Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alternative Pollution Control Policies in Developing Countries: Informal, Informational, and Voluntary

In developing countries, weak environmental regulatory institutions often undermine conventional command-and-control policies. As a result, these countries are increasingly experimenting with alternative approaches that aim to leverage nonregulatory “green” pressures applied by local communities, capital markets, and consumers. This article reviews three strands of the empirical literature on this trend. The first strand examines the direct impact of nonregulatory pressures on developing country firms’ environmental performance. The second and third strands analyze policy innovations reputed to leverage these pressures -- public disclosure and voluntary regulation. I find that the econometric evidence that nonregulatory pressures have had a direct impact on firms’ environmental performance is thin, at least partly because disentangling such impacts is inherently difficult. Nevertheless, existing empirical research suggests that public disclosure programs have spurred emissions reductions by particularly dirty firms. The evidence on voluntary regulatory policies is far more mixed. Taken as a whole, the literature suggests that policymakers would do well to exercise caution in promoting and implementing alternative pollution control tools: they are only likely to be effective in some incarnations and situations.
Sensitive red protein calcium indicators for imaging neural activity

Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) allow measurement of activity in large populations of neurons and in small neuronal compartments, over times of milliseconds to months. Although GFP-based GECIs are widely used for in vivo neurophysiology, GECIs with red-shifted excitation and emission spectra have advantages for in vivo imaging because of reduced scattering and absorption in tissue, and a consequent reduction in phototoxicity. However, current red GECIs are inferior to the state-of-the-art GFP-based GCaMP6 indicators for detecting and quantifying neural activity. Here we present improved red GECIs based on mRuby (jRCaMP1a, b) and mApple (jRGECO1a), with sensitivity comparable to GCaMP6. We characterized the performance of the new red GECIs in cultured neurons and in mouse, Drosophila, zebrafish and C. elegans in vivo. Red GECIs facilitate deep-tissue imaging, dual-color imaging together with GFP-based reporters, and the use of optogenetics in combination with calcium imaging.
Chord Recognition using Segment Averaging Feature Extraction with Simplified Harmonic Product Spectrum and Logarithmic Scaling

This paper proposes a feature extraction method for a chord recognition, which gives a fewer number of feature extraction coefficients than the previous works. The method of the proposed feature extraction is segment averaging with SHPS (Simplified Harmonic Product Spectrum) and logarithmic scaling. The chords used in developing the proposed feature extraction were guitar chords. In a more detail, the method of the proposed feature extraction basically is as follows. Firstly, the input signal is transformed using FFT (Fast Fourier Transform). Secondly, the left portion of the transformed signal is then processed in succession using SHPS, logarithmic scaling, and segment averaging. The output of segment averaging is the result of the proposed feature extraction. Based on the test results, the proposed feature extraction is quite efficient for use in chord recognition, since it requires only at least eight coefficients to represent each chord.
The fisheries' trinity: re-conceptualising New Zealand's inshore fisheries management

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iii TABLE OF CONTENTS . iv LIST OF TABLES. x LIST OF FIGURES . xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.xiv CHAPTER I: DAWNING CONCERNS 1.
Life table evaluation of change in emerald ash borer populations due to biological control

Emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (EAB), is an invasive buprestid native to northeastern Asia that feeds on ash trees (Fraxinus spp.). First detected in North America (in Michigan, United States and Ontario, Canada) in 2002, EAB has spread rapidly, in part because of movement of infested nursery stock and untreated firewood (Cappaert et al., 2005a; BenDor et al., 2006; Poland and McCullough, 2006). As of January 2014, EAB was known in an additional 21 U.S. states and one Canadian province (USDA-APHIS, 2014), and it is expected to continue spreading to other parts of the continent with ash trees and a suitable climate (Sobek-Swant et al., 2012; Vermunt et al., 2012; DeSantis et al., 2013). Thus far, EAB has killed tens of millions of ash trees, with tree death generally occurring within 3-4 years of initial infestation by the beetle (Poland and McCullough, 2006). The treatment, or removal and replacement of landscape trees affected by this pest is projected to cost over $10 billion in the United States in the coming decade (Kovacs et al., 2010). While insecticide treatments can be effective at reducing losses from EAB in urban settings, biological control might represent the most sustainable option for suppressing populations at the landscape level and in natural environments over the long term.
Human Capital in Growth Regressions: How Much Difference Does Data Quality Make? An Update and Further Results

We construct estimates of educational attainment for a sample of OECD countries using previously unexploited sources. We follow a heuristic approach to obtain plausible time profiles for attainment levels by removing sharp breaks in the data that seem to reflect changes in classification criteria. We then construct indicators of the information content of our series and a number of previously available data sets and examine their performance in several growth specifications. We find a clear positive correlation between data quality and the size and significance of human capital coefficients in growth regressions. Using an extension of the classical errors in variables model, we construct a set of meta-estimates of the coefficient of years of schooling in an aggregate Cobb-Douglas production function. Our results suggest that, after correcting for measurement error bias, the value of this parameter is well above 0.50.
Sa Mitjalluna: minería prehistórica de cobre en Illa den Colom (Mahón, Menorca)

espanolSe presentan los resultados preliminares de la excavacion arqueologica realizada en abril de 2012 en los restos mineros prehistoricos, identificados previamente por prospeccion superficial, del deposito mineral de Sa Mitjalluna. Este deposito esta localizado en la parte centro oriental de Illa den Colom, una pequena isla situada en el termino municipal de Mahon (Menorca, Islas Baleares), frente a la poblacion de Es Grau. La intervencion, planteada a traves de seis sondeos de diagnostico, ha permitido la documentacion de un frente de trabajo minero que explotaba una veta de cuarzo con mineralizacion de calcopirita y especies secundarias de cobre (malaquita y azurita fundamentalmente), y de una de las escombreras asociadas a la actividad minera, con una secuencia estratigrafica prehistorica compleja, conteniendo numerosas mazas liticas mineras prehistoricas, fabricadas con cantos rodados de origen erosivo marino local. Estas herramientas, junto con los fragmentos de ceramica recuperados, han permitido datar la explotacion minera en torno a mediados del II milenio a.C. EnglishThe preliminary results of the archaeological excavation carried out in April 2012 in the, previously identified by surface survey, prehistoric mining remains in Sa Mitjalluna ore deposit are presented. This deposit is located in the eastern-central part of Illa den Colom, a small island in the municipality of Mahon (Minorca, Balearic Islands, Spain), in front of the village of Es Grau. The archaeological dig, designed to be done by means of six diagnosis squares, has allowed the documentation of a mining working front exploiting a quartz vein with chalcopyrite and secondary copper minerals (mainly malachite and azurite) and one of the associated mining waste heaps with a complex prehistoric stratigraphic sequence, containing numerous prehistoric mining hammers, manufactured with local boulders of erosive marine formation. These tools, along with the and-made pottery fragments recovered, have allowed to date the mining works to the middle of the second millennium BC.
Delimitation of Recharge Areas in the Sordo River Basin Using Oxygen Isotopes

This study describes a methodology for spatial analysis of  18 O in spring waters, having as main objective to delimit recharge areas within the Sordo River basin. The method is based on the development of an isotope gradient in the springs, associated with evaporation during the recharge period, a phenomenon that grows on the prolongation of this period and on the thermal gradient of the basin. The isotopic gradient of the springs converges with the isotope gradient defined for local rainwater, in the main recharge areas. For the studied basin, this convergence occurs for altitudes above 700 meters, having been defined three recharge sectors, two located in the mountainous regions of the river source and a third where the basin undergoes a dramatic morphological change represented by a significant reduction in the width of the main Valley. Most of the springs are located outside of recharge zones defined previously. Although it is expected that some springs can be refilled from these areas, in which case they represent outlet points of regional or intermediate hydraulic circuits, in most cases the recharge will take place from areas positioned in the vicinity of the
Concentration and toxicity of sea-surface contaminants in Puget Sound

The Marine Research Laboratory conducted studies during CY 1985 to evaluate the effects of sea-surface contamination on the reproductive success of a valued marine species. Microlayer and bulk water samples were collected from a rural bay, central Puget Sound, and three urban bays and analyzed for a number of metal and organic contaminants as well as for densities of neuston and plankton organisms. Fertilized neustonic eggs of sand sole (Psettichthys melanostictus) were exposed to the same microlayer samples during their first week of embryonic and larval development. Also, we evaluated the effects of microlayer extracts on the growth of trout cell cultures. Compared to rural sites, urban bays generally contained lower densities of neustonic flatfish eggs during the spawning season. Also, in contrast to the rural sites or the one central Puget Sound site, approximately half of the urban bay microlayer samples resulted in significant increases in embryo mortality (up to 100%), kyphosis (bent spine abnormalities) in hatched larvae, increased anaphase aberrations in developing embryos, and decreased trout cell growth. The toxic samples generally contained high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic and/or chlorinated hydrocarbons and/or potentially toxic metals. In some cases, concentrations of contaminants on the sea surface exceeded water-quality criteriamore » by several orders of magnitude. Several samples of subsurface bulk water collected below highly contaminated surfaces showed no detectable contamination or toxicity. « less
The formation and alteration of the Renazzo‐like carbonaceous chondrites III: Toward understanding the genesis of ferromagnesian chondrules

To better understand the formation conditions of ferromagnesian chondrules from the Renazzo‐like carbonaceous (CR) chondrites, a systematic study of 210 chondrules from 15 CR chondrites was conducted. The texture and composition of silicate and opaque minerals from each observed FeO‐rich (type II) chondrule, and a representative number of FeO‐poor (type I) chondrules, were studied to build a substantial and self‐consistent data set. The average abundances and standard deviations of Cr2O3 in FeO‐rich olivine phenocrysts are consistent with previous work that the CR chondrites are among the least thermally altered samples from the early solar system. Type II chondrules from the CR chondrites formed under highly variable conditions (e.g., precursor composition, redox conditions, cooling rate), with each chondrule recording a distinct igneous history. The opaque minerals within type II chondrules are consistent with formation during chondrule melting and cooling, starting as S‐ and Ni‐rich liquids at 988–1350 °C, then cooling to form monosulfide solid solution (mss) that crystallized around olivine/pyroxene phenocrysts. During cooling, Fe,Ni‐metal crystallized from the S‐ and Ni‐rich liquid, and upon further cooling mss decomposed into pentlandite and pyrrhotite, with pentlandite exsolving from mss at 400–600 °C. The composition, texture, and inferred formation temperature of pentlandite within chondrules studied here is inconsistent with formation via aqueous alteration. However, some opaque minerals (Fe,Ni‐metal versus magnetite and panethite) present in type II chondrules are a proxy for the degree of whole‐rock aqueous alteration. The texture and composition of sulfide‐bearing opaque minerals in Graves Nunataks 06100 and Grosvenor Mountains 03116 suggest that they are the most thermally altered CR chondrites.
Relative Importance of Physical Constraints on Decomposition

ð Soil organic matter (SOM) stability is thought to be dependent almost entirely on temperature, moisture, and microbial dynamics. While soil physical factors are also known determinants of SOM decomposition, proportionally little work has attempted to determine how these factors could regulate future rates of CO 2 release from soils under a changing climate. Here, paired lab-field experiments explore the effects of change in the physical environment and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) respiration of SOM in mineral soil from an 80-year old red spruce forest stand in Nova Scotia, Canada. Factors tested were substrate transport, solubilization, oxygen availability, and physical structure, and were performed using the following respective disturbance methodologies: electrokinetics, wetting, air- sparging, and abrasion and compaction. Most treatments drove change in SOM decomposition rates, and the effect of the disturbance usually decayed over several days. Interestingly, laboratory and field results differed strongly, and opposite responses were often observed for a given type of disturbance. Electrokinetics, or the movement of substrates independent of other disturbances, did not produce any change to the soil CO 2 emission regime. Few studies have tackled the importance of physical controls on soil decomposition, but this is new and potentially important work for making accurate future predictions of terrestrial carbon cycling.
Viscosity and Surface Tension Effects on Weir Flow

Weirs have been in use for a number of decades for the measurement of discharge in channels. The existing discharge relations for weirs predict the discharge reasonably well at high heads; however, the accuracy of these relations is questionable at low heads. This is mainly due to the fact that the effects of viscosity and surface tension of the liquid are important at low heads and these have not been properly considered in deriving the discharge relations.
Handheld Computers

Recent advances in handheld computer hardware and software may provide alternatives to paper-based data collection methods. The authors compared data collected with paper forms to data collected with handheld computer-based forms in a field observation study of alcohol purchase attempts at 47 community festivals in a large metropolitan area. Agreement between data collected with paper forms and data collected with handheld computers was greater than 95%. Computer-based forms handled branching patterns better and yielded data that were immediately available for analyses. Paper forms handled written comments better. Handheld computers are a feasible alternative to paper forms for field data collection.
Dewey, Vygotsky, and the Social Administration of the Individual: Constructivist Pedagogy as Systems of Ideas in Historical Spaces

Current constructivists’ pedagogies draw on the writings of early 20th century Russian psychologist Vygotsky and the American phhilosopher/psychologist Dewey. This occurs without examining the historical spaces of the past and present in which that knowledge is socially constructed. This emptying of history in systems of knowledge is odd for an intellectual project concerned with cultural-historical theories. To address this omission, the writings of Dewey and Vygotsky are examined as part of the turn-of-the-century human sciences. They functioned to bring the new democratic political rationalities into the governing of individual conduct. Contemporary pedagogical theories that draw on Dewey and Vygotsky maintain this function of governing conduct, but with different narratives and images. The differences are made visible when comparing the “problem-solving individual” in education with the images of the individual inscribed in social theory, state policies, economics, and the military. My moving between the past and the present and between education and other social practices directs attention to the shifting terrain that relates school knowledge, power, and problems of social inclusion/exclusion.
Which Intervention Characteristics are Related to More Exposure to Internet-Delivered Healthy Lifestyle Promotion Interventions? A Systematic Review

Background The Internet has become a popular medium for the delivery of tailored healthy lifestyle promoting interventions. The actual reach of Internet-delivered interventions seems, however, lower than expected, and attrition from interventions is generally high. Characteristics of an intervention, such as personally tailored feedback and goal setting, are thought to be among the important factors related to of use of and exposure to interventions. However, there is no systematic overview of which characteristics of Internet-delivered interventions may be related to more exposure. Objective The present study aims to identify (1) which potentially exposure-promoting methods and strategies are used in existing Internet interventions, (2) which objective outcome measures are used to measure exposure to Internet interventions, and (3) which potentially exposure-promoting methods and strategies are associated with better exposure. Methods A systematic review of the literature was conducted based on the Cochrane guidelines. Papers published between 1995 and 2009 were searched in the PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases. In total, 64 studies were included that reported objective exposure measures such as completion of an initial visit, number of log-ins, and time spent on the website. Information about intervention-related characteristics (ie, interactive behavior change strategies, interactive elements for fun, peer or counsel support, email/phone contact, and regular updates of the website) that could potentially contribute to better exposure and objective exposure outcomes were abstracted from the studies and qualitative systematic descriptive analyses were performed. Results The results showed that a large variety of behavior change techniques and other exposure-promoting elements were used in the interventions and that these methods and strategies varied for the various lifestyle behaviors. Feedback, interactive elements, and email/phone contact were used most often. In addition, there was much variety and a lack of consistency in the exposure measures that were reported. Of all the categories of intervention characteristics that may be associated with better exposure, there were indications that peer and counselor support result in a longer website visit and that email/phone contact and updates of the website result in more log-ins. Conclusions Results of this qualitative systematic review indicate that of all intervention characteristics that could potentially enhance exposure, only peer support, counselor support, email/phone contact with visitors, and updates of the intervention website were related to better exposure. The diversity of intervention methods used and the inconsistency in the report of exposure measures prevented us from drawing firmer conclusions. More research is needed to identify whether other characteristics of Internet interventions are associated with greater exposure.
APPROXIMATE ANALYSIS OF THE BOREHOLE PERMEAMETER IN UNSATURED SOIL

An approximate analysis of the steady constanthead uncased borehole permeameter in homogeneous unsaturated soil is presented. A bulb-shaped region of saturated soil, the "saturated bulb", adjoins theehole. The problem is solved by matching approximate models of the "inner" saturated flow within the bulb and the "outer" flow in the surrounding unsaturated soil. The quasilinear analysis, with sorptive number a characterizing the capillary properties of the soil, is applied to the outer, unsaturated, flow. The results agree well with relevant detailed numerical solutions, and the model is consistent also with saturated flow formulae. In general, the capillary properties of the soil cannot be ignored: for a borehole off radius 0.05 m, the error committed in ignoring capilarity increases from 2.8% to 280% as a decreases through the practical range 10 to 0.1 m-1. The concepts and methods apply to a range of steady mixed saturated- unsaturated flow systems.
Analyzing and forecasting business cycles in a small open economy: A dynamic factor model for Singapore

A dynamic factor model is applied to a large panel dataset of Singapore’s macroeconomic variables and global economic indicators with the initial objective of analysing business cycles in a small open economy. The empirical results suggest that four common factors – which can broadly be interpreted as world, regional, electronics and domestic economic cycles – capture a large proportion of the co-variation in the quarterly time series. The estimated factor model also explains well the observed fluctuations in real economic activity and price inflation, leading us to use it in forecasting Singapore’s business cycles. We find that the forecasts generated by the factors are generally more accurate than the predictions of univariate models and vector autoregressions that employ leading indicators.
Freshwater Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment

As part of a global effort to identify those areas where conservation measures are needed most urgently, World Wildlife Fund has assembled teams of scientists to conduct ecological assessments of all seven continents. Freshwater Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar is the latest contribution, presenting in a single volume the first in-depth analysis of the state of freshwater biodiversity across Africa, Madagascar, and the islands of the region. Looking at biodiversity and threats in terms of biological units rather than political units, the book offers a comprehensive examination of the entire range of aquatic systems. In addition to its six main chapters, the book includes nineteen essays by regional experts that provide more depth on key issues, as well as six detailed appendixes that present summary data used in the analyses, specific analytical methodologies, and a thorough text description for each of Africa's ninety-three freshwater ecoregions. Freshwater Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar provides a blueprint for conservation action and represents an unparalleled guide for investments and activities of conservation agencies and donor organizations.