Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Envisages of New Product Developments in Small and Medium Enterprises Through Virtual Team

New product development (NPD) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. Literatures have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general. New product development especially for SMEs virtual team are somewhat lacking in the literature and constitute a research gap. This paper aims to bridge this gap. This study first reviews the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors in definition of NPD in SMEs virtual team. The statistical method was utilized to perform the required analysis of the data from survey. The results are achieved through factor analysis at the perspective of NPD in some of Malaysian and Iranian manufacturing firms. The 20 new product development factors were grouped into five higher level constructs. It gives valuable insight and guidelines which hopefully will help managers of firms in developing countries to consider the main factors in NPD.
Forested communities of the upper montane in the central and southern Sierra Nevada

Potter, Donald A. 1998. Forested communities of the upper montane in the central and southern Sierra Nevada. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-169. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 319 p. Upper montane forests in the central and southern Sierra Nevada of California were classified into 26 plant associations by using information collected from 0.1-acre circular plots. Within this region, the forested environment including the physiographic setting, geology, soils, and vegetation is described in detail. A simulation model is presented for this portion of the Sierra Nevada that refines discussions of climate, and disturbance regimes are described to illustrate the interaction between these features of the environment and vegetation in the study area. In the classification, plant associations are differentiated by floristic composition, environmental setting, and measurements of productivity. Differences in elevation, aspect, topographic setting, and soil properties generally distinguish each plant association described. A detailed description is presented for each plant association, including a discussion of the distribution, environment, vegetation, soils, productivity, coarse woody debris, range, wildlife, and management recommendations. A complete species list and tables for cross referencing specific characteristics of each association are provided. Retrieval Terms: Vegetation classification, ecological classification, potential natural vegetation, plant association, red fir (Abies magnifica), white fir (Abies concolor), sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), Jeffrey pine (Pinus Jeffreyii), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), western white pine (Pinus monticola), western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). Useful English/metric conversions for this classification are: 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters 1 centimeter = 0.39 inch 1 foot = 0.30 meters 1 meter = 3.28 feet 1 square foot = 0.09 square meters 1 square meter = 10.76 square feet 1 cubic foot = 0.03 cubic meters 1 cubic meter = 35.31 cubic feet 1 acre = 0.41 hectares 1 hectare = 2.47 acres
Pre-Acadian magmatic suites of the southeastern Gaspé Peninsula

There are two phases of post-Taconic, pre-Acadian magmatism in the eastern Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, (A) the Middle to Upper Ordovician Pabos Suite and (B) widespread Silurian-Devonian volcanics and hypabyssal intrusions. The Pabos Suite forms two large intrusions composed of LREE-depleted, N-MORB-like gabbros and ferrogabbros. Evolution within this suite was controlled by fractional crystallization, and the presence of the intrusions implies a tensional event between the Taconic and Acadian orogenies. The Silurian-Devonian volcanic and intrusive rocks are chemically variable (tholeiitic to alkaline, basaltic to rhyolitic) and do not belong to a single fractionation series. Quartz xeno-cryst-bearing rocks are enriched in Si, K, Zr, and LREE9s, providing evidence of disequilibrium contamination by a felsic melt similar to locally occurring rhyolites. The lavas and dikes that do not carry felsic xenocrysts also show patterns of enrichment/depletion of trace elements, which suggest that felsic contamination/hybridization was an important factor in their development, but show little Si enrichment. This is interpreted to be due to maintenance of chemical equilibrium during contamination. This would have forced the composition of the magma to remain on the plagioclase + clinopyroxene + olivine cotectic and would thus have inhibited Si enrichment. The xenocryst-bearing rocks superficially resemble a calc-alkaline series, but most of the pre-Acadian Silurian-Devonian volcanics of the Gaspe Peninsula do not appear to have been directly associated with subduction. The preferred model is that of local tensional environments in an orogenic foreland.
Effects of black carbon content, particle size, and mixing on light absorption by aerosols from biomass burning in Brazil

Black carbon mass absorption efficiencies of smoke particles were measured for various types of biomass fires during the Smoke, Clouds, and Radiation-Brazil (SCAR-B) experiment using thermal evolution measurements for black carbon and optical absorption methods. The obtained results range between 5.2 and 19.3 m2 g−1 with an average value of 12.1±4.0 m2 g−1. Particle size distributions and optical properties were also measured to provide a full set of physical parameters for modeling calculations. Mie theory was used to model the optical properties of the particles assuming both internal and external mixtures coupling the modeling calculations with the experimental results obtained during the campaign. For internal mixing, a particle model with a layered structure consisting of an absorbing black carbon core, surrounded by a nonabsorbing shell, was assumed. Also, for internal mixing, a discrete dipole approximation code was used to simulate packed soot clusters commonly found in electron microscopy photographs of filters collected during the experiment. The modeled results for layered spheres and packed clusters explain black carbon mass absorption coefficients up to values of about 25 m2 g−1, but measurements show even higher values which were correlated with the chemical composition and characteristics of the structure of the particles. Unrealistic high values of black carbon absorption efficiencies were linked to high concentrations of K, which influence the volatilization of black carbon (BC) at lower temperatures than usual, possibly causing artifacts in the determination of BC by thermal technique. The modeling results are compared with nephelometer and light absorption measurements.
A Quantitative Theory of Unsecured Consumer Credit with Risk of Default

We study, theoretically and quantitatively, the general equilibrium of an economy in which households smooth consumption by means of both a riskless asset and unsecured loans with the option to default. The default option resembles a bankruptcy filing under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Competitive financial intermediaries offer a menu of loan sizes and interest rates wherein each loan makes zero profits. We prove the existence of a steady-state equilibrium and characterize the circumstances under which a household defaults on its loans. We show that our model accounts for the main statistics regarding bankruptcy and unsecured credit while matching key macroeconomic aggregates, and the earnings and wealth distributions. We use this model to address the implications of a recent policy change that introduces a form of "means testing" for households contemplating a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. We find that this policy change yields large welfare gains. Copyright The Econometric Society 2007.
Inventory of African desert dust events over the southwestern Iberian Peninsula in 2000-2005 with an AERONET Cimel Sun photometer

[1] Routine aerosol measurements are carried out at El Arenosillo station (37.1°N, 6.7°W), in Huelva (Spain), since February 2000 with a Cimel Sun photometer included in the AERONET network. This station, located in the coast of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, is an appropriate site for the detection and characterization of desert dust aerosols arriving from North Africa. The aerosol database allows us to make an inventory of desert dust events over 6 years corresponding to the period 2000–2005. The inventory is based on threshold values for the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Angstrom exponent, the analysis of the size distributions, a manual inspection, and the use of air mass back trajectories as complementary information. This inventory shows the presence of desert aerosols 65 d yr−1 (18% of days), although there are significant differences among years. Desert dust events have a mean duration of 4 days, with mean AOD (440 nm) of 0.31 and mean Angstrom exponent of 0.66. The desert dust episodes are more frequent in February, March, and the summer months. During autumn, winter, and April the episodes are less frequent. This seasonal pattern of the desert events influences the AOD at El Arenosillo, which presents an analogous seasonal pattern. Because of the desert events, AOD levels increase 28% at 440 nm and 48% at 870 nm. Desert dust intrusions have been also catalogued according to four basic meteorological scenarios. The analysis of the desert inventory has made it possible to establish an automatic method for the detection of the desert dust intrusions over the Iberian Peninsula with Sun photometer data. Finally, a classification of air masses (based on back trajectories) has been compared with the occurrence of desert dust intrusions.
Decomposition of daily geomagnetic variations by using method of natural orthogonal component

[1] In this paper the method of natural orthogonal components (NOC) is utilized to decompose the daily magnetic variation, expressing the variation as a summation of the eigenmodes. The results show that the first and second NOC eigenmodes represent the solar quiet daily variation, Sq, and the disturbance-daily variation, SD, respectively. The third and fourth eigenmodes may be related to specific currents in the magnetosphere. Remarkable day-to-day (DTD) variations exist in the amplitudes of the eigenmodes. The combination of the eigenmodes reproduces the complicated characteristics in the DTD variation of the daily magnetic variation. The decomposition of the daily magnetic variation presented in this paper is helpful for understanding the mechanism of the daily variation and its DTD variation. In addition, this decomposition method provides a ground-based monitoring of the current systems in several important regions of the near-Earth space.
Effects of precipitation, temperature and topographic parameters on evergreen vegetation greenery in the Western Ghats, India

Bi‐weekly National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‐advanced very high‐resolution radiometer (NOAA‐AVHRR) satellite data covering a fourteen‐year time period (1990–2003) were used to examine spatial patterns in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and their relationships with environmental variables covering tropical evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, India. NDVI values and corresponding environmental variables were extracted from 23 different forested sites using the NOAA‐AVHRR global inventory monitoring and modelling studies (GIMMS) dataset. We specifically used the partial least square (PLS) multivariate regression technique that combines features from principal component analysis and multiple regression to link spatial patterns in NDVI with the environmental variables. PLS regression analysis suggested the two‐component model to be the best model, explaining nearly 71% of the variance in the NDVI datasets with relatively good R2 value of 0.78 and a predicted R2 value of 0.74. The most important positive predictors for NDVI included Riva's continentality index, precipitation indicators summed over different quarters, average precipitation and elevation. Also, the results from PLS regression clearly suggested that bio‐climatic indicators that relied only on precipitation parameters had much more positive influence than indicators that combined both temperature and precipitation together. These results highlight the climatic controls of vegetation vigor in evergreen forests and have implications for monitoring bio‐spheric activity, developing prognostic phenology models and deriving land cover maps in the Western Ghats region of India. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society
Interpreting Winograd Schemas Via the SP Theory of Intelligence and Its Realisation in the SP Computer Model

In 'Winograd Schema' (WS) sentences like "The city councilmen refused the demonstrators a permit because they feared violence" and "The city councilmen refused the demonstrators a permit because they advocated revolution", it is easy for adults to understand what "they" refers to but can be difficult for AI systems. This paper describes how the SP System -- outlined in an appendix -- may solve this kind of problem of interpretation. The central idea is that a knowledge of discontinuous associations amongst linguistic features, and an ability to recognise such patterns of associations, provides a robust means of determining what a pronoun like "they" refers to. For any AI system to solve this kind of problem, it needs appropriate knowledge of relevant syntax and semantics which, ideally, it should learn for itself. Although the SP System has some strengths in unsupervised learning, its capabilities in this area are not yet good enough to learn the kind of knowledge needed to interpret WS examples, so it must be supplied with such knowledge at the outset. However, its existing strengths in unsupervised learning suggest that it has potential to learn the kind of knowledge needed for the interpretation of WS examples. In particular, it has potential to learn the kind of discontinuous association of linguistic features mentioned earlier.
Denudational and thermal history of the Early Cretaceous Brandberg and Okenyenya igneous complexes on Namibia's Atlantic passive margin

The Early Cretaceous Brandberg and Okenyenya igneous complexes provide ideal locations to quantify the postbreakup denudation history of the continental margin of central Namibia. Apatite fission track analysis has been applied to vertical sample profiles extending over 1–2 km of relief to constrain the denudation history of this region. An advantage of vertical profiles is that they allow the inference of the paleogeothermal gradient directly from the data. An independent, data‐consistent thermal gradient estimate is essential to determine the amount of denudation as well as to resolve phases of slow and accelerated denudation. We obtained independent paleogeothermal gradient estimates for the two vertical profiles from 26 ± 32°C to 23 ± 16°C. The uncertainties are large but are considered pessimistic. The best fit values agree well with each other, and the present‐day gradients of 22°C. The total amount of denudation since the Late Cretaceous has been estimated as 5 km in the Brandberg area and 4 km for the Okenyenya area. The data from the two vertical profiles imply a phase of rapid exhumation in the Late Cretaceous between 80 and 60 Ma, at rates between 0.2 and 0.125 km/m.y. These decline rapidly in the Early Tertiary to a maximum denudation rate between 0.023 and 0.015 km/m.y. The denudation chronology inferred from the new apatite fission track data is consistent with the observation of a major influx of clastic sediment to offshore basins about 50 m.y. after continental breakup. The study shows that vertical fission track profiles provide key insights into postbreakup tectonic and geomorphic processes in the Central Damara Zone in Namibia, where no Phanerozoic sedimentary record has been preserved.
Nigerian rare‐metal pegmatites and their lithological framework

Most of Africa's rare-metal potential is linked to Proterozoic pegmatite fields except for the Jurassic tin-bearing ring complees of the Jos Plateau Nigeria. In order to establish the position of the Nigerian tin province in terms of economic rare-metal mineralization, occurrences of mineralized pegmatitic phases of the Nigerian basement complex, including the so-called ‘Older Tin-Fields’, have been investigated. Rb/Sr geochronology confirms the end Pan-African ages for the pegmatites in the range 580-530 Ma. Although emplaced within the same time span, the mineralogy, geochemistry, and mineralization of these pegmatites differ according to the lithology of their host-rock. Pegmatite occurrences from southwest Nigeria, which are emplaced into Proterozoic meta-sedimentary-metavolcanic sequences, are enriched in tantalum relative to niobium. These geochemical characteristics are also displayed by the composition of eluvial heavy-mineral concentrates as well as by the trace-element distribution in cassiterites. Although Pan-African granites with an age range of 700-520 Ma are dispersed throughout Nigeria, associated rare-metal mineralized pegmatites are known almost exclusively along a southwest-northeast striking belt about 400 km long, which intersects the Jos Plateau tin-fields. A direct genetic link between the rare-metal bearing pegmatites and proximal granite occurrences was never observed. It is suggested that reactivation of old tectonic lineaments during the Pan-African orogeny provided excess heat and fluid to concentrate rare-metal pegmatites by partial melting with selective leaching from the country rocks, i.e. their lithological framework.
Temporal variability of solute transport under vadose zone conditions

The heterogeneity of the solute flux field in the horizontal plane at the field scale has been documented in several field studies. On the other hand, little information is available on the persistence of certain solute transport scenarios over consecutive infiltration cycles. This study was initiated to analyse the recurrence of solute leaching behaviour as estimated in two soil column tests emphasizing the preferential flow phenomenon. Twenty-four small-sized soil samples were subjected to two consecutive unsaturated steady-state flow leaching experiments with bromide as tracer. Observed breakthrough curves (BTCs) were analysed by the method of moments and by the advection–dispersion equation (ADE) to classify solute behaviour. Frequency distributions of the parameters indicating the solute velocity were heavily skewed or bimodal, reflecting the broad variability of the leaching scenarios, including some with pronounced preferential solute breakthrough. Exclusion of the preferential flow columns from our calculations revealed an average amount of 37% of immobile water. The large-scale BTCs derived from assembling the individual concentration courses of each run showed similar features, such as an early bromide breakthrough. However, two distinct apices, viz. one preferential and one matrix, were observed only in the first run, whereas the concentration decrease between the peaks was missing from the second run. A change in soil structure with continuous leaching was presumed to modify the interplay of the various flow domains, thereby altering the spreading of the BTCs. Correlation analysis between parameters of both tests suggests that preferential transport conditions are likely to occur at the same locations in the field over several infiltration cycles, whereas the ‘classical’ or expected matrix flow is time variant and therefore seems to be hardly predictable. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The process and mechanism of urban environmental change: an evolutionary view

This paper discusses how an evolutionary viewpoint can contribute to the understanding of the processes and mechanisms of urban environmental change. There are four major components in the urban environmental evolution concept: (a) cities can be viewed as complex systems that are subject to constant change, which constitutes a dynamic evolutionary process; (b) urban environmental profiles of cities are diverse, but there are certain commonalities in the longitudinal dynamics among different cities; (c) nevertheless, there is a strong non-linearity in the trajectories of the environmental evolution of cities, rather than there being a fixed common pattern; (d) the trajectory is shaped by a unique combination of endogenous and exogenous forces, reflecting both the outer pressures and the responses within the city. The evolutionary perspective has important policy implications by emphasizing the possibility for cities in developing countries to follow a more environmentally sound pathway to sustainable development.
Bank business models and the Basel system: Complexity and interconnectedness

The main hallmarks of the global financial crisis were too-big-to-fail institutions taking on too much risk with other people’s money: excess leverage and default pressure resulting from contagion and counterparty risk. This paper looks at whether the Basel III agreement addresses these issues effectively. Basel III has some very useful elements, notably a (much too light “back-up”) leverage ratio, a capital buffer, a proposal to deal with pro-cyclicality through dynamic provisioning based on expected losses and liquidity and stable funding ratios. However, the paper shows that Basel risk weighting and the use of internal bank models for determining them leads to systematic regulatory arbitrage that undermines its effectiveness. Empirical evidence about the determinants of the riskiness of a bank (measured in this study by the Distance-to-Default) shows that a simple leverage ratio vastly outperforms the Basel Tier 1 ratio. Furthermore, business model features (after controlling for macro factors) have a huge impact. Derivatives origination, prime broking, etc., carry vastly different risks to core deposit banking. Where such differences are present, it makes little sense to have a one-size-fits-all approach to capital rules. Capital rules make more sense when fundamentally different businesses are separated. JEL classification: G01, G15, G18, G20, G21, G24, G28 Keywords: Financial crisis, Basel III, derivatives, bank business models, distance-todefault, structural bank separation, banking reform, GSIFI banks