Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Chandra COSMOS Legacy Survey: Compton thick AGN at high redshift

The existence of a large population of Compton thick (CT, $N_{H}>10^{24} cm^{-2}$) AGN is a key ingredient of most Cosmic X-ray background synthesis models. However, direct identification of these sources, especially at high redshift, is difficult due to the flux suppression and complex spectral shape produced by CT obscuration. We explored the Chandra COSMOS Legacy point source catalog, comprising 1855 sources, to select via X-ray spectroscopy, a large sample of CT candidates at high redshift. Adopting a physical model to reproduce the toroidal absorber, and a Monte-Carlo sampling method, we selected 67 individual sources with >5% probability of being CT, in the redshift range $0.04 10^{24} cm^{-2}$, gives a total of 41.9 effective CT, corrected for classification bias. We derive number counts in the 2-10 keV band in three redshift bins. The observed logN-logS is consistent with an increase of the intrinsic CT fraction ($f_{CT}$) from $\sim0.30$ to $\sim0.55$ from low to high redshift. When rescaled to a common luminosity (log(L$_{\rm X}$/erg/s)$=44.5$) we find an increase from $f_{CT}=0. 19_{-0.06}^{+0.07}$ to $f_{CT}=0. 30_{-0.08}^{+0.10}$ and $f_{CT}=0. 49_{-0.11}^{+0.12}$ from low to high z. This evolution can be parametrized as $f_{CT}=0.11_{-0.04}^{+0.05}(1+z)^{1.11\pm0.13}$. Thanks to HST-ACS deep imaging, we find that the fraction of CT AGN in mergers/interacting systems increases with luminosity and redshift and is significantly higher than for non-CT AGN hosts.
Detailed structures of the subducted Philippine Sea Plate beneath northeast Taiwan: A new type of double seismic zone

We studied the detailed structure of the subducted Philippine Sea plate beneath northeast Taiwan where oblique subduction, regional collision, and back arc opening are all actively occurring. Simultaneous inversion for velocity structure and earthquake hypocenters are performed using the vast, high-quality data recorded by the Taiwan Seismic Network. We further supplement the inversion results with earthquake source parameters determined from inversion of teleseismic P and SH waveforms, a critical step to define the position of plate interface and the state of strain within the subducted slab. The most interesting feature is that relocated hypocenters tend to occur along a two-layered structure. The upper layer is located immediately below the plate interface and extends down to 70–80 km at a dip of 40°–50°. Below approximately 100 km, the dip increases dramatically to 70°–80°. The lower layer commences at 45–50 km and stays approximately parallel to the upper layer with a separation of 15±5 km in between down to 70–80 km. Below that the separation decreases and the two layers seem to gradually merge into one Wadati-Benioff Zone. We propose to term the classic double seismic zones observed beneath Japan and Kuril as “type I” and that we observed as “type II,” respectively. A global survey indicates that type II double seismic zones are also observed in New Zealand near the southernmost North Island, Cascadia, just north of the Mendocino triple junction, and the Cook Inlet area of Alaska. All of them are located near the termini of subducted slabs in a tectonic setting of oblique subduction. We interpret the seismogenesis of type II double seismic zones as reflecting the lateral compressive stress between the subducted plate and the adjacent lithosphere (originating from oblique subduction) and the downdip extension (from slab pulling force). The upper seismic layer represents seismicity occurring in the upper crust of a subducted plate and/or along the plate interface, whereas the lower layer is associated with events in the uppermost mantle.
THE ORIGIN OF FATALISTIC TENDENCIES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

We maintain that fatalistic tendencies are the output of the interaction between cultural factors (and in particular of religion) and historical institutional experiences. This idea has been empirically tested using World Value Survey data. We find that a more regulated society tends to be also more fatalistic. At the same time, also religious beliefs and their interactions with the institutional framework seem to be an important element determining fatalistic tendencies. For what regards the direct effect of religious affiliation on fatalism, we find that there are not large differences across the various faiths. In other terms, being religious independently from the religious affiliation implies a more fatalistic view of life.
How Agency-Theoretic Factors Affect the Delegation of Pricing Authority to the Sales Force: An Empirical Study

Here we (1) empirically test a framework of important drivers of price delegation based on agency-theoretic (2)investigate the impact of price delegation on firm performance. The study data's collected from a sample of 180companies from the industrial home appliances and structural equipment industry in Iran. Result show that,risk-aversion of salespeople is negatively and customer heterogeneity positively related to the degree of pricedelegation. Also we find that information asymmetry has no relationship with price delegation. Furthermore, wefind a positive effect of price delegation on firm performance, which is amplified when market-relateduncertainty is high and when salespeople possess better customer-related information than their managers. Hence,our results clearly show that rigid, “one price fits all” policies are inappropriate in many B2B market situations.sales managers should grant their salespeople sufficient leeway to adapt prices to changing customerrequirements.
An analysis of factors influencing farmers’ choice of green gram marketing channels in Mbeere south sub-county, Kenya

This study sought to contribute to a better understanding of market dynamics of green grams as a traditional crop within a resource poor producer community in Mbeere South sub-County, Kenya. The study aimed to characterize the green gram marketing channels and to evaluate the factors that influence the choice of green gram marketing channel by the producers. A multinomial logit model was estimated through data from households growing green grams. Results show that 70 percent of farmers in the study site grew green grams. On average, each household has 1 to 2 acres of land under green grams production each year. Farmers used three marketing channels, rural retailers (58 percent), wholesalers (14 percent) and assemblers (26 percent). The multinomial results showed that Age of the farmer (P=0.06), access to credit (p=0.065), price of green grams (p=0.079), and selling as individuals (p=0.000) positively influenced the choice of rural assembler marketing channel. Gender of the household head (p=0.001), production cost (p=0.000) and use of mobile phone to access marketing information (p=0.019) positively influenced the probability of choosing rural retailer over wholesaler marketing channel. In conclusion, farmers prefer marketing channels where they incur low production and transport cost and that offer higher prices to maximize profits. The study recommended first, identification and prioritization of unique farmer-trader relations that enhance adaptive resilience and increase farmers marketing options. Secondly, interventions to enhance market-based signals e.g. price should be reinforced.
Smoking model with cravings to smoke

Among smokers, often the desire to quit smoking arise. A large number of smokers attempt to quit, but only a fraction of them are successful. While the health and monetary benefits are inarguable. The huge amount of stress associated with smoking, a combination of powerful cravings, sleep and mood disturbances and cognitive changes often stymie even the most motivated of individuals. In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed and analyzed in which the temporary quitters turn back to smoking by powerful cravings for smoking. We have discussed the qualitative behavior of the model and numerical simulations are carried out to support the analytical results.
Preliminary Analysis of Trends in Australian Flood Data

In recent years, the potential impacts of climate variability and change on the hydrologic regime have received a great deal of attention from researchers. Review of hydrological data recorded in different parts of the world has provided evidence of regime-like or quasiperiodic climate behaviour and of systematic trends in key climate variables due to climate change and/or climate variability. It has been established that a changing climate will have notable impacts on the rainfall runoff process, and thus hydrologic time series (e.g., flood data) can no longer be assumed to be stationary. A failure to take such change/variability into account can lead to underestimation/overestimation of the design flood estimate, which in turn will have important implications on the design and operation of water infrastructures. This paper presents preliminary results from a study aimed to identify the nature of time trends in flood data in the Australian continent with the final objective of assessing the impacts of climatic change on regional floods in Australia. This research is being carried out as a part of the on-going revision of Australian Rainfall and Runoff – the national guide of design flood estimation in Australia. For this study, 491 suitable stations with flood data in the range of 30 to 97 years have been selected across the Australian continent. Two trend tests are applied: Mann-Kendall test and Spearman’s Rho test to the data set. Preliminary trend analysis results show that about 30% of the selected stations show trends in annual maxima flood series data, with downward trends in the southern part of Australia and upward trends in the northern part. Further investigation is needed before any firm conclusion can be made about the trends in Australian flood data. Future work aims to address the influence of spatial correlation and autocorrelation on the ability to detect trend in annual maximum flood series data in Australia and assess the relationship between the observed trends in annual maximum flood data and other meteorological variables.
Changes in Cognitive Abilities of Laboratory Mice as a Result of Artificial Selection

Two selection experiments with mice are in progress in the laboratory: one for large and small relative brain weights (LB and SB lines) and another for success in cognitive task solutions. Data are presented on the cognitive abilities of these animals during the solution of two tasks which are based on food (extrapolation of the direction of food stimulus movement as the food disappears from view) and aversive motivations (avoidance of the brightly lit part of a box or puzzle- box), respectively. LB mice scored higher in comparison to SB mice in both tasks, while mice selected for the high scores of the extrapolation test were more successful in the puzzle-box solution only.
Understanding citizens' behavioural intention in the adoption of e-government services in the state of Qatar

This paper examines the views of travel consumers that search for information online in relation to the specific benefits and concerns identified with user-generated content (UGC). Real contrasts in relation to views about UGC content were identified in the literature. For instance, UGC is perceived as being ‘credible’ or ‘not credible’ as an information source depending upon the view of the user. The paper reports research that examined the use of UGC by online travel consumers, sourced from an Australian tourism organisation’s online subscriber database. The study highlighted a similar range of areas that were seen as benefits and concerns in the use of UGC to support travel decisions as identified in the literature – and also similar contrasts. The most notable of these is the level of trustworthiness and reliability that is associated with the postings – they can be trusted because they are 'real' experiences by 'real' people who are independent – but can also be not trustworthy because the content that is posted may be faked by someone with a vested interest. Similar paradoxes existed elsewhere. One of the theoretical contributions of the paper is the derivation of a matrix for classifying recommendations associated with online UGC.
The Japanese Quantitative Easing Policy under Scrutiny: A Time-Varying Parameter Factor-Augmented VAR Model

Interest rates in several countries have recently been decreased to exceptionally low levels and a Quantitative Easing Monetary Policy (QEMP) has been adopted by most major central banks. In this context this paper is very actual, as it sheds some light on the effectiveness of the Japanese use of QEMP, which is the only experience we can learn from. This paper employs a Time Varying Parameters Factor-Augmented VAR (TVP-FAVAR) model to analyse monetary policy shocks in Japan. This model allows us to explore the effect of QEMP on a large number of variables. Our analysis delivers four main results. First, unsurprisingly, our results suggest that the best model to specify the Japanese monetary policy during the two last decades is a model where all of parameters vary over time. Second, the effect of QEMP on activity and prices is stronger than previously found. In particular, we find a significant price reaction to a monetary policy shock. Third, in contrast to previous work, there is a detectable efficiency of the portfolio-rebalancing channel, which could have a role in transmitting the monetary policy shocks. Fourth, while the policy commitment succeeds in controlling private and business expectations, these effects are not transmitted to the long-end of the yield curve.
Optimal Real Exchange Rate Targeting. A Stochastic Analysis

Cet article contribue a la litterature sur le taux de change reel dans un cadre d’optimisation stochastique ou ce taux montre un retour a la moyenne de longue periode tout en temporairement refletant un « effet de liquidite ». Dans un cadre de volatilite variable au cours du temps, nous trouvons deux seuils, respectivement pour la volatilite de longue periode et la reaction de la volatilite aux chocs de taux de change reel, au-dela desquels une regle active de stabilisation augmente le bien-etre social. Cependant, puisque la litterature de Garch relativement a beaucoup de pays en voie de developpement fournit des evaluations quantitatives significativement au-dessous des seuils ci-dessus, cet article marque un point plutot fort contre l’adoption d’une politique active de controle du taux de change reel dans les economies de ces pays.JEL Classification: C61, F31.
Personalized Temporal Trading Functionalities Engaged in CalendarMarket Anomalies: Empirical Evidences from the 2007 and 2009Financial Crises

In volatile markets -like the calendar market anomalies- institutions, traders and speculators constantly search for predictable security’s price action patterns; and their trading plans disturb security prices when they attempt to exploit the uprising trading opportunities. Generic forecasting patterns once become known to public are, therefore, unlikely to win for long periods of time and they will self-destruct when discovered by a large number of traders and speculators. Therefore, this gives rise to non-stationarities in the time series of financial returns and complicates formal tests and evidences of market efficiency, market anomalies and the search for successful and profitable forecasting approaches. Obviously, the need for adapted (i.e. no generic) strategies in trading the calendar market anomalies is apparent. This personalization is complicated and is referred to particular calendar market anomaly (seasonality), to trading instrument characteristics (e.g. beta functionality), and to the traders’ profile (investors, swing traders, intraday speculators, etc.). Hence, in the calendar market anomalies domain, the personalized (adaptive) temporal dynamic approaches could improve trading returns by incorporating temporal trading functionalities. The main target of this paper is to investigate, analyze and document the personalized trading functionalities enclosed in calendar market anomalies. These functionalities are characterized as temporal because of the “time” function involved by default in calendar market anomalies. In particular this article is focused on the identification of monthly calendar anomalies on the Greek and Bulgarian stock markets. Empirical evidences, before and after the 2007 and 2009 financial crises, are presented in support of the hypothesis that small and less liquid markets tend to exhibit market anomalies. In the case of Greece these anomalies are so strong that they are not influenced by the recent crises. Empirical evidences also show that crises may change the long-run calendar anomalies trading functionalities and therefore lead to an improved Market efficiency as a short-run effect. Paper’s innovation is related to the introduction and discussion of the personalized (adapted) temporal trading functionalities encapsulated in markets inefficiency, as far as the calendar markets anomalies is concern. Actually, the presented analysis, in this article, enhances the existing portfolio of approaches and knowledge about the impact of financial crises on real firm behavior during the calendar market anomalies periods.
Firm Integration Strategies and Imperfect Labour Markets

This paper introduces labour market imperfections into a three-country model to study the determinants of firm integration strategies in an open economy. Accounting simultaneously for the decision upon in-house production versus international outsourcing and the decision upon exporting versus horizontal foreign investment, the analysis points to a crucial role of labour market frictions for the interaction of vertical and horizontal aspects of firm integration strategies in a general equilibrium environment. Beyond that, the analysis sheds light on the consequences of integrating developing countries into the global market, thereby pointing to hitherto unexplored effects arising from adjustments of firm integration strategies. In a welfare analysis, we show that the existence of gains from trade crucially depends on whether firm integration strategies are endogenous or not.
Evaluation of spatio-temporal variability of Hamburg Aerosol Climatology against aerosol datasets from MODIS and CALIOP

Abstract. The new global aerosol climatology named HAC (Hamburg Aerosol Climatology) is compared against MODIS (Collection 5, 2000–2007) and CALIOP (Level 2-version 3, 2006–2011) retrievals. The comparison of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from HAC against MODIS shows larger HAC AOD values over regions with higher aerosol loads and smaller HAC AOD values than MODIS for regions with lower loads. The HAC data are found to be more reliable over land and for low AOD values. The largest differences between HAC and MODIS occur from March to August for the Northern Hemisphere and from September to February for the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, both the spectral variability and vertical distribution of the HAC AOD are examined at selected AERONET (1998–2007) sites, representative of main aerosol types (pollutants, sea salt, biomass and dust). Based on comparisons against spectral AOD values from AERONET, the mean absolute percentage error in HAC AOD data is 25% at ultraviolet wavelengths (400 nm), 6–12% at visible and 18% at near-infrared (1000 nm). For the same AERONET sites, the HAC AOD vertical distribution is compared against CALIOP space lidar data. On a daily average basis, HAD AOD is less by 9% in the lowest 3 km than CALIOP values, especially for sites with biomass burning smoke, desert dust and sea salt spray. Above the boundary layer, the HAC AOD vertical distribution is reliable.
Employability skill development in work-integrated learning: Barriers and best practice

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is widely considered instrumental in equipping new graduates with the required employability skills to function effectively in the work environment. Evaluation of WIL programs in enhancing skill development remains predominantly outcomes-focused with little attention to the process of what, how and from whom students acquire essential skills during work placement. This paper investigates best practice in the classroom and placement activities which develop employability skills and identifies factors impeding skill performance during WIL, based on survey data from 131 undergraduates across different disciplines in an Australian university. What students actually experienced during placement, or what they felt was important to their learning, broadly aligns with best practice principles for WIL programs and problems experienced in performing certain skills during placement can be largely attributed to poor design. Implications for academic and professional practitioners are discussed.
First survey of macroinfauna in the Mar del Plata Harbor (Argentina), and the use of polychaetes as pollution indicators

Harbors share a number of similar problems, such as water and sediment pollution. In this work we analyze spatial variation of macroinfauna, with special emphasis in polychaete abundance to characterize the environmental health of Mar del Plata Harbor. Twelve stations were sampled with replicated 0.05 m 2 van Veen grabs, with environmental variables from the water column and sediments in December 2001. Polychaetes (23 of 35 taxa) constituted 62% of the total abundance. A multi dimensional scaling analysis and a redundancy analysis showed three groups of stations: one at the mouth of the port, with healthy environmental conditions and characterized by Mediomastus sp. , Maldanidae and Aglaophamus uruguayi; other in the inner harbor, with poor environmental conditions and inhabited only by Capitella "capitata" sp. , and a third intermediate and more diverse group with Polydora spp. , Tharyx sp. , Mediomastus sp. , Capitella "capitata" sp. , and Capitella sp. Differences among pre-defined groups were significant. It is hypothesized that strong hydrodynamics affects the stations at the mouth, as shown by low organic content and the dominance of sandy sediments. In the inner harbor, poor environmental conditions are due to restricted water movement, prevalence of silt sediments, and high content of pollutants. Abundance of Capitella spp. correlated to total organic carbon content, except in the inner harbor. It is possible that high concentrations of hydrocarbons in the inner harbor explain the low abundance of these species, as well as the absence of other benthic animals, and the low diversity values. Polychaetes are useful pollution indicators in this harbor.