Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variable selection for high-dimensional generalized varying-coefficient models

In this paper, we consider the problem of variable selection for high- dimensional generalized varying-coefficient models and propose a polynomial-spline based procedure that simultaneously eliminates irrelevant predictors and estimates the nonzero coefficients. In a "large p, small n" setting, we demonstrate the conver- gence rates of the estimator under suitable regularity assumptions. In particular, we show the adaptive group lasso estimator can correctly select important vari- ables with probability approaching one and the convergence rates for the nonzero coefficients are the same as the oracle estimator (the estimator when the impor- tant variables are known before carrying out statistical analysis). To automatically choose the regularization parameters, we use the extended Bayesian information cri- terion (eBIC) that effectively controls the number of false positives. Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to examine the finite sample performance of the proposed procedures.
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Using Fresh and Dried Natural Dyes

Different natural dye extracts have been prepared and used as sensitizers in the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). These dyes have been extracted from both fresh and dried raw materials. The absorption spectra of these dyes have been investigated by UV-VIS spectrophotometry. DSSCs were assembled using TiO2 and ZnO nanostruc-tured, mesoporous films. Photovoltaic parameters such as short circuit current density Jsc, open circuit voltage Voc, fill fac-tor FF, and overall conversion efficiency η for the fabricated cells were determined under 100 mW/cm2 illumination. The immersion time of the nanocrystalline-TiO2 electrode in spinach extract and the temperature at which this process occurs were optimized. The optimal dying temperature is found to be 60 °C and the efficiency of the DSSC is found to saturate to 0.29% after 12 hr of soaking in the dye solution.
Weight loss and ethnicity: a cohort study of the effects induced by a very low calorie diet.

Background: We aimed to determine whether British Asians of Indian or Pakistani descent differed in their baseline characteristics and in response to a 12 week very low calorie diet (VLCD). We then assessed if changes in weight and waist circumference in response to a VLCD differs between Asians and Caucasians. Methods: Weight loss was achieved using a nutritionally complete (energy deficient), very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) with an average daily intake of 550kcal (50g protein,50g carbohydrate, mean 17g fats and â‰¥100% recommended daily allowances (RDA) for key vitamins and minerals), alongside a unique behaviour change programme (LighterLife “LL). Data from Asians recruited onto LL total in 2009/2010 for whom 12 week weight change information were available were analysed. Waist circumference data were available for a subset of Asians. These were age, body mass index, and gender matched to a Caucasian population and compared by independent t-test. Results: No differences were observed between the Indian and Pakistani group for baseline measurements or weight change at 12 weeks. Caucasians had a greater percent excess body weight loss (%EBWL) than Asians at 12 weeks (72.4 Â± 22.1 vs 48.9 Â± 18.0, p
Benchmarking Russian and Finnish food industry supply chains

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences between Finnish and Russian, namely Karelian, food industry supply chains. The main objective is to find out the reasons for low productivity in Russian food industry from supply chain management (SCM) point of view.Design/methodology/approach – Case study method is used to compare the Russian and Finnish food industry supply chains. The comparison is carried out by using SCM scorecard. Furthermore, the comparison is supplemented with the data from non‐structured interviews with Russian food industry company managers. Altogether data from eight food industry companies in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, are gathered and four managers are interviewed. The results of the companies' SCM scorecard analysis are compared to the results of almost 100 Finnish food industry companies.Findings – The research suggests that based on the SCM scorecard the differences between Finnish and Russian food industry companies' operational methods are modest. Th.
Neurobehavioral disorders in a patient diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Clinical case of low prevalence and incidence in Colombia

Introduction: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder that is characterized by being exposed to traumatic events such as forced displacement, armed conflict and clinical manifestations of low self-related emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression and apathy, which affect the deterioration of the quality of life, neurocognitive functioning and self-perception of their physical and mental health. Objective: to identify the neuroconductual alterations that presents a subject diagnosed with PTSD and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Clinical case that tends to present low prevalence at clinical level, especially in the Colombian Suroccidente. Method and Materials: Participant: male patient 35 y old, single, right-handed, low schooling. Retired military man diagnosed with PTSD for having been exposed to war. With a clinical picture of undifferentiated paranoid type schizophrenia, accompanied by visual, auditory hallucinations and disinhibitory behavior. Magnetic resonance imaging showed presence of focal lesions in the frontal lobe (executive functions) temporal lobe (memory) and hypodensity in the somatosensory cortex. It was applied an assessment protocol for clinical neuropsychology comprised of the following tests Mini- Mental State Examination-MMSE, severity scale symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, digit span scale Wechsler, geriatric depression scale of Yesavage. Anxiety inventory beck, trail making test (Form A/B), history of Babcock, test clock, frontal assessment battery, verbal fluency, general health questionnaire, Barthel index and scale Lawton and Brody for instrumental activities of daily life. Results: The patient has a mixed clinical picture of depression and anxiety, clinically correlated with the deterioration posing in neurocognitive functioning, especially in executive functioning tasks (tasks inhibition) and the deterioration in their quality of life. Discussion: The data obtained show that the subject needs intervention plans functional neurorehabilitation immediately. This clinical case shows the consequences that the war usually generates in people. It is necessary that the national, local and regional government establish true mental health policies, those of now only reflect the inefficiency and incompetence of the government on duty.
Resource selection by hill sheep: direct flock observations versus GPS tracking.

Uplands and peatlands are of international ecolog ical importance and heavy grazing pressure has been implicated in a decline in their condition . Therefore, a better understanding of grazer behav iour could aid the design of conservation strategies. Th e objective of this study was to test whether the s ame resource selection results were obtained from direc t flock observations as simultaneously-run GPS tracking studies. Direct flock observations were co nducted on 50 sampling days, June 2004-July 2005. Habitat, habitat condition and grazing lawn frequen cy maps were produced. Resource use and availabilit y were estimated using range analysis and GIS, and re sou ce selection was analysed using weighted compositional analysis. Flock distribution was unev en with a mean of 0.0-8.9 sheep/ha observed based o n a 1 ha grid system. Habitat selection based on dire ct observations varied seasonally with acid grassla ndrelated habitats selected most in spring, summer an d autumn, and wet heath and blanket bog selected most in winter. Moderately damaged areas and grid s quares containing numerous/extensive grazing lawns were consistently selected most ( P<0.05). Resource selection findings based on direct flo k observations were consistent with those obtained using detailed GPS tracking data from fewer individuals. Resource management recommendations are discussed.
Lidar temperature series in the middle atmosphere as a reference data set – Part 2: Assessment of temperature observations from MLS/Aura and SABER/TIMED satellites

Abstract. We have compared 2433 nights of Rayleigh lidar temperatures measured at L'Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP) with co-located temperature measurements from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Sounding of the Atmosphere by Broadband Emission Radiometry instrument (SABER). The comparisons were conducted using data from January 2002 to March 2018 in the geographic region around the observatory (43.93∘ N, 5.71∘ E). We have found systematic differences between the temperatures measured from the ground-based lidar and those measured from the satellites, which suggest non-linear distortions in the satellite altitude retrievals. We see a winter stratopause cold bias in the satellite measurements with respect to the lidar (−6 K for SABER and −17 K for MLS), a summer mesospheric warm bias (6 K near 60 km), and a vertically structured bias for MLS (−4 to 4 K). We have corrected the stratopause height of the satellite measurements using the lidar temperatures and have seen an improvement in the comparison. The winter relative cold bias between the lidar and SABER has been reduced to 1 K in both the stratosphere and mesosphere and the summer mesospheric warm bias is reduced to 2 K. Stratopause altitude corrections have reduced the relative cold bias between the lidar and MLS by 4 K in the early autumn and late spring but were unable to address the apparent vertical oscillations in the MLS temperature profiles.
Infrared background signatures of the first black holes

Angular fluctuations of the Near InfraRed Background (NIRB) intensity are observed up to scales $\simlt 1^{\ensuremath{^{\circ}}}$. Their interpretation is challenging as even after removing the contribution from detected sources, the residual signal is $>10$ times higher than expected from distant galaxies below the detection limit and first stars. We propose here a novel interpretation in which early, intermediate mass, accreting direct collapse black holes (DCBH), which are too faint to be detected individually in current surveys, could explain the observed fluctuations. We find that a population of highly obscured ($N_{\rm H}\simgt 10^{25} \rm cm^{-2}$) DCBHs formed in metal-free halos with virial temperature $10^4$ K at $z\simgt 12$, can explain the observed level $\approx 10^{-3}$ (nW m$^{-2}$ sr$^{-1})^2$ of the 3.6 and 4.5 $\mu$m fluctuations on scales $>100''$. The signal on smaller scales is instead produced by undetected galaxies at low and intermediate redshifts. Albeit Compton-thick, at scales $\theta> 100''$ DCBHs produce a CXB (0.5-2 keV)-NIRB ($4.5 \rm \mu m$) cross-correlation signal of $\simeq 10^{-11}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ nW m$^{-2}$ sr$^{-1}$ slightly dependent on the specific value of the absorbing gas column ($N_{\rm H} \approx 10^{25} \rm cm^{-2}$) adopted and in agreement with the recent measurements by \cite{2012arXiv1210.5302C}. At smaller scales the cross-correlation is dominated by the emission of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXB) hosted by the same low-$z$, undetected galaxies accounting for small scale NIRB fluctuations. These results outline the great potential of the NIRB as a tool to investigate the nature of the first galaxies and black holes.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Recent Work Title Predicting the impact of land management decisions on overland flow generation : Implications for cesium migration in forested Fukushima watersheds Permalink

The effects of land use and land cover (LULC) change on environmental systems across the land surface's “critical zone” are highly uncertain, often making prediction and risk management decision difficult. In a series of numerical experiments with an integrated hydrologic model, overland flow generation is quantified for both present day and forest thinning scenarios. A typhoon storm event in a watershed near the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant is used as an example application in which the interplay between LULC change and overland flow generation is important given that sediment-bound radionuclides may cause secondary contamination via surface water transport. Results illustrate the nonlinearity of the integrated system spanning from the deep groundwater to the atmosphere, and provide quantitative tools when determining the tradeoffs of different risk-mitigation strategies.
Phylogenetic relationships in the "grossulariae" species group of the genus Aphis (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae): Molecular evidence

Phylogenetic relationships among Palaearctic Ribes and/or Onagraceae inhabiting Aphis species from five countries were examined using mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (CO-I) and nuclear gene elongation factor 1 D (EF-1D ) sequences. There was no major conflict between the trees obtained from two data sets; nodes with strong bootstrap support from one analysis never contradicted those strongly supported by the other analysis. Palaearctic species of the subgenus Bursaphis (= "grossulariae" species group of the genus Aphis) form a monophyletic group within the genus Aphis. All these analyses indicated that Aphis grossulariae and A. schneideri are close relatives, which is supported by the information on experimental and probably also natural hybridisation. Our data indicate the independent colonisation of Ribes spp. by two species groups of the genus Aphis: A. triglochinis (subgenus Aphis s. str.), and A. grossulariae and A. schneideri (subgenus Bursaphis). Once the subgenus Bursaphis (and other subgenera) is accepted, the subgenus Aphis s. str. will require further subdivision.
The effects of sexuality on depression and self-harm amongst adolescents

4 Útdráttur . 4 Introduction.4 Depression . 5 Self-harm . 6 Protective factors . 6 Method . 8 Participants . 8 Measures and instruments . 8 Research design . 10 Procedure . 10 Results . 11 Discussion . 15 References . 17 Appendix . 19 Table of figures Figure 1. Interaction effect between gender and sexuality on depression . 12 Figure 2. Interaction effect between gender and sexuality on self-harm . 13 Figure 3. Interaction effect between gender and sexuality on parental support . 14 Table 1 . 11 THE EFFECTS OF SEXUALITY ON DEPRESSION AND SELF-HARM AMONGST ADOLESCENTS 3 Foreword Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the BSc Psychology degree, Reykjavik University, this thesis is presented in the style of an article for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. THE EFFECTS OF SEXUALITY ON DEPRESSION AND SELF-HARM AMONGST ADOLESCENTS 4 Abstract The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between sexual orientation, depression and self-harm. Parental support was also examined to see if it affected the relationship. Data was collected by the Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis (ICSRA) by population-wide cross-sectional data from the 2013 Youth in Iceland study. The participants in the study were Icelandic high school students who attended school the day the questionnaire was submitted. Participants were 11.116 in total and a random sample of 2048 participants. There were two hypotheses tested. The first hypothesis was that individuals who are part of a minority group show higher levels of depression and self-harm. The second hypothesis was that teenage girls show higher levels of depressive symptoms and self-harm than boys. The results of the study indicated that participants who were part of a sexual minority group reported higher levels of depression and self-harm and the group that reported the highest levels of depression and self-harm were bisexual girls.
Extended power-law scaling of air permeabilities measured on a block of tuff

We use three methods to identify power-law scaling of multi-scale log air permeability data collected by Tidwell and Wilson on the faces of a laboratory-scale block of Topopah Spring tuff: method of moments (M), Extended Self-Similarity (ESS) and a generalized version thereof (G-ESS). All three methods focus on q -th-order sample structure functions of absolute increments. Most such functions exhibit power-law scaling at best over a limited midrange of experimental separation scales, or lags, which are sometimes difficult to identify unambiguously by means of M. ESS and G-ESS extend this range in a way that renders power-law scaling easier to characterize. Our analysis confirms the superiority of ESS and G-ESS over M in identifying the scaling exponents, ξ( q ), of corresponding structure functions of orders q , suggesting further that ESS is more reliable than G-ESS. The exponents vary in a nonlinear fashion with q as is typical of real or apparent multifractals. Our estimates of the Hurst scaling coefficient increase with support scale, implying a reduction in roughness (anti-persistence) of the log permeability field with measurement volume. The finding by Tidwell and Wilson that log permeabilities associated with all tip sizes can be characterized by stationary variogram models, coupled with our findings that log permeability increments associated with the smallest tip size are approximately Gaussian and those associated with all tip sizes scale show nonlinear variations in ξ( q ) with q , are consistent with a view of these data as a sample from a truncated version (tfBm) of self-affine fractional Brownian motion (fBm). Since in theory the scaling exponents, ξ( q ), of tfBm vary linearly with q we conclude that nonlinear scaling in our case is not an indication of multifractality but an artifact of sampling from tfBm. This allows us to explain theoretically how power-law scaling of our data, as well as of non-Gaussian heavy-tailed signals subordinated to tfBm, are extended by ESS. It further allows us to identify the functional form and estimate all parameters of the corresponding tfBm based on sample structure functions of first and second orders.
An Analysis Of Economic And Noneconomic Factors Affecting Retail Sales Leakages

This study develops an analytical framework for explaining both cross-sectional and intertemporal variations in the pull factors for retail sales. A reduced form equation derived from factors affecting the demand and supply of goods and services is used to explain changes in the pull factor measure. This pull factor equation is estimated for all agriculturally dependent counties and all counties in Nebraska for the years 1975, 1980 and 1985.
The Level of Compliance with International Accounting Standard IAS 18 by Listed Firms in Bahrain

This Study examines the association between five firm-specific characteristics and the level of compliance with International Accounting Standards (IAS 18) by listed Firms in Bahrain Bourse. A self-constructed compliance checklist was developed and the compliance index was derived to represent the level of compliance among publically traded firms in Bahrain Bourse for the year 2013 to IAS 18 disclosure requirements. The results detected an aggregate mean compliance of 63% to IAS 18 disclosure requirements. A significant positive relationship was found between the level of compliance and a company’s size, and auditor type. A significant negative relationship was found between the IAS 18 disclosure level and a company’s debt level (leverage). However, a significant relationship between the level of IAS 18 disclosure level and a company’s profits or age could not be established in this research. The results of this research can benefit investors and companies as well, as the results will determine what level of compliance to IAS 18 are listed companies in Bahrain Bourse are committed to, and how transparent are the revenues they are reporting in their financials
Re-conceptualizing Information Systems Models: An Experience from ERP Systems Environment

Information systems have transformed organizations, performance and work. Hence, the linkage between information systems and individual performance has been an ongoing concern in information systems (IS) research. In the last decades, IS researchers have concentrated their efforts in developing and testing models that help with the investigation of IS and user performance in different environments. As a result, a number of models for studying end users' systems utilization and other related issues including system usefulness, system success and user aspects in business organizations have appeared. A synthesized model consolidating three well known and widely used models in IS research is proposed. The model was empirically tested in a sophisticated IS environment investigating the impacts of the enterprise recourse planning (ERP) systems on user perceived performance. Statistical analysis was performed including factors analysis and regression to test the model and prove its validity. The findings demonstrated that the proposed model performed well as most factors had direct and or indirect significant influences on user perceived performance suggesting therefore that the model possesses the ability to explain the main impacts of these factors on user performance.
AN ANALYSIS OF OPERATING PERFORMANCE OF INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS ON BSKL: CASH FLOW AND POST-ISSUE PERFORMANCE

This research examine changes in operating performance for a large sample of industrial firms conducting Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange KLSE. The sample of IPO firms has significant improvements in operating performance prior to the issue. The IPO firms experience a sharp, statistically significant decrease in profitability following the IPO in both industry-adjusted and unadjusted comparisons. I find that the decline in profitability is greater for firms that have higher cash flow, and that IPO firms that invest in new fixed assets perform better than IPO firms that do not.
Long-Term Rates and the Term Premium: Evidence from Chile

Chile is no exception to the high co-movement of sovereign long-term rates observed between EMEs and the United States. In particular, we show that the high co-movement is mainly driven by synchronisation of the term premium. The aggressive monetary policy in developed economies since the financial crisis, and the changing pattern in the profile of investors holding bonds issued abroad, have not only compressed term premia but have also increased their volatility. In this paper, we document these patterns for Chile, showing that in the last few years a larger share of Chilean bonds are being held by investors who are outside the oversight of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, such investors arguably being those who might adjust their portfolios abruptly. This poses a challenge regarding the impact on longer-term rates of monetary policy normalisation in the United States, and the capacity of Chile’s monetary policy to stabilise long-term rates in response to large swings in term premia.Full publication: What Do New Forms of Finance Mean for EM Central Banks?