Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Higher Openness Cause More Real Exchange Rate Volatility?

The"New Open Economy Macroeconomics"argues that: (a) non-monetary factors have gained importance in explaining exchange rate volatility, and (b) trade and financial openness may have a potential role of mitigating and/or amplifying real and nominal shocks to real exchange rates. The goal of the present paper is to examine the ability of trade and financial openness to exacerbate or mitigate real exchange rate volatility. The authors collected information on the real effective exchange rate, its fundamentals, and (outcome and policy measures of) trade and financial openness for a sample of industrial and developing countries for the period 1975-2005. Using instrumental variables techniques, the analysis finds that: (a) High real exchange rate volatility is the result of highly volatile productivity shocks, and sharp oscillations in monetary and fiscal policy shocks. (b) Countries more integrated with international markets of goods and services tend to display more stable real exchange rate fluctuations. (c) Financial openness seems to amplify the fluctuations in real exchange rates. (d) The composition of trade and capital flows plays a role in explaining the smoothing properties of trade and financial openness. Although the former is mainly driven by manufacturing trade, the latter depends on the share of debt (and equity) in total foreign liabilities. (e) Financial openness would attenuate (magnify) real exchange rate volatility, the greater the share of equity (debt) in foreign liabilities. (f) The composition of flows also matters for explaining the smoothing properties of trade and financial openness in periods of currency crisis.
New Boron and Silicon Free Single Crystal-Diffusion Brazing Alloys

New diffusion brazing alloys for single crystalline component repair processes were developed and tested. Germanium was used as the melting point depressing element in these binary brazing alloys with germanium contents between 20 to 23 wt. %. Microstructural analysis has shown that the formation of a single crystalline joint was achieved after extended brazing cycles with these brazing alloys. No secondary phases other than the desired γ´ precipitates were detected within the brazing zone. This result was shown for two parent materials, PWA 1483 and Rene N5, a first and a second generation superalloy, respectively. The solidification mechanisms and kinetics were examined and show rather distinct deviations from Transient Liquid Phase Bonding theory for binary systems due to the multicomponent diffusion in the present system. Mechanical testing was performed at room temperature via nanoindentation and at elevated temperatures by hot tensile tests. The nanoindentation results show minor differences in hardness and elastic modulus between brazing joints and parent material. Ultimate tensile strengths of more than 90 % compared to the parent material were obtained in tensile testing at 980 °C.
To Be or Not to Be Invited Youth Sport: Young People’s Influence in Voluntary Sport

Abstract Influence and the opportunity to have one’s voice heard are fundamental rights valid for all people, including also children and youths. Despite this, research shows that young people’s voices have received less attention and young people have no influence in many contexts in which they find themselves (Evans, 2007; Fundberg, 2009; Redelius, 2005). In Sweden, the emphasis on influence can be linked to the fact that the sport club activities of the Swedish state are seen as an important arena for the civic education of young people (The Swedish Sports Confederation, 2005, 2011). The aim of this study is to explore young coaches and their opportunities to influence in the Swedish sport clubs with focus on what the youths themselves say about influence and power. We use Bourdieus’ theories on social fields to bring to light which youths are chosen to be leaders and their possibilities to influence. The results show that for young coaches to have influence, both their habitus and capital are required to ‘match’ the social context into which they are entering. One way of maintaining power is not to change the accepted way of working, which excludes the young coaches from challenging in the battle for positions.
Morphometric measurements of cinder cones from digital elevation models of Tolbachik volcanic field, central Kamchatka

The present research examines the measured morphometric values of monogenetic cinder cones in the Tolbachik volcanic field, Kluchevskaya volcanic group, Kamchatka. The cones were measured from digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from satellite data (ASTER, ALOS PALSAR, and SRTM) and from digitized topographic maps. GPS measurements of 85 locations were performed in the field to provide geodetic reference for DEM processing and to assess the accuracy of the DEM. A methodology for morphometric measurements on a DEM is proposed. The morphometric parameters derived from a DEM include the main characteristics that control the rate of degradational evolution of the cone, namely height, width, and slope. The measured morphometric values were compared and accuracy assessment was carried out. Our study analyzes the morphometric values of four recent cinder cones formed during the last basaltic eruption in 1975–1976 and five older cinder cones formed during the last 2000 years. We show that morphometric values obtained from a DEM are affected by the resolution change, and characteristics of the same cinder cone may vary among DEMs of different resolutions. Our results indicate that the morphometry of the cinder cones can be well characterized by a DEM derived from remotely sensed data. The calculated morphometric parameters showed a correlation with the spatial resolution of the DEM and relative age of the cinder cones. All DEMs studied (including coarse-resolution SRTM) were found to provide reliable morphometric parameters, although the calculated values varied as a function of spatial resolution.
Reconstruction and the structure of VP: some theoretical consequences

In this article it has been shown that there is a systematic asymmetry between predicate fronting and nonpredicate fronting in the distribution of reconstruction effects with respect to principles of binding theory, and that this asymmetry follows from the Internal Subject hypothesis and other principles of grammar. In addition to providing important support for the Internal Hypothesis, this analysis is shown to have important implications for issues concerning the position of the internal subject, the syntax of scope, the distribution of long subject extraction in Chinese and English, and the existence of V'-movement in German and Dutch
Formulation and evaluation of colon specific microbial degradable matrix tablet using sterculia gum as carrier

Current study is to develop the colon targeted matrix tablet using the natural polysaccharide sterculia gum as carrier and model drug ciprofloxacin HCl. The matrix tablets were prepared by wet granulation technology using the various proportions of sterculia gum with carbopol 934 P, sterculia gum and ethyl cellulose polymer blends. Granules of all formulations were evaluated for rheological, post compressional properties and in vitro dissolution study in different pH buffers of pH 1.2 , pH 7.4 , pH 6.8 (saline phosphate buffer) without and with 4% rat cecal content in order to mimic GIT condition . Formulation SGC2 to SGC4 and SGE7 to SGE9 has released 13.6% to 38.9% in the initial 5h and released more amount of drug in stomach and small intestine than colon. Formulation SGC5 containing 45% of sterculia gum and 25% carbopol 934 p and Formulation SGE10 containing 45% of sterculia gum and 25% ethyl cellulose has released minimum 10.91 % to 13.04 % in the initial 5h and sustained the drug release up to 24 h and at the end of study released 75% to 79.99%. Formulations with 4% rat cecal content at the end of 24 h study drug released is 90.44% to 95.33% indicating higher amount of drug release is due to enzymatic break down of sterculia gum in the matrix tablet. Hence the above results conclude that the formulation SGC5 and SGE10 are potential in targeting the drug to colon to treat irritable bowel disease. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/icpj.v1i11. 12064 International Current Pharmaceutical Journal 2012, 1(11): 376-383
INDUCED EPIZOOTIC RABBIT ENTEROPATHY : CLINICAL , HISTOPATHOLOGICAL , ULTRASTRUCTURAL , BACTERIOLOGICAL AND HAEMATOLOGICAL FINDINGS

Correspondence: R. Dewree, rdewree@hotmail.com Received July 2006 Accepted December 2006. ABSTRACT: Epizootic rabbit enteropathy is an emerging disease that has appeared in French intensive enclosed rabbit farms since the beginning of 1997. Common clinical signs are mild watery diarrhoea with considerable distension of the abdomen. At necropsy, a significant dilation of the stomach and small intestine without gross evidence of acute or chronic enteric lesions (inflammation or congestion) was observed. The purpose of this study was to describe the anatomopathologic changes concerning the small intestine and those concerning the blood profile, in experimentally infected rabbits. In a first part of the experiment, thirty animals were inoculated with a reference inoculum and five were kept as controls for clinical signs examination and histopathological study. In a second part, 17 out of the inoculated rabbits and the 5 controls animals were randomly assigned to blood testing. Microscopic lesions were studied in sections from the different parts of the small intestine (duodenum, jejunum and ileum) by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The histological findings revealed only limited inflammation in inoculated animals. Major villous changes were atrophy, fusion, destruction and loss of epithelial cells. In inoculated rabbits, the congestion and dilation of blood vessels of jejunal lamina propria were significantly higher than in control animals (P<0.005). There was significantly more (P<0.05) apoptosis of cells of the jejunal epithelium in inoculated rabbits than in control animals. Infiltration of polymorphonuclear neutrophiles was observed into the jejunal or ileal tunica muscularis. SEM performed on the intestinal tract of 15 inoculated rabbits revealed blankets and globular particles of mucus associated with numerous bacteria on jejunum and ileum villi. This was not observed in the intestinal tract of control rabbits. Bacteria were found adhering to the epithelial surface and inside intestinal epithelial cells in a few animals by TEM and by light microscopy after Warthin-Starry staining. None of the bacteria isolated from the intestinal mixed contents and cultivated on usual media, are commonly known as rabbit’s pathogens. Regarding the haematological profile, neutrophil counts significantly increased (P<0.05) and lymphocyte counts significantly decreased (P<0.01), in inoculated rabbits compared to those of the control group.
DETERMINATION OF SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND FRACTION INDEX OF SMOKE PLUMES GENERATED BY KUWAITI OIL WELL FIRES

Just before the end of the Persian Gulf war in February 1991, more than 700 oil wells in Kuwait were set on fire. Smoke plumes generated from oil well fires affected the Persian Gulf region mandating environmental studies to be undertaken by the countries involved. Several atmospheric and mathematical models were used for modelling the propagation of smoke in the region but, due to lack of sufficient data, these models could not yield reliable results. As an example, the smoke density and movement of smoke plumes were tracked in the region, but less efforts were made to analyse the smoke fractions such as polluttant agents like toxic materials. In this study, the NOAAAVHRR satellite data were used for tracking and determining smoke fraction patterns. The images marked with smoke were digitally compared with a reference image corresponding to clear atmosphere, in order to measure smoke index. By providing the spatial and temporal pattern of smoke fraction for environmental assessment purposes, the results demonstrated that remote sensing data can be effectively used to track and determine smoke fraction indices for catastrophic past events.
Saudi Financial Structure and Economic Growth: A Macroeconometric Approach

This paper investigates the nexus between financial sector development and economic growth in the Saudi economy over the period 1970-2012 by using four alternative proxies for financial development and several techniques including unit root tests, the co-integration test, the Granger Causality Test, and the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). We used time series econometrics techniques to examine the causal relationship between financial sector development and economic growth in the Saudi economy. The results obtained from the analyses show that there is a positive relationship between financial sector development and economic growth in Saudi Arabia. The development of the financial system will thus have a positive impact on the growth of the Saudi economy.
The hypoosmotic swelling test in fresh goat spermatozoa

The hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST) has been proved to be a good tool for evaluating the membrane integrity of spermatozoa of various domestic animals including cattle, horses, and swine. However, the best approach for using this technique in goat semen has not been tested. The present study aimed to establish the best hypoosmotic solution (HS) for testing membrane integrity in fresh goat semen. Sodium citrate and fructose based solutions (S) with the following osmolarities (mOsm/l) were used: 50 (S1), 75 (S2), 100 (S3), 125 (S4), 150 (S5), 175 (S6), 200 (S7), 250 (S8), 290 (S9) and 300 mOsm/l (S10). Twenty-eight semen samples were collected from seven mature bucks (four collections per buck) at 48 hour intervals. After macroscopic evaluation, 10μl of semen was immediately added to 2ml of each solution and incubated for one hour at 37oC. Sequentially, 20μl of semen diluted in HS were evaluated with oil immersion using a phase-contrast microscope. A total of 200 spermatozoa were counted in at least five different fields, and sperm tails were classified as non-coiled, coiled, and strongly coiled. The respective percentages of spermatozoa with coiled tails (coiled plus strongly coiled) in the ten solutions listed above were 34.1, 38.8, 45.3, 51.5, 46.8, 42.8, 38.2, 29.0, 19.4 and 23.1%. Percentages of strongly coiled spermatozoa were: 6.8, 10.6, 21.5, 25.3, 24.3, 21.5, 19.3, 12.4, 6.4, and 7.9 for the ten solutions, respectively. According to total coiling, S4 was superior to S1, S7, S8, S9, and S10 (P<0.05). According to strong coiling, S4 was superior to S1, S2, S8, S9, and S10 (P<0.05). Results suggest that the 125 mOsm/l solution would be best for use in HOST in fresh goat spermatozoa.
KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF INTENSIVE CARE UNIT NURSES TOWARDS DELIRIUM WORKING AT GUILAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES IN 2015

Background: Delirium is a common problem in patients hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit. Despite the importance, only less than 13% of cases are diagnosed by physicians and medical personnel. Objectives: The present research aimed to study knowledge and attitude of critical care nurses towards delirium. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran. Convenience sampling was used to enroll nurses (186 persons) working in intensive care units of Rasht educational hospitals affiliated to Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Data collection instruments included a three part questionnaire: demographic data, 15- item questionnaire formerly used by Guthrie and Sendelbach (2009) on nurses’ knowledge about delirium, and 10-item questionnaire adopted from Herrero et al on attitude of the nurses towards delirium. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient and t- test in SPSS-20. Results : The majority of nurses (68.3%) have intermediate knowledge about delirium and only 24.6 percent reported good knowledge and 76 percent had positive attitude about delirium. Conclusion: Nursing knowledge and awareness have a significant role in improvement of the quality of healthcare and preventive measures, as well as the attitude of nurses towards dealing with delirium patients. Hence, it is recommended to give greater importance to academic courses and ongoing post-graduation professional development programs in the workplace, as a globally practiced healthcare quality improvement strategy.
Dietary selenite and conjugated linoleic acid isomers influence fatty acid concentrations in the liver and femoral muscles of rats

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of diets containing 1.5% conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLAmix) and/or a high or low level of selenite (0.2 ppm Se ( L Se) or 0.5 ppm Se ( H Se)) on the body weight gain (BWG), feed conversion efficiency (FCE), and concentrations of CLA isomers and other fatty acids (FA) in the liver and femoral muscle of female rats fed ad libitum these experimental diets for 6 weeks. It was found that the diet containing the CLAmix and 0.5 ppm Se ( H Se) resulted in the highest increase in BWG and FCE compared with values for BWG and FCE of all other groups. This diet most efficiently increased the concentration of Se in the liver and muscles. The content of CLA isomers in muscles was ~20-fold higher than in the liver. There were usually no differences in the concentrations of c9t11CLA, t10c12CLA and the sum of CLA isomers in the liver and muscles of rats fed the diet with CLAmix with or without H Se, whereas these values in the liver and muscles were usually lower for rats fed the diet enriched in CLAmix and 0.2 ppm Se ( L Se) compared with those fed the diet with CLAmix. The diets enriched in CLAmix and/ or Se (as L Se or H Se) caused a decrease in the Δ9-desaturase index only in the liver. The current study shows that the highest values of the Δ4-, Δ5- and Δ6-desaturase indexes were in muscles of rats fed the diet enriched in CLAmix. This diet most efficiently increased the value of the Δ4desaturase index in the liver, the desaturase responsible for the most efficient increase in the content of c4c7c10c13c16c19C22:6n-3 in the liver. Our study indicates that dietary CLAmix stimulated β-oxidation of FA in skeletal muscles, while promoting the accumulation of FA, particularly n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), in the liver. The diet enriched in CLAmix and H Se assured satisfactory ratios of PUFA to saturated FA and PUFA to the sum of all assayed FA in the liver and
Identifying Constraints to Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on GDP and Inequality: A Structural Framework for Policy

We develop a micro-founded general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents to identify pertinent constraints to financial inclusion. We evaluate quantitatively the policy impacts of relaxing each of these constraints separately, and in combination, on GDP and inequality. We focus on three dimensions of financial inclusion: access (determined by the size of participation costs), depth (determined by the size of collateral constraints resulting from limited commitment), and intermediation efficiency (determined by the size of interest rate spreads and default possibilities due to costly monitoring). We take the model to a firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey for six countries at varying degrees of economic development—three low-income countries (Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique), and three emerging market countries (Malaysia, the Philippines, and Egypt). The results suggest that alleviating different financial frictions have a differential impact across countries, with country-specific characteristics playing a central role in determining the linkages and tradeoffs between inclusion, GDP, inequality, and the distribution of gains and losses.
Design and Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Adaptive Driving Intervention Architecture (VADIA): Applications in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Injury, loss of life, and tremendous financial tolls have for years plagued drivers in the United States and in nearly every industrialized nation in the world. Despite the associated risks, driving remains an essential part of life for over 200 million Americans. In addition to social and behavioral deficits, individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often struggle to develop the adaptive skills necessary to achieve independence. Driving intervention in individuals with ASD is a growing area of study, but is still widely under-researched. Moreover, existing simulated driver training systems focus on improving driving performance, but do not necessarily address processing deficits of people with ASD. VADIA, a virtual reality adaptive driving intervention architecture, was developed to fill this gap. Through a series of validation tests and pilot studies involving 27 subjects with ASD, VADIA is shown to be functional and robust, as well as a promising tool for driving intervention in individuals with ASD.
Further processing characteristics of breast and leg meat from fast-, medium- and slow-growing commercial chickens

Standard fast-growing (FG), 'label' slow-growing (SG), and medium growing (MG) chicken crosses were grown until their market ages: 6, 8 and 12 weeks, respectively. They were compared for carcass and muscle traits and meat processing ability. The breasts of 6wk-FG birds contained less protein, more fat and muscle fibres with larger diameters than those of 8wk-MG and 12wk-SG birds. The pH15 and pHu values of breast and thigh muscle were the highest in the 6wk-FG and the lowest in the 12wk-SG. The latter exhibited higher breast drip loss compared with the 6wk-FG. During processing, the highest curing-cooking yields were obtained with the breast and leg meat from 6wk-FG and the lowest with that from the 12wk-SG. As a consequence of their reduced water holding ability, the processed meat from the 12wk-SG exhibited the lowest moisture and the white cured-cooked meat showed the driest texture and the best slice cohesiveness. This study suggests that processing ability and processed product characteristics of breast and leg meats are greatly related to the chicken type of production, with fast growing birds being more adapted to further processing than slow growing ones in terms of profitability.
Effect of γ-Irradiation on the Molecular Properties of Myoglobin

fragmentation of the proteins and subsequent aggregation, due to cross-linking of the protein molecules. The effect of irradiation on the protein was more significant at lower protein concentrations. Ascorbic acid protected against the degradation and aggregation of proteins by scavenging oxygen radicals that are produced by irradiation. A circular dichroism study showed that an increase of the irradiation decreased the α-helical content of myoglobin with a concurrent increase of the aperiodic structure content. Fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that irradiation increased the emission intensity that was excited at 280 nm.
Diocotron modulation in an electron plasma through continuous radio-frequency excitation

The application of a radio-frequency (RF) excitation to any electrode of a Penning-Malmberg trap may result in significant electron heating and ionization of the residual gas with the formation of a plasma column when the RF frequency is of the order or larger than the typical axial bounce frequencies of few-eV electrons. The use of a quadrupolar excitation can induce additional phenomena, like formation of dense, narrow-cross section columns which exhibit an mθ=1 diocotron mode, i.e., a rotation of their center around the trap axis. A series of experiments is presented and discussed showing that the continuous application of such excitation causes a dramatic perturbation of the plasma equilibrium also involving continuous production and loss of particles in the trapping region. In particular, the growth of the first diocotron mode is suppressed even in the presence of ion resonance and resistive instability and the mode exhibits steady-state or underdamped amplitude and frequency modulations, typically i.