Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Inductive Impedance of the SPS

The hardware of the SPS has been modified considerably in recent years with the aim of reducing both the longitudinal and transverse impedance. The hardware change was followed up by a thorough measurement campaign [2,3,4,5]. We draw conclusions for the impedance based on these measurements. The results in the transverse plane depend critically on the difference between coherent and collective tune shifts especially important in the SPS. The longitudinal results may be surprising at first sight but can be explained by the different behaviour of dipole and quadrupole oscillation modes. All results are compared with the expected impedance derived from the hardware at the time of measurement. The impedance at the horizon of 2006 is given as well, together with an updated value of the TMCI threshold.
Foreign Direct Investment as a Factor of Economic Growth in Poland. Empirical Analysis for the Period 1995-2012

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse significance of the production factors on economic growth in Poland in the years 1995-2012, with particular attention given to the influence of foreign direct investments (FDI). The analysis was carried out with the use of the Cobb-Douglas production function. This paper describes two models. The first, basic model of the economic growth for Poland consists of four variables and the second - augmented model - consists of six independent variables. The research conducted in Poland reveals that in the period 1995-2012 a linear correlation existed between the FDI inflow and growth (Pearson's coefficient R = 0.8317), however, according to a model estimated with the use of the CLS method, FDI was not a significant factor determining GDP growth. The really significant factors were gross domestic expenditure on fixed capital and expenditure on R&D. The augmented version of the Cobb-Douglas function model for the years 1995-2012 estimated by means of the CLS method demonstrates that the only significant factor was government spending at 5% significance level. The remaining variables were insignificant.
The Behavior of Non-Oil Commodity Prices

The need to understand the factors that influence the behavior of commodity prices has taken on a special urgency in recent years, as nonoil real commodity prices have been declining almost continuously since the early 1980s. Since their short-lived recovery in 1984, real non-oil commodity prices have fallen by about 45 percent, translating into a sharp deterioration in the terms of trade for most commodity-dependent exporters. As Chart 1 illustrates, in 1992 the price of non-oil commodities relative to that of manufactures reached its lowest level in over 90 years.1 The longterm behavior of real commodity prices would thus appear to lend some support to the well-known Pre bisch-Singer hypothesis.2 This pattern in commodity prices has important practical implications for policymakers. For example, the presence of a negative trend in commodity prices implies continuously worsening terms of trade for many commodity-dependent countries, and further that efforts to stabilize the incomes of producers for an extended period of time may not be financially sustainable.
Benchmarking and regulation in the electricity distribution sector

In the last two decades electricity distribution sector have witnessed a wave of regulatory reforms aimed at improving efficiency through incentive regulation. Most of these regulation schemes use benchmarking namely measuring a company’s efficiency and rewarding them accordingly. The reliability of efficiency estimates is crucial for an effective implementation of those incentive mechanisms. A main problem faced by the regulators is the choice among several legitimate benchmarking models that usually produce different results. After a brief overview of the benchmarking methodologies, this paper summarizes the methods used in the regulation practice in several OECD countries, in which the benchmarking practice is relatively widespread. Repeated observation of similar companies over time namely panel data, allows a better understanding of unobserved firm-specific factors and disentangling them from efficiency estimates. Focusing on parametric cost frontier models, this paper presents two alternative approaches that could be used to improve the reliability of benchmarking methods, and based on recent empirical evidence, draws some recommendations for regulatory practice in power distribution networks.
The Promise of Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Review of Data Analytic Strategies

A burgeoning literature on corporate entrepreneurship has emerged since the early 1990s drawing on theoretical and empirical streams in strategic management and attributes of entrepreneurship such as decision-making under Knightian uncertainty, individual level theories of creativity and exploration, and Schumpeterian notions of creative destruction. The field has enticed increasing numbers of researchers to examine promised notions of competitive advantage, wealth creation, growth, innovation, and firm performance. This paper reviews the statistical micro-foundations of the domain to ascertain whether or not the conceptual and empirical interest in corporate entrepreneurship is outpacing the quality of data analytic methodologies and statistical checks for robustness and validity. The review focuses on the era of blossoming in literature growth between 2000 and 2009 and concludes that while there is always room for improvement, that the statistical and analytical health of the research being performed is headed in a promising direction. This bodes well for the future of both inquiry and practice in this domain and the realization of its espoused benefits.
MICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND COMMUNITY DIVERSITY IN TOBACCO RHIZOSPHERIC SOIL AFFECTED BY DIFFERENT PRE-CROPS

In this study, we used both culture-dependent physiological profiling and culture-independent DNA-based approaches to characterize the bacterial communities of tobacco rhizospheric soils affected by different pre-crops (soybean, maize and tobacco). Using Biology-Eco plates, we found that the bacterial metabolic activity in soybean-tobacco and maize-tobacco rotation soils were higher than in tobacco monocropping soil. Across all soil samples, bacterial communities were dominated by Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria at the phylum level. However, the diversity and composition of the bacterial communities varied significantly between tobacco rotations and monocropping soil. The estimated bacterial diversity (Shannon diversity index) was higher in the maize-tobacco and soybean-tobacco soils than in tobacco monocropping soil. The populations of Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were found in variable proportions, depending on the different pre-crops. The highest percentages of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were found in soybean-tobacco soil, whereas Acidobacteria occurred at higher percentages in tobacco monocropping soil. Collectively, crop rotation influenced soil biodiversity by change of composition and abundance of individual species, and soils under cereal-tobacco rations had higher bacterial activity and diversity than soils under tobacco monocropping.
Non-convex Optimization Methods for Sparse and Low-rank Reconstruction

Author(s): Yin, Penghang | Advisor(s): Xin, Jack | Abstract: An algorithmic framework, based on the difference of convex functions algorithm, is proposed for minimizing difference of $\ell_1$ and $\ell_2$ norms ($\ell_{1-2}$ minimization) as well as a wide class of concave sparse metrics for compressed sensing problems. The resulting algorithm iterates a sequence of $\ell_1$ minimization problems. An exact sparse recovery theory is established to show that the proposed framework always improves on the basis pursuit ($\ell_1$ minimization) and inherits robustness from it. Numerical examples on success rates of sparse solution recovery illustrate further that, unlike most existing non-convex compressed sensing solvers in the literature, our method always out-performs basis pursuit, no matter how ill-conditioned the measurement matrix is. As the counterpart of $\ell_{1-2}$ minimization for low-rank matrix recovery, we present a phase retrieval method via minimization of the difference of trace and Frobenius norms which we callPhaseLiftOff. The associated least squares minimization with this penalty as regularizationis equivalent to the original rank-one least squaresproblem under a mild condition on the measurement noise.Numerical results show that PhaseLiftOff outperforms the convex PhaseLift and its non-convex variant (log-determinant regularization), andsuccessfully recovers signals near the theoretical lower limit on the number of measurements without the noise.
The use of local substrates in the production of legume nodulating bacteria inoculants for Sub- Saharan Africa: Preliminary results

Objective : The aim is to assess cheaper organic local products as an alternative for legume nodulating bacteria (LNB) inoculants production. Methodology and results: The study was done using two selected LNB strains (VUID1 and AHYP21), 16 local media (C and N sources), and groundnuts. The LNB biomass obtained from the local media was greater than the one obtained from the standard YEM media. VUID1 strain had a better yield in sucrose/soybean water, cow milk/yeast extract, cow milk/soybean water than the mannitol/yeast water media; while AHYP21 strain yielded better in the glycerol/yeast water, sucrose/yeast extract, cow milk/yeast extract and cow milk/soybean water media. Local carriers (Forest humus, horticultural compost, palm tree compost, and household organic compost) increased groundnuts growth and nitrogen uptake. These preliminary results showed the potential of local media and carriers in the production of inoculants for leguminous plants. Conclusions and application of findings: All the local substrates showed an important potential as local culture media and carriers for the production of LNB inoculants. Instead of mannitol and yeast extract, other products can be used for the culture of LNB. The production of LNB inoculants is easy, using organic local matter as carriers of inoculants. LNB inoculants will be more accessible for farmers. Key-words : Carrier, groundnuts, inoculants, legume nodulating bacteria, local media
Study of ARG (ABL Related Gene-ABL2) Protein, a Tyrosine Kinase Protein, in Burkitt's Lymphoma

There are some evidences on involvement of ABL2 in a number of cancers, especially ABL2 overexpression was observed in Raji, a Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) cell line. Therefore ABL2 overexpression may be involved in pathogenesis of Burkitt's lymphoma. The aim of this study was to evaluate ABL2 significance in BL. For this purpose 20 formaldehyde fixed paraffin embedded blocks – 16BL and 4 normal lymph nodes – were used. Sections were prepared from the paraffin blocks and treat with primary and then secondary antibodies. Two proteins, ABL2 (the test protein) and GAPDH (a control house keeping protein) were studied, ABL2 was labeled green and GAPDH red. After capturing the pictures using a CCD camera, the intensity of green and red colures were measured and ratio between green/red, that demonstrate changes in ABL2 expression, were calculated. The expression of ABL2 protein in BL and normal lymph node was considerably different and BL had higher expression of ABL2 protein compared to normal lymph nodes. The mean ratio of ABL2/GAPDH in Bl and normal lymph node was 0.68 and 0.65, respectively. Like other malignancies, finding about gene expression patterns in BL seems to be helpful in future board therapeutic guidelines. Then specific inhibitors of ABL2 would be considered as new chemotherapy agents in BL treatment.
Pama-Nyungan as a genetic entity

Is such an entity [i.e. PN] (or something of similar scope) justifiable according to the methods of traditional historical linguistics, on the basis of current knowledge? In my original response I argued that PN is not yet an established genetic entity because it has generally been treated as a subgroup of a higher order Australian family, rather than as a family to be determined independently of any conjectured distant genetic connections to other Australian languages. In my view, the validity of Pama-Nyungan as a genetic entity needs to be demonstrated using language family, rather than subgroup, criteria because there is no known larger entity of which these languages could form a branch. In this paper, I re-present my argument with some background information. The structure is as follows: in section 2 I review traditional methods in historical linguistics; section 3 presents PN and the Australian classification; section 4 is my conclusion.
A new genus and species of Callipogonini, description of the male of Strongylaspis boliviana Monne & Santos-Silva, 2003, and a new distributional record for Chorenta reticulata (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)

Seticeros gen. n. and Seticeros tunupai sp. n. of the tribe Callipogonini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) from Yungas, Bolivia and the male of Strongylaspis boliviana Monne & Santos-Silva, 2003 are described and illustrated. Chorenta aquilus (Th omson, 1865) is transferred to Seticeros gen. n. A new distributional record for Chorenta reticulata (Dalman, 1817) is given.
Rollout of Individual Laptops in Norwegian Upper Secondary Schools

Di↵erent technologies have been implemented in the educational system in Norway over the last decade and it has been a subject of debate whether the use of technology enhances students’ educational outcomes. The aim of this master thesis is therefore to analyze the causal e↵ect of the one-to-one laptop program in upper secondary education in Norway on the performance in three common core subjects: first-choice form of Norwegian, second-choice form of Norwegian, and English. The analysis is performed on a sample of 289 upper secondary schools in the time period from 2003 to 2016. We exploit data on average grades at school level and the rollout of the one-to-one laptop program across the country by using a generalized di↵erence-in-di↵erence approach and an event study specification. The results of this study indicate no clear benefits of technology use on academic performance in upper secondary education as no statistically significant e↵ects are found. However, the true e↵ect might be attenuated as the impact of laptops on students’ academic performance is complex, i.e. there are both positive and negative e↵ects, and performance is only reported as an average at school level. The results presented in this thesis can be an important contribution to the literature in this field as little research has been conducted in Norway to interpret the causal relationship between technology and educational outcomes. The findings can hopefully inspire future research in the field to increase the knowledge on technology-led education. Moreover, it may also function as input for future decision making in the Norwegian educational system.
The Integration of New Media in Schools: Comparing Policy with Practice

Beyond policy, this paper investigates the actual practice related to the integration of new media in schools. Despite continuous government effort to integrate new media in schools, the use of digital technologies for teaching and learning in the classroom remains limited. This study suggests that, apart from the issue related to the state of technological infrastructure, other related factors, including school’s leadership and policy, and teachers’ attitude and knowledge of new media, can also influence the integration of digital technologies into the classroom. Hence, it is important for schools to develop a comprehensive policy of new media, to ensure that the technological infrastructure is carefully managed and maintained. Schools also should provide teachers with continuous professional development opportunities, to ensure that their knowledge and skills of new media remain relevant in the constantly changing digital environment.
Chinese Immigrant Parents’ Communication with School Teachers

Parent-teacher communication has great influence on children’s school performance. Using Walker et al.’s model of parent involvement as a theoretical framework, this study investigated Chinese immigrant parents’ communication experience with teachers and the psychological factors that influenced such communication. The study collected data through survey and revealed that Chinese immigrant parents recognized their responsibility to maintain regular communication with school teachers and believed that such communication could bring beneficial outcomes to their children’s education. The study found that Chinese immigrant parents had more frequent communication with teachers than those recorded in previous literatures. Among the five psychological factors, communication self-efficacy seems to have the strongest relation with parents’ communication behaviors.
Theorising media as practice

This article explores the possibility of a new paradigm of media research that understands media, not as texts or structures of production, but as practice. Drawing on recent moves towards a theory of practice in sociology, this paradigm aims to move beyond old debates about media effects and the relative importance of political economy and audience interpretation, at the same time as moving beyond a narrow concentration on audience practices, to study the whole range of practices that are oriented towards media and the role of media in ordering other practices in the social world. After setting this new paradigm in the context of the history of media research, the article reviews the key advantages of this paradigm in mapping the complexity of media‐saturated cultures where the discreteness of audience practices can no longer be assumed.
Assessing the level of spatial homogeneity of the agronomic Indian monsoon onset

Over monsoon regions, such as the Indian subcontinent, the local onset of persistent rainfall is a crucial event in the annual climate for agricultural planning. Recent work suggested that local onset dates are spatially coherent to a practical level over West Africa; a similar assessment is undertaken here for the Indian subcontinent. Areas of coherent onset, defined as local onset regions or LORs, exist over the studied region. These LORs are significant up to the 95% confidence interval and are primarily clustered around the Arabian Sea (adjacent to and extending over the Western Ghats), the Monsoon Trough (north central India), and the Bay of Bengal. These LORs capture regions where synoptic scale controls of onset may be present and identifiable. In other regions, the absence of LORs is indicative of regions where local and stochastic factors may dominate onset. A potential link between sea surface temperature anomalies and LOR variability is presented. Finally, Kerala, which is often used as a representative onset location, is not contained within an LOR suggesting that variability here may not be representative of wider onset variability.
Leader Succession: The impact of leaders' background characteristics on organizations' performance

The present study aims to reconcile contradictory results of previous studies regarding the impact of the new leader’s origin and levels of general and functional experience on the firm’s performance after the leader succession event. We analyze 52 succession events drawn from longitudinal public records of professional Portuguese football clubs from seasons 2004-2005 to 2008-2009. Results suggest that outsider leaders have a positive effect on post succession performance in the short term, and that leader’s general experience has neither short-term nor long-term positive effect and finally leaders’ functional experience has positive effect in the long term but not in the short term.
The Severity of the Colombian Conflict: Cross-Country Datasets versus New Micro Data ∗

We compare the treatment of Colombia in large cross-country conflict datasets with the information of the detailed micro dataset of Restrepo, Spagat and Vargas (2003). We find a general tendency of the big datasets to underestimate the magnitude of the Colombian conflict and to mischaracterize its dynamics. We suggest that conflict researchers should prioritize the construction of more micro datasets that will facilitate detailed studies of conflict intensity and its dynamics.
Effect of chitosan treatment on the properties of turmeric dyed cotton yarn

Cotton yarn has been coated with different concentrations of chitosan solution and then dyed with turmeric to study their effects on yarn properties. It is observed that the tensile strength, flexural rigidity and shear strength increase with the increase in chitosan concentration. However, the coefficient of friction decreases with the increase in chitosan concentration. Cotton yarn coated with chitosan is found to be darker compared to uncoated yarn while dyeing for the same shade percentage. The dyed yarn coated with chitosan exhibits excellent activity against bacteria, such as E.coli and S.aureus.
The role of clefting, word order and given-new ordering in sentence comprehension: Evidence from Hindi

Two Hindi eyetracking studies show that clefting a noun results in greater processing difficulty initially, due to the extra processing steps involved in encoding a clefted noun (e.g., for computing the exhaustiveness interpreta- tion). However, this extra difficulty in encoding a clefted noun results in a processing advantage when the clefted noun needs to be retrieved later on in the sentence – the clefted noun is retrieved faster in subsequent processing compared to its non-clefted counterpart. We also show that given-new ordering yields a processing advantage over new-given order, but this is only seen after the whole sentence is processed, i.e., it may be a late effect that occurs after syntactic processing is completed. Finally, following up on work on German by Hornig et al. (2005), we present evidence that non-canonical order can be processed more easily than canonical order given appropriate context. Journal of South Asian Linguistics
Crop coefficient in different densities of Pinus taeda

We analyzed the crop coefficient (Kc) of Pinus taeda within different planting densities in order to understand the effect of density population over the maximum water consumption, which will help us to improve its general values presented in the literature. The soil water balance was carried out over a year in a six years-old commercial pine forest in Southern Brazil. Soil water content was measured at different depths and Kc was estimated by the well-known ETc/ETo ratio, and by an alternative method based on wind speed, relative humidity, and plant height. The treatments consisted of different tree cover proportions: T100 (100% cover – standard planting cover, spacing 2.0 x 3.0 m – 1667 trees ha -1 ), T75 (75% cover), T50 (50% cover), T25 (25% cover), and T0 (no cover – clearcutting). Analysis of variance was carried out with Tukey's test at 1% of probability. Tree cover did not affect the Kc for Pinus taeda . However, we observed significant lower Kc under full cover. As opposed to the recommended value for pine (Kc = 1), our results indicated average Kc equal to 2.12 in subtropical humid climate type. However, it was not possible to estimate a satisfactory value of Kc from climatic variables for the subtropical humid climate type.