Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What About the Weather? Climate as a Determinant of Investments and Revenues of Foreign Manufacturing Companies in Russian Regions

Globalization and climate change have been among the hottest academic topics during the past couple of decades. However, in academic research the links between the two is virtually untouched. In this paper, we study the impacts of climatic factors on foreign manufacturing companies in Russia. In particular, we analyze how short-term weather affects their revenues and how average climate impacts the manufacturing foreign direct investment (FDI) distribution across Russian regions. We find quite strong evidence that higher precipitation and temperature during summer is positively associated with annual fluctuations of foreign companies' revenues. We also find that manufacturing FDI in Russia tend to accumulate to regions with milder and stable climate, i.e. to regions with warmer winter and cooler summer and less weather volatility.
Baseline-Covariate Adjusted Confidence Interval for Proportional Difference Between Two Treatment Groups in Clinical Trials

Abstract The treatment effect of a therapeutic product on a binary endpoint is often expressed as the difference in proportions of subjects with the outcome of interest between the treated and control groups of a clinical trial. Analysis of the proportional difference and construction of the associated confidence interval (CI) is often complicated due to the baseline covariate(s) being associated with the primary endpoint. Analysis adjusting for such baseline covariate(s) generally improves efficiency of hypothesis testing and precision of treatment effect estimation, and avoids possible bias caused by baseline covariate imbalances. Most existing literatures focus on constructing unadjusted or categorical covariate(s) adjusted only CI, which provides very limited advice on how different statistical methods perform and which method is optimal in terms of constructing both categorical and continuous baseline covariate(s) adjusted CI for proportional difference. We review and compare the performance of three commonly used model-based methods as well as the traditional nonparametric weighted-difference methods for the construction of covariate-adjusted CI for proportional difference via a real data application and simulations. The coverage of 95% CI, Type I error control, and power are examined. We also examine the factors leading to the model convergence failure in different scenarios via simulations.
Ecology and conservation of breeding lapwings in upland grassland systems : effects of agricultural management and soil properties

Agriculture is the principal land use throughout Europe and agricultural intensification has been implicated in large reductions in biodiversity, with the negative effects on birds particularly well documented. The lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) is one such species where changes in farming practices has reduced the suitability and quality of breeding habitat, leading to a drop in population size that has been so severe as to warrant its addition to the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK. Lowland areas, where agricultural intensification has generally been most pronounced, have been worst affected, however, more recently declines in marginal upland areas, previously considered refuges for breeding wader populations, have been identified. An upland livestock farm in Stirlingshire that uses an in-bye system of fodder crop management and has unusually high densities of breeding lapwings provides a basis for this project to test causal hypotheses for the decline of upland lapwing populations and to identify potential conservation management solutions. Specifically this farm plants a forage brassica in an in-bye field for two consecutive years, followed by reseeding with grass and seven, out of sixteen, in-bye fields have undergone this regime at the study site since 1997. Fields that had undergone fodder crop management supported almost 60% more lapwings than comparable fields that had not previously been planted with the fodder crop. Lapwing density was highest in the year after the fodder crop was planted, once it had been grazed, which results in a high percentage of bare ground, likely to be attractive to nesting lapwings. Lapwing densities remained above that which occurred in fields that had not undergone fodder crop management for a further four years after the field had been returned to grass. The effect of management on lapwing food resources and nesting structure was tested through a field experiment; liming increased the abundance of Allolobophora chlorotica, an earthworm species that was associated with chick foraging location
Grain Growth in Polar Ice: I. Theory

Abstract Many observations regarding grain growth in ice sheets are glaciologically interesting but imperfectly understood. Here we develop the theory of grain growth in ice that is not deforming rapidly, and in the succeeding paper we use this theory to explain observations from glacial ice. In the absence of significant strain energy, the driving force for grain growth arises from grain-boundary curvature. Grain growth is slowed by the interaction of grain boundaries with extrinsic materials (microparticles, bubbles, and dissolved impurities). If the driving force for growth is not large enough to cause boundaries to separate from an extrinsic material, then the grain-boundary velocity is determined by the velocity characteristic of the extrinsic material (low-velocity regime). If the driving force is large enough to cause separation, then boundaries migrate more rapidly than the extrinsic material (high-velocity regime) but the net driving force is reduced through transient pinning by the extrinsic material. Polar ice is typically in the low-velocity regime relative to dissolved impurities and the high-velocity regime relative to microparticles and bubbles. Cross-sectional area of grains is predicted to increase linearly with time under most but not all circumstances.
Wetting front advance and freezing of meltwater within a snow cover: 1

A protective package for a stacked array such as nestable potato chips or similar articles where it is desired to provide protection for the objects by spacing them away from the sides of the carton, which includes a rectangular tube-like carton lined with shrinkable plastic film which surrounds the array and is shrunk to suspend the array away from the sides of the carton, the film being attached to diagonally opposite corners of the carton.
Burnout, NO, and Flame Characterization from an Oxygen-Enriched Biomass Flame

Burnout, NO, and Flame Characterization from an Oxygen-Enriched Biomass Flame Steven Andrew Owen Department of Mechanical Engineering, BYU Master of Science Concern for the environment and a need for more efficient energy generation have sparked a growing interest throughout the world in renewable fuels. In order to reduce emissions that negatively contribute to global warming, especially CO2, enormous efforts are being invested in technologies to reduce our impact on the environment. Biomass is an option that is considered CO2 friendly due to the consumption of CO2 upon growth. Co-firing biomass with coal offers economic advantages because of reduced capital costs as well as other positive impacts, such as NOx and SOx emission reductions. However, due to the large average particle size of biomass, issues arise such as poor flame stability and poor carbon burnout. Larger particles can also result in longer flames and different heat transfer characteristics. Oxygen enrichment is being investigated as a possible solution to mitigate these issues and enable cofiring in existing facilities. An Air Liquide designed burner was used in this work to explore the impact of oxygen enrichment on biomass flame characteristics, emissions, and burnout. Multiple biomass fuels were used (medium hardwood, fine hardwood, and straw) in conjunction with multiple burner configurations and operating conditions. Exhaust ash samples and exhaust NO were collected for various operating conditions and burner configurations. All operating parameters including O2 addition, swirl, and O2 location could be used to reduce LOI but whenever LOI was reduced, NO increased producing an NO-LOI trade-off. Starting with high LOI, various parameters such as O2 addition and increased swirl could be used to reduce LOI with only small increases of NO. As O2 or swirl increased further, small decreases in LOI were obtained only with large increases in NO. This behavior was captured through NO-LOI trade-off curves where a given configuration or operating condition was deemed better when the curve was shifted toward the origin. Global enrichment or O2 addition to the secondary stream and O2 addition to the primary stream produced better trade-off results than center O2 injection. Straw produced NO-LOI trade-off curves just as the wood particles but the curve was shifted further from the origin, likely due to the higher nitrogen content of the straw. Flame characterization results showed that small amounts of O2 in the center improved flame attachment and stability while increasing flame temperature and pyrolysis rates.
Recursive IV Identification of Continuous-Time Models With Time Delay From Sampled Data

This brief investigates recursive instrumental variable (IV) identification of time-delayed continuous-time (CT) models from the sampled input–output data. The refined IV method is extended for the first time to identify recursively both the parameters and time delay of a CT transfer function model. It is shown that the proposed method is able to yield consistent parameter estimation. Due to the nonlinear nature of the loss function to be optimized, time-delay estimation suffers from local minima. Thus, the global convergence performance relies on the quality of initial parameters. To increase the chance of converging to the global optimum, several guidelines are suggested to help the choice of starting values. The main results derived in this brief are confirmed by numerical examples and an experimental application.
MEMORANDUM No 22 / 2001 The High Fertility of College Educated Women in Norway : An Artefact of the ’ Piecemeal Approach

College education has a positive impact on birth rates, net of age and duration since previous birth, according to models estimated separately for second and third births. There are also indications of such effects on first-birth rates, in the upper 20s and 30s. Whereas a high fertility among the bettereducated perhaps could be explained by socioeconomic or ideational factors, it might just as well be a result of selection. When all three parity transitions are modelled jointly, with a common unobserved factor included, negative effects of educational level appear. On the whole, the effects are less clearly negative for women born in the 1950s than for those born in the 1940s or late 1930s. The cohorts from the 1950s show educational differentials in completed fertility that are quite small and to a large extent stem from a higher proportion of childlessness among the better-educated. Second-birth progression ratios are just as high for the college educated as for women with only compulsory education, and the third-birth progression ratios differ very little. This reflects weakly negative net effects of education after first birth and spill-over effects from the higher age at first birth, counterbalanced by differential selectivity of earlier parity transitions. (201 words)
Output tracking with disturbance attenuation for cascade control systems subject to network constraint

In this paper, we investigate the output tracking control and disturbance attenuation for a class of cascade control systems subject to network‐induced delays. In order to indicate the time‐varying characteristics and uncertainty of network‐induced delays, a switched system approach is applied to the cascade architecture. This leads to the simultaneous design of controllers and switching signals in terms of the network transmission. Unlike the traditional cascade control design approach, which needs to first tune the secondary controller and then the primary one, we can provide a simultaneous design method of the double‐loop controllers and switching signals to make the networked cascade control system achieve the output tracking performance with disturbance attenuation. Finally, two examples are proposed to demonstrate the feasibility and the effectiveness of the approach.
イソギンチャクガイドブック = Sea anemones in Japanese waters

イソギンチャク目（ムカシイソギンチャク類；カワリギンチャク類；オヨギイソギンチャク類；ナゲナワイソギンチャク類；ムシモドキギンチャク類 ほか） イソギンチャクの親戚たち（ホネナシサンゴ類；スナギンチャク類；ハナギンチャク類；ツノサンゴ類；イシサンゴ類）
DRAFT For Review Only Public Health Goal for 1 , 1 , 1-Trichloroethane in Drinking Water

This Public Health Goal (PHG) technical support document provides information on health effects from contaminants in drinking water. PHGs are developed for chemical contaminants based on the best available toxicological data in the scientific literature. These documents and the analyses contained in them provide estimates of the levels of contaminants in drinking water that would pose no significant health risk to individuals consuming the water on a daily basis over a lifetime. Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to perform risk assessments and publish PHGs for contaminants in drinking water based exclusively on public health considerations. Section 116365 specifies that the PHG is to be based exclusively on public health considerations without regard to cost impacts. The Act requires that PHGs be set in accordance with the following criteria: 1. PHGs for acutely toxic substances shall be set at levels at which no known or anticipated adverse effects on health will occur, with an adequate margin of safety. 2. PHGs for carcinogens or other substances that can cause chronic disease shall be based upon currently available data and shall be set at levels that OEHHA has determined do not pose any significant risk to health. 3. To the extent the information is available, OEHHA shall consider possible synergistic effects resulting from exposure to two or more contaminants. 4. OEHHA shall consider the existence of groups in the population that are more susceptible to adverse effects of the contaminants than a normal healthy adult. 5. OEHHA shall consider the contaminant exposure and body burden levels that alter physiological function or structure in a manner that may significantly increase the risk of illness. 6. In cases of insufficient data to determine a level of no anticipated risk, OEHHA shall set the PHG at a level that is protective of public health with an adequate margin of safety. 7. In cases where scientific evidence demonstrates that a safe dose-response threshold for a contaminant exists, then the PHG should be set at that threshold. 8. The PHG may be set at zero if necessary to satisfy the requirements listed above. DRAFT 9. OEHHA shall consider exposure to contaminants in media other than drinking water, including food and air and the resulting body burden. 10. PHGs published by OEHHA shall be reviewed every five years and revised as necessary based on the availability of new scientific data. PHGs published by OEHHA are for use by the California Department …
Spatial Distribution of Lightning Strikes to Ground During Small Thunderstorms in Florida

The spatial patterns of the strike points produced by cloud-to-ground lightning under three small thunderstorms have been analyzed to determine the area flash density as a function of radius from the storm center, the distribution of the nearest-neighbor distances, and the distribution of the horizontal distances between successive flashes. The storm average flash densities range from about 0.8 to 1.6 Fl/km squared, and the average lightning fluxes range from 0.03 to 0.05 Fl/km squared/min. The mean nearest-neighbor distances are about 0.7 km and smaller, but are still in good agreement with a theory that assumes an infinite and uniform flash density. The mean distance between successive flashes ranges from 3.2 to 4.2 km, and a sizable fraction of this variation could be due to channel geometry.
Non–Heart-Beating Donor Kidneys in The Netherlands: Allocation and Outcome of Transplantation

Background. Since February 1, 2001, kidneys from both heart-beating (HB) and non–heart-beating (NHB) donors in The Netherlands have been indiscriminately allocated through the standard renal-allocation system. Methods. Renal function and allograft-survival rate for kidneys from NHB and HB donors were compared at 3 and 12 months. Results. The outcomes of 276 renal transplants, 176 from HB donors and 100 from NHB III donors, allocated through the standard renal allocation system, Eurotransplant Kidney Allocation System, and performed between February 1, 2001 and March 1, 2002 were compared. Three months after transplantation, graft survival was 93.7% for HB kidneys and 85.0% for NHB kidneys (P<0.05). At 12 months, graft survival was 92.0% and 83.0%, respectively (P<0.03). Serum creatinine levels in the two groups were comparable at both 3 and 12 months. Multivariate analysis identified previous kidney transplantation (relative risk [RR] 3.33; P<0.005), donor creatinine (RR 1.01; P<0.005), and NHB (RR 2.38; P<0.05) as independent risk factors for transplant failure within 12 months. In multivariate analysis of NHB data, a warm ischemia time (WIT) of 30 minutes or longer (P<0.005; RR 6.16, 95% confidence interval 2.11–18.00) was associated with early graft failure. No difference in 12-month graft survival was seen between HB and NHB kidneys after excluding the kidneys that failed in the first 3 months. Conclusion. Early graft failure was significantly more likely in recipients of kidneys from NHB donors. A prolonged WIT was strongly associated with this failure. Standard allocation procedures do not have a negative effect on outcome, and there is no reason to allocate NHB kidneys differently from HB kidneys.
Detecting the Growth Pattern(s) of the EU Border Regions: A Convergence Clubs Approach

The EU regions have been experiencing a period of unprecedented change. The ongoing (and parallel) processes of EU integration and enlargement have progressively transformed regional economies to integral parts of the emerging (European) socio-economic space, exposing them to the forces and the dynamics of a more competitive environment. Border regions, in particular, have been put in a state of flux since the re-(al)location of activities, opportunities and threats has changed over (the significance of) their role in the respective emerging (European) socio-economic map. Within the context of the aforementioned milieu, the paper aims at detecting and assessing growth determinants at the EU borderlands. This is an issue that has attracting increasing attention, especially after the creation of the Single European Market and the advent of the euro currency. However, the majority of border studies are enclaved in the "unitary case syndrome"Â , without providing substantial added value on border theory. Thus, the present study, following an interdisciplinary approach, compiles a spatial econometrics growth model, incorporating a series of inherent and acquired growth determinants (initial conditions). These determinants are not only quantitative ("hard"Â , "traditional"Â ) but also qualitative ("soft"Â , "non-traditional"Â ), accentuating the complexity of border issues. The study area covers 349 EU NUTS III border regions, as they are specified by ESPON. The findings of the paper are going to provide valuable insight for the understanding of the determinants of growth in EU border regions, having important implications for both theory and policy-making.
Performance of the CERN Injector Complex and Transmission Studies into the LHC during the Second Proton-Lead Run

The LHC performance during the proton-lead run in 2016 relied on continuous monitoring and systematic improvement of the beam quality in all the injectors. The beam production and characteristics are explained in this paper, together with the improvements realised during the run to increase the lead beam intensity. Transmission studies from one accelerator to the next and beam quality evolution studies are summarised. In 2016, the LHC had to deliver the beams to the experiments at two different energies, 4Z TeV and 6.5Z TeV. The properties of the beams at these two energies are also presented.
THE VULNERABILITY OF THE ELDERLY HOUSEHOLDS TO POVERTY: DETERMINANTS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR VIETNAM

Abstract By using household data in 2004, this paper identifies the determinants of the elderly poverty in Vietnam. We find that urban and rural elderly are substantially different, and thus they should be analyzed separately. The results for urban areas generally show that higher ages, unmarried status, residential regions, and working status have significant impacts on the likelihood of poverty for the elderly. In rural areas, higher ages, female, unmarried status, ethnic minorities, residential regions, household composition, and household size are determinant factors of the likelihood of poverty for the elderly. We also found some factors which are less important for both areas, including characteristics of household heads. Remittances and social security benefits appear to be important for reducing poverty of the elderly households, particularly in the rural areas. Based on findings, we formulate policy priorities, including reducing regional disparities, promoting the rural economy, and reforming the social security system. Giang Thanh Long Research Fellow, Vietnam Development Forum (VDF)-Tokyo National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) 7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8677, JAPAN Phone: (+81) 80 5445 0403; Fax: (+81-3) 6439 6010 Email: gtlong@vdf.org. vn Wade D. Pfau Associate Professor National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) 7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8677 Email: wpfau@grips.ac. jp Phone: (+81)-3-6439-6225 Fax: (+81)-3-6439-6010
Sustainable development of Philippine lake resources: An agenda for research and development

There are 59-70 lakes in the Philippines. With the exception of Laguna de Bay and Lake Taal, little is known about Philippine lakes although they contribute as much as 15% to the total annual fisheries production of the country. There is need for an integrated basin approach for the sustainable management of Philippine lake resources. Among the research strategies recommended for sustainable management of Philippine lakes are: (1) studies on lake fisheries resources fish stock assessment, effects of fishing and other human activities on lake productivity, the biology of major aquatic species, and the carrying capacity of lakes; and (2) lake management studies the rational use of lakes, strengthening management, enforcement and institutional mechanisms, and socio-economics focused on the users of lakes.