS-challenged macrophages after 24hr as compared to controls. In contrast, mitochondrial morphology appeared different in trophoblasts following TNF-α challenge under similar conditions. No effect was seen in trophoblast morphology following either LPS or Con-A challenge. Through SIM and QPM it was found that the effect on the morphology of macrophages can be detected following 2hr of incubation with LPS, whereas The Griess method was unable to detect increased amounts of NO before 4hr. Our results suggest that the cells which are responsible for the mother-fetus crosstalk, especially macrophages and trophoblasts, respond differently to various inflammatory agents. Additionally, SIM and QPM are shown to be live-cell friendly, useful tools to evaluate sub-cellular mechanisms associated with inflammation mediated pregnancy complications.
Effects of nitrogen enrichment on biomass allocation, growth, and leaf morphology of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum

The effects of sediment ammonium (NH 4 + ) enrichment on biomass allocation, growth, and leaf morphology of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum in Corpus Christi Bay (CCB) and lower Laguna Madre (LLM), Texas, were examined from May to October 1997. Prior studies had shown that shoot height and leaf biomass at CCB were significantly higher than those at LLM, and ambient sediment NH 4 + concentrations in CCB (ca 100 μM) were significantly higher than those in LLM (ca 30 μM). It was hypothesized that the differences in plant morphology and biomass between the 2 areas could be related to differences in sediment nitrogen levels between 2 sites. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an in situ fertilization experiment at both sites over a 6 mo period. Results of this experiment revealed that seagrass growth, biomass and leaf size significantly increased as a result of sediment NH 4 + enrichment at LLM, but had little effect on plant density, biomass and leaf morphology at CCB. In unfertilized plots, average leaf production rate (7.4 g dry wt m -2 d -1 ) and shoot height (43.3 cm) at CCB were significantly higher than those at LLM (2.5 g dry wt m -2 d -1 and 18.8 cm, respectively). After fertilization, leaf production rates and leaf size at LLM increased to reach equivalent levels of the CCB site. Leaf biomass at LLM increased significantly as a result of sediment NH 4 + enrichment, but there was little change in below-ground biomass. The below-to above-ground biomass ratio at LLM (4.7) was about 3-fold higher than that at CCB (1.6) in unfertilized plots, but decreased significantly at LLM with sediment NH 4 + enrichment, while the ratio at CCB remained unchanged. We conclude, based on seagrass growth responses to increases in sediment NH 4 + , that sediment nitrogen availability at LLM limits seagrass productivity. T. testudinum responded to limited nitrogen conditions by increasing below- to above-ground biomass ratios. An ambient sediment NH 4 + level of about 100 μM was considered to be the threshold concentration for nitrogen limitation of seagrass growth.
The Influence of National Health Insurance Members ’ Family Satisfaction on Repurchasing Intention of RSMC Hospital ’ s Inpatient Care Facility

Rumah sakit merupakan penyedia pelayanan kesehatan tingkat lanjutan bagi peserta Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN). Pemberian pelayanan yang berkualitas dan memuaskan sangat diperlukan, mengingat persepsi masyarakat bahwa pelayanan bagi pasien JKN tidak baik. Rumah sakit Mata Cicendo (RSMC) Bandung merupakan rumah sakit rujukan nasional yang melayanani konsumen dari seluruh Indonesia. Pasien yang datang bersama dari berbagai daerah menaruh harapan yang tinggi atas pelayanan di RSMC Bandung. Mengkaji mengenai kepuasan terhadap minat memanfaatkan kembali dilihat dari persepsi keluarga pasien diperlukan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui gambaran kepuasan,serta minat memanfaatkan kembali. Menganalisa dan mengkaji pengaruh kepuasan terhadap minat memanfaatkan kembali. Desain penelitian menggunakan metode deskriptif verivikatif dengan pendekatan kuantitatif. Penelitian dilakukan di instalasi rawat inap RSMC Bandung pada bulan Desember 2016. Populasi penelitian diasumsikan sejumlah populasi pasien dengan perhitungan Slovin didapat sampel 91 responden. Kemudian hasil dari kepuasan tergolong tinggi, dan minat memanfaatkan kembali tergolong tinggi. Kemudian dengan menggunakan analisis jalur dengan bantuan software SPSS v23, diketahui bahwa kepuasan berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap minat memanfaatkan kembali (sebesar 75,3%).
Banks' Riskiness Over the Business Cycle: A Panel Analysis on Italian Intermediaries

A comprehensive investigation is provided on the issue of the possible cyclical nature of banks' behaviour using a large panel of Italian intermediaries over the period 1985 to 2002. Estimating both static and dynamic models, the article investigates whether loan loss provisions and non-performing loans show a cyclical pattern. The econometric results confirm that business cycle affects banks' loan loss provisions and new bad debts. The impact of recessionary conditions is significant and long-lasting. Moreover, the empirical evidence provides some support for the income-smoothing hypothesis. The estimated relations may be employed to carry out stress tests to assess the effects of macroeconomic shocks on banks' balance sheets.
No . 109 Dynamic R & D Networks

In this paper we analyze R&D collaboration networks in industries where firms are competitors in the product market. Firms’ benefits from collaborations arise by sharing knowledge about a cost-reducing technology. By forming collaborations, however, firms also change their own competitive position in the market as well as the overall market structure. We analyze incentives of firms to form R&D collaborations with other firms and the implications of these alliance decisions for the overall network structure. We provide a general characterization of both equilibrium networks and endogenous production choices, and compare it to the efficient network architecture. We also allow for firms to differ in their technological characteristics, investigate how this affects their propensity to collaborate and study the resulting network architecture.
Chips Production from Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.)

Jerusalem artichoke has been cultivated in various regions without any special breeding technique. As a food, Jerusalem artichoke has a characteristic flavour and functional ingredients including inulin, other dietary fibers, minerals and traces of polyphenol. The production of chips from Jerusalem artichoke was examined in this study because it contains high amount of inulin. Inulin gives health promoting effects especially for the people suffering from diabetes. Firstly,chips production from Jerusalem artichoke was studied in the scope of properties like moisture, oil, color, texture, sensory. After cleaning, tubers prepared in specified size and slices were cooked in the deep fat fryer or microwave oven. The best results obtained for frying and microwave oven application of Jerusalem artichoke were obtained at 180℃ for 240s treatment time and at 600 W for105s, respectively.
Corporate dividend policies: survey evidence from finance directors in the UK and Portugal

This paper reports the empirical results of a questionnaire survey about corporate dividend policy addressed to finance directors of UK and Portuguese listed firms. Similar to other studies (for example, Brav et al., 2005 in the US and Dhanani, 2005 in the UK), we survey 313 finance f«directors in the UK and 48 in Portugal to examine their views of and understanding about the dividend decision in order to compare practice with theoretical propositions to be found in the literature. Our survey results demonstrate similarities in the responses from the UK and Portugal, but also substantive differences, particularly in respect of the interaction between dividend and investment decisions and views about the signalling consequences of dividends.
Change and continuity in the role of industrial relations actors in Romania: case study evidence

The process of accession of the former communist countries into the EU was expected to facilitate the emergence of industrial relations (IR) actors with roles similar to those of their counterparts in continental Western Europe. Examining the role of the state, employers (and their representatives) and trade unions, this paper shows the extent to which such comparable functions among IR actors can be observed in Romania. It also explores whether or not privatization has led to deeper changes in the role of IR actors at the company level. The paper focuses on the functions of the IR actors in four large chemical companies (two private and two state-owned enterprises) and investigates the impact of IR practices at higher levels of developments at the company level. In order to highlight and contrast the developments in the Romanian cases, brief comparisons with other Eastern European countries are presented. The findings indicate that while the three main actors have started to function similarly to their Western European counterparts, there is considerable continuity from pre-1989 era, indicating that institutional changes are path dependent. Overall, evidence does not show substantial differences between private companies and state-owned firms. This paper contributes towards a deeper understanding of the role of endogenous actors during the transformation from a centrally planned economy towards a market-based economy.
Difference Study on Relationship Paths of Festival Marketing Activities

Different places around the world attract the tourists by festivals and industrial, cultural and spatial characteristics. By festival marketing, they approach the tourists and can influence or change tourists’ impression and travel in the destinations. Hence, festival marketing activity becomes the important strategy to trigger regional economic development. However, can festival marketing activities held in the areas comply with the surrounding factors and integrate the factors to become characteristics and attract the tourists? It is the topic of this study which mainly explores the impact of festival marketing, landscape construction and regional characteristics on tourists’ value perception and revisit commitment. According to the findings, effect relationship path and relationship intensity of different types of festival marketing activities are different. It means that different areas should hold the unique and appropriate festival marketing activities in order to increase tourists’ value perception. It can significantly and positively influence tourists’ commitment. In addition, when planning festival marketing, local government and related industries should make sure that the content of festival marketing activities can make tourists happy and to reinforce their revisit commitment.
Beginning Readers in Arabic and the Distance between Literary and Spoken Arabic

Two groups of kindergarten children received a battery of phonological awareness, reading, and general abilities tests across a two-year period. One of the groups received phonological training whereas the other (control) group did not. Results indicated that children who received intervention improved in certain phonological awareness skills tested at the end of kindergarten but not in reading skills tested at the end of 1st year. These findings are in contrast to findings compared to those found by Carlisle (1995) and Lyster (2002) in English, but were in line with the findings found by Ibrahim et al. (2007) in Arabic and support the notion that normal Arab child encounters special difficulties in reading acquisition. The psycholinguistic basis and implications of these findings are discussed.
A Corpus–based Study of Conjunctive Adjuncts in the Writings of Native and Non-native Speakers of English

This study explored the use of conjunctive adjuncts by Kuwaiti EFL learners and native speakers of English. It investigated the frequency of occurrence of conjunctive adjuncts in the writings of Kuwaiti EFL learners and native speakers of English. It also attempted to find out the frequency of the semantic categories of conjunctive adjuncts such as additive, contrastive, causal, temporal and continuatives in KLC and NSC. Finally, it aimed to find out the overused and underused conjunctive adjuncts in the two corpora. To achieve the goals of this study, we utilized two language corpora. The first consisted of essays collected from Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers and the second was compiled by the researchers. Forty essays written by Kuwaiti EFL learners enrolled at Kuwaiti universities were then collected, classified and analyzed. Results of this study showed that Kuwaiti EFL learners overused conjunctive adjuncts, namely, additives and causals. Native speakers of English used adversatives frequently. However, Kuwaiti EFL learners did not use the various types of conjunctive adjuncts as native speakers did. In addition, the results showed that Kuwaiti EFL learners overused certain conjunctive adjuncts such as in addition, for, and but and underused certain conjunctive adjuncts such as however, though and also.
Quantitative studies on heterosis and inbreeding depression in maize (Zea mays l.)

The present investigation was carried out for studying heterosis and inbreeding depression of twenty eight hybrids (F1 E¼ s) and their F2 E¼ s made by crossing of eight maize inbreds in all possible cross combinations excluding reciprocal. Observations were recorded on ten quantitative traits viz., plant height (cm), ear length (cm), ear girth (cm), number of kernel rows per ear, number of kernels per row, 100 kernels weight (g) yield per plant (g), days to 50 % tassel emergence, days to 50% silk emergence and days to 50% maturity. Variable magnitude of heterosis was observed for different cross combinations for all the traits. Based on higher mean performance (94.33 to 118.67 g/plant) and higher heterotic response (11.95 to 30.48%) eleven crosses were selected. Response of inbreeding depression was significant in positive direction for most of the traits. Among these eleven crosses five crosses CM 300 x CML 142, CM 300 x CML 144, CM 300 x CML 150, CM 300 x CML 176 and CML 150 x CML 144 were selected having high heterotic value (12.31 to 30.48%) and lower inbreeding depression (less than 15%) for their utilization in maize improvement programme for the development of superior inbred lines.