Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Downward Rigidity in Households’ Price Expectations: An Analysis Based on the Bank of Japan's 'Opinion Survey on the General Public's Views and Behavior'

This paper investigates the characteristics of households' inflation expectations using the micro-data of the Opinion Survey on the General Public's Views and Behavior conducted by the Bank of Japan. The results of the Kahn test indicate the existence of strong downward rigidity in households' price expectations. One consequence of this downward rigidity is that survey answers strongly react to shocks to inflation expectations in a high inflation environment, but only weakly in a low inflation environment. Furthermore, this downward rigidity may hide potential links between inflation expectations and other economic indicators and may produce spurious correlations between them. To overcome these problems, this paper adjusts the distribution of survey answers on inflation expectations for downward rigidity. Using this adjusted distribution, the paper examines the relationships between households' inflation expectations and their views on various economic issues. The main results are as follows. From the end of 2005 onward, a negative correlation between households' inflation expectations and their outlook for economic conditions can be observed. Regarding the activities of the Bank of Japan, the following relationships can be observed from 2006. First, the more strongly households are interested in the Bank's activities, the more stable are their inflation expectations. And second, the more confidence households have in the Bank, the more tightly are their inflation expectations anchored.
Incentives for Using Internet and Its Addiction among Adolescents in Rural Area in Tanta City, Egypt

Background: One of the problems elicited with the development of new technology, especially among adolescents is Internet addiction. Because of a high prevalence of the interpersonal problems associated with Internet addiction so it had been considered as an important social problem in different countries. Aim of the study: to identify incentives for using the Internet and its addiction among adolescents in the rural area. Subjects and Method: -Study design: In this study an analytic cross-sectional study design was used. Study settings: The study was conducted in twelve preparatory and three secondary schools in the rural area of Tanta city. Study subjects: Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling were used to choose the schools and students. Seven hundred and thirty six (736) students had been selected randomly and were willing to take part in this study. Tools of data collection: A third -part questionnaire was used by the researchers. First part: Demographic data of the participants. Second part: Participants were required to provide some details on their internet use. Third part: Internet Addiction Test (IAT) Scale which was developed by Al-Osaymi (2010). Results:-The result of this study showed that of the 736 students who were participated in this study, 370 (50.3%) were female, 366 (49.7%) were male and their age ranged from 12-18years. About 37.8% of the students were internet addicted, 36.7% were excessive Internet use and 25.5% were normal Internet use. Conclusion and recommendation: It can be concluded that in rural areas the Internet addiction is one of a growing problem among adolescents. Therefore, it is necessary to operate new strategies for prevention and control of Internet addiction, which is vital for saving use of the Internet and promoting healthy
MLR-Based QSAR Models for Predicting Inhibitory Activity of Reverse Transcriptase by HEPT Derivatives using GETAWAY Descriptors

In this study, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models for non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors based on 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)-methyl]-6-(phenylthio)thymine (HEPT) derivatives were generated. The structures of the compounds and their activities were obtained from the literature. The data set were divided into two sets: training set (N=91) and validating set (N=10). All 3-D structures of these inhibitors were optimized by semi-empirical method, AM1 prior to calculations of 3-D molecular descriptors, GETAWAY. Multiple linear regression (MLR) using stepwise method was applied to determined significant descriptors. Out of 197 GETAWAY descriptors, 4-14 molecular descriptors have significant relationships with the activities (expressed as log (1/EC 50 )) of HEPT. The MLR method generated 14 models. The predictive power of these models were evaluated internally by applying the following statistical parameters for the training set and test set: root-mean-square error for prediction (RMSE), correlation coefficient (R), squared correlation coefficient (R 2 ), adjusted squared correlation coefficient (R 2 adj ), difference between R 2 and R 2 adj (R 2 – R 2 adj ), squared cross-validation correlation coefficient (Q 2 ). External validation was performed by employing Golbraikh and Tropsha criteria. Moreover, residual analysis was performed. Internal validation of Model XX (N = 91) revealed that it has the highest predictive power (RMSE = 0.4288, R = 0.9393, R 2 = 0.882, R 2 adj = 0.8620, R 2 - R 2 adj = 0.0203, Q 2 = 0.8317). However, external validation (using the validating set, N=10) showed that Model XII has the highest predictive power (R 2 = 0.961, R 2 0 = 0.9565, k = 0.8648, k’ = 0.9800, [R 2 - R 2 0 ] = 0.0066, [R 2 - R 2 0 ] /R 2 = 0.0069, R 2 pred = 0.9481) based on Golbraikh and Tropsha criteria. Residual analysis confirmed that both models are valid.
Rapamycin pre-treatment abrogates Tumour Necrosis Factor-α down-regulatory effects on LXR-Î± and PXR mRNA expression via inhibition of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 activation in HepG2 cells

The Liver X Receptor (LXR) and Pregnane X Receptor (PXR) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. Previously, they have been classified as important regulators of lipid homeostasis. However, recent studies have shown that they may be implicated in anti-inflammatory responses as well. This study shows that Tumour Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) treatment reduces both LXR-α and PXR mRNA expression. However, pre-treatment with rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, followed by TNF-α stimulation, significantly induces LXR-α and PXR mRNA expression to ~17- and ~2-fold, respectively. This suggests that mTORC1, a multi-molecular complex of which mTOR is a member, may act as a negative regulator that inhibits the induction of LXR-α and PXR as anti-inflammatory genes. It is also shown here that inhibition of JNK1 via the mTOR/Akt pathway coincides with the up-regulation of LXR-α and PXR mRNA, after TNF-α treatment. Together, these observations suggest that JNK1 possibly act downstream of mTORC1 as an LXR-α and PXR inhibitor. From the results gleaned in this study, rapamycin (and its analogues) may be used to reduce acute inflammation by promoting the induction of LXR-α and PXR as anti-inflammatory genes.
Pyrolysis of beech wood catalysed by FeCl3: production and characterisation of bio-oil.

The pyrolysis of beech wood in the presence of acid catalyst such as FeCl3 was carried out at the temperatures of 400, 500 and 600°C. The effects of temperature and the catalyst on both product distribution and bio-oil composition were investigated. The compositions of the bio-oils obtained from the catalytic pyrolysis of wood sawdust were identified by GC-MS and 1 H-NMR analysis. The bio-oils produced from catalytic pyrolysis of wood contained a wide variety of oxygenated hydrocarbons. Aldehydes were found to be major compounds identified in bio-oils. The results of this study indicated that bio-oil obtained from beech wood sawdust can be used as chemical raw materials.
Using general-purpose compression algorithms for music analysis

General-purpose compression algorithms encode files as dictionaries of substrings with the positions of these strings’ occurrences. We hypothesized that such algorithms could be used for pattern discovery in music. We compared LZ77, LZ78, Burrows–Wheeler and COSIATEC on classifying folk song melodies. A novel method was used, combining multiple viewpoints, the k-nearest-neighbour algorithm and a novel distance metric, corpus compression distance. Using single viewpoints, COSIATEC outperformed the general-purpose compressors, with a classification success rate of 85% on this task. However, by combining 8 of the 10 best-performing viewpoints, including seven that used LZ77, the classification success rate rose to over 94%. In a second experiment, we compared LZ77 with COSIATEC on the task of discovering subject and countersubject entries in fugues by J.S. Bach. When voice information was absent in the input data, COSIATEC outperformed LZ77 with a mean score of 0.123, compared with 0.053 for LZ77. However, when the music was processed a voice at a time, the score for LZ77 more than doubled to 0.124. We also discovered a significant correlation between compression factor and score for all the algorithms, supporting the hypothesis that the best analyses are those represented by the shortest descriptions.
Isolation of Pectin from Kesar Mango Peel Using Cation Exchange Resin

Extraction of pectin from Kesar mango peel, a waste from mango canning and food processing industries, was carried out using cation exchange resin as an extracting medium. The effect of peel to extracting medium ratio and extraction temperature on yield and recovery of pectin was studied. Cation exchange resin was found to be the best extracting medium for extraction of pectin from mango peels. Maximum yield of pectin was obtained by taking two extractions each for one-hour duration employing a peel to extracting medium ratio of 1:4 (w:w), extraction temperature of 80 °C and at pH of 2.56. Using the optimum extracting conditions, about 14.78% (DWB) of purified pectin was obtained from mango peels which gave the recovery of 96.32%. The jelly grade of the pectin was found to be 170 at the optimized condition.
Effect of different harvesting time on growth, yiel d and quality of Thyme ( Thymus serpyllum L.) under the agro-climatic conditions of Doon vall ey, Uttarakhand

A field experiment was conducted under the agro-cli matic conditions of Doon valley, Uttarakhand during 2008 to assess the performance oharvesting times (H 1-115 days, H2135 days, H3-155 days and H4-175 days after planting) of Thymus serpyllum L. Th e number of branches/ plant found maximum in H 1 harvesting. The parameters i.e. fresh and dry herb age (leaves and small twigs) yield showed greater respo nse in 115 days after planting, whereas fresh oil yield maximum in H 3 harvesting. The quality of Thyme essential oil was evaluated at different harvesting times using GC/MS. Thymol content was ri ch in all the four harvestings (34.6149.53%), though it was maximum in H 2 (49.55%) followed by H 1 (42.87%), H 3 (42.51%) and H 4 (34.61%) harvesting times.
Foreign accent, cognitive load and intelligibility of EMI lectures

This study investigated the effect of foreign accent on the understanding of spoken texts in two different contexts: (1) when listeners extract surface level meaning of simple utterances, labelled “intelligibility in simple tasks” (IS) below, and (2) when they answer content questions to a complex text, labelled “intelligibility in complex tasks” (IC) below. We hypothesised that foreign accented speech would require more cognitive processing in all situations, but that it would have little detrimental effect on intelligibility in the simpler of the two tasks. We expected decreased intelligibility as a result of combining the increased cognitive workload of the foreign accent with the higher cognitive demands of the second task. In other words, the study investigated an interaction effect between task complexity and processing difficulties caused by accented speech. In Experiment 1, IS and processing times were measured in a sentence verification task with ten native and non-native speakers of English. Two speakers, with similar intelligibility but yielding different reaction times, were selected for Experiment 2, which measured IC using simulated university lectures. The results indicate the hypothesised interaction between context and the understanding of accented speech. We discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of this, as well as the relevance of our results for English-medium instruction at Nordic universities.
A heuristic method for combined optimization of layout design and cluster configuration in continuous productions

Facility layout problems have been generally solved either hierarchically or integrated into other phases of plant design. In this paper, a hybrid method is introduced so that clustering and facilities layout can be simultaneously optimized. Each cluster is formed by a group of connected facilities and selection of the most appropriate cluster configuration is aimed. Since exact method by MIP is limited to small problems, a heuristic algorithm including constructive and improving phases is developed. In order to enhance the performance of the algorithm, systematic generation of intersection points inside available area together with shaking, split groups and Tabu list techniques are used.Then, two different examples are presented and the comparison of the results supports the merit of the proposed algorithm. For further validation, 18 test problems are solved both by the proposed algorithm and MIP by CPLEX. Comparison of the results reveals that for up to 13 facilities, the best solutions of the algorithm are equal to optimum solution of MIP but achieved in shorter times. For larger problems with higher number of facilities, even though processing times for MIP is much longer, in almost all cases, it cannot produce the best solutions of the proposed algorithm.
Hole and electron mobility enhancement in strained SiGe vertical MOSFETs

We have fabricated strained SiGe vertical P-channel and N-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) by Ge ion implantation and solid phase epitaxy. No Si cap is needed in this process because Ge is implanted after gate oxide growth. The vertical MOSFETs are fabricated with a channel length below 0.2 /spl mu/m without sophisticated lithography and the whole process is compatible with a regular CMOS process. The enhancement for the hole and electron mobilities in the direction normal to the growth plane of strained SiGe over that of bulk Si has been demonstrated in this vertical MOSFET device structure for the first time. The drain current for the vertical SiGe MOSFETs has been found to be enhanced by as much as 100% over the Si control devices and the drain current for the vertical SiGe NMOSFETs has been enhanced by 50% compared with the Si control de, ices on the same wafer. The electron mobility enhancement in the normal direction is not as significant as that for holes, which is in agreement with theoretical predictions.
A new kinetic theory model of granular flows that incorporates particle stiffness

Granular materials are characterized by large collections of discrete particles of sizes larger than one micron, where the particle-particle interactions are significantly more important than the particle-fluid interactions. These flows can be successfully modeled by the existing Kinetic Theory (KT) models when they are in the dilute regime with low particle-particle collision frequencies, yielding results that agree well with the simulation results of the event-driven hard sphere model or the more sophisticated soft-sphere Discrete Element Method (DEM). However, these KT models become less accurate for granular flows with soft particles (low particle stiffness) at high particle-particle collision frequencies when the predicted collision interval (the time of free flight for a particle prior to the next collision) is comparable to the collision duration; there is a large discrepancy between the results of these KT models and those from the DEM models. In this work we develop a new KT model that could be used to model granular systems of high collision frequencies with a finite particle stiffness. This is done by modifying the fluctuation energy dissipation rate to incorporate the ratio of collision duration to collision interval, a parameter that is determined by both the collision frequency and particle stiffness. We use a linear-spring-dashpot collision scheme to model the elastic potential energy in the system and to uncover the relationship between the constitutive relations of KT and the ratio of collision duration to collision interval.
Sepiolite-Palygorskite from the Hekimhan Region (Turkey)

Upper Cretaceous-Tertiary marine clayey-calcareous rocks of the Hekimhan basin contain fibrous clay minerals in significant amounts. Ophiolitic rocks in the provenance area have contributed the elements to form the clay minerals. XRD, SEM, major, trace and REE analyses were applied to samples taken from several stratigraphic sections. Diagenetic minerals such as smectite, dolomite, calcite, gypsum, celestite and quartz/chalcedony are associated with sepiolite-palygorskite group clays. Trace and rare earth elements (REE) are more abundant in palygorskite than sepiolite. REE abundances in the sepiolite-palygorskite are characterized by negative Eu and positive Nd anomalies when normalized with respect to chondrite and shale. Sepiolites with sharp XRD peaks are formed by diagenetic replacement of dolomite and diagenetic transformation of palygorskite, or by direct crystallization from solution. The average structural formula of the sepiolite is:(Mg7.15Al0.13Fe0.31Cr0.06Ni0.04)(Si11.98Al0.02)O30(OH)4(OH2)4Cao0.03Na0. 02K0.02. 8H2OPalygorskite appears to be authigenic by direct precipitation from solution. It exists in both monoclinic and orthorhombic forms with the mean structural formula given below(Mg2.22Al1.00Ti0.04Fe0.77Cr0.01Ni0.02)(Si7.68Al0.32)O20(OH)2(OH2)4Cao0.07Na0. 05K0.10. 4H2O
Contracts, Intellectual Property Rights, and Multinational Investment in Developing Countries

The institution and enforcement of property rights and contracts have been an important policy issue for the developing countries, the transition economies, and the developed countries in the 1990s. This has led to the development of a literature on technology transfer and how property rights might affect such transfers and host-country welfare. Much of this literature is non-strategic, with large numbers of northern' innovative firms and southern' imitators, and focusses on endogenous R&D and imitation levels. This paper takes a different and complementary approach, developing a strategic model in which local managers learn the multinational's technology and can defect to start a rival firm. If contract enforcement leads the MNE to shift from exporting to producing inside the host country, both the host country and the MNE are better off. If the MNE had established a subsidiary prior to the establishment of enforcement, the host country is indifferent or worse off by enforcement. In the latter case, rents are transferred from the local manager to the MNE.
Tracking the emission and transport of pollution from wildfires using the IASI CO retrievals: analysis of the summer 2007 Greek fires

Abstract. In this paper, we analyze the performance of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), launched in October 2006 on board METOP-A, for the monitoring of carbon monoxide (CO) during extreme fire events, focusing on the record-breaking fires which devastated thousands of square kilometers of forest in Greece during the last week (23–30) of August 2007. After an assessment of the quality of the profiles retrieved using the Fast Optimal Retrievals on Layers for IASI (FORLI) algorithm, the information provided on fire emissions and subsequent pollution outflow is discussed. Large CO plumes were observed above the Mediterranean Basin and North Africa, with total CO columns exceeding 24×1018 molecules/cm2 and absolute volume mixing ratios up to 4 ppmv on the 25 August. Up to 30×1018 molecules/cm2 and 22 ppmv in the lower troposphere are retrieved close to the fires above the Peloponnese, but with larger uncertainty. The average root-mean-square (RMS) difference between simulated and observed spectra is close to the estimated radiometric noise level, slightly increasing (by ~14%) in the fresh fire plumes. CO profiles are retrieved with a vertical resolution of about 8 km, with ~1.7 pieces of independent information on the vertical in the region considered and a maximum sensitivity in the free troposphere (~4–5 km). Using the integrated total amount, the increase in CO burden due to these fires is estimated to 0.321 Tg, ~40% of the total annual anthropogenic emissions in Greece. The patterns of these CO enhancements are in good agreement with the aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from the MODIS measurements, highlighting a rapid transport of trace gases and aerosols across the Mediterranean Basin (less than one day). While the coarse vertical resolution will not allow the location of the exact plume height, the large CO enhancements observed in the lower troposphere are consistent with the maximum aerosol backscatter coefficient at ~2 km detected by the CALIPSO lidar in space (CALIOP).
UNUSUAL FIBROUS SODIAN TAINIOLITE EPITACTIC ON PHLOGOPITE FROM MARBLE XENOLITHS OF MONT SAINT-HILAIRE, QUEBEC, CANADA

Samples of marble xenoliths, thermally metamorphosed by the igneous rocks of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, contain idiomorphic plates of phlogopite. These plates were later overgrown and to some extent topotactically replaced by sodian tainiolite, tapering in fragile fibers extending parallel to [100]. The fibers only protrude parallel to [100] of the phlogopite host. Unit-cell parameters of phlogopite and tainiolite, both 1 M polytypes (space group C 2/ m ), are so similar that the phases in the phlogopite –tainiolite intergrowth could not be distinguished by single-crystal X-ray methods. Phlogopite of composition K1.01(Mg1.96Fe0.66Li0.20Mn0.03Ti0.03Al0.04)∑2.92(Si3.28Al0.72)∑4O10[(OH)1.14F0. 86]∑2 has the highest Si/Al value of natural samples of phlogopite known to us. The epitactic fibers of tainiolite, of composition K1.01(Mg2.00Fe0.01Li0.59Na0.38)∑2.98(Si3.99Al0.01)∑4O10[F1.79Cl0. 01 (OH)0.20]∑2, represent to our knowledge the first example of an extended solid-solution, established by combined electron-microprobe and laser-ablation mass-spectrometry analyses, between tainiolite, K(LiMg2)Si4O10F2, and the recently described mineral shirokshinite, K(NaMg2)Si4O10F2. The latest mineral formed in the observed paragenesis is the zeolite mesolite, accompanied by an unidentified aluminosilicate with Ca/K ≈ 1.