Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frameworks for urban water sustainability

Integrated water management, sustainable water management, water sensitive cities, and other formulations are often presented as the latest in a series of paradigms of water management. This implies a unified approach, while urban water debates reflect a wide diversity of political, social, and technical viewpoints. Five distinct but overlapping frameworks for urban water sustainability are evident in research, policy and practice, reflecting wider environmental theory, politics, and discourse. Sustainable development is based on meeting the needs for water and sanitation of the urban poor. Ecological modernization focuses on policies to improve water efficiency and treatment through technological innovation and individual behavior change. Socio‐technical framings aim to understand how change in water systems occurs across physical and institutional scales and addresses the co‐evolution of infrastructures, cultures, and everyday practices. Urban political ecology analyses water infrastructure in terms of relationships of power, pointing to the unequal distribution of costs and benefits of urban water management for the environment and citizens. Radical ecology addresses the relationship between human culture and non‐human nature, proposing fundamental reorganization of society to solve ecological and hydrological crises. Characterizing alternate frameworks of urban water sustainability provides clarity on the underlying assumptions, methods, and politics across a diversity of approaches. Frameworks may be deployed strategically to deliver policy impact, or may reflect deeply held political or epistemological standpoints. Understanding different conceptions of urban water sustainability provides the basis for more constructive dialogue and debate about water and its role in sustainable cites.
Sentinel-1 sar observations of peak wavelength and dominant wave direction in the marginal ice zone of the barents sea

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has proven to be a very important source of data in the Polar regions because it covers large areas continuously, independent of the weather and time of day. In this study, we make use of Sentinel-1 Interferometric wide (IW) swath SAR images to study the change in peak wavelength and dominant wave direction of long waves traveling through icy waters in the Barents Sea. We verify our estimates of the open water peak wavelength and dominant wave direction by comparing the results from the Sentinel-1 SAR with in-situ buoy measurements, which are part of the Barents Sea Metocean and Ice Network (BaSMIN) measurement campaign. We find that the peak wavelength increases as waves propagate into the sea ice. This agrees well with our knowledge of wave penetration into the MIZ, where the sea ice acts as a natural low pass filter on the ocean waves. A consequence of this is the disappearance of the high frequency waves from SAR images over the sea ice especially at a distance from the ice edge. Since the presence of high frequency waves blur the SAR images, SAR images in sea ice become of higher quality compared to images over the open ocean. As a result, the spread in observations of the peak wavelength is much larger in the open water than within the sea ice. Further, the dominant wave direction changes towards the normal, relative to the ice edge. This can be motivated by Snell’s law and agrees with findings from previous studies. A large shift of the dominant wave direction is found in the vicinity of the ice edge, which is partly physical due to wave refraction and is partly an imaging artefact. The latter stems from that fact that the azimuth cut-off (i.e., loss of spatial resolution along track) is much smaller in the sea ice than in open water and thus waves that were not visible in images over the open water may appear in images over the sea ice. This causes an apparent shift in wave direction close to the ice edge that is purely due to SAR imaging. We demonstrate this effect with our processed images.
Risk-sharing or risk-taking? Financial innovation, margin requirements and incentives∗

We analyze the tradeoff between the benefits of financial innovation in terms of enhanced risk-sharing and its costs in terms of financial instability. We model the process of financial innovation as the design of a derivative contract between a protection buyer, seeking to hedge his risk exposure, and a protection seller. If the latter learns that her derivative position is likely to be loss-making, this amounts to an off-balance sheet liability for her. It undermines her incentives to exert monitoring effort to reduce default risk for her other holdings. In turn, such risk-taking incentives generate counterparty risk. Hence, financial innovation can create systemic risk by inducing contagion between otherwise independent asset classes. In this context, margins and capital requirements can improve incentives and mitigate risk. ∗We are grateful for conversations with our discussants Simon Gervais and Bruce Carlin and seminar participants at the 3rd Annual Conference of The Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality (LSE), the ECB, the NBER Summer Institute (Risk of Financial Institutions Program) and the CEPR European Summer Symposium on Financial Markets (Gerzensee). The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the European Central Bank or the Eurosystem. †Toulouse School of Economics, email: biais@cict.fr ‡European Central Bank, Financial Research Division, email: florian.heider@ecb.int §European Central Bank, Financial Research Division, email: marie.hoerova@ecb.int
Relational incentive contracts with collusion

This article explores how the possibility of collusion affects relational contracts. Responsibility for a contract is delegated to a supervisor who cares about both production and kickbacks paid by the agents, neither of which are contractible. We characterize the optimal supervisor-agent relational contract and show that the relationship between joint surplus and production is nonmonotonic. Delegation may benefit the principal when relational contracting is difficult by easing the time inconsistency problem of paying incentive payments. For the principal, the optimal supervisor has incentives that are partially, but not completely, aligned with her own. JEL classifications: D73, D86, L14.
Concentration and Absolute Quantitative Detection of the Norovirus of the Water Specimens

Objective To evaluate the MCE-PEG methody in concentrating the norovirus in water and sensitivity of detection for providing a effective laboratory detection method to due with the gastroenteritis outbreak. Methods The feces which contain the norovirus were added to the pure water.The Mixed Cellulose Esters Membrane was used to concentrate the norovirus,followed by PEG concentration.The norovirus in the water specmiens was absolute quantitatively detected by Realtime PCR to evaluate the recovery yields. Also the feces was diluted and added to the pure water samples to evaluate the sensitivity of this method. Results The water specimens which contain the norovirus were concentrated 100 times by Mixed Cellulose Esters Membrane, and the mean recovery yields was 56.12%. The water samples were concentrated 1000 times by PEG, and the mean recovery yields was 42.47%. The sensitivities of detection using the Mixed Cellulose Esters Membrane and PEG to concentrate the virus were 10 copys / μl and 1 copys / μl, respectively. Conclusion The concentration method by Mixed Cellulose Esters Membrane and PEG was appropriate to detect the virus of the water spicemens.This method was simple ,and the membrane was inexpensive and easy to purchase, also the recovery yields and the sensitivity were high.
Modern Psychological Studies

Although research on the bystander effect spans 50 years, the influence of some variables on prosocial behavior are still unclear. In a field experiment, I tried to replicate the basic bystander effect in three non-emergency situations, and studied the impact of bystander and “victim” gender on helping behavior. I successfully replicated the basic bystander effect; bystanders who were alone were significantly more likely to help than bystanders with one or more than one companion. In addition, when people noticed the need for help, a male and a female confederate were helped equally as often. Finally, women were more likely to help both confederates than men, but that men were more likely to help the female confederate than the male confederate.
Spinning Fluids in Relativistic Hydrodynamics

We study the well known propagation and constraint equations in General Relativity for the case where the matter source is an ideal Weyssenhoff fluid. Moreover we derive these equations for the Einstein-Cartan theory of gravitation for the same matter source. We discuss the different couplings of the matter content in detail in both theories and consider especially the behavior of the spin, angular and total angular momentum.
Global effects of land use on biodiversity differ among functional groups

Human land use has caused substantial declines in global species richness. Evidence from different taxonomic groups and geographic regions suggests that land use does not equally impact all organisms within terrestrial ecological communities, and that different functional groups of species may respond differently. In particular, we expect large carnivores to decline more in disturbed land uses than other animal groups. We present the first global synthesis of responses to land use across functional groups using data from a wide set of animal species, including herbivores, omnivores, carnivores, fungivores and detritivores; and ranging in body mass from 2 × 10⁻⁶ g (an oribatid mite) to 3,825 kg (the African elephant). We show that the abundance of large endotherms, small ectotherms, carnivores and fungivores (although in the last case, not significantly) are reduced disproportionately in human land uses compared with the abundance of other functional groups. The results, suggesting that certain functional groups are consistently favoured over others in land used by humans, imply a substantial restructuring of ecological communities. Given that different functional groups make unique contributions to ecological processes, it is likely that there will be substantial impacts on the functioning of ecosystems. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 19 - Measuring Women's Empowerment in Agriculture: A Streamlined Approach

The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) can be a useful tool to measure the empowerment, agency and inclusion of women in the agriculture sector. However, computing the WEAI in its current form involves large data requirements, resulting in lengthy surveys with several questions on various dimensions and indicators within each dimension. This paper proposes a reduced version of the WEAI, or the R-WEAI, and examines two possible approaches to reduce the data requirements while ensuring comparability to the full WEAI.
Preoperative Versus Postoperative Chemoradiation in Stage III Cancer Rectum: A Single Institution Experience

The optimal management of locally advanced rectal cancer requires a multidisciplinary strategy involving surgical resection with total mesorectal excision and combined use of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The sequence of treatment can either be preoperative chemoradiation followed by surgery or upfront surgery followed by postoperative chemoradiation. This study compared survival outcomes of these two aforementioned approaches in 76 stage III rectal cancer patients, identified in the hospital database and treated between 2008 and 2014. The median locoregional recurrence free survival in the preoperative group was 34 months whereas it was 33 months in the postoperative group (p=0.583). The median distant metastases free survival was 17 months in the preoperative group versus 38 months in the postoperative group (p=0.039). The mean survival in the whole cohort was 46.97 months with 27 deaths reported at the time of last follow up. The mean survival in the preoperative group was 35.927 months versus 51.519 months in the postoperative radiotherapy group (p=0.129). In our set of patients, the sequence of chemoradiation whether preoperative or postoperative does not lead to differential survival.
Poor Settlements in Chittagong city, Bangladesh: The context of Pollution and Health Risk

Background: The rapid rate of urbanization in Bangladesh has created some adverse effects on the overall urban environmental health of the cities. Among all, mass poverty, expansion of poor neighbourhood, inadequate supply of urban services such as water, sanitation, waste disposal etc. are mostly responsible for health risks of urban people particularly in low income areas. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to determine the health risks of the environmentally poor neighbourhoods in Chittagong city by exploring the discourse of pollution, risk, and stigma. Methods: The study is predominantly based on qualitative data collection methods like participant observations, a case study and FGDs. The method has delivered an in-depth understanding of the pollution-related risks, the physical and mental sufferings of the urban poor due to pollution. Though it is solely a qualitative study, the study is complemented by a quantitative survey method and personal interviews. Findings: The study revealed that there are two leading environmental risk factors– the structural setting of the neighbourhood and coping practices to everyday life of the poor settlers, who affect the neighbourhood environment. The poor structured living houses, shared kitchens in the environmentally hazardous area, dirty playgrounds, unhygienic latrines, and waste disposal sites near neighbourhoods enhance the risk of diseases and injuries for inhabitants. Similarly, lack of access to pure drinking water, fuel, are generating health risks. Consequently, dwellers, especially women and children, suffer from cough and cold, diarrhoea, gastric/acidity, worm disease, respiratory illness, scabies, headache, allergy, and jaundice regular interval of time. Conclusion: The study concludes that physical structure of the neighbourhood, and the physical and mental sufferings of its inhabitants are interdependent. To reduce the sufferings of inhabitants and their health hazards can be reduced with the combined efforts of the Government and the NGOs and the local people as well. Implications: This findings of the study can be useful to the concerned authorities of Bangladesh in planning appropriate policies to control pollution and minimize health risks. For that purpose this study can serve as reference.
The Impact of Non-Driving Related Tasks on Take-over Performance in Conditionally Automated Driving – A Review of the Empirical Evidence

Conditional automated driving (CAD) systems (SAE level 3) will soon be introduced to the public market. This automation level is designed to take care of all aspects of the dynamic driving task in specific application areas and does not require the driver to continuously monitor the system performance. However, in contrast to higher levels of automation the “fallback-ready” user always has to be able to regain control if requested by the system. As CAD allows the driver to engage in non-driving-related tasks (NDRTs) past human factors research has looked at their effects on take-over time and quality especially in short-term take-over situations. In order to understand how take-over performance is impacted by different NDRTs, this paper summarizes and compares available results according to the NDRT’s impact on the sensoric, motoric and cognitive transition. In addition, aspects of arousal and motivation are considered. Due to the heterogeneity of the empirical work and the available data practically relevant effects can only be attested for NDRTs that cause severe discrepancies between the current driver state and the requirements of the take-over task, such as sensoric and motoric unavailability. The paper concludes by discussing methodological issues and recommending the development of standardized methods for the future.
Wound Dressings on Red Maple and American Elm: Effectiveness After Five Years

Closure and internal compartmentalization of wounds on red maple and American elm were not stimulated by dressings of an asphalt-based material, orange shellac, or polyurethane varnish. After 5 years, decay fungi had infected many treated and control wounds. Some trees closed woun­ ds rapidly; others closed wounds slowly regardless of the treatments.
Incidence and Susceptibility of Beta-Lactamase Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae to Extract from Phyllanthus niruri

Antibacterial resistance to common antibiotic has increased overtime; there is thus the need to look for an alternative medicine to stem the trend. This study reported incidence of β-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumonia from patients. The antibacterial activity of crude aqueous and ethanolic extract of Phyllanthus niruri was also investigated against some test bacteria. Antimicrobial activities were analyzed using agar diffusion method. Experiments were performed in triplicate and reported as mean ± standard error of mean and difference was analyzed using one way ANOVA at p≤0.05. Sixty five percent (65%) and 25% of urine and wound samples were positive to β-lactamase producing K. pneumonia respectively. The highest zone of inhibition (22.0mm) was observed in a concentration of 0.5g/mL from ethanolic extract against K. pneumonia. While the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of aqueous and ethanolic extract of the plant was evidenced in 0.2g/mL and 0.1g/mL respectively. From the foregoing this study has shown that P. niruri extract have potential to be remedy for infectious disease caused by β-lactamase producing K. pneumonia. KeywordsAntibacterial, β-lactamase, Phyllanthus niruri
An Investigation of Chinese EFL Learners’ Perceived Comprehensibility of Nine English Accents

With the emergence of different varieties of English in the world, the issue of intelligibility has attracted many researchers’ attention. While a large number of studies have focused on the intelligibility of different English varieties for native speakers, few of them have involved Chinese learners of English as participants; yet, they constitute the largest group of non-native English speakers. The current study aims to investigate Chinese university students’ perceived comprehensibility, i.e., intelligibility judgments, of nine English accents, including British, American, Australian, Indian, Philippine, Singaporean, French, Japanese, and South Korean English. Thirty-nine English major sophomores from a top university in China were invited to identify the speakers’ nationalities and assign ratings for their perceived comprehensibility of the nine English accents. A follow-up semi-structured interview was also undertaken. It was found that all of the participants could identify American English and most of them could also recognize British, Australian and South Korean English. In contrast, they could hardly recognize the other five English accents. With regard to perceived comprehensibility, the Inner Circle English accents on the whole are significantly more comprehensible than the Outer Circle and Expanding Circle English accents. Chinese university students’ perceived comprehensibility significantly correlates with properties of the speech. Moreover, it was observed that familiarity with English accents and speech properties may interplay and influence perceived comprehensibility. The study contributes to the ongoing literature on intelligibility and provides pedagogical implications for English education.
Study of aquatic biodiversity of Gharia beel of Bangladesh

A total number of 70 species of fishes, four species of prawn, one species of crabs and five species of reptiles were identified so far from the Gharia beel. About 11 types of fishing methods were found in operation. Increasing the rate of fishing pressure within five years by seine net (moshari jal) from 16.6 to 24.1% and gill net (current jal) from 23.5% to 36.1% were identified as detrimental gear killing including different species during spawning and post spawning periods. The increasing rate in exploitation of the water bodies a thread to aquatic biodiversity of the Gharia beel. The fisheries production of the Gharia beel declined dramatically over the last five (2001-2005) years. The total production of the beel was decreased from 104.65±5.50 to 48.03±2.97 mt within five years and the percentage of total production was sharply decreased from 21.88 to 59.25% over the same period. As a result, a number of commercial important fish species like as major carps, mohasher (Tot tor, Cyprinidae), nandina (Labeo nandina, Cyprinidae), sharpunti (Puntius sarana, Cyprinidae), Gajar (Channa marulius, Channidae) and reptiles (Kachuga kachuga, Chelonia and Morenia petersi, Chelonia) were extinct from the Gharia beel.
How school climate predicts teachers organizational silence

This study aims to explore the relationships between school climate constructs and teachers’ organizational silence (OS) and to analyze how school climate predicts teachers’ OS. The study population comprised all teachers (2,237) working in private primary schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The sample consisted of 329 responses, which represented 14.7% of the original population. Structural equation modeling for path analysis between the main constructs (teacher behavior, principal behavior) and teachers’ organizational silence revealed the influence of principal behavior on teachers’ silence was significant. However, the influence of teachers’ behavior on teachers’ silence was found to be non-significant. The relationships between teachers’ OS and four school climate constructs (supportive principal behavior, directive principal behavior, collegial teacher behavior, intimate teacher behavior) were negative, while the relationships between teachers’ organizational silence and two school climate scales (restrictive principal behavior, disengaged teacher behavior) were positive. It is recommended that top educational management officials develop relevant policy procedures, such as legislating necessary regulations to protect whistle-blowers in the school environment. Given the increased popularity of the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE) in measuring school typology, we encourage the use of this questionnaire to predict other teachers’ behaviors in the school environment. Key words: School climate, Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE), organizational silence, teachers’ silence.