Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Belgian substages as a basis for an international chronostratigraphic division of the Tournaisian and Viséan

Abstract The Tournaisian and Viséan were formerly considered as series and in Belgium were divided into two (Hastarian and Ivorian) and three stages (Moliniacian, Livian and Warnantian), which are now considered as substages. The Belgian substages are based on conodonts and foraminifers, and incidentally on rugose corals, and are described here. Their boundaries, biostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy are well detailed and clearly defined. The base of the Hastarian (lower Tournaisian) corresponds to the base of the Tournaisian (base of Carboniferous); the base of the Ivorian (upper Tournaisian) corresponds to the appearance of the conodont Polygnathus communis carina, a little above the last Siphonodella; the base of the Moliniacian (lower Viséan) corresponds to the base of the Viséan stage defined by the first occurrence of the foraminifer Eoparastaffella simplex; the Livian (middle Viséan) corresponds to the foraminiferal MFZ12 Zone and is marked by the appearance of Koskinotextularia and Pojarkovella nibelis; the base of the Warnantian (upper Viséan) is marked by the appearance of Neoarchaediscus, Vissariotaxis, Planospirodiscus, and Palaeotextularia with a bilaminar wall, the index taxa of the MFZ13-Neoarchaediscus Zone. The up-to-date chronostratigraphic subdivision of the Tournaisian and Viséan is not limited to Belgium and the surrounding areas. It can be applied through Eurasia as far as South China. The Belgian units could therefore be the basis for a future international division of the Tournaisian into two parts (Hastarian and Ivorian) and of the Viséan into three parts (Moliniacian, Livian and Warnantian), corresponding to time intervals of c. 5–8 Ma.
Forced Magnetostriction, Magnetic Contributions to Bulk Modulus and Thermal Expansion and Pressure Dependence of Curie Temperature in Iron, Cobalt and Nickel

Various magneto-volume effects are calculated in terms of the itinerant electron model. The Lang-Ehrenreich model and Heine's result for the volume dependence of the density of states are used. From the previous numerical results of the magnetic free energy, the temperature variation of its volume derivatives is numerically calculated for Fe, Co and Ni. The magnetic contribution to bulk modulus is estimated as always positive. The magnetic contribution to the thermal expansion coefficient is always negative in Fe, but in Co and Ni it changes its sign, as well as the forced magnetostriction, and becomes positive near the Curie temperature and the pressure dependence of the Curie temperature becomes positive. The spontaneous volume magnetostriction at 0 K is estimated as always positive. It is shown that the present calculated results are consistent with experiment. The Ehrenfest relation is discussed.
Distribution of Pressure Fluctuations in a Prototype Pump Turbine at Pump Mode

Pressure fluctuations are very important characteristics in pump turbine's operation. Many researches have focused on the characteristics (amplitude and frequencies) of pressure fluctuations at specific locations, but little researches mentioned the distribution of pressure fluctuations in a pump turbine. In this paper, 3D numerical simulations using SSTk − ω turbulence model were carried out to predict the pressure fluctuations distribution in a prototype pump turbine at pump mode. Three operating points with different mass flow rates and different guide vanes’ openings were simulated. The numerical results show how pressure fluctuations at blade passing frequency (BPF) and its harmonics vary along the whole flow path direction, as well as along the circumferential direction. BPF is the first dominant frequency in vaneless space. Pressure fluctuation component at this frequency rapidly decays towards upstream (to draft tube) and downstream (to spiral casing). In contrast, pressure fluctuations component at 3BPF spreads to upstream and downstream with almost constant amplitude. Amplitude and frequencies of pressure fluctuations also vary along different circumferential locations in vaneless space. When the mass flow and guide vanes’ opening are different, the distribution of pressure fluctuations along the two directions is different basically.
Neurocognitive ageing of storage and executive processes

Converging behavioural and neuropsychological evidence indicates that age-related changes in working memory contribute substantially to cognitive decline in older adults. Important questions remain about the relationship between working memory storage and executive components and how they are affected by the normal ageing process. In several studies using positron emission tomography (PET), we find age differences in the patterns of frontal activation during working memory tasks. We find that separable age differences can be linked to different cognitive operations underlying short-term information storage, and interference resolution. Some operations are associated with age-related increases in activation, with older adults displaying bilateral activations and recruiting prefrontal areas more than younger adults. Other operations are associated with age-related decreases in activation. We consider the implications of these results for understanding the working memory system and potential compensatory processes in the ageing brain.
Hydrographic changes of the Southern Ocean (southeast Indian Sector) Over the last 230 kyr

Hydrographical changes of the southern Indian Ocean over the last 230 kyr, is reconstructed using a 17-m-long sediment core (MD 88 770; 46°01′S 96°28′E, 3290m). The oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of planktonic (N. pachyderma sinistra and G. bulloides) and benthic (Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi, Epistominella exigua, and Melonis barleeanum) foraminifera have been analysed. Changes in sea surface temperatures (SST) are calculated using diatom and foraminiferal transfer functions. A new core top calibration for the Southern Ocean allows an extension of the method developed in the North Atlantic to estimate paleosalinities (Duplessy et al., 1991). The age scale is built using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating of N. pachyderma s. for the last 35 kyr, and an astronomical age scale beyond. Changes in surface temperature and salinity clearly lead (by 3 to 7 kyr) deep water variations. Thus changes in deep water circulation are not the cause of the early response of the surface Southern Ocean to climatic changes. We suggest that the early warming and cooling of the Southern Ocean result from at least two processes acting in different orbital bands and latitudes: (1) seasonality modulated by obliquity affects the high-latitude ocean surface albedo (sea ice coverage) and heat transfer to and from the atmosphere; (2) low-latitude insolation modulated by precession influences directly the atmosphere dynamic and related precipitation/ evaporation changes, which may significantly change heat transfer to the high southern latitudes, through their control on latitudinal distribution of the major frontal zones and on the conditions of intermediate and deep water formation.
Validation of a Mental Model Elicitation Instrument through Deployment of Control Groups in an Undergraduate Engineering Program

Mental models of engineering systems contain information about the components, connections, inputs/outputs, and function of a system. It is difficult to study mental models because any mental model elicitation method inherently only provides a representation of the mental model and not a realization of the mental model itself. In order to measure engineering students’ understanding of simple systems, a mental model instrument with scoring rubrics has been developed and deployed in undergraduate and graduate engineering classrooms in previous work. The research presented in this paper explores validation of this mental model elicitation approach through two control groups involving the collection of pre- and post-data without intervention. Results from the two control groups are discussed and indicate that without intervention, no learning effects take place. In addition, this work considers the addition of an explanatory example showing exactly how to complete the given tasks. Results concerning the inclusion of this example are inconclusive but give insight into the possible effects for future research. Lastly, unexpected component inclusions/exclusions are discussed as a final point of interest. This work serves as a first step towards validation of this new mental model elicitation method and the related scoring rubrics and is a contribution to ongoing research on mental models of engineering systems. As we continue to explore how students learn about engineering, it is important that educators and researchers have a way to reliably measure student understanding of various systems during their undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Working-Class Mothers' School Involvement: A Class-Specific Maternal Ideal?

Recent ideological shifts, along with budgeting constraints, have made parental involvement in the schooling process necessary. Such expectations have increased the toll on working-class mothers, who now have to assume responsibility in three time-consuming areas: child care at home, school involvement and labour market participation. In analysing how mothers deal with this threefold expectation, research has focused on class-specific maternal ideals and practices, but rarely directed systematic attention to how these concurrent expectations shape the maternal ideals they embrace. Moreover, few studies have examined how mothers' maternal ideals shape their employment interruptions. The current paper considers how working-class mothers rationalize the maternal ideals they embrace with regard to school involvement and examines how they negotiate them vis-à-vis other possible maternal ideals. Interviews of 48 Israeli low-income mothers reveal that educational success is consensually perceived as critical for maximizing life chances and that this understanding evolved from the gradual realization that school involvement through extensive mothering – where women rely on others to meet their children's schooling needs – must be replaced by school involvement through intensive mothering – namely, personal presence-based nurturing. We draw some implications relevant to the debate over class-based maternal ideals.
The Effects of Missing Data When Surveying Alcohol Habits

AIMS This study aimed at describing the effects of missing data when surveying alcohol consumption using a Random Digit Dialling procedure. Methods Data was part of the Monitor project including repeated monthly data on the alcohol habits in the general Swedish population. Non-respondents during four months were followed up a year later and asked to do a shortened telephone interview and were compared to a concurrent sample of respondents (n=2552 versus n=6005). Further, using a second approach, the monthly levels of non-response was related to the level of measured alcohol use in a time series analysis (n=67500). Results The results indicated no differences in the level of reported alcohol or tobacco use with except for a slightly higher proportion of alcohol abstainers in the sample of initial non-response. The time series showed no pattern of co-variation between the obtained non-response levels and the assessed levels of alcohol or tobacco use. Conclusions On the basis of the results it was meaningful to make a distinction between “soft” non-respondents (responding after extensive contacting effort) and “hard” non-respondents (not responding albeit extensive effort) and the results suggest that inclusion of the “soft” non-respondents does not by necessity lead to higher levels of assessed alcohol use.
The Effect of the Minimum Wage on the Fast-Food Industry

Using a longitudinal survey of fast-food restaurants in Texas, the authors examine the impact of recent increases in the federal minimum wage on a low-wage labor market. Less than 5% of fast-food restaurants were using the new youth subminimum wage in July/August 1991, even though the vast majority paid a starting wage below the new hourly minimum wage immediately before it became effective. Although some restaurants increased wages beyond the level needed to comply with higher minimum wages in both 1990 and 1991, those federal minimum wage increases greatly compressed the distribution of starting wages in the Texas fast-food industry. Two findings at variance with conventional predictions are that (1) employment increased more in those firms likely to have been most affected by the 1991 minimum wage increase than in other firms and (2) price changes were unrelated to mandated wage changes.
Synthesis of poly(vinyl alcohol)/reduced graphite oxide nanocomposites with improved thermal and electrical properties

Poly(vinylalcohol)/reduced graphite oxide nanocomposites have been synthesised by reducing graphite oxide in the presence of the polymer matrix and coagulating the system with 2-propanol. It has been observed that some interactions occur between the polymer and the reduced graphite oxide layers, mainly by hydrogen bonding. These interactions are responsible for a remarkable change in the thermal behaviour of the nanocomposites. In addition, high electrical conductivity has been achieved at concentrations beyond 7.5 wt% of reduced graphite oxide (∼0.1 S cm−1), with a percolation threshold between 0.5 and 1 wt%.
PRODUCT LAUNCH DECISIONS BY DOMINANT AND FRINGE FIRMS

In this paper we analyze the product launch decisions by dominant and fringe firms. In particular, we explore three questions in the product entry process: which firms enter, when they enter, and what happens after they enter. To do this, we use a database of all product launches in the desktop laser printer industry from 1984 to 1997. We show that dominant firms are quite selective in the submarkets they pursue. In particular, they often stay out of the technologically advanced markets, and choose to enter markets well behind the technological frontier set by fringe firms. When dominant firms do enter submarkets, they are usually early entrants, launching products before many fringe firms. Additionally, we analyze what happens to markets after entry by dominant firms. Many antitrust scholars and policy-makers fear that dominant firm entry into technology markets forces out fringe competitors, leading to high market power for the dominant entrant. We find that both entry and exit rates increase after a dominant firms enters a submarket, but that there is a net increase on average in the number of competing models and substantial growth in demand. In addition, while dominant firms introduce models priced at a premium relative to the average in a product class, the average price within that class tends to decline more as a result of competition from dominant firms than from fringe firms.
Interpersonal Identity and Social Capital: The Importance of Commitment for Low Income, Rural, African American Adolescents

Social capital may be particularly important for the well-being and future opportunities of African American adolescents living in low income families. In this study, linkages between interpersonal identity formation and adolescents’ perceptions of social capital quality were examined in a cross-sectional study of 374 low income, rural, African American adolescents (161 males, 213 females), ranging in age from 12 to 19. It was argued that adolescents who have stronger commitments to their interpersonal identities will report better social capital quality. Analysis of variance results indicated that adolescents classified as foreclosed (high commitment/low exploration) in identity status never differed in their perceptions of social capital quality from those classified as achieved (high commitment/high exploration) in identity status. Furthermore, results of structural equation modeling indicated that identity commitment mattered most for explaining variability in social capital quality. Implications for African American adolescent identity formation and future research directions are discussed.
DO WE PUNISH HIGH INCOME CRIMINALS TOO HEAVILY

Many critics believe that since high income criminals can afford to purchase better legal services they are less severely punished than poor criminals who commit equivalent crimes. Others are concerned that the penalties imposed on criminals are "too small. " This paper shows that ignoring the effect conviction has on later earnings dramatically underestimates the total monetary penalty paid by those convicted and that the penalty structure is extremely progressive. Where evidence on the probability of conviction is available, it shows that the highest income criminals face the highest expected penalties. Copyright 1992 by Oxford University Press.
Egophoricity in discourse ans syntax

Egophoric reference is defined as reference to speech act participants and generic reference. As shown by adult conversational data from Swedish, English, and Spanish, and longitudinal data from one Swedish child, the majority of all animate arguments of verbs in conversation are egophoric. This percentage varies quite considerably between different types of subject and between subjects and objects. Positions representing essentially animate roles - agents, experiencers, and recipients - have a high incidence of egophoric reference and a high egophoric/animate ratio. Positions allowing both animate and inanimate reference have relatively low egophoric percentages, absolutely and relative to animates. The explanation of these patterns is not to be found not so much in the way in which information is presented but rather in the intrinsic content of the information that is conveyed. The presence/absence of an essentially animate argument may be a more fundamental distinction for a taxonomy of predication types than transitivity.
AVHRR data sets for determination of desert spatial extent

Abstract A programme of global arid and semi-arid land monitoring is currently underway at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center using meteorological satellite data to detect possible climatic change as manifested by changes in arid and semi-arid land extent. This has resulted in the processing and interpretation of a large amount of satellite data from the NOAA-series of polar-orbiting satellites. Techniques are described and preliminary results presented for determination of the boundary between the Sahara Desert and the Sahel Zone of Africa using daily advanced very high resolution radiometer data from 1980–1992. Some of the techniques may be of interest to other researchers who are or will be using large multi-year data sets derived from coarse-resolution satellite data to investigate large-scale land surface questions.
Development and optical characterization of vertical tapers in SiON waveguides using gray-scale lithography

We describe the development of optical waveguides and adiabatic tapers based on SiON-glasses for a lab-on-chip device with fluorescence optical detection. Sensing is based on evanescent near-field excitation of biomolecules captured on the surface of a thin waveguide. First, the composition of SiON waveguides was optimized to reduce losses for visible light. Waveguides with refractive index of ~1.63 showed propagation losses of ~0.8-0.9 dB/cm at 633 nm. A low loss adiabatic taper was developed to convert efficiently the light from a multi mode waveguide into a thin mono-modal one. Design of the taper was done by calculating numerically the transmission efficiency using a finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD). Simulation results show that losses lower than ~1 dB are obtained for taper lengths of 100 to 300 micron, which indicates an efficient mode conversion. Based on this, tapers of different lengths were realized by grayscale lithography and by reactive ion etching. Their optical testing shows best insertion losses of ~1 dB at 633 nm for multimode to monomode waveguide transitions.
The Degradation of Reported Corporate Profits

Recent corporate scandals have highlighted abuses by firms overstating profits to capital markets. In a related but less noticed vein, the reporting of profits to tax authorities has come under increased scrutiny with heightened concerns over the spread of tax avoidance activities. How could firms simultaneously be inflating profits reported to the capital markets and understating profits reported to tax authorities? The practical answer is that American firms keep two sets of financial statements: a financial statement that reports "book profits" to the capital markets and a separate financial statement that reports "tax profits" to the government. These two profit reports can bear little resemblance to each other and follow distinct rules. This paper argues that the latitude afforded managers by the dual nature of corporate profit reporting has contributed to the simultaneous degradation of profit reporting to capital markets and tax authorities. The distinction between book and tax profits allows managers the ability to mischaracterize tax savings to capital markets and to mischaracterize profits to tax authorities. Examination of three high-profile cases of managerial misreporting of profits and tax avoidance—at Enron, Tyco and Xerox—reveals how the drive to improve reported book profits fosters tax avoidance and how the drive to limit taxes gives rise to the manipulation of accounting profits and managerial malfeasance.
Coalescence-Controlled Anisotropic Ductile Fracture

The anisotropic ductile fracture of rolled plates containing elongated inclusions is promoted by both the dilational growth of voids and the coalescence process. In the present article, the emphasis is laid on the latter process. The effects of void shape and mainly of inter-particle spacings are investigated. Two types of coalescence models are compared: a localization-based model and plastic limit-load models. The capabilities of both approaches to incorporate shape change and spacing effects are discussed. These models are used to predict the fracture properties of two low alloy steels containing mainly manganese sulfide inclusions. Both materials are characterized in different loading directions. Microstructural data inferred from quantitative metallography are used to derive theoretical values of critical void volume fractions at incipient coalescence. These values are used in FE-calculations of axisymmetrically notched specimens with different notch radii and loading directions.
Individuals and groups in social psychology.

In a recent paper, Taylor & Brown have argued that, although research in social psychology needs to take into account the social context of social behaviour, the theories should aim at the explanation of individual behaviour. The present paper argues against this view as it applies to some important issues in social psychology. First, it is contended that the ‘individualistic’ bias of research in social psychology derives from the nature of the theories dominating the discipline. Second, a theory of inter-group behaviour is briefly outlined in order to show that its structure and aims are different in some important ways from the individualistic theories. The bias of these theories which is due to their assumption that social behaviour takes place inside homogeneous and unstructured social systems is illustrated using as examples the theory of belief similarity in prejudice and equity theory.