Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forecasting Dutch GDP using Large Scale Factor Models

This paper applies large scale factor models to Dutch quarterly data in order to generate forecasts of GDP growth rates for an horizon up to 8 quarters ahead. The data set consists of the series underlying the cen- tral bank´s macroeconomic structural model for the Netherlands sup- plemented with leading indicator variables. In a pseudo out-of-sample forecasting context, we select optimal models in the time dimension and the optimal size of the ordered data set in the cross-sectional dimension. The main empirical ? ndings of this paper are that the cross-sectional opti- mization substantially improves the forecasting performance of the factor models. However, only the dynamic factor model systematically outper- forms and encompasses the autoregressive benchmark model with an op- timal subset of the data of around 110 series. The forecasting gains in terms of mean squared errors range from 10% to 30% for forecast horizons up to 6 quarters ahead.
Porcine cysticercosis in slaughtered pigs and factors related to Taenia solium transmission amongst abattoir workers in Ibadan, Nigeria

Introduction porcine cysticercosis is under-reported particularly in Nigeria, despite the reportedly high prevalence of epilepsy and associated life-threatening health implications. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis and factors related to Taenia solium transmission to humans. Methods slaughtered pigs at a major abattoir, south-western Nigeria were randomly inspected and questionnaire was administered to pig workers/consumers while the data were analysed using Stata 12.0. Results a 4.4% (11/250) prevalence of porcine cysticercosis was obtained; the age, breed, sex and body conditions of pigs were not significant for infection (p < 0.05). Further, none (0.0%) of the respondents knew that T. solium could cause epilepsy in man and 39.5% often defaecated on neighbouring open fields and farmlands. Respondents purchasing pork from home slaughter were about four and ten times less likely to demonstrate good knowledge (OR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.08-0.74) and practice (OR = 0.10; 95% CI: 0.05-0.22) than those purchasing from abattoir. Moreover, those lacking toilet facility were about four and five times less likely to demonstrate good knowledge (OR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.07-0.86) and practice (OR = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.08-0.45) than those who had it. Other factors associated with practices related to T. solium transmission included age (p = 0.000), sex (p = 0.000) and duration (p = 0.003). Conclusion the increased odds of poor knowledge and practices related to Taenia solium transmission especially among respondents purchasing home slaughter pork and lacking toilet facility provides insights into the parasite epidemiology. Above findings are important in lowering the infection prevalence in pigs and humans in this endemic area.
Chaotic optical cryptographic communication using a three-semiconductor-laser scheme

In this paper, a secure optical chaos-based communication scheme is proposed. A semiconductor laser (SL) subjected to polarization-rotated optical feedback serves as the drive laser (DL), and two identical or near-identical SLs act as the transmitter laser (TL) and receiver laser (RL). The TL and the RL receive identical polarization-rotated optical injection from the DL. Two channels are used, and the TM mode of the DL, after being rotated by 90°, serves as the perturbation quantity. The communication performance is numerically studied. More importantly, the high fidelity and high degree of privacy of the proposed scheme are verified in detail, and the failure of two potential attacker scenarios is demonstrated, even if the attacker can get access to both channels simultaneously.
Effect of Esmolol, Labetalol and Metoprolol for Attenuating the Cardiovascular Stress Response to Laryngoscopy and Intubation: A Comparative Study

Background: To compare esmolol, labetalol and metoprolol in attenuating the cardiovascular response of L&I. Subjects and Methods: It was a randomized prospective study in 120 patients of 18-60 years, of ASA grade I and II, of either sex, posted for elective surgery under GA. After approval from ethical committee and informed written consent, the patients were randomly allocated in four groups of 30 each. Group C (control) received 10 ml 0.9% saline, group E esmolol 0.5 mg/kg (both 2min prior to induction), Group L labetalol 0.25 mg/kg and Group M metoprolol 0.1 mg/kg (both 5min prior to induction). All patients were pre-medicated with inj. ondansetron 0.1 mg/kg, inj. glycopyrrolate 0.004 mg/kg, inj. pen-tazocine 0.6 mg/kg and inj. midazolam 1 mg. All patients were induced with inj. thiopentone 5 mg/kg and succinylcholine 2 mg/kg. Anaesthesia was maintained on isoflurane, O2:N2O and Atracurium. Heart rate and BP were recorded: pre-operative, after pre-medication, after induction, after L&I, after 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 minutes following L&I. Results: All the study drugs significantly attenuated the HR, SBP, DBP, MBP and RPP following L&I compared to control. Metoprolol attenuated the heart rate and RPP compared to esmolol and labetalol. Esmolol attenuated the heart rate immediately following L&I better than labetalol and significantly attenuated the SBP at 5min and 10 min following L&I. All readings of RPP were lower in esmolol in comparison to labetalol. Esmolol, was better than labetalol in attenuating the hemodynamic response. Sinus tachycardia and hypotension were the common side effects. Three patients in control and one in labetalol group developed ectopic beats following L&I. One patient in esmolol had pain on i.v injection. Conclusion: Metoprolol attenuated the cardiovascular stress response to L & I in comparison to esmolol and labetalol. Esmolol was comparably better than labetalol. Metoprolol can be used as alternative to esmolol and labetalol.
Optimal design of measures to correct seawater intrusion

Numerous studies have been devoted to the optimization of groundwater management strategies in coastal aquifers. However, little has been done to address the problem of initially contaminated aquifers, the subject of this paper. Corrective measures need to be optimally designed to improve water quality while minimizing changes in the existing pumping regime. To this end, we compare two optimization methods. The first one is linear and consists of maximizing pumping rates while constraining heads to prevent seawater inflow. The second one consists of minimizing the changes from current pumping rates, so as to preserve existing rights, while constraining concentrations, which leads to a nonlinear programming problem. In both cases, corrective measures include a reduction in pumping rates, inland artificial recharge, and a coastal hydraulic barrier. Not surprisingly, the nonlinear problem leads to a more efficient solution, both in terms of pumping rates and actual cleanup of the aquifer. Nevertheless, the linear formulation yields insights into the optimal allocation of pumping. More importantly, the linear formulation enables us to readily calculate the hydraulic efficiency (gain in pumping rate per unit increase in recharge rate) of corrective measures. The fact that efficiency is consistently greater than 1 proves that the hydraulic barrier not only increases resources but also protects the existing ones. Therefore we conclude that both optimization approaches are useful and should be used.
Cue Generation amongst Firefighters: Competent vs. Expert Differences

Empirical investigations of cognitive skill acquisition have generally focused on differences between novice and expert operators. The result is a neglect of the intermediate stage of skill acquisition in which operators progress through competence towards expert performance. This study investigated the qualitative and quantitative differences in the cognitive cues generated by competent and expert firefighters. Participants first read a written, firefighting-related decision scenario before listing the cues that they considered relevant in formulating a decision. The results revealed that experts generated significantly more cues than competent operators. Further, the types of cues generated by competent and expert operators differed, with experts reporting significantly more safety-related cues than competent operators. These outcomes suggest that differences exist between the cues that are employed by expert and competent operators during decision-making, and that these differences reflect a qualitative change in information processing that occurs during the transition from competence to expertise.
Effectiveness of Small-bore Ambulatory Pleural Drain in Treatment of Pneumothorax and Haemothorax

Background: Pleural drainage is a life-saving procedure that is commonly performed to evacuate pleural collection of air or liquid from traumatic or non-traumatic causes. The pleural tube drain is commonly connected to underwater seal bottle thereby limiting the movement of the patients with attendant risks of immobilisation. There are reports of pleural drainages utilising small bore pleural drains attached to drainage bag and asserted to be as effective as large bore thoracic catheter connected to underwater seal bottle. In addition to the reported effectiveness of small bore ambulatory pleural drainage, the risks of prolonged immobilisation are mitigated, and there is saving of costs. Literature search has not revealed any comparison of the two pleural drainage systems in Nigeria, hence this index study. Objective: To compare the pleural drainage characteristics of small bore pleural drains attached to drainage bag with those of large bore thoracic catheters connected to underwater seal bottle in the management pneumothorax and haemothorax. Results: Among patients with pneumothorax, 66.7% of conventional group and 100% of small bore group regained normal respiratory rate before removal o pleural drain, although at 30 days post drainage check all n the two groups were normal. Using oxygen saturation (SpO2), conventional drainage system was initially better (66.7% vs 25% p<0.0001), later inferior (83.3% vs 100%), and finally same at follow-up (100% vs 100%). Lung re-expansion was also initially better in the conventional drainage group at 30 minutes following commencement of pleural drainage than in the small bore pleural drain group (66.7% vs 50.0%), but afterward became complete in all patients in the two groups before removal of pleural drain and at 30 days follow up. Duration of pleural drainage and length of hospitalisation were shorter in more patients in the small bore group than in the large bore group (p=0.571). In the patients with haemothorax, there was no statistically significant difference in any outcome measure among the groups. Conclusion: The use of small bore pleural drains was as equally effective as the use of large bore chest tubes in the management of pneumothorax and haemothorax.
Risk Implications of the Deployment of Renewables for Investments in Electricity Generation

This thesis explores the potential risk implications that a large penetration of intermittent renewable electricity generation –such as wind and solar power– may have on the future electricity generation technology mix, focusing on the anticipated new operating conditions of different thermal generating technologies and their remuneration in a competitive market environment. In addition, this thesis illustrates with an example how risk should be valued at the power plant level in order to internalize the potential risks to which the generators are exposed. This thesis first compares the impacts of three different bidding rules on wholesale prices and on the remuneration of units in power systems with a significant share of renewable generation. The effects of bidding rules are distinguished from the effects of regulatory uncertainty that can unexpectedly increase renewable generation by considering two distinct situations: 1) an ‘adapted’ capacity mix, which is optimized for any given amount of renewable penetration, and 2) a ‘non-adapted’ capacity mix, which is optimized for zero renewable penetration, but that operates with a certain non-zero renewable capacity, added on top of an already adequate system. The analysis performed stresses the importance of sound mechanisms that allow the full-cost recovery of plants in a system where the intermittency of renewables accentuates nonconvex costs, without over-increasing the cost paid by consumers for electricity. Additionally, the analysis quantifies the potential losses incurred by different thermal technologies if renewable deployment occurs without allowing for adaptation. Methodologically, this thesis uses a novel long-term generation investment model, the Investment Model for Renewable Electricity Systems (IMRES), to determine the minimum cost thermal capacity mix necessary to complement renewable generation to meet electricity demand, and to extract hourly wholesale prices. IMRES is a capacity expansion model with unit commitment constraints whose main characteristics are: 1) reflecting the impact of hourly resolution operation constraints on investment decisions and on total generation cost; 2) accounting for the chronological variability of demand and renewable output, and the correlation between the two; and 3) deciding on power plant investments at the individual
Financial performance of Baldrige Award winners: a review and synthesis

Purpose – The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform recently released a preliminary report with recommendations on cutting costs in the federal government, and one of its recommendations included the elimination of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, formerly known as the Malcolm Baldrige Nationality Quality Award Program. Established by an act of Congress in 1987, during the Reagan Administration, the goal of the Malcolm Baldrige Nationality Quality Award Program was to stimulate and reward product quality excellence. Since the inception of the award, however, there has been a long‐standing controversy among industry leaders and academics on whether winning this award does enhance future financial performance and ultimately shareholders' wealth. This debate has again been recently fueled by the possible elimination of the program by the US government. This study, aims to shed further light on this subject by examining the academic research on the financial performance of the Ba.
Diversity, Dissent and Representation: Lessons From The First Minority Judge in the Israeli Supreme Court

This paper seeks to enrich existing empirical research on substantive representation in the judicial system by exploring a case study of the Honorable Justice (retired) Salim Joubran, the first ethnic-minority judge appointed to the Supreme Court of Israel. By employing a dual methodology of qualitative discourse analysis and dissenting quantitative studies, the study investigates when, why and how he dissented in controversial cases, which are defined as cases that resulted in non-unanimous votes. The study shows that a quantitative study on dissenting opinions of a minority judge alone did not provide comprehensive conclusions. The complementary qualitative discourse analysis shows that in cases that challenged state actions that impacted his social group, Joubran employed distinct strategies and reasoning that are akin to feminist judgments approach. Hence, the study adds to existing research on judicial diversity indicating that women and ethnic minorities judges not only share common challenges but might also operate similar reasoning strategies. In light of these insights, the study calls for employing the combined qualitative and quantitative methodology on examining judgments focusing on dissenting opinions of women and ethnic minority judges as it offers a complex understanding of substantive representation and provides answers regarding the socio-legal effects of group affiliation on judgments.
Design and realisation

Suitable for students following GCSE D&T: Resistant Materials Technology, this title illustrates the full breadth of designing and making with resistant materials. This book has been written for students following GCSE courses in Design and Technology. It has been revised and meets the requirements of GCSE D and T Resistant Materials Technology. It allows students to acquire and practise the skills needed for design-based problem solving courses. Collins D and T: Design and Realisation explains the importance of investigating, planning, designing, making and evaluating and provides the technological knowledge necessary to undertake a wide range of projects. It enables students to make informed decisions about processes, materials and techniques, as well as placing their work in the context of the society in which they live.
A COMPARISON OF UNIFORMITY MEASURES FOR DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

Three drip irrigation systems were installed in 1984, two with laterals on the soil surface and one with laterals about 0.30 m below the soil surface. These systems were used to apply irrigation water and nutrients to several experiments from 1985 to 1992. Emitter plugging, system uniformity, and overall performance were evaluated for both surface and subsurface systems using several methods, and the results were compared to those obtained for unused tubing that had been saved from the original lot. Emitter uniformity values calculated for the unused laterals by the traditional and ASAE EP458 methods were similar, but differences between parameter values calculated by the two methods were greater for the used laterals, especially in the subsurface system. All uniformity values were lower for the subsurface system, primarily because of plugged emitters. Uniformity values calculated by the EP458 method (randomly selected emitters) indicate lower emitter uniformity for the used laterals in the subsurface system, but these values were not as low as those calculated using all emitters on three laterals for that system. These values indicate that the EP458 method may not always reflect true system uniformity, probably because of the small sample size and existence of completely plugged emitters. Correction of emitter flow rates for temporal pressure variation among test times improved uniformity parameter values slightly. Uniformity values predicted by design/evaluation models were similar for both surface and subsurface systems, and generally indicate better system uniformity than values calculated from emitter flow measurements. The models were unable to predict reliable uniformity values for systems because of their inability to handle emitter plugging. Based on these results, it appears that both traditional and ASAE EP458 methods can be used to evaluate drip irrigation systems, but the EP458 method generally indicates lower uniformity and should be used carefully for systems where completely plugged emitters may exist. When emitter plugging occurs, the accuracy of predictions by either method will depend primarily upon the number of emitters measured and the extent of plugging. Entry of soil particles into this eight-year-old subsurface system during construction and/or repair operations probably caused the observed emitter plugging, which emphasizes the need for exercising great care in installation and maintenance of subsurface systems if a long system life (10-15 years) is expected.
Industry Preparedness for Earthquakes and Earthquake-Triggered Hazmat Accidents in the 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake

In this study, we report on the results of a random mail survey of 400 industrial facilities affected by the Turkey earthquake of 17 August 1999. The survey asked questions concerning damage and economic losses, hazardous materials and hazardous materials releases during the earthquake, and risk management and emergency response practices for hazmats prior to and after the earthquake. The study results indicate a high toll on industrial facilities in the region with more than 56% of industrial facilities reporting structural damage and over 60% reporting economic losses. A significantly higher number of industrial facilities built prior to the introduction of the first seismic building codes in 1975 suffered damage. In a logistic regression, older facilities and facilities owned by multinational firms were found to be more likely to suffer damages than Turkish-owned facilities or newer facilities. Eight percent of facilities handling hazardous materials suffered an earthquake-triggered hazardous materials release. Preparedness for earthquake-triggered hazardous materials releases prior to the earthquake was low, but increased significantly in the aftermath of the earthquake, especially for those facilities that had suffered earthquake damage.
Human‐mediated dispersal of weed species during the Holocene: A case study of Chenopodium album agg.

We hypothesised that during the Holocene, the distributions of species such as crop weeds have been significantly influenced by human activity. We aimed to (a) identify the main centres of diversity of the Chenopodium album agg. species and (b) test if these species colonised Europe from western Asia, most likely due to the westward expansion of agriculture in the Neolithic period.
Design Practices in Harmonic Analysis Studies Applied to Industrial Electrical Power Systems

Power system harmonics may cause several problems, such as malfunctions of electrical equipment, premature equipment failures and plant shutdowns. Accordingly, mitigation of these harmonics is considered an important target especially for industrial applications where any short downtime period may lead to great economic losses. Harmonic analysis studies are necessary to analyze the current and voltage harmonic levels and check if these levels comply with the contractual or international standard limits. If the studies reveal that the preset limits are exceeded, then a suitable harmonic mitigation technique should be installed. Harmonic analysis studies in the industrial electrical systems are discussed in many references. However, a comprehensive procedure for the steps required to perform a harmonic study is rarely found in the literature even though it is strongly needed for design engineers. This paper provides a comprehensive procedure for the steps required to perform a harmonic study in the form of a flowchart, based on industrial research and experience. Hence, this paper may be considered as a helpful guide for design engineers and consultants of the industrial sector.
energy [r]evolution - A sustainable world energy outlook

Der Bericht stellt die Neuauflage der Weltenergie-Szenarien dar, die das Institut fur Technische Thermodynamik des Deutschen Zentrums fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) zusammen mit uber 30 weiteren Experten im Auftrag von Greenpeace International und dem European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) erarbeitet haben. Die Weltenergie-Szenarien „Energy [R]evolution 2010“ zeigen, wie die globalen CO2-Emissionen von heute 30 Milliarden Tonnen pro Jahr bis zur Mitte des Jahrhunderts auf rund zehn Milliarden Tonnen pro Jahr gesenkt werden konnen. Diese drastische Reduktion der Treibhausgase ist notwendig, um den Anstieg der globalen Durchschnittstemperatur auf zwei Grad Celsius gegenuber dem vorindustriellen Niveau zu beschranken. Gegenuber der letzten Studie geht ein zweites Advanced Energy [R]evolution Szenario noch einen Schritt weiter: Sollte diese CO2-Minderung aufgrund bisher nicht berucksichtigter langfristiger Klimaeffekte die Klimaerwarmung nicht aufhalten, so konnen zusatzliche Reduktionspotenziale den CO2-Ausstos schon 10 Jahre fruher und bis 2050 sogar bis auf 3,8 Milliarden Tonnen pro Jahr senken. Die Studie, veroffentlicht von Greenpeace International und EREC, beinhaltet u. a. eine umfangreiche Darstellung der Szenarienannahmen sowie der berechneten Kennwerte des Energiesystems je Weltregion.