Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fertility and the user cost of home ownership: Evidence from regional panel data

Cross-sectional data yield the interesting result that fertility rates and home ownership rates tend to correlate positively, while time-series data suggest an inverse (or no) relationship between them. Although these associations can be explained by observed economic variables, doubt remains as to whether these links are due to the existence of omitted regional and time effects. Thus, controlling for regional-specific fixed effects and nationwide common time effects, this paper tests the link between the user cost of home ownership, which is the purchase price of housing, and total fertility rates. The empirical results, which use a panel of Japanese regional aggregate data, suggest that the impact of user costs on fertility considerably decreased when compared with the pooled OLS regression result without controlling for the above effects, but remained significantly negative. In the Japanese context, the association between the number of children and home ownership seems to be complementary.
Soil Attributes in a Sierra Nevada Riparian Meadow as Influenced by Grazing

Abstract Data on the effects of livestock grazing on soil nutrient availability are virtually nonexistent for meadow systems. We measured the effect of livestock grazing on soil, emphasizing soil-solution chemistry, in a Sierra Nevada riparian meadow. Treatments were livestock exclusion (begun in 1989) and grazing to leave 1 000 kg·ha−1 of vegetation. Ceramic tension lysimeters were placed in the treatments (2 replicates) by landscape position (stream edge, midfloodplain, and forest edge), and by depth (approximately 0.1, 0.6, and 1.2 m below the soil surface). Lysimeter water was extracted twice monthly in April, May, and June of 1990 through 1993, and cations and anions were quantified. In addition, KCl-extractable NO3− and NH4+; bicarbonate-extractable ortho-P; available Mn, Cu, Fe, and Zn; and root-length density (RLD) were quantified in soils by treatment, landscape position, and soil depth in July 1991 and September 1993. RLD was not affected by grazing. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) treatment effects were largely limited to the forest edge. The grazed treatment had greater lysimeter-extractable Na+, Ca+2, Mg+2, and NO3−; higher pH; and less K+ and NH4+ than the excluded treatment. Compared with corresponding excluded treatments, bicarbonate-extractable P was significantly greater on the grazed forest edge, and available Mn was significantly greater at the grazed stream-edge position in 1991. Extractable NO3− was significantly higher in the 0–25 cm depth increment of the grazed treatment, and available Zn was significantly greater on the grazed midfloodplain position in 1993. Grazing did not result in more anoxic soil conditions than the excluded treatment. Grazing effects were most pronounced at the forest edge, possibly as a result of spatial transfer of nutrients via cow urine and feces. Management goals to sustain high-elevation meadows should emphasize maintenance of high RLD to sequester soil nutrients.
Testing for Multiple Bubbles in the 35 Large and Medium Cities of Real Estate Price in China

Identifying explosive bubbles that are characterized by periodically collapsing phenomenon over time has been a major concern among researchers in finance and marketing. The paper advances a new date-stamping strategy for identifying the existence, as well as the origination and termination points of multiple bubbles, by using the generalized version of the sup ADF test (GSADF, hereafter) backwardly, which was originally introduced by Phillips, Shi and Yu (PSY, hereafter, 2012). This new method is more effective in identifying the existence of bubbles than the date-stamping strategy (SADF) when multiple bubbles occur. The backward GSADF test is as a rolling window of the ADF test with a double-sup window selection criterion that significantly improves its discriminatory power in simulations. This paper, thus, employs the backward GSADF test to identify housing bubbles in China by using the quarterly data of the real estate price index of 35 large and medium cities from 1998Q1 to 2013Q4. After running the test, we find statistical evidence of real estate bubbles that exist in the price indexes of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Yinchuan, Shenzhen, Urumqi, and Shenyang. These bubbles are either short-term bubbles or extremely short-term bubbles. We also discover that the ratio of city with housing bubbles is higher in the eastern region than in other regions in China.
On a Stokes-type system arising in fluid vesicle dynamics

This article is the first in a series of papers on the analysis of a basic model for fluid vesicle dynamics. There are two variants of this model, a parabolic one decribing purely relaxational dynamics and a non-parabolic one containing the full dynamics. At the heart of both variants lies a linear elliptic system of Stokes-type. Understanding the mapping properties of this Stokes-type system is crucial for all further analysis. In this article we give a basic exposition of the dynamical model and a thorough $L_2$-analysis of the Stokes-type system that takes into account geometric variations of the fluid vesicle.
Test First Model for Application in the Academic Setting

This research elaborates the selection of the Test First and Test Last model for a pilot experiment that was executed as a feasibility study to validate the suitability of the existing Test First model for its implementation in the series of actual experiment. The series of actual experiment is designed to investigate the quality of the project developed by the students in higher educational institution with the Test First over Test Last model. The findings gathered from the pilot experiment demonstrate that there were misunderstandings on the user stories among the participants that have led to the development of an enhanced Test First model.
Collecting functional traits in dairy herds: overview of a progam currently running in Italy

The national scheme of milk recording in Italy is currently based mainly on the collection of records on milk yield and composition. Recently, increasing attention has been paid also to other traits that are helpful for improving management of dairy herds and for increasing efficiency of breeding schemes. Given this concern, a project for extending the recording procedure to some functional traits has been started in April 1998, enrolling some milk recording agencies of Veneto region. Operators of milk recording agencies collect data, and visits to registered herds occur at 4-wk interval. The scheme planned the collection of traits ordinarily recorded in the national scheme (milk yield, fat and protein content, pedigree information, animal identification, calving date, insemination and culling date) and “new” traits: i) BCS, mastitis and lameness, recorded on periparturient heifers (since about two months before the expected calving date), lactating and dry cows every 4 weeks; ii) retained placenta and mammary oedema, recorded on heifers and cows at calving; iii) leakage, milkability and temperament while milking, recorded on lactating cows every 4 weeks; iv) reasons for culling, recorded on all culled animals. Training of recording personnel at the start of the project and procedures aimed to improve the standardisation of BCS will be discussed. Moreover, with the aim of encouraging the true participation of farmers, the development of tools for supporting herd management decisions based on analysis and interpretation of BCS data are in progress and will be described. Currently, 88 dairy herds have been enrolled on this project, and 35 operators have been involved in the recording of functional traits. This produced a database, currently containing nearly 77,600 records from nearly 9,300 Holsteins females that will be of a value for studying the relations of body reserves status and change during lactation with milk yield, health and
Cognitive Meanings in Selected English Translated Texts of the Noble Qur'an

The genre of translated texts (interpretations) of the Noble Qur’an especially into English - enjoys a distinctive status as a major source to accessing the meanings of the Noble Qur’an for non-Arabic speakers. Thus, it has been a fertile field for academic research. Most, if not all, of those studies evolve around the assessment of such translated (interpretation) works. Yet, very little is known about the cognitive meanings associated with such a genre. This paper attempts at investigating cognitive metaphorical meanings in two English Translated Texts of the Noble Qur’an (ETTQs); one is done by Pickthall (1930) and the other is done by the Reformist group (2007). Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson 1980), a mixture of qualitative and quantitative method is utilized to analyze chapter two (the longest chapter) of the sampler ETTQs. The study shows that both ETTQs are rich in metaphorical language. Four conceptual meanings are found to be prevailing in both ETTQs; LIFE IS A JOURNEY, FAITH IS COMMERCE, HEARTS ARE CONTAINERS and SOUL IS A PERSON, respectively. Yet, the study has also found a few differences between the two ETTQs in terms of use and number of instances for particular conceptual metaphors.
Are flight paths of nocturnal songbird migrants influenced by local coastlines at a peninsula

By recording nocturnally migrating passerines with tracking radar we have investigated how coastlines affect the migrants’ flight paths. Birds could use coastlines as an orientation aid or as a reference cue to compensate for wind drift while migrating. However, on the small scale of Falsterbo Peninsula in southern Sweden, we found very little effect of coastlines on migrants flight paths, irrespective of altitude. We tracked 2 930 migrants in three autumn and two spring seasons, at altitudes from 60 up to 3 000 meters. We compared tracks of migrants flying in three different areas, which correspond to the three main coastlines, and can demonstrate that the orientation of the tracks did not differ in a way consistent with the coastlines between the areas in autumn, and showed only a slight effect in spring. This is in accordance with earlier infrared device monitoring in Falsterbo, but contrary to earlier visual observations. It supports the view of nocturnally migrating passerines as mainly broad-front migrants. Even though the coastlines on the scale of the peninsula affected the flight paths very little, it is possible that the coastline has an effect on a larger regional scale, by migrants avoiding long sea crossings and thereby being funneled towards the peninsula, but this remains to be investigated. (Less)
A 4+1 architecture for in vivo electrophysiology visual prosthesis

Researchers around the globe are working towards restoring vision to the blind through the development of a visual neuroprosthesis. Overcoming physical, technical and biological limitations represents one of the main challenges for the scientific community and will eventually benefit the wellbeing of the recipients of these devices. Thus, understanding the physiological mechanisms of prosthetic vision plays a key role. In this context, in vivo electrophysiological studies are aiming to shed light on new stimulation paradigms that can potentially lead to improved visual perception. This paper describes a multi-viewpoint architecture of an experimental setup for the investigation of electrically evoked potentials in a retinal neuroprosthesis.
Food resource utilization by juvenile Baltic cod Gadus morhua: a mechanism potentially influencing recruitment success at the demersal juvenile stage?

Pelagic and demersal juvenile Baltic cod Gadus morhua L. were collected during surveys in the Bornholm Basin (Baltic Sea) in autumn 1994. Stomach contents were examined for prey compo- sition in order to evaluate the potential importance of the pelagic and demersal habitats for recruitment success. Juvenile cod less than 40 mm fed exclusively on pelagic prey such as copepods and cladocer- ans. Between 40 and 50 mm the juveniles began to consume benthic prey such as mysids and amphipods; however, copepods were still the dominant food organisms. Between 50 and 70 mm the dominant prey items consumed were mysids and amphipods, with copepods comprising a minor com- ponent of the diet. Between 70 and 160 mm the juveniles' diet was composed exclusively of benthic prey with an increase in prey diversity. Mysids were slightly less important in the diet, while the abun- dance of polychaetes, decapods and fish increased with fish size. Amphipods remained almost constant in the diet of juveniles above 60 mm in length. These results indicate that a major change in food resource utilization started to occur at a fish length of 40 mm, with the main change taking place at approximately 50 mm, suggesting that juvenile Baltic cod make the transition to the benthic habitat at this length. This change in food preference is also reflected in the size of the prey items and the num- bers of prey consumed. Pelagic juveniles consumed much smaller prey than their demersal con- specifics. Neither prey size nor prey numbers consumed by pelagic and small demersal juveniles from this study differed from prey reported to be taken by juvenile cod of corresponding size in the Atlantic and the North Sea. However, prey organisms consumed by demersal juvenile Baltic cod larger than 90 mm were much smaller, and prey numbers much higher, than those reported to be consumed by juveniles in other areas. The apparent overlap in food resource utilization among the different size groups of demersal juveniles observed in this study suggests that in years with low prey abundance, or high abundance of pelagic juveniles, strong intra-specific competition for food resources may affect the recruitment success of Baltic cod.
Differences in population dynamics of Bradybaena fruticum (O.F. Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Bradybaenidae) in a submontane and lowland area of Poland

Population dynamics of a meso-hygrophilous helicoid Bradybaena fruticum was studied in SW Poland at two localities with similar habitat but different climatic conditions. Unexpectedly, at the submontane site in Szczytna the growth appeared to be significantly faster than in the lowland site (Wroclaw), where the weather conditions varied widely during the whole growing season. In Szczytna the average growth rate was 0.26 whorl/month; 0.36 whorl/month in the fast phase (juveniles from hatching till 5.0 whorls), and 0.07 whorl/month in the slow phase (snails with 5.1 whorls till lip formation). During the whole growing season, the average increment was 4.5 whorls, whereas the maximum was 5.45 whorls. In Wroclaw the average growth rate was 0.05 whorl/month; 0.1 whorl/month in the fast phase, and only 0.01 whorl/month in the slow phase. The average growth of juveniles, estimated during two growing seasons, equalled 3.8 whorls; the maximum recorded value was 4.75 whorls. In the winter there was hardly any growth. In earlier studies it was found that at higher altitude the growth rate seems to decrease and therefore appears to be correlated with the thermal regime of the locality. In this study it was established that the weather patterns, like months with drought or occasional flooding, are likely to influence the population dynamics in the lowland population.
The Creation of Electrospun Nanofibers from Platelet Rich Plasma

Activated platelet rich plasma (a PRP) contains supra physiologic amounts of autologous growth factors and cytokines known to enhance wound healing and tissue regeneration. Here we report the first results of electro spinning nanofibers from a PRP to create fibrous scaffolds that could be used for various tissue engineering applications. Human platelet rich plasma (PRP) was created, activated by a freeze-thaw-freeze process, and lyophilized to form a powdered preparation rich in growth factors (PRGF). It was dissolved in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFP) at different concentrations to form fibers with average diameters of 0.3 ? 3.6 ? m. A sustained release of protein from the PRGF scaffolds was demonstrated up to 35 days, and cell interactions with the PRGF scaffolds confirmed cell infiltration after just 3 days. As electro spinning is a simple process, and PRGF contains naturally occurring growth factors in physiologic ratios, creating nanofibrous structures from PRGF has the potential to be beneficial for a variety of tissue engineering applications.
Influence of Compatibility on Adoption of Hiv/Aids Preventive Measures in Maiduguri Metropolis: A Social Marketing Perspective

The main goal of social marketing is behavioural impact and it can be applied to a variety of social problems, but behaviour change is complex.The study examined the influence of compatibilitywith culture on adoption of HIV/AIDS preventive measures in Maiduguri metropolis, specifically, the study assessed the level of awareness on HIV/AIDS; and examined the peoples' protective behaviours. Primary source of data was utilised, structured questionnaires were administered on 300 respondents; however, 283 questionnaires were valid. Multistage sampling technique was employed using stratified sampling and convenience sampling techniques to select the respondents. Secondary data were sourced through existing literature. Descriptive statistics and simple linear regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The major finding of the study revealed that prevention measures that are not compatible with culture significantly influence adoption of HIV/AIDS prevention methods. The study recommends "Cultural social marketing" should be used where community leaders and communal elders are recognised and persuaded to promote cultural practices which can prevent HIV infection rather than those practices that are barriers to its prevention.
Manipulation of offspring number and size: benefits of large body size at birth depend upon the rearing environment

Summary 1. Allocation of reproductive effort between the number and size of offspring determines the immediate rearing environment for the growing young. As the number of offspring increases, the amount of parental investment per individual offspring decreases, and the quality of the rearing environment is expected to decrease. This may result in a lower quality of offspring reared in such conditions. 2. We studied the effects of the rearing environment on the quality of juvenile bank voles, Clethrionomys glareolus , with different initial body sizes at birth in a 2 〈 2 factorial experiment. The rearing environment was manipulated by enlarging both the litter size by two extra pups, and mean offspring body size at birth by replacing the original litter with heavier pups from smaller litters. Offspring quality was estimated from body size measurements, parasitic infection with Eimeria spp. and the level of immune response to a novel antigen. 3 The analyses revealed that large body size at birth was an advantage in ‘normal’ rearing environments, but a disadvantage in poor ones. The initially normal sized offspring grown in enlarged litters had a relatively good capacity for growth and high immune function confirming that a poor rearing environment alone does not reduce their quality. 4 Our findings that the benefits of large body size depend on the rearing environment suggest that offspring body size is adjusted in relation to litter size, and thus the evolution of these two traits is combined.
GLOBAL DEFORMABLE SURFACE OPTIMIZATION USING ADAPTIVE CONSTRAINTS AND PENALTIES

Deformable models are able to solve surface extraction problems challenged by image noise because imageindependent constraints are used to regularize the shape of the extracted surface. However, this ability of deformable models is shadowed by their application specicity , initialization sensitivity and the difculty of the selection of proper values for user denable parameters. To overcome these problems restricting the automation of surface extraction, we present a new algorithm, named AdaCoP, for the global minimization of the energy of deformable surfaces. It iteratively performs constrained local minimizations of the energy. It avoids the detection of the same local minimum multiple times by constraining the local optimizations in an adaptive manner. AdaCoP escapes from local minima by imposing an adaptive penalty energy to it. These constraints and penalties prevent the convergence to the local minima already found. The performance of the AdaCoP algorithm is relatively independent on the nature of the underlying image as well as the shape of the surface to be extracted. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated by extracting surfaces from synthetic images. Moreover, the good properties of the algorithm are demonstrated by considering applications within the automated analysis of positron emission tomography images. Although AdaCoP cannot be proven to converge to the global minimum, it is insensitive to its initialization and it therefore provides a way to automate surface extraction problems within medical image analysis.
Online trust through humanized website design: research model and empirical study

Trust is an essential component for any business transaction, and is particularly critical and challen�ng in the online environment, which is characterized by de-humanized business transactions. If online vendors are not able to establish trust with their customers, business-to-consumer electronic commerce will not realize its full potential. This paper presents an online trust model which distinguishes between product, company and referee trust. This model can help further our understanding of online trust, provide online vendors with approaches to help build customer trust, and direct research in this emerging economy. The concept of humanized website design is introduced as a potential trust instiller along the product, company and trust dimensions. Subsequently, an empirical study is outlined, and results are analyzed to determine the effects of website humanization. Results from this study are shown to be significant, indicating that there is a connection between human elements in design and trust in an online environment. Conclusions from this research are discussed and areas for future research are proposed.
Evaluating Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities with the Email Testbed: Effects of Training

Email-delivered cyber-attacks which penetrate first-line algorithmic defenses must then face a human operator’s decision: engage, or ‘reject and report’ the threat. Relatively little research exists into the factors that affect these outcomes, and what does is contentious to conduct; naturalistic studies into cyber-attack can easily invade individual privacy. The development of our Email Testbed (ET), a simulator for clerical email tasks, is described and forwarded as an easy and ethical solution to these difficulties. In two experiments undergraduates first screened, then used the ET to send and receive workplace messages. They were concurrently delivered rare malicious emails. Half received cyberdefense training, and performed significantly better than their untrained peers. Without training, performance was poor enough so as to engender concern regarding real-world risks. Discussion of the process of validating the testbed, of the implications of the findings, and of future directions are provided.