Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE Relationship between Sea Surface Temperature and Rainfall in the Philippines during the Asian Summer Monsoon

We offer a new perspective on a relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) over the windward region of the Philippines and rainfall in the western Philippines during the Asian summer monsoon season, which has been known as the negative correlation, using observational daily SST, rainfall, and atmospheric circulation datasets. This study focuses on the local SST effect rather than the remote effect. A warmer local SST results in greater rainfall over the western Philippines under similar monsoon westerlies conditions, particularly during moderate and relatively stronger monsoon regimes. This result is obtained after selecting only the moderate or relatively stronger monsoon days, because the positive effect of SST on rainfall is masked by the apparent negative correlation between SST and rainfall. The warmer SSTs being associated with less rainfall correspond to weaker cooling by weaker monsoon westerlies and the cooler SSTs being associated with more rainfall correspond to stronger cooling by stronger monsoon westerlies. The cooler SSTs are the result of stronger monsoon cooling and are not the cause of the greater rainfall, which is the apparent statistical relationship. This also implies that the monsoon westerly is the primary driver of the variation in rainfall in this region. We conclude that the local SST makes a positive contribution toward rainfall, although it does not primarily control rainfall. This conclusion can be applicable to coastal regions where, climatologically, rainfall is controlled by winds from the ocean.
Selection of parathyroidectomy methods for primary hyperparathyroidism according to concordance between ultrasonography and MIBI scan results.

Background Determination of appropriate operative methods for primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is difficult when localisation results are discordant between imaging studies. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of focused parathyroidectomy (FP) and bilateral neck exploration (BNE) according to the concordance in localisation results. Method One hundred and ninety-one patients who underwent a PHPT operation at Asan Medical Center between 2000 and 2010 were divided into two groups according to the concordance in findings between neck ultrasonography (USG) and sestamibi (MIBI) scan. Differences in clinicopathological features and surgical outcomes between the concordant (n=137) and discordant (n=54) groups were analysed. Results FP and BNE did not show significant differences in postoperative persistent hyperparathyroidism rates. Although intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) monitoring was not performed in this study, the cure rates of PHPT using only USG and MIBI scans were satisfactorily high, at 98.5% in the concordant group and 96.3% in the discordant group. The cure rates of FP and Unilateral exploration in single-negative USG and MIBI scans were 100%. Multiple lesions and hyperplasia were more common in the discordant group. Conclusions In cases where it is difficult to apply IOPTH, FP without IOPTH is feasible in patients showing concordant or single-negative detection on USG and MIBI scans, whereas BNE is recommended in cases of discordance or double-negative results on imaging studies, to prevent recurrence or persistent disease. Appropriate selection of parathyroidectomy methods according to the concordance in USG and MIBI scans might produce good results without any difference in recurrence.
Edge Effects on Successional Dynamics of Forest Fragments in the Brazilian Cerrado

Comparative studies of tree dynamics can be useful for the conservation of forest fragments in the Cerrado. We tested if the successional dynamics in fragments of semideciduous forest (SF) and cerradão (CE) are influenced by edge effects (EE). Two surveys were carried out with plots allocation in both physiognomies, from the edge towards the interior of the fragments. All trees with diameter at breast height ≥ 5cm were measured, identified and classified (ecological groups). Both physiognomies showed high recruitment and mortality rates when compared with other forests in Cerrado. We found an EE on tree density (SF), and on mortality, total basal area and basal area of dead (CE), although do not so notorious on a short-term scale. Probably because EE did not influence the ecological groups and canopy cover. Our results suggest that the forest fragmentation can act as a disturbance agent, causing changes in the tree dynamics of the Cerrado forests.
Ownership structure and real earnings management: An empirical study on emerging economy

How to cite this paper: Debnath, N. C. , Chowdhury, S. P., & Khan, S. (2021). Ownership structure and real earnings management: An empirical study on emerging economy. Corporate Ownership & Control, 18(2), 74-89. http://doi.org/10.22495/cocv18i2art6 Copyright © 2021 The Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
The Impact of Employee Empowerment on Job Engagement: Evidence from Jordan

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of employee empowerment (i.e., structural and psychological empowerment) on job engagement (i.e., physical, emotional, and cognitive engagement). A quantitative approach was adopted in order to achieve such a study aim, and the data was collected via an online questionnaire. The sample of this study consisted of 300 employees from the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), one of the biggest Jordanian organisations in Aqaba, with a total of 293 questionnaires retrieved and 7 excluded due to their being invalid for statistical analysis. This yielded a total of 286 accepted questionnaires, or 95.3% of the total questionnaires provided. Moreover, the Statistical Analysis Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for data analysis, the results of which indicating that the level of implementation of employee empowerment dimensions had a medium rate amongst ASEZA’s employees, as the structural empowerment was applied more than the psychological empowerment. Furthermore, the level of present job engagement dimensions also had a medium rate amongst the surveyed ASEZA employees. The results also indicated there to be a significant statistical impact by structural and psychological empowerment on physical engagement and cognitive engagement, whilst there was no significant statistical impact made by structural empowerment on emotional engagement compared to psychological empowerment, which had a significant statistical impact on it. In light of the findings of this research, ASEZA managers must pay more attention to the role of empowerment of employees in promoting work engagement, since this enhances the organisation’s ability to achieve the appropriate strategy and gain a comparative advantage.
STAGES OF BIOFILMS FORMATION BY THE LEADING PATHOGENS IN CHILDREN WITH PYELONEPHRITIS ON CONGENITAL HYDRONEPHROSIS BACKGROUND DEPENDING ON CHILD’S AGE

The aim: to study the stages of primary and secondary biofilms formation by the leading pathogens in children with pyelonephritis on congenital hydronephrosis background depending on child’s age. Materials and methods. Venflons, catheters, urine were used as material for microbiological study. Identification of microorganisms was provided with MICRO-LA-TESTÒID kits. Isolates were tested for ability to form biofilms in Petri dishes with d = 40 mm. The morphological structure of the biofilms was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Results: The study of structural and functional features of biofilms formation by leading pathogens of in children with pyelonephritis on congenital hydronephrosis background depending on child’s age revealed a number of features and patterns. In addition to the classical stages of biofilms formation as 3D structure there was found a dissemination of planktonic cells with the release of bacteria or loss of single fragments that spread throughout the body and attach to the substrate with the formation of a new or secondary biofilm. In children under 3 years it was shown that the cocci attachment to the substrate appeared faster than in gram-negative rods and had appearance of separate structures. The longest stage of primary biofilms formation in young children was the co-aggregation. Detecting an ability to colonize with the formation of a secondary biofilm in isolates established that the longest stage was re-adsorption and the shortest was re-aggregation, which lasted 2 hours Original Research Article: full paper (2021), «EUREKA: Health Sciences» Number 1
The Prevalence of Low Back Pain and its Associated Factors amongPrimary-School Teachers in Jeddah - Saudi Arabia during 2018 - 2019

Objectives and Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was aimed to identify the prevalence of LBP and its associated factors among 420 primary school teachers from 20 different public and private schools in Jeddah district in the period between November 2018 and May 2019. The study sample was chosen by multistage sampling method. Data was collected by a self-administered pretested questionnaire and recorded and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 20.0).
Fiber Reinforcement Influence on the Tensile Response of UHPFRC

The tensile response of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is a fundamental material property and its engagement in the design of structural components requires a throughout understating of the different factors affecting it. In particular, the tensile cracking strength is one of the main parameters adopted for the idealization of the tensile constitutive law. However, the tensile response of UHPFRC is not an intrinsic property as it depends on several factors including the material formulation, the geometry of the components, the casting process, and the testing method and specimen. In this paper, the effect of the fiber reinforcement on the tensile cracking strength is discussed through the analysis of experimental results reported in plain UHPC and UHPFRC with different preferential fiber alignments.
E-TOURISM: HOW CUSTOMERS’ INTENTION TO USE

E-tourism has a significant value in travel industry. It provides one more choice for customers in going for a trip. More and more customers are willing to use it. However, the opaqueness and unrealistic of the Internet are concerned by users. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors affecting the Hong Kong customers to decide to use E-tourism for their trips as well as the degree of influences of different factors. Technology acceptance model (TAM) is adopted in this study. Besides, additional factors including perceived value, trust and perceived risk are added to the model for further exploration. Both quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted. The result shows that perceived ease of use has the largest degree of influence in affecting Hong Kong customers’ purchase intention in using E-tourism. The empirical results of this study support the usual relationship among perceived ease of use, which drives the consumer intention to use E-tourism. The result shows perceived ease of use positively affects intention to use, perceived ease of use positively affects perceived usefulness, perceived value positively affects perceived usefulness, trust positively affects perceived usefulness and trust negatively affects perceived risk. Moreover, the result also shows that perceived usefulness does not significantly influence the intention to use and the relationship between perceived risk and intention to use is not significant. Managerial implications in the development of tourism websites like E-tourism website owners can focus more on user-friendliness.
A Theory of Zombie Lending

An entrepreneur borrows from a relationship bank or the market. The bank has a higher cost of capital but produces private information over time. While the entrepreneur accumulates reputation as the lending relationship continues, asymmetric information is also developed between the bank/entrepreneur and the market. In this setting, zombie lending is inevitable: Once the entrepreneur becomes sufficiently reputable, the bank will roll over loans even after learning bad news, for the prospect of future market financing. Zombie lending is mitigated when the entrepreneur faces financial constraints. Finally, the bank stops producing information too early if information production is costly. ZOMBIE FIRMS—FIRMS WHOSE OPERATING cash flows persistently fall below their interest payments—are common in the real world. According to a recent study by Banerjee and Hofmann (2018), zombie firms make up about 12% of all publicly traded firms across 14 advanced economies. These firms are detrimental to the real economy as they crowd out credit to their healthy competitors and thereby reduce aggregate productivity and investment. Indeed, zombie lending has long been perceived as the main reason behind Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s (Caballero, Hoshi, and Kashyap (2008), Peek and Rosengren (2005)), and more recently, Acharya et al. (2019) and Blattner, Farinha, and Rebelo (2019) show that Europe’s economic recovery from the debt crisis has been plagued by bank lending to zombie firms. It is therefore natural to ask why banks extend loans to firms that are likely unable to repay their loan obligations. Yunzhi Hu is with Kenan-Flagler Business School, UNC Chapel Hill. Felipe Varas is with Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. We are grateful for helpful comments from Philip Bond (Editor); the Associate Editor; two anonymous referees; Mitchell Berlin; Briana Chang; Brendan Daley; Jesse Davis; William Fuchs; Paolo Fulghieri; Ilwoo Hwang; Doron Levit; Fei Li; Andrey Malenko; Igor Makarov; Manju Puri; Raghu Rajan; Jacob Sagi; Matt Spiegel; Yaz Terajima; Anjan Thakor; Brian Waters; Ji Yan; as well as participants at UNC, Copenhagen Business School, Colorado, LSE, SFS-Cavalcade, RCFS-CUHK, FTG summer meeting, FTG Rochester Meeting, LBS summer symposium, Yale SOM, and WFA. The authors have read The Journal of Finance’s disclosure policy and have no conflicts of interest to disclose. A previous version of the paper was titled “A Dynamic Theory of Learning and Relationship Lending. ” Correspondence: Felipe Varas, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University; e-mail: felipe.varas@duke.edu. DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13022 © 2021 the American Finance Association
Papermaking properties of the ECF-bleached kraft pulps from first-thinning Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)

Abstract First-thinning Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and the outer (containing long fibers) and inner (containing short fibers) parts of its stem wood were delignified on a laboratory scale by kraft pulping followed by oxygen-alkali delignification and bleaching with D0(EO)D1(EP)D2. The aim was to evaluate the potential use of the bleached pulps as reinforcing material in various mechanical and chemical pulps. The physical and optical properties of the pulps indicated that only the “outer part pulp”, with rather similar properties to those of a reference softwood kraft pulp, seemed suitable for this purpose. In contrast, materials from first-thinning stem wood and its inner part resulted in lower yields as early as the kraft pulping stage. Rather mediocre strength properties were obtained, but the bleached kraft pulps prepared from the two first thinning-based materials had good optical properties.
An Emerging Paradigm

Augmenting existing sports experiences with computing technology is increasingly gaining attention due to its potential for performance enhancement. However, most of these approaches focus on existing single-user activities. The authors are presenting the newly emerging field of Computer Supported Collaborative Sports (CSCS) to draw attention to the social aspect of sport and its potential to support novel experiences for players that are not available in traditional sports environments. They discuss important dimensions in the design space of CSCS by detailing two example applications and lay out further research directions for the design of collaborative technologies in computer augmented sports.
Development and evaluation of 0.05° terrestrial water storage
estimates using CABLE land surface model and GRACE data
assimilation

Abstract. Accurate estimation of terrestrial water storage (TWS) at a meaningful spatiotemporal resolution is important for reliable assessments of regional water resources and climate variability. Individual components of TWS include soil moisture, snow, groundwater, and canopy storage and can be estimated from the Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) land surface model. The spatial resolution of CABLE is currently limited to 0.5° by the resolution of soil and vegetation datasets that underlie model parameterizations, posing a challenge to using CABLE for hydrological applications at a local scale. This study aims to improve the spatial detail (from 0.5° to 0.05°) and timespan (1981–2012) of CABLE TWS estimates using rederived model parameters and high-resolution meteorological forcing. In addition, TWS observations derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission are assimilated into CABLE to improve TWS accuracy. The success of the approach is demonstrated in Australia, where multiple ground observation networks are available for validation. The evaluation process is conducted using four different case studies that employ different model spatial resolutions and include or omit GRACE data assimilation (DA). We find that the CABLE 0.05° developed here improves TWS estimates in terms of accuracy, spatial resolution, and long-term water resource assessment reliability. The inclusion of GRACE DA increases the accuracy of groundwater storage (GWS) estimates and has little impact on surface soil moisture or evapotranspiration. The use of improved model parameters and improved state estimations (via GRACE DA) together is recommended to achieve the best GWS accuracy. The workflow elaborated in this paper relies only on publicly accessible global datasets, allowing reproduction of the 0.05° TWS estimates in any study region.
The Initial Potential and Current Distributions of the Crevice Corrosion Process

A computational model has been developed to calculate the potential and current distributions in the electrolyte phase and on the electrode surface for a system in which a part of the anode is passivated while the rest remains in the active dissolution state. The computation employs the finite element method allied with a boundary variation and a trial and error technique. From the obtained distributions, the location of the boundary between the active and passive regions on the anode can be predicted. In the case of a crevice, this means that a critical distance into the crevice exists beyond which active corrosion (crevice corrosion) takes place. In addition to the active/passive behavior of the material, solution conductivity, applied potential at the sample's outer surface, crevice gap and depth dimensions, and passive current density influence this critical distance to different degrees. The developed software package may also be used for (i) IR-induced crevice corrosion under open-circuit conditions where the electrode potential at the outer surface is established in the passive region by an oxidant, (ii) the design of anodic protection systems, and (iii) the design of some corrosion resistant coatings and alloys. The values of the critical distance into a crevicemore » for pure iron in buffered ammoniacal (pH 9.7) and acetic acid (pH 4.6) solutions are calculated and shown to be in good agreement with available (pH 4.6) literature values. « less
Graph Alignment-Based Protein Comparison

Inspired by the question of identifying mechanisms of viral infection, we are interested in the problem of comparing pairs of proteins, given by amino acid sequences and traces of their 3-dimensional structure. While it is true that the problem of predicting and comparing protein function is one of the most famous unsolved problems in computational biology, we propose a heuristic which poses it as a simple alignment problem, which - after some linear-algebraic pre-processing - is amenable to a dynamic programming solution.
Shark-fins: overturned patterns linked to shear instabilities at the flow-bed boundary. Examples from the deposits of the 2006 pyroclastic currents at Tungurahua volcano (Ecuador)

Enigmatic structures grouped under the term "shark-fins" are documented in laminated deposits of pyroclastic currents. They consist of an overturning of a few laminae on a decimeter scale, forming overbent "flames" or convolute laminae, which occur in successive, periodic patterns. More than 200 shark-fins were investigated and measured in cross-laminated deposits from the 2006 pyroclastic currents of Tungurahua volcano (Ecuador). Shark-fins often underlie erosive lines. They occur in periodic repetitions or amalgamated in swarms and can show signs of migration as well as concurrent growth during sedimentation. These shark-fins are interpreted in terms of syn-depositional soft sediment deformation. The patterns are interpreted as due to the reworking of the bed by wave instabilities, which form around a shear horizon between a traction carpet and the bed. A theoretical framework based on two fluid layers separated by a shear horizon is adapted from the Holmboe instability problem. The calculated growth rates of the waves are compared to sedimentation rates in order to infer aspects of the stability and preservation of the sheared interfaces. The good agreement of the physical model with field data supports the process-based interpretation. In particular, such modified Holmboe instabilities seem more adequate than Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities to explain overturned sharkfins structures. Other incidental overturned patterns are presented and discussed, which likely result from an intraflow event as well as from syn-flow slumping. Such observations on flow-bed interactions contribute to the understanding of a flow rheology, shear partitioning, and the transmission of shear stress out of the flow and into the substrate.
Effects of oil price shocks on economic sectors of net oil-importing countries: case of Togo

Less analyzed, the impact of world oil prices on the economy of net oil-importing countries is becoming more significant due to the increase in oil consumption. This paper analyzes the linear and the nonlinear impact of world oil price on Togo's economic sectors based on annual time series from 1970 to 2017, using an unrestricted vector autoregressive (VAR) model. With the linear impact model, the results show that the world oil price shock does not affect the value-added of the economic sectors. As expected, Togo's economic sectors fail to affect the world oil price markets, which confirms that Togo, a small net oil-importing country, has no pricing power in the world oil markets. However, by using the VAR asymmetric impact model proposed by Mork (1989), we find that the impact of world oil price on economic sectors is nonlinear. Thus, positive changes in world oil price do not affect the value-added of economic sectors considered while the negative changes in oil price contribute to improve significantly the value-added of primary and secondary sectors, but not the tertiary sector. Finally, our analysis shows that the value-added of primary and secondary sectors affect respectively the value-added of the tertiary sector. The inverse is not true. This paper recommends that Togo must seek to take benefit from all negative changes in world oil price for boosting the value-added of their economic sectors. Special thanks to John P. Conley and the two anonymous referees for the comments and suggestions that allowed to substantially improve the quality of the paper. All errors remain mine. Citation: Léleng Kebalo, (2020) ''Effects of oil price shocks on economic sectors of net oil-importing countries: case of Togo'', Economics Bulletin, Volume 40, Issue 4, pages 2689-2703 Contact: Léleng Kebalo kebalo.leleng@gmail.com. Submitted: May 15, 2020. Published: October 12, 2020.