Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inefficient Water Pricing and Incentives for Conservation

Farmers often buy water using fixed fees—rather than with marginal prices. We use two randomized controlled trials in Bangladesh to study the relationship between marginal prices, adoption of a water-saving technology, and water usage. Our first experiment shows that the technology only saves water when farmers face marginal prices. Our second experiment finds that an encouragement to voluntarily convert to hourly pumping charges does not save water. Taken together, efforts to conserve water work best when farmers face marginal prices, but simply giving an option for marginal pricing is insufficient to trigger water-saving investments and reduce irrigation demands. (JEL O13, Q12, Q15, Q16, Q25)
Molecular diversity analysis of maize (Zea maysL.) inbreds using SSR markers

Maize is the third most important cereals. Inbreds are the widely used parental material in the hybridization program. Many of these accessions have specific features, but only a few of them have been utilized in maize improvement programs.There is an important role of understanding the genetic diversity among and within inbred lines at the molecular level for maize improvement. The present investigation consists of 25 maize inbreds collected from the All India Co-ordinated Maize Improvement Project, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, IASc, BHU, Varanasi, were analysed for diversity using a total of 40 SSR markers during rabi 2015-16. Dendrogram was constructed based on UPGMA from the Jaccard’s similarity coefficient and the inbreds were subjected to cluster analysis. Among the 40 SSR markers used only 20 found informative (polymorphic) with total 70 alleles, provide a reference for determining the Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) alleles number in genetic relationship analysis of maize inbred line and other crop germplasm. The PIC value ranged from 0.286 (umc226) to 0.966 (csu308) with an average PIC of 0.736. The first three PCs contributed 23.70, 7.63 and 6.73% respectively, with a cumulative variation of first 3PCs was 38.07%. The cluster analysis indicates inbred HUZM 252 and HUZM 265 are highly diverse. The present study has indicated the need for evaluating the component lines derived from each cluster. Cluster analysis indicates there is an enough diversity found between the inbreds tested and the information on diversity of inbred lines generated in this study would be much useful in developing heterotic hybrids.
Attracting foreign direct investment for growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa: policy options and strategic alternatives

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays an important role in fostering economic growth and development in developing countries. While FDI is known to bring to the latter much needed capital for their growth and development efforts, it also brings with it skills and new technology. For most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, whose economies have recently recovered from a long period of stagnation, FDI inflows are needed to accelerate growth, and development. Several countries in the region registered impressive growth rates in the 1990s, with some attaining and sustaining double-digit growth rates in most recent times. However, if sub-Saharan Africa is to accelerate its growth rates to enable it move the majority of its peoples out of poverty, it must attract more FDI. Efforts so far have been encouraging. However, when compared to countries in South East Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China, FDI inflows into sub-Saharan Africa pale. What are the causes for such low FDI inflows to this region? How can sub-Saharan Africa attract more FDI for its growth and development efforts? What policy options are available to these countries? What strategic alternatives can sub-Saharan countries adopt to increase FDI inflows? What role can multilateral and bilateral organisations play in this effort? This paper will address these questions by examining current FDI flows into sub-Saharan Africa and examine ways through which the sub-region can further attract much needed FDI to enable it to attain sustainable growth and development.
The Intention to Use Mobile Banking: Further Evidence from Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this research paper is to develop and examine a research model to understand the factors that affect the intention to use mobile banking services in Saudi Arabia. Based on a paper-based survey of 253 respondents, the study utilized a Partial Least Squares (PLS) to empirically test the model. The results indicated strong support for the validity of proposed model with 66,7% of the variance in intention to use mobile banking. The results also indicated that compatibility was the strongest facilitator of intention while perceived risk was a barrier to the intention to use mobile banking. Trust had strong negative relationship with perceived risk, indicating that trust may alleviate the risk barrier, which could influence intention to use mobile banking. Contrary to previous research, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use did not have significant effect on intention to use mobile banking. The implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions for future research were presented.
Development of a Model Driven ACSI Conformance Testing for IEC 61850-Based IED

Globally, traditional power systems are rapidly transforming towards the adoption of smart grid platforms. Substations which are at the center of the electric power transformation from the power plant are changing to IEC 61850 based digital substations. Therefore, within substation, there is a growing demand for the IEC 61850 based Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs). The operation of multiple manufacturers of IEDs in a single digital substation network increases the need for IEC 61850 communications specification conformance diagnosis to ensure interoperability for efficient data exchange between IEDs. The IEC 61850-10 presents test items for diagnosing communication specification conformance. There are many test tools available in the market today to test the compliance of the IEC 61850 communications specifications to the IED. In this paper, we propose a model-based diagnostic method for IED communication conformance testing. The proposed model-based software therefore uses the “drag and drop” technique to select the various IEC 61850 communication services (objects) required to design the test case in a user friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI). This makes the service conformance testing more flexible for test engineers and system integrators especially in situations that require test case modifications. Also, the proposed software tool makes it easy to understand the various IEC 61850 services using the friendly GUI.
AGRONOMY AND SOILS Narrow-Row Cotton Production under Irrigated and Non-irrigated Environment: Plant Population and Lint Yield

The commercialization of a spindle-type harvester to pick cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) planted in 38-cm rows and the development of a second-generation of glyphosate-resistant cotton cultivars that allows glyphosate applications beyond the 4-leaf stage have sparked interest in 38-cm row cotton production. However, information on 38-cm row cotton production in the lower Mississippi River Valley alluvial flood plain is limited. Field studies were conducted during 2006 and 2007 to assess cotton canopy closure and lint yield in 38-cm rows and 25-cm paired rows each with five plant populations compared to conventional 102cm rows at one plant population with and without irrigation. In non-irrigated cotton, canopy closed 1 to 4 wk earlier in 38-cm rows and 25-cm paired rows compared to 102-cm rows. Plant population at harvest ranged from 106,000 to 215,000 plants ha -1 in 38-cm rows and 99,000 to 217,000 plants ha -1 in 25-cm paired rows compared to 126,000 plants ha -1 in 102-cm rows. Under non-irrigated production, there were no differences in lint percentage, regardless of row pattern and plant population. Lint yields ranged from 1049 to 1304 kg ha -1 in 38-cm rows and 962 to 1110 kg ha -1 in 25-cm paired rows compared to 990 kg ha -1 in 102-cm rows. Overall, cotton planted in narrow rows had more open bolls than 102-cm rows. In irrigated cotton, canopy closure was similar to non-irrigated cotton. Lint percentage was similar between 25-cm paired row and 102-cm row, but higher than 38-cm row cotton. Under irrigated production, lint yields ranged from 1580 to 1864 kg ha -1 in 38-cm row and 1448 to 1519 kg ha -1 in 25-cm paired rows compared to 1413 kg ha -1 in 102-cm rows. These results demonstrated that cotton grown in 38-cm rows can close canopy early and produce lint yields higher than cotton grown in 102-cm rows at comparable plant populations, regardless of irrigation.
Factors predicting patient dissatisfaction 2 years after anterior cervical discectomy with fusion for cervical spondylotic radiculopathy

Objective: To explore factors predicting patient dissatisfaction 2 years after anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF) for Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy (CSR) in a Chinese cohort. Methods: Pre-operation and 2-year follow-up data for 360 patients were analyzed. After 2 years of ACDF, patients expressed their satisfaction by Patient Satisfaction Index (PSI), and we explored association between patients’ personality, perioperative variables and dissatisfied degree. Results: 269 patients had a PSI of 1 or 2 were considered as satisfied group, 91 had a PSI of 3 or 4 and were considered as dissatisfied group. By analyzing, according to BECK anxiety inventory (BAI) scale, people with Type B Personality (TBP) usually got a satisfied result, however, people with Type A personality (TAP) got a dissatisfied result. Patients from rural and had complications after surgery easier to complain dissatisfied results. Other data, including, age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS)-neck, VAS-upper limb at time of pre-operation and 2 years follow-up were not significant difference between 2 groups. Conclusions: Approximately 75% patients expressed satisfaction with ACDF for CSR. Three factors, registered permanent residence, type A personality, complications after operation, could predict patients’ dissatisfaction.
Portfol io Investment Response to U . S . Monetary Pol icy Announcements : An Event Study Analysis Using High Frequency Data f rom Mexico *

We study how unconventional monetary policy announcements affect the entry of foreign investment in debt and equity in Mexico, placing special focus on announcements related to the third QE program and the taper tantrum episode. A novel dataset on daily debt and equity flows, that maps Balance of Payments data quite well, allows this paper to provide a better insight into movements of capital. The results suggest that both equity and debt flows appear to react immediately to unexpected U.S. monetary policy announcements, in particular if these are considered as bad news by investors. In turn, results using weekly data support the idea that investors interested in fixed income instruments move more prudently than those interested in equity who react quickly.
Price Stickiness along the Income Distribution and the Effects of Monetary Policy

We document that the prices of the goods consumed by high-income households are more sticky and less volatile than those of the goods consumed by middle-income households. This suggests that monetary shocks can have distributional consequences by affecting the relative prices of the goods consumed at different points on the income distribution. We use a Factor-Augmented VAR (FAVAR) model to show that, following a monetary policy shock, the estimated impulse responses of high-income households’ consumer price indices are 22% lower than those of the middle-income households. We then evaluate the macroeconomic implications of our empirical findings in a quantitative New-Keynesian model featuring households that are heterogeneous in their income and consumption patterns, and sectors that are heterogeneous in their frequency of price changes. We find that: (i) the distributional consequences of monetary policy shocks are large and similar to those in the FAVAR model, and (ii) greater income inequality increases the effectiveness of monetary policy, although this effect is modest for realistic changes in inequality. JEL Codes: E31, E52.
Automated Detection and Location of Tectonic Tremor along the Entire

1 Cascadia Margin From 2005-2011 2 3 Boyarko, D. C. (1), Brudzinski, M. R. (1), Porritt, R. W. (2), Allen, R. M. (2), 4 Tréhu, A. M. (3) 5 6 (1) Miami University, Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Oxford, 7 OH, USA. 8 (2) University of California, Berkeley, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, 9 Berkeley, CA, USA. 10 (3) Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, 11 Corvallis, OR, USA. 12 13 Abstract 14 We have constructed an automated routine to identify prominent bursts of 15 tectonic tremor and locate their source region during time periods of raised amplitude 16 in the tremor passband. This approach characterizes 62 episodes of tectonic tremor 17 between 2005 and 2011, with tremor epicenters forming a narrow band spanning the 18 entire length of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. We find a range of along-strike lengths 19 in individual episodes, but the length appears proportional to both duration and 20 geodetic moment, consistent with proposed scaling laws for slow earthquake 21 phenomena. Examination of individual episodes in detail reveals intriguing updip22 downdip migration patterns, including slow updip migration during initiation and 23 repetitive downdip migration between different episodes. The broader catalog of 24 tremor episodes refines the inferences from earlier work that episodic tremor and slip is 25 segmented along-strike and correlated with apparent seismogenic zone segmentation 26 based on the distribution of fore-arc basins and geologic terranes. The overall band of 27 tremor is offset ~50 km from the downdip edge of interseismic coupling along the 28 central and northern parts of the subduction zone. Along the southern part of the 29
Changes to Some Physical Properties due to Conversion of Secondary Forest of Peat into Oil Palm Plantation

The purpose of this study was to study how the physical properties of peat change due to the conversion of secondary forest into oil palm plantations. It was done by comparing the three conversion stages of the secondary forest into shrubs and oil palm plantations. The study was conducted in Ogan Komering Ilir District, South Sumatera Province, about 100 km south of Palembang, Indonesia from August to December 2016. Data collection was done randomly at all sites, each of five points for field sampling, observation of soil profile and measurement of hydraulic conductivity and water table depth. The samples were collected at a depth of 0-30 cm, both for undisturbed cores and bulk samples. The hydraulic conductivity was measured in the field using the auger holes method. The peat strength was determined by using the hand operated cone penetrometer. Data analysis was done descriptively and regression correlation test. The results showed that conversion of secondary forests into oil palm plantations has led to the decline in the quality of some of the physical properties of peat by decreasing total porosity, water table depth, hydraulic conductivity, organic matter content, moisture content and increasing the bulk density and peat strength.
Binary neutron star mergers and third generation detectors: Localization and early warning

For third generation gravitational wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope, gravitational wave signals from binary neutron stars can last up to a few days before the neutron stars merge. To estimate the measurement uncertainties of key signal parameters, we develop a Fisher matrix approach which accounts for effects on such long duration signals of the time-dependent detector response and the Earth's rotation. We use this approach to characterize the sky localization uncertainty for gravitational waves from binary neutron stars at 40, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 Mpc, for the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer individually and operating as a network. We find that the Einstein Telescope alone can localize the majority of detectable binary neutron stars at a distance of $\ensuremath{\le}200\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Mpc}$ to within $100\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{deg}}^{2}$ with 90% confidence. A network consisting of the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer can enhance the sky localization performance significantly---with the 90% credible region of $\mathcal{O}(1)\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{deg}}^{2}$ for most sources at $\ensuremath{\le}200\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Mpc}$ and $\ensuremath{\le}100\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{deg}}^{2}$ for most sources at $\ensuremath{\le}1600\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Mpc}$. We also investigate the prospects for third generation detectors identifying the presence of a signal prior to merger. To do this, we require a signal to have a network signal-to-noise ratio of $\ensuremath{\ge}12$ and $\ensuremath{\ge}5.5$ for at least two interferometers, and to have a 90% credible region for the sky localization that is no larger than $100\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{deg}}^{2}$. We find that the Einstein Telescope can send out such ``early-warning'' detection alerts 1--20 hours before merger for 100% of detectable binary neutron stars at 40 Mpc and for $\ensuremath{\sim}58%$ of sources at 200 Mpc. For sources at a distance of 400 Mpc, a network of the Einstein telescope and Cosmic Explorer can produce detection alerts up to $\ensuremath{\sim}3$ hours prior to merger for 98% of detectable binary neutron stars.
Response of Yield and Related Attributes of Upland Cotton to Weather Variables

Cotton growth and development is effected by various ecological issues like temperature fluctuations, distribution and quantity of rainfall, relative humidity and winds which are the climate change attributes. A field experiment was carried out to find out the response of cotton to weather variables in terms of total variation in yield and quality. The effect of planting times and thermal temperatures (cumulative heat units) on yield of 4 cotton cultivars viz; CIM-600, CIM-616, CIM-622 & CRIS-641 was evaluated. Plants were sown on 6 planting times during the year 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 in an experiment conducted in randomized complete block design having three replications. Cotton cultivars depicted significant variances for number of bolls plant-1, boll weight and seed cotton yield. The cultivar CIM-616 depicted the highest seed cotton yield of 2083.60 kg·ha-1 on interpretation of highest bolls and boll weight. Maximum seed cotton yield was noted in planting time from 1st April to 15th April whereas early and late planting decreases the seed cotton yield on account of less accretion of cumulative heat units. Regression analysis depicted that rise of one unit (15 days) from early to optimal date (15th March to 15th April) enhanced the seed cotton yield by 93.76 kg·ha-1 (y = -93.764x2 + 521.04x + 1364). Delayed planting also reduces the seed cotton yield with the same ratio. It is therefore established that cotton must be cultivated from 1st April to 1st May to harvest good production in this type of climate.
A P ] 2 1 O ct 2 01 6 GLOBAL BIFURCATION ANALYSIS OF MEAN FIELD EQUATIONS AND THE ONSAGER MICROCANONICAL DESCRIPTION OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL TURBULENCE

On strictly starshaped domains of second kind we find natural sufficient conditions which allow the solution of two long standing open problems closely related to the mean field equation (Pλ) below. On one side we catch the global behaviour of the Entropy for the mean field Microcanonical Variational Principle ((MVP) for short) arising in the Onsager description of two-dimensional turbulence. This is the completion of well known results first established in [10]. Among other things we find a full unbounded interval of strict convexity of the Entropy. On the other side, to achieve this goal, we have to provide a detailed qualitative description of the global branch of solutions of (Pλ) emanating from λ = 0 and crossing λ = 8π. This is the completion of well known results first established in [29] and [12] for λ ≤ 8π, and it has an independent mathematical interest, since the shape of global branches of semilinear elliptic equations, with very few well known exceptions, are poorly understood. It turns out that the (MVP) suggests the right variable (which is the energy) to be used to obtain a global parametrization of solutions of (Pλ). A crucial spectral simplification is obtained by using the fact that, by definition, solutions of the (MVP) maximize the entropy at fixed energy and total vorticity.
Why are the Critics So Convinced that Globalization is Bad for the Poor

Proponents of globalization often conclude that its critics are ignorant or self-motivated. In doing so, they have missed a valuable opportunity to discover both how best to communicate the benefits of globalization, and how to improve on the current model of globalization. This paper examines the values, beliefs and facts that lead critics to the view that globalization is bad for the poor. We find that critics of globalization tend to be concerned about non-monetary as well as monetary dimensions of poverty, and more concerned about the total number of poor than the incidence of poverty. In regard to inequality, critics tend to refer more to changes in absolute inequality, and income polarization, rather than the inequality measures preferred by economists. It is particularly important to them that no group of poor people is made worse off by globalization. Finally, we argue that the perceived concentration of political and economic power that accompanies globalization causes many people to presume that globalization is bad for the poor, and the continued ambiguities in the empirical findings mean that this presumption can be readily supported with evidence.
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Existence and Uniqueness of Recursive Utilities

We study existence, uniqueness and computability of solutions for a class of discrete time recursive utilities models. By combining two streams of the recent literature on recursive preferences---one that analyzes principal eigenvalues of valuation operators and another that exploits the theory of monotone concave operators---we obtain conditions that are both necessary and sufficient for existence and uniqueness of solutions. We also show that the natural iterative algorithm is convergent if and only if a solution exists. Consumption processes are allowed to be nonstationary.
Attention for Negative Emotion Stimuli in Soldiers Returning From Iraq War Zone Stress Interacts With the 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism to Predict the Development of Sustained

Biased attention toward negative stimuli is a known vulnerability for affective psychopathology. However, factors that contribute to the development of this cognitive bias are largely unknown. Variation within the serotonin transporter gene (i.e., 5-HTTLPR) is associated with increased susceptibility to environmental influence and biased processing of negative stimuli. Using a passive viewing eye-tracking paradigm, this study examined gaze fixation for emotion stimuli in 91 U.S. Army soldiers before and after deployment to Iraq. In addition, participants underwent genetic assay and provided in situ measures of war zone stress exposure. 5-HTTLPR short allele homozygotes were more likely than other genotype groups to develop a gaze bias toward negative stimuli as a function of increasing war zone stress, even when controlling for postdeployment posttraumatic stress disorder and depression severity. Short allele homozygotes appear especially sensitive to environmental influence, which likely contributes to the development of cognitive vulnerability to anxiety and mood disorders.