Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Spillover Effects of Public Works on Migration, Labor Allocation and Wages: Evidence from National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, India

Rural workfare programs guaranteeing work at above market wages are intended to provide security to the unemployed during the agricultural off-season and are an increasingly used feature of labor market policy in developing countries. In recent work, India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the largest rural workfare program in the world, has been attributed with crowding out work, raising private sector wages and lowering rural-urban migration. However, the empirical literature is agnostic about the sign and magnitude of spillovers generated by the large scale program. This paper studies the spatial spillover effects of NREGS on migration, time allocation and casual wages in areas which did not receive the program over the study period. Standard economic theory predicts that wage differentials across labor markets linked by migration should lead to equalization of wages in a competitive equilibrium. This analysis exploits the plausibly exogenous variation in wage differentials introduced by the staggered rollout of NREGS across contiguous program and non-program districts. It then tests the hypothesis that the program generated labor market spillovers to non-program districts using a nationally representative employment survey. Our results show that on average, real wage for casual labor increased by 2.7% with every additional program neighbor in non-program districts. Additionally, the impact of having only program neighbors was estimated to be a 17.5% rise in real wage for casual labor in non-program districts, relative to districts without any NREGS neighbors. The effects on individual level labor supply, non-labor force participation and unemployment are not statistically significant. Together, these results provide empirical support for predicted effects from theory.
Analyseinstitut for Forskning

During the last couple of decades private sector expenditure related to research and development activities has generally increased relatively fast in most industrialized countries. Both theoretical arguments and empirical evidence can be put forward in favor of an increasing flow of resources directed towards R&D activities as the impact on productivity is found to be positive. In the present study data from the Danish economy is used to further analyse some empirical aspects of the relationship between total factor productivity and business sector R&D expenditure. A positive relationship between private sector R&D activity measured as research expenditure relative to value-added production and total factor productivity is detected and most likely, research effects show up with a two-period lag structure which also seems in accordance with a priori expectations.
On the notion of ecological justice

The increasing loss of ecosystem services severely affects life perspectives of today’s poor and future persons. Thus, governing the use of ecosystem services in an intragenerational and intergenerational just way is an urgent issue. I develop a conception of ecological justice that establishes the specific link between justice and ecosystem services, and argue that specific demands on a conception of ecological justice follow from determining ecosystem services as objects of justice. Showing that Rawls’ “A Theory of Justice” (1971) can consistently meet the identified demands, I verify that it is an appropriate theory for deriving a conception of ecological justice.
Genetic diversity and differentiation of an endangered tree species, Afzelia xylocarpa (Kurz) craib in Thailand revealed by nuclear microsatellite markers

Afzelia xylocarpa is listed as an endangered species on the IUCN World list of Threatened Trees, due to over exploitation for its valuable timber and habitat loss, have resulted in a rapid decline of populations size and local population extinction. Understanding of the processes that determine population genetic structure, gene flow and mating systems is important to conserve and manage the existing populations for this endangered tree species. This study describes the level of genetic diversity and differentiation of fifteen populations of A. xylocarpa in Thailand. Genetic variations at seven nuclear microsatellite loci were examined. The seven nuclear microsatellite loci employed detected a total of 53 alleles (n=432). The nSSRs data indicate that a high level of genetic diversity (HS = 0.575) and low level of genetic differentiation among the 15 examined A. xylocarpa populations. The observed level of genetic differentiation among the 15 populations was low, as revealed by FST = 0.074 and GST = 0.078. The results for the nSSRs suggested that all of the populations in North Eastern, Central Thailand and the Klong Lan populations harbored the high genetic diversity and less divergent from the other populations. Therefore, these populations should be assigned the highest priority for conservation of this species.
The Perception On Public Sector Corruption (PSC) In Nigeria: An Insight From Experts In Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACA)

We have collected and analysed the perception of the experts from the two Nigerian notable anti-corruption agencies on PSC in Nigeria. Experts from the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission shared the experiences on how PSC in perceived in Nigeria. These experts are specialists and professionals in various fields of endevours. Furthermore, they are interacting with the phenomenon under investigations in in various capacity as investigators and prosecutors. Our initial aim was to gain an understanding from the perspectives of the corrupt public servants themselves. However, this proved difficult due to the secretive and complex nature of corruption. Even those found guilty of corruption and subsequently convicted, often deny the charges and hence decline speaking about it. Therefore, as the next plausible alternative, an insight from these experts was sought. Through qualitative research methodology paradigm, this study sourced data from face to face interviews with these experts. The finding indicates the perception that PSC in Nigeria is a social reality which is a multifaceted phenomenon. It is being perceived differently depending on the lens through which it is being viewed. Therefore, any meaningful remedy to the menace of corruption in the country should commence at gaining an understanding of the perception held on corruption and appropriately addressing it.
Reproductive biology of the glass snake ophiodes fragilis (Squamata: Anguidae) in south-east Brazil

The reproductive cycles of tropical lizards can be continuous or seasonal, depending on a wide variety of factors, some of which are historical. Most studies on reproductive biology of lizards have been conducted on species in the Iguanidae, Gekkonidae, Teiidae, Lacertidae, and Scincidae. The few studies on anguid lizards have been on various alligator lizards and one species of Ophisaurus. This study presents data on sexual maturity, adult body size, neonate body size and body mass, fecundity, and male and female reproductive cycles of a population of Ophiodes fragilis from Sao Paulo and ParanAE states in south-east Brazil. Females are larger and attain sexual maturity at a larger SVL than males. The female reproductive cycle is highly seasonal with secondary vitellogenesis starting in the middle of the rainy season (February). Embryos in early stages of development occur in the dry season (June) and parturition occurs at the transition from the dry season to the rainy season (August-December). Clutch size averages 7.5 young and is not related to maternal female size as in many other lizard species. Neonates were 33-57 mm in SVL and 0.45-0.85 g in mass. The residual volume of testes does not vary throughout the year suggesting a continuous spermatogenic cycle. Diameter of the deferent duct is largest from January to March (onset of the rainy season), suggesting that even though males produce sperm continuously, they store sperm until mating season.
Contours Extraction Using Line Detection and Zernike Moment

Most of the contour detection methods suffers from some drawbacks such as noise, occlusion of objects, shifting, scaling and rotation of objects in image which they suppress the recognition accuracy. To solve the problem, this paper utilizes Zernike Moment (ZM) and Pseudo Zernike Moment (PZM) to extract object contour features in all situations such as rotation, scaling and shifting of object inside the image. The proposed method consist of three steps: first step employs Line Detection with Contours (LDC) in order to find the object region based on the connected components objects inside the image. In the second step, PZM is applied on the detected object regions to extract feature vector. Regarding to investigate the effectiveness of classifier at the final stage, the SVM and KNN classifiers are employed to extract final object contours. Experimental results on Caltech-101 dataset shows that classification rate is improved to 96.46%. In comparison to the former contour detectors, that proves the ability of the proposed method to detect object boundary in the most of the contour’s changes such as rotation or scaling.
Fomsumerism: A Theoretical Framework

A new mode of social media-based phenomenon regarding relationship between fomo and consumption, namely fomsumerism, points out a new paradigm or point of view in terms of marketing. This article is a pioneering theoretical work as an approach from the perspective of combination of fomo and consumption. The aim of this article was to conceptualize the fomsumerism in terms of consumer behavior and to discuss this phenomenon, concept or theory. This study provides needed clarity for scholars approaching this topic. Consumption regarding fomo, fomsumerism, is depend on a sense of social media sharing and it is important to individual and social identity through shared product, service and experiences. In conclusion, this theoretical framework suggests it may be important to reveal the notion that fomsumerism in general represents the hidden patterns of consumption behavior of social media in today's world. This paper contributes to marketing theory by developing a conceptual approach that explains and offers implications pertaining to the relationship between fomo and consumption in the age of social media.
The Effect of Curative Concentration on Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Flexible Epoxy Coated Jute Fabric Reinforced Polyamide 6 Composites

Many researchers have shown interest in the reinforcement of commodity thermoplastic with natural fibers. However, the drawback of natural fibers is their low thermal processing temperatures, that border around 200℃. In this investigation, we tried to improve the thermal stability of natural fibers with the use of flexible epoxy surface coating that could facilitate processing with engineering thermoplastics. Jute fabric and Polyamide 6 (PA6) composites were prepared by compression molding. The thermal decomposition characteristics of the jute fabric were evaluated by using thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Mechanical analysis was conducted to evaluate tensile test and three point bending test of composite. It was found that thermal degradation resistance of jute fabric was improved by coating with flexible epoxy resin. Moreover, the flexural modulus improved with increasing curative concentration. The interfacial interaction between the epoxy and PA6 was clearly indicated by the photo micrographs of the polished cross sections of the coated and uncoated jute fabric/PA6 composites.
(Re-)Assessing Political Careers Patterns in Multi-level systems. Insights from Wallonia

Most studies on political careers adopt a macro perspective to establish career patterns which brings the risk of overlooking the importance of transfers between parliaments in the estab-lishment of career patterns. As movements between levels often hides a more complex empiric reality of political careers, this research suggests to adopt a micro-longitudinal perspective through the systematic analysis of individual political careers. Based on an in-depth case study of Walloon trajectories in Belgium, this article demonstrates that this approach permit to un-cover other patterns. Contrary to the conclusions of previous studies, the findings conclude that Wallonia is not only characterized by the integrated career, but completed by three other robust career patterns, the alternative pattern with the regional and federal careers and the discrete pattern.
Three-dimensional interferometric, spectrometric, and planetary views of Procyon

Context. Procyon is one of the brightest stars in the sky and one of our nearest neighbours. It is therefore an ideal benchmark object for stellar astrophysics studies using interferometric, spectroscopic, and asteroseismic techniques. Aims. We use a new realistic three-dimensional (3D) radiative-hydrodynamical (RHD) model atmosphere of Procyon generated with the Stagger Code and synthetic spectra computed with the radiative transfer code Optim3D to re-analyze interferometric and spectroscopic data from the optical to the infrared. We provide synthetic interferometric observables that can be validated using observations. Methods. We computed intensity maps from a RHD simulation in two optical filters centered on 500 and 800 nm (Mark III) and one infrared filter centered on 2.2 μm (Vinci). We constructed stellar disk images accounting for the center-to-limb variations and used them to derive visibility amplitudes and closure phases. We also computed the spatially and temporally averaged synthetic spectrum from the ultraviolet to the infrared. We compare these observables to Procyon data. Results. We study the impact of the granulation pattern on center-to-limb intensity profiles and provide limb-darkening coefficients in the optical as well as in the infrared. We show how the convection-related surface structures affect the visibility curves and closure phases with clear deviations from circular symmetry, from the 3rd lobe on. These deviations are detectable with current interferometers using closure phases. We derive new angular diameters at different wavelengths with two independent methods based on 3D simulations. We find that θ Vinci = 5.390 ± 0.03 mas, which we confirm by comparison with an independent asteroseismic estimation (θ seismic = 5.360 ± 0.07 mas. The resulting T eff is 6591 K (or 6556 K depending on the bolometric flux used), which is consistent with the value of T eff,IR = 6621 K found with the infrared flux method. We measure a surface gravity log g = 4.01 ± 0.03 [cm/s 2] that is higher by 0.05 dex than literature values. Spectrophotometric comparisons with observations provide very good agreement with the spectral energy distribution and photometric colors, allowing us to conclude that the thermal gradient in the simulation matches Procyon fairly well. Finally, we show that the granulation pattern of a planet-hosting Procyon-like star has a non-negligible impact on the detection of hot Jupiters in the infrared using interferometry closure phases. It is then crucial to have a comprehensive knowledge of the host star to directly detect and characterize hot Jupiters. In this respect, RHD simulations are very important to achieving this aim. © 2012 ESO.
NO 2 -initiated multiphase oxidation of SO 2 by O 2 on CaCO 3 particles

Abstract. The reaction of SO2 with NO2 on the surface of aerosol particles has been suggested to be important in sulfate formation during severe air pollution episodes in China. However, we found that the direct oxidation of SO2 by NO2 was slow and might not be the main reason for sulfate formation in ambient air. In this study, we investigated the multiphase reaction of SO2 with an O2 ∕ NO2 mixture on single CaCO3 particles using Micro-Raman spectroscopy. The reaction converted the CaCO3 particle to a Ca(NO3)2 droplet, with CaSO4 ⚫ 2H2O solid particles embedded in it, which constituted a significant fraction of the droplet volume at the end of the reaction. The reactive uptake coefficient of SO2 for sulfate formation was on the order of 10 −5 , which was higher than that for the multiphase reaction of SO2 directly with NO2 by 2–3 orders of magnitude. According to our observations and the literature, we found that in the multiphase reaction of SO2 with the O2 ∕ NO2 mixture, O2 was the main oxidant of SO2 and was necessary for radical chain propagation. NO2 acted as the initiator of radical formation, but not as the main oxidant. The synergy of NO2 and O2 resulted in much faster sulfate formation than the sum of the reaction rates with NO2 and with O2 alone. We estimated that the multiphase oxidation of SO2 by O2 initiated by NO2 could be an important source of sulfate and a sink of SO2 , based on the calculated lifetime of SO2 regarding the loss through the multiphase reaction versus the loss through the gas-phase reaction with OH radicals. Parameterization of the reactive uptake coefficient of the reaction observed in our laboratory for further model simulation is needed, as well as an integrated assessment based on field observations, laboratory study results, and model simulations to evaluate the importance of the reaction in ambient air during severe air pollution episodes, especially in China.
Acoustic emission response of rocks to electric power action as seismic-electric effect manifestation

Two parts of the research are distinguished in this paper. The first part is devoted to the structure of signals of Acoustic Emission (AE) and electromagnetic emission (EME) which accompany the inelastic straining of ter- restrial materials. Special attention is paid to the similarity of waveform of EME signals at various scale lengths. The second (and main) part of the work involves the investigation of AE responses to the action of additional power fields over strained rocks. Our experimental investigations have revealed the interrelation of acoustic emission activity to power actions applied externally (impacts of electromagnetic field). Different modes of re- sponses to electromagnetic impact have been specified. The characteristics of such responses and their variations depending on the material of specimens tested and of electric parameters of external pulses during power im- pacts have been considered. A general conclusion on possible electromagnetic triggering of AE has been drawn, the prospects of further studies being outlined.
On Generalized Wronskians∗

The Wronski determinant (Wronskian), usually introduced in standard courses in Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE), is a very useful tool in algebraic geometry to detect ramification loci of linear systems. The present survey aims to describe some ”materializations” of the Wronskian and its close relatives, generalized Wronskians, in algebraic geometry. Emphasis will be put on the relationships between Schubert Calculus and ODE.
Knowledge , attitude and practice of epilepsy among schoolteachers in Pakistan

Background and Purpose: Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) concerning epilepsy among schoolteachers in Pakistan. No such study has previously been conducted in this country and results would help formulate a comprehensive plan of action to address this important issue. Methods: This cross-sectional study is a component of the School Awareness Workshop project held between October 2002 and December 2005 under the auspices of NGO-run Comprehensive Epilepsy Control Programme of Pakistan. Fourteen workshops were conducted in five cities of Pakistan using a structured 15-items questionnaire. Results: Total 535 questionnaires were analyzed. More than 80% of the respondents were employees of government-run schools; 61.5% females and 77.4% graduates and postgraduates. Mean age was 37.0 (±9.2) years. The mean KAP-score was 8.34 ± 2.38. Sixty-one percent were acquainted with a person with epilepsy. Epilepsy was not considered a commonly prevalent condition by 82.7% yet 69.0% believed no age was immune. Common considered causes of epilepsy included brain-electrical-abnormality (55.0%) and stress and tension (37.4%). Epilepsy was considered hereditary by 21.5% and transmissible by 10.1%. Suggested first-aid measures included putting a spoon in mouth (21.1%) and shoe-smelling (15.7%). About 30% were unaware that epilepsy is treatable. Three-fourths believed a child with epilepsy could study in normal schools and half opined about a negative impact of society on people with epilepsy. More than seventy percent supported marriage and child-bearing.Conclusion: Inadequate knowledge about epilepsy and its treatment was observed amongst schoolteachers in Pakistan. However, their attitude towards the affected was generally positive and majority supported education of children with epilepsy in normal schools.
Modelling the Determinants of Malaysian Household Debt

This paper explores the determinants of household debt composition in Malaysia. By utilizing the bound test and autoregressive distributed lag modelling approach, findings of this study reveals that in the long run period, a change in income level, housing price and population would have a positive impact on mortgage debt while rise in interest rates and cost of living would exert a negative influence. In addition, findings of this study supported that the household uses the debt as a substitute for income to finance the rising consumption because of a higher living cost. Findings of this study could provide some guidance to policymakers in controlling the mounting debt level and help in realizing the nation economic goals.
Scaling laws for the flow of generalized Newtonian suspensions

It has been observed that flow curves (viscosity vs shear rate) of spherical solid inclusions suspended in a generalized Newtonian fluid medium can be rescaled so as to collapse onto the flow curve of the fluid medium. This result is surprising given the range of values and the spatial heterogeneity of local shear rates and viscosity in such systems. We consider such scaling for the cases of shear thinning, Newtonian, and shear-thickening fluid media. Results from experiment and computational modeling are presented that examine the microscopic origins of this scaling behavior. Over a wide range of volume fractions (5–50%), it is shown that the distribution of local shear rates can be collapsed onto a single universal curve. The parameters for rescaling the shear rate distributions can be analytically related to the macroscopic rescaling parameters for the viscosity. As a result of this rescaling capability, one may measure the properties of the fluid medium and predict the macroscopic behavior of the susp.