Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health as a Component of Human Capital Formation: Does it Matter for the Growth of the Nigerian Economy? LA SANTE EST UNE COMPOSANTE DE LA FORMATION DU CAPITAL HUMAIN: EST-CE DERNIER EST IMPORTANT DANS LA CROISSANCE DE L'ECONOMIE NIGERIENNE?

This paper tries to examine whether health as a component of human capital matters for the growth of the Nigerian economy. The study employs annual time series data from 1970 to 2009. The unit root test result indicates that all the variables except one were stationary at first difference, which also implies a I(1) while the result of the cointegration analysis reveals six cointegrating equations. Accordingly, the study employs the error correction mechanism which helps to determine the short run dynamics of the cointegrated variables towards their equilibrium. The results of the study show that health expenditure is positive and statistically significant but the coefficients of the second and third lags are negative and statistically significant. Infant mortality is significant and has negative coefficient. Life expectancy is positive and statistically significant at the first difference and difference of the second lag. The control variables such as gross fixed capital formation, education expenditure and labour force were all significant. The ECM variable is negative, less than one in absolute term and statistically significant with the coefficient of 40%, implying that the speed of adjustment or convergence to equilibrium is 40%. The model demonstrates a good fit. This is evident from the adjusted R2 of 97%, showing that the explanatory power of the model is strong with the independent variables explaining 97 percent of variation in gross domestic product. The Durbin-Watson statistic of 3.15 falls within the acceptable range of no autocorrelation. The main conclusion from the study is that health as a component of human capital formation matters for the growth of the Nigerian economy. The policy implication of the study is that the Nigerian government should in addition to increasing expenditure on health put in place mechanism to monitor how effectively such funds are utilized for the purposes for which they are meant. All efforts as a matter of fact should also be geared towards combating the menace of communicable diseases such as HIV/ AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in order to improve the health status of the population, reduce infant mortality and improve life expectancy.
Temperature Fields in the Tropical Tropopause Transition Layer

Abstract There has been increasing recognition of the role of the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) in determining stratospheric water vapor concentrations—the TTL being a layer of transition between air showing tropospheric properties below and stratospheric properties above. This study investigates the spatial structure of temperatures in the TTL. A dehydration index based on the atmospheric region with temperatures colder than a specific reference temperature was defined to examine the TTL temperature structure and possible influences on stratospheric water vapor. The results indicate that dehydration regions with cold temperatures (e.g., <190 K) occur mainly over the western Pacific and are about 1.5–2.0 km in depth during Northern Hemisphere winter. The dehydration index is mainly dependent on the annual cycle of the TTL temperatures, but is strongly affected by interannual variations associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Dehydration regions with .
Space-time modelling of emerging infectious diseases: Assessing leptospirosis risk in Sri Lanka

In this research, models were developed to analyze leptospirosis incidence in Sri Lanka and its relation to rainfall. Before any leptospirosis risk models were developed, rainfall data were evaluated from an agro-ecological monitoring network for producing maps of total monthly rainfall in Sri Lanka. Four spatial interpolation techniques were compared: inverse distance weighting, thin-plate splines, ordinary kriging, and Bayesian kriging. Error metrics were used to validate interpolations against independent data. Satellite data were used to assess the spatial pattern of rainfall. Results indicated that Bayesian kriging and splines performed best in low and high rainfall, respectively. Rainfall maps generated from the agro-ecological network were found to have accuracies consistent with previous studies in Sri Lanka. These rainfall data were then used as the primary predictor in a family of time series leptospirosis forecasting models at varying spatial scales across Sri Lanka. Several modelling scenarios were evaluated using proper scoring rules and numerous other metrics to assess model fit and calibration. A negative binomial integer-valued autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (INGARCH) model that included current and previous rainfall covariates, as well as regression on previous cases of leptospirosis at a local and seasonal time scale was selected as the best performing model. It was found that rainfall did not have a significant correlation with leptospirosis incidence in Sri Lanka, but the family of INGARCH models developed was able to forecast leptospirosis incidence and effectively provide early warning for leptospirosis outbreaks at the district level
Adjusting the CPmax factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE): areas in need of soil erosion protection in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT Water erosion is identified as the most severe type of soil degradation in the Czech Republic. Systematic protection preventing water erosion is not carried out in large areas of agricultural land. The map of the maximum tolerable CP factor value (the cover-management and the support-practice factors) – CPmax was compiled in order to assess erosion hazard on agricultural land. It estimates the requirements of the conservation practices which would not cause soil erosion above the tolerable limit of annual soil loss. The map is based on calculations using an adjusted Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and is easy to apply. It has already been applied in the Czech Republic when creating the map of erosion vulnerability for the purposes of delimitation of Standards of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs), within Cross Compliance. The map covers the whole territory of the Czech Republic (scale 1:1,000,000).
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Auto-Calibrated Gaze Estimation Using Human Gaze Patterns

We present a novel method to auto-calibrate gaze estimators based on gaze patterns obtained from other viewers. Our method is based on the observation that the gaze patterns of humans are indicative of where a new viewer will look at. When a new viewer is looking at a stimulus, we first estimate a topology of gaze points (initial gaze points). Next, these points are transformed so that they match the gaze patterns of other humans to find the correct gaze points. In a flexible uncalibrated setup with a web camera and no chin rest, the proposed method is tested on ten subjects and ten images. Themethod estimates the gaze points after looking at a stimulus for a few secondswith an average error below4.5◦. Although the reported performance is lower than what could be achieved with dedicated hardware or calibrated setup, the proposed method still provides sufficient accuracy to trace the viewer attention. This is promising considering the fact that auto-calibration is done in a flexible setup , without the use of a chin rest, and based only on a few seconds of gaze initialization data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to use human gaze patterns in order to auto-calibrate gaze estimators.
Sensitivity of a wave model to wind variability

A third-generation wave model was applied to the Gulf of California to hindcast wave spectra and to assess model sensitivity to wind variability on the basis of three different numerical simulations: (1) when a synthetic wind field of varying randomness is adopted and when the forcing wind field considered has an input time step of (2) 6 hours and (3) 5 min. In the first idealized simulation the wave field induced by a constant wind field is compared with the result when white noise was added to the originally constant forcing winds. Results from these numerical simulations demonstrate that wave energy increases with wind variability, even though the mean wind is kept constant. In the second and third simulations the forcing wind is averaged for periods of 6 hours and 5 min, which represent relatively low and high timescale variability, respectively. These realistic wind fields were constructed as a blend of detailed in situ measurements and analysis information, representing wind variability in both speed and direction. The results show that high-variability winds induce broad directional wave spectra and secondary peaks with similar magnitude as the main peak (bimodal spectra). With the presence of wind gustiness and a continuous spectrum of wind variability, all source terms are expected to play a significant role in the evolution of the wave spectrum.
Effects of hydraulic conductivity variability on hillslope‐scale shallow subsurface flow response and storage‐discharge relations

An important problem in scientific hydrology is accounting for the effect of small‐scale heterogeneity in lumped representations of flow through landscapes. In this work we investigate the effect of lateral variations in hydraulic conductivity on saturated subsurface lateral flow through hillslopes using an idealized model based on the Boussinesq equation. The model simulates flow over an impervious planar base through heterogeneous conductivity fields in response to simple recharge inputs and periodic recharge events. The results indicate that the hillslope‐scale response depends on the relative importance of topographic and water table potential gradients driving flow. The relative magnitude of these drivers is related to a dimensionless variable . Where water table gradients dominate, a network of flow paths channel flow through the hillslope toward high‐conductivity areas, and the response is primarily dependent on the boundary condition at the toe of the hillslope. Where the topographic gradients dominate, the flow is delayed by low‐conductivity areas, producing a power law–like response, suggesting that high exponents in observed storage‐discharge relations may be traced to the presence of heterogeneity in the landscape. These observations suggest that the nature of the lumped hillslope‐scale hydrologic models depends on the emergent behaviors that arise at that scale as a result of the interactions between hillslope properties (including their variability in space), the relationship between the hillslopes and their surrounding landscape elements (through the boundary conditions), and the temporal variability of the recharge that enters the system.
Homeward bound: annual breeding home range size and overlap in Broad-winged Hawks ( Buteo platypterus ) and the effects of sex, productivity, and ecoregion

Documenting home range size, and identifying the variables influencing it, is key to understanding raptor population ecology and to addressing conservation issues. The Broad-winged Hawk ( Buteo platypterus , hereafter broadwing) is a small forest buteo that travels over 8,000 km between its breeding range in North America and wintering range in Central and South America. Although conspicuous during migration, its secretive behavior while nesting hinders data collection on behavior and movements during the breeding season. We calculated breeding home ranges of 14 telemetry-tracked broadwings in northeastern USA and analyzed the effects of intrinsic (sex and nest productivity) and extrinsic (ecoregion) variables, using autocorrelated kernel density estimations. Breeding home ranges were 20 times larger in males than in females, in line with the strong division of labor between sexes observed in raptors. Breeding home ranges were larger in the most southerly ecoregion, suggesting that adults may need to move more to find prey for their nestlings or the habitat is less suitable in this ecoregion. We found no effect of nest productivity, although sample size was small. We assessed nest site fidelity and home range overlap across years for five adults. We found annual breeding home ranges overlapped (>0.85 in all cases) and inter-annual nest distances were less than 200 m on average, indicating a strong fidelity to the breeding home range and to the nest site area. To our knowledge, this is the first study using telemetry data to calculate breeding home ranges of this secretive forest raptor. Our findings indicate that broadwing breeding home ranges and nesting locations may remain stable over several years. Understanding and protecting the habitats used by nesting broadwings throughout their breeding range could be important to their long-term conservation.
An Early Epipalaeolithic sitting burial from the Azraq Oasis, Jordan

Detailed analysis of the anatomy and taphonomic process of a burial in Jordan shows that the body was originally bound in a sitting position and placed in marshland, where it collapsed into the splayed tableau eventually recovered by excavation. The authors succeed in reconstructing a burial rite from one of the most elusive of mortuary phases: the Early Epipalaeolithic in south-west Asia.
Spatio-temporal variations of evapotranspiration in Poyang Lake Basin using MOD16 products

Under the support of ArcGIS spatial analysis module,this paper mainly aims at mod16-ET product to conduct a systematic research on the spatial and temporal characteristics in the Poyang Lake Basin during 2000-2010.The results indicated that MOD16-ET product is more applicable for the analysis of spatio-temporal distribution characteristic of evapotranspiration.In addition to water bodies and wetlands,the average ET from 2000 to 2010 changed obviously,and the sudden ascent happened in 2003 and 2007,which exceeded the average ET value by 49.28 mm and 46.71 mm respectively.The spatial distribution of the ET had obvious regional characteristics.ET values in the central part of the basin are higher than those in the surrounding areas in terms of their spatial distribution,especially in the high vegetation coverage areas.Furthermore,the seasonal variation of ET shows a unimodal pattern,and its peak value occurs in July.The spatial distribution of ET is related to land cover characteristics,which have effect on the ET distribution in the Poyang Lake Basin,and the order of ET intensity by land cover types is woodland grassland farmland unused land building land.The results of the study are of great theoretical and practical significance to analyses of the cause of drought and effective use of water resources across the Poyang Lake Basin.
Intensified Influenza Virus Production in Suspension HEK293SF Cell Cultures Operated in Fed-Batch or Perfusion with Continuous Harvest

Major efforts in the intensification of cell culture-based viral vaccine manufacturing focus on the development of high-cell-density (HCD) processes, often operated in perfusion. While perfusion operations allow for higher viable cell densities and volumetric productivities, the high perfusion rates (PR) normally adopted—typically between 2 and 4 vessel volumes per day (VVD)—dramatically increase media consumption, resulting in a higher burden on the cell retention device and raising challenges for the handling and disposal of high volumes of media. In this study, we explore high inoculum fed-batch (HIFB) and low-PR perfusion operations to intensify a cell culture-based process for influenza virus production while minimizing media consumption. To reduce product retention time in the bioreactor, produced viral particles were continuously harvested using a tangential flow depth filtration (TFDF) system as a cell retention device and harvest unit. The feeding strategies developed—a hybrid fed-batch with continuous harvest and a low-PR perfusion—allowed for infections in the range of 8–10 × 106 cells/mL while maintaining cell-specific productivity comparable to the batch control, resulting in a global increase in the process productivity. Overall, our work demonstrates that feeding strategies that minimize media consumption are suitable for large-scale influenza vaccine production.
Quantifying structural states of soft mudrocks

In this paper, a cm model is proposed to quantify structural states of soft mudrocks, which are dependent on clay fractions and porosities. Physical properties of natural and reconstituted soft mudrock samples are used to derive two parameters in the cm model. With the cm model, a simplified homogenization approach is proposed to estimate geomechanical properties and fabric orientation distributions of soft mudrocks based on the mixture theory. Soft mudrocks are treated as a mixture of nonclay minerals and clay‐water composites. Nonclay minerals have a high stiffness and serve as a structural framework of mudrocks when they have a high volume fraction. Clay‐water composites occupy the void space among nonclay minerals and serve as an in‐fill matrix. With the increase of volume fraction of clay‐water composites, there is a transition in the structural state from the state of framework supported to the state of matrix supported. The decreases in shear strength and pore size as well as increases in compressibility and anisotropy in fabric are quantitatively related to such transition. The new homogenization approach based on the proposed cm model yields better performance evaluation than common effective medium modeling approaches because the interactions among nonclay minerals and clay‐water composites are considered. With wireline logging data, the cm model is applied to quantify the structural states of Colorado shale formations at different depths in the Cold Lake area, Alberta, Canada. Key geomechancial parameters are estimated based on the proposed homogenization approach and the critical intervals with low strength shale formations are identified.
In Good Company: Risk, Security and Choice in Young People'S Drug Decisions

This article draws on original empirical research with young people to question the degree to which ‘individualisation of risk’, as developed in the work of Beck and Giddens, adequately explains the risks young people bear and take. It draws on alternative understandings and critiques of ‘risk’ not to refute the notion of the reflexive individual upon which ‘individualisation of risk’ is based but to re-read that reflexivity in a more hermeneutic way. It explores specific risk-laden moments – young people's drug use decisions – in their natural social and cultural context of the friendship group. Studying these decisions in context, it suggests, reveals the meaning of ‘risk’ to be not given, but constructed through group discussion, disagreement and consensus and decisions taken to be rooted in emotional relations of trust, mutual accountability and common security. The article concludes that ‘the individualisation of risk’ fails to take adequate account of the significance of inter-subjectivity in risk-decisions. It argues also that addressing the theoretical overemphasis on the individual bearer of risk requires not only further empirical testing of the theory but appropriate methodological reflection.
In good company: The inﬂuence of peers on industry engagement by academic scientists

Previous research on academic entrepreneurship and engagement with industry has found that the behaviour of academics is inﬂuenced by their local social context. However, we know little about the mechanisms that produce this effect. We argue that academic scientists’ industry engagement is inﬂu- enced signiﬁcantly by the behaviour of their peers, that is, the behaviour of colleagues of similar seniority. Using insights from social psychology, we hypothesize that these peer effects are produced by the mech- anism of social comparison. In an analysis of data from multiple sources for 1370 UK academic scientists and engineers, we ﬁnd that peer effects are stronger for early career individuals and weaker for star scientists, suggesting the incidence of social comparison. We argue that individuals look to their immediate peers for inspiration, because they view them as an important reference group and use them as a benchmark for their own ambitions and behaviours. Our ﬁndings have important implications for how universities may encourage scientists’ behaviours by paying attention to local work contexts.
Estimating habitat carrying capacity for American black ducks wintering in Southern New Jersey

Midwinter waterfowl survey (MWS) data indicates a long-term decline in the number of wintering American black ducks (Anas rubripes), potentially due to the habitat limitations. My objectives were to (1) estimate the current carrying capacity of winter black duck habitat in southern New Jersey and (2) determine the type(s) of habitat most beneficial to wintering black ducks. I estimated the supply of energy (DUDS) during 3 sampling periods, October, January, and April, 2006-2008, using core sampling to estimate landscape biomass of seeds and invertebrates (n=1,020). I collected upper gastrointestinal tracts from hunter-killed birds and late season collections to remove the biomass of non-food items from standing landscape biomass estimates (n=64). I estimated the daily energetic requirement both allometrically and using time-energy budgets based on instantaneous scan samples (n=690). I modeled the population demand of energy (DUDD) using MWS results for the two winters of the study and annual abundance data to determine the proportion of black ducks in the study area during each sampling period. Estimates of DUDS ranged from 1,666,336 (± SE 577,906) to 2,167,281 (± SE 751,640), 1,698,567 (± SE 689,474) to 2,209,201 (± SE 896,748), and 889,968 (± SE 303,007) to 1,157,516 (± SE 394,098) in October, January, and April, respectively. DUDD ranged from 658,152 to 1,058,954, 1,994,400 to 3,208,950, and 458,712 to 738,059 in October, January, April, respectively. DUDD exceeded DUDS during the
Biodiversity of the bacterioplankton in the surface waters around Southern Thule in the Southern Ocean

Abstract Seven independent clone libraries were constructed to study the biodiversity of the bacterioplankton in the surface waters around Southern Thule, South Sandwich Islands, in order to identify the species present, to determine the sample effort required to estimate the total diversity, and to determine whether the surface waters around Southern Thule represented a highly specialized local anomaly or a subset of the marine meta-community. In total, 672 clones generated 629 useable sequences. These 629 clones matched 278 different sequences deposited in the 16S rDNA sequence databases. The majority of the clones were related to marine microorganisms, many of which had been previously detected in permanently cold Arctic and Antarctic marine environments. Each clone library generated an average of 35.8 new sequence matches. 346 clones covered two-thirds of the total estimated diversity, while 438 clones covered three-quarters of the total estimated diversity. Above this number, the coverage tended to stabilize and a relatively large number of additional clones were required to improve coverage significantly, increasing at the rate of about one new sequence match per 100 new clones. Comparing the different clone libraries, eight matches occurred in each of the seven libraries, whilst fifty-five occurred in only one, suggesting that there might be a relatively small number of common dominant ubiquitous species, with a much larger underlying diversity or ‘seed bank’ from which this dominant diversity is drawn. This study suggests that the dominant bacterioplankton in the surface waters around Southern Thule represent a subset of the marine meta-community, whilst sub-dominant diversity appears to be a highly specialized local anomaly.