Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional forms, sampling Considerations and Estimation of Demand for Protected Natural Areas: The Cíes Islands Case Study in Galicia (Spain)

In this paper, we present estimates of several models of demand for a natural area using data from surveys on visitors and non-visitors. The estimates take into account the problems of: demand specification, measurement of the cost and of the demand, choosing sampling scheme, and handling the sample. Considering these alternatives allows us to select a model of demand under improved conditions and frees us from initial restrictive hypothesis. The results in terms of prediction of demand and consumer surplus estimates are quite dissimilar, stressing the importance of comparing various models that encompass the range of possible options.
Multinationals without Advantages

We question the widespread argument that firms embarking on foreign direct investments must possess some specific advantages to offset the penalties of operating across national and cultural boundaries. A simple model shows that firms might invest abroad to capture local advantages through geographical proximity of plant location, rather than to exploit existing ones. Because of spatially bounded spillovers, laggard firms might use foreign investments to acquire location-specific knowledge, whereas leading firms might prefer costly exports to avoid the dissipation of their advantages. Copyright 1999 by The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics.
Equity and Efficiency of Community College Appropriations: The Role of Local Financing

This study analyzes the equity of community college financing and demonstrates intrastate variations in appropriations to community colleges. The ratio of 90th to 10th percentile values ranges from 2.0 to 2.8 in half of the states analyzed, levels which are considered high in comparison to K-12 finance inequities. In 10 states with high revenue disparities, the direction of revenue deviations is more often progressive in state-funded than in local-share states, suggesting that the local role may undermine equity. This paper explores differences in economies of scale, geographic costs, and program costs as factors determining funding disparities.
How fundamental and supplemental interactions affect users' knowledge sharing in virtual communities? A social cognitive perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the environment of a virtual community (users’ interactions inside and outside of a community which are defined as the fundamental and supplemental interaction (FI and SI), respectively) on its users’ knowledge sharing (KS) and the underlying cognitive mechanism. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted among the users who had experience of participating in a domain knowledge specific online community. A total of 479 valid observations were collected. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research model and hypotheses. Findings – The empirical results show that the fundamental interaction (FI) not only directly affects users’ knowledge acquisition (KA) and contribution, but also indirectly affects users’ KA and contribution partially through the users’ self-efficacy and outcome expectation. While the supplemental interaction (SI) negatively affects users’ KA, it positively affects the users’ knowledge contribution.
Examination of Alternative Heteroscedastic Error Structures Using Experimental Data

Abstract Impacts of alternative specifications for heteroscedastic error structures are examined by estimating various production functions for corn in Central Texas. Production- and profit-maximizing levels of inputs and the shape of the profit equation obtained from models not corrected for heteroscedasticity differed from those obtained from models corrected for heteroscedasticity. Using the profit-maximizing input levels for each production function gave essentially the same estimated yield and profit, regardless of the specification for heteroscedasticity employed. Differences of up to one-quarter to one-third are noted, however, in the amount of profit-maximizing levels of inputs used, depending on the heteroscedasticity correction.
Expiration‐Day Effects of Stock and Index Futures and Options in Sweden: The Return of the Witches

Recently, the NASDAQ‐OMX Nordic Exchange announced a change of expiration day for the OMXS 30 index futures and options. The OMXS 30 index derivatives used to expire on the fourth Friday of the expiry month while derivatives on individual stocks expired on the third Friday. After the change, derivatives on both the index and individual stocks expire on the third Friday of the expiry month making the third Friday the “quadruple witching Friday” as stock futures, stock options, index futures, and index options expire simultaneously. This contractual change provides a unique opportunity to investigate its impact on expiration‐day effects. The results show that there is hardly any expiration‐day effect due to the derivatives' expirations before or after the contractual change, except the abnormally higher trading volumes at the stock derivatives' expirations before the change, and on the quadruple witching Fridays after the change. Most importantly, there is no significantly intensified abnormal volume, volatility, or price distortion effect due to the seemingly “extraordinary” change in the OMXS 30 index derivatives, despite the quadruple witching expirations after the change. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 34:868–882, 2014
Operative Line of Resection Determination Method for Emphysema Surgery using High-Speed Laser Scanner and Non-Rigid Registration

A successful image-to-physical space overlay method is necessary to provide reliable guidance information to surgeons and accurate surface displacement data for use in compensation algorithm of soft tissue deformation. In this paper we outline a novel approach to relate preoperative images to intraoperative space in a lung volume reduction surgery. The protocol requires intraoperative geometric data to measure and compensate for tissue deformation in the organ. We use 3D laser scanner to accomplish these tasks intraoperatively. A laser scanner based on the optical principle of triangulation acquires a dense set of three-dimensional point data in a very short time. The non-rigid registration is then performed via robust point matching algorithm between control points identifiable in both the preoperative tomograms and the intraoperatively acquired point cloud data provided by a laser scanner. Using the obtained warping field, preoperative region of interest is determined in a physical space. Phantom studies using commercial pig's lung were performed to test the ability to link 3D laser scanner with preoperative modality data through non-rigid registration. The experiments demonstrate that the proposed protocol is capable of achieving non-overlapping ratio of less than 1.41 %. Surface deformation studies were performed in order to determine if the non-rigid registration is capable of compensate soft tissue deformation. In the deformation studies, the laser scanner with non-rigid registration method was able to track changes in preoperative region of interest less than 3.13 % non-overlapping ratio. The experiments were also performed different field of vision data: the non-overlapping error was below 4.14 % with 84 % of the organ visible and below 1.66 % with 96 % of the organ visible. Copyright © 2016 IFSA Publishing, S. L.
Factor analysis of comprehension states in the learning phases of a programming language

Presents an experiment in understanding how learners of the Java programming language comprehend its concepts, such as classes, inheritance, interfaces, etc., in lectures and exercises. The authors used an empirical technique to test conjectures about how we learn the programming language. Usually, observations about how we learn a programming language are treated anecdotally. In this experiment, learners received lectures and did an exercise. The comprehension states of the learners were measured by tests in three learning phases. The first phase was before the lecture. In this phase, the learners had no knowledge of the programming language. The second phase was after the lecture and before the exercise. Here, the learners acquired some basic knowledge. The third phase was after the exercise. In this phase, the learners put the acquired knowledge into practice. Factor analysis was used to obtain factors affecting the test result of each learning phase. Changes in comprehension states are explained as a result of tracing the factors between the learning phases.
Receiver architectures for OFDMA systems with subband carrier allocation

OFDM systems are very sensitive in phase noise and frequency dispersion. Thus, time and frequency synchronization tasks are very crucial for the proper signal recovery in the receiver. The difficulties and challenges are multiplied if we consider a multiuser OFDM system (OFDMA) where the subcarriers are shared between different users. The receiver has the task to choose optimal sampling instants and to align the subcarrier frequencies of an OFDM symbol that contains signals from multiple users. In this study the use of filter banks is considered in order to reduce Intercarrier interference in such a system and simplify the synchronization procedures that must take place. The proposed schemes are applicable to adjacent subcarrier permutation OFDMA systems where users are separated in bands of adjacent subcarriers. In order to achieve low processing load, techniques of multirate signal processing are adopted. The DFT - polyphase filters are the basic elements of the processing chain. Moreover the filtering procedure is preferred to be divided in multiple stages. The computational workload for each structure is determined and some measures for the reduction of the computational burden are presented.
Reasons and rationalizations : the limits to organizational knowledge

1. Introductory Remarks 2. The Corrosion of Character: Capitalist and Socialist Economics 3. Inhibiting Double-Loop Learning in Business Organizations 4. Inhibiting Double-Loop Learning in Government and I.T. 5. Features of Scholarly Inquiry that Inhibit Double-Loop Learning and Implementable Validity 6. Interventions that Facilitate Double-Loop Learning 7. Organizational Interventions that Facilitate Double-Loop Learning 8. Concluding Comments
The importance of operating rules and assessments of beneficial use in water resource allocation policy and management.

The future management of water resources must take into account the levels of beneficial use that apply to various water use sectors. Competition for water during periods of low natural availability (droughts) suggests that users may not have access to their full supply requirement all of the time. This is particularly true of regions such as South Africa where natural water availability is highly variable and possibly will be even more so in the future. Socioeconomic evaluations of water allocation strategies should therefore account for the impacts of periodic restrictions (or shortfalls) in supply across different water use sectors. This paper presents an approach to designing water allocation operating rules that can account for restrictions and their impacts on individual water users, as well as on the community as a whole. The approach is illustrated using hypothetical data, as real data are not generally available. The paper maintains that it is important for socioeconomic evaluation methods to account for the possible effects of supply restrictions as well as the relative benefits of the normal supply volume. If they do not, they will not provide the information required by water resource engineers to design and operate water allocation systems.
Benzodiazepine administration effect on EEG Fractal Dimension: results and causalities

This work aims at examining the influence of lorazepam, an anxiolytic drug with sedative effects, on brain activity and specifically on EEG Fractal Dimension (FD). The main objective is to clarify the reasons for FD increase after drug intake and to establish a relationship between FD and EEG energy bands. 14 healthy subjects that received either 2.5mg of lorazepam (verum case) or placebo (placebo case) participated in the experiment. 20 EEG channels have been used. One-way ANOVA test revealed that lorazepam increases significantly both FD (p = 0) and beta energy band (p = 1.18E-013 for beta1 band and p = 2.29E-011 for beta2 band) and decreases alpha energy band (p = 0.05 for alpha1 and p = 0.0036 for alpha2), whereas there was not any significant difference on placebo subjects before and after drug intake. Moreover, correlation results indicate that there is a strong correlation between FD and beta energy band (mean correlation coefficient = 0.4120 for beta1 and 0.5358 for beta2) and a negative correlation between FD and alpha1 energy band (mean correlation coefficient −0.4930). Additionally, the mean correlation coefficient between FD and a combination of the different energy bands (beta1+beta2-alpha1) is 0.6185 and reaches value 0.684 for channels F7, T6, P4. These results indicate that there is a relationship between EEG energy bands and FD and provide a link between the classic spectral analysis and the complexity analysis.
A 0.8-dB insertion-loss, 17.4-dBm power-handling, 5-GHz transmit/receive switch with DETs in a 0.18-μm CMOS process

An optimized single-pole double-throw (SPDT) transmit/receive (T/R) switch has been fabricated using depletion-layer-extended transistors (DETs) in a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process. The switch features the highest performance to date of any switch using a CMOS process, of a 0.8 dB insertion-loss, 23 dB isolation and 17.4 dBm power-handling capability at 5 GHz. The low insertion-loss has been achieved with the effects of junction capacitance decrease and substrate resistance increase in the DET, the adoption of low-loss shielded-pads, and several layout optimizations. The high power-handling capability is owing to the combined effect of the adoption of the source/drain dc biasing scheme and the high substrate resistance in the DET.
Why Not Africa?

Various arguments have been used to explain Sub-Saharan Africa's economic decline. We find that a stress on investments in education as a prerequisite for more rapid growth is misplaced; that greater openness is far from sufficient to insure economic progress; that income inequality and urban bias are not so extreme as to foreclose prospects for more rapid growth and poverty alleviation; and that the constraints imposed by Sub-Saharan Africa's human and physical geography are not core explanations for the regions poor performance. If African countries can establish an institutional environment that enables individuals to gain the rewards of their investments, the alleged barriers to the region's growth should prove surmountable.
JACOBSON'S PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION (JPMR) TRAINING TO REDUCE ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION AMONG PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV

Background: The term AIDS refers only to the last stage of the HIV infection. AIDS can be called as our modern pandemic affecting both industrialized and developing countries. Objectives: To assess the anxiety and depression among people living with HIV as measured by HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), to determine the effectiveness of JPMR in terms of reduction in the mean posttest anxiety and depression scores, to find the association of anxiety and depression among people living with HIV with selected demographic and disease specific variables. Materials and Methods: one group pre test and post test design was used. 30 people living with HIV who were admitted at ART center, District Hospital, Udupi were selected and different scales on anxiety and depression scale for people living with HIV were administered. Purposive sampling technique was used for the study. Results: Out of 30 subjects, 13.30% (4) experienced abnormal anxiety and 16.7% (5) abnormal depression. There was significance difference between mean difference of pretest and post test scores of anxiety (t=8.471, df=29, p=0.001) and depression (t=6.811, df=29, p=0.001). Anxiety is independent of the selected variables (Demographic and disease specific). Depression is dependent on previous history of psychiatric illness (÷2=6.584, df =2, p=0.037). Conclusion: JPMR is a simple non-invasive, cost effective method. The result showed that JPMR training had a positive effect in reducing the anxiety and depression and JPMR can be used as an effective alternative therapy.
The Implementation of the Example-Based Machine Translation Technique for German-to-Polish Automatic Translation System

High-quality machine translation between human languages has for a long time been an unattainable dream for many computer scientists involved in this fascinating and interdisciplinary field of the application of computers. The developed quite recently example-based machine transla- tion technique seems to be a serious alternative to the existing automatic translation techniques. In the paper the usage of the example based machine translation technique for the development of sys- tem, which would be able to translate an unrestricted German text into Polish is proposed. The new approach to the example-based machine translation technique that takes into account the peculiarity of the Polish grammar is developed. The obtained primary results of the development of proposed system seem to be very promising and appear to be a step made in the right direction towards a fully-automatic high quality German-into-Polish machine translation system for unrestricted text.
Semi-Nonparametric Estimates of Currency Substitution: The Demand for Sterling in Europe

The paper presents new evidence of significant substitution between European domestic monetary assets and foreign holdings of sterling. The finding of significant cross-country currency substitution implies reduced costs of transition towards monetary union and easier European policy convergence. Elasticities of substitution, using the Morishima measure, are estimated from the semi-nonparametric Fourier flexible form.
The E3 Ubiquitin Ligase TEB4 Mediates Degradation of Type 2 Iodothyronine Deiodinase

ABSTRACT The endoplasmic reticulum resident thyroid hormone-activating type 2 deiodinase (D2) is inactivated by ubiquitination via the hedgehog-inducible WSB-1. Ubiquitinated D2 can then be subsequently taken up by the proteasomal system or be reactivated by USP-33/20-mediated deubiquitination. Given that heterologously expressed D2 accumulates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae lacking the E3 ligase Doa10, we tested whether the human Doa10 ortholog, TEB4, plays a role in D2 ubiquitination and degradation. In a setting of transient coexpression in HEK-293 cells, TEB4 and D2 could be coimmunoprecipitated, and additional TEB4 expression decreased D2 activity by ∼50% (P < 0.05). A highly efficient TEB4 knockdown (>90% reduction in mRNA and protein levels) decreased D2 ubiquitination and increased D2 activity and protein levels by about fourfold. The other activating deiodinase, D1, or a truncated D2 molecule (Δ18-D2) that lacks a critical instability domain was not affected by TEB4 knockdown. Furthermore, TEB4 knockdown prolonged D2 activity half-life at least fourfold, even under conditions known to promote D2 ubiquitination. Neither exposure to 1 μM of the proteasomal inhibitor MG132 for 24 h nor RNA interference WSB-1 knockdown resulted in additive effects on D2 expression when combined with TEB4 knockdown. Similar results were obtained with MSTO-211 cells, which endogenously express D2, after TEB4 knockdown using a lentivirus-based transduction strategy. While TEB4 expression predominates in the hematopoietic lineage, both WSB-1 and TEB4 are coexpressed with D2 in a number of tissues and cell types, except the thyroid and brown adipose tissue, where TEB4 expression is minimal. We conclude that TEB4 interacts with and mediates loss of D2 activity, indicating that D2 ubiquitination and degradation can be tissue specific, depending on WSB-1 and TEB4 expression levels.
Sentence Comprehension in Older Adults: Evidence for Risky Processing Strategies

Background/Study Context: Previous research has suggested that older adults compensate for age-related declines in sentence comprehension ability by reading more slowly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that older adults adopt a riskier strategy than younger adults, in which they rely on expectations based on probabilistic cues. Methods: Older and younger adults read late closure sentences in a self-paced reading task (e.g., “When the waiter served the woman the food was still too hot.”). The subordinate verbs varied in whether or not they occurred in ditransitive constructions (served vs. kissed). Results: Older adults showed less evidence of processing disruptions at the ambiguous noun phrase (the food) than younger adults. At the main verb, the older and younger adults showed evidence of processing disruption in the same conditions, but the processing disruptions were greater in older adults. Conclusion: The results are interpreted as support for the hypothesis that older adults adopt “risky” strategies during sentence comprehension.
The Variable-frequency Carrier Bands Pulse Width Modulation Using in Cascade H-Bridge Converter

In this paper, cascade H-bridge converter with Variable-Frequency Carrier Bands PWM method (VFCB-PWM) has been proposed, which is the combination of cascade structure and CPS-SPWM method. High equivalent switching frequency can be obtained with low switching frequency devices. Such advantages as simple structure, wide bandwidth and good transient response can be obtained in large power equipment. Moreover, reducing the harmonic content and increasing the DC voltage of Variable-Frequency Carrier Bands PWM is also employed all right. Simulation result proves that cascade multilevel converter based on Variable-Frequency Carrier Bands PWM can achieve excellent performance of reducing the harmonic at much low switch frequency, which is of perfect prospect in industry application.
OCCS: Enabling the Dynamic Discovery, Harvesting and Delivery of Educational Content from Open Corpus Sources

The World Wide Web (WWW) provides access to a vast array of educational content, a great deal of which is ideal for incorporation into eLearning experiences. However sourcing, harvesting and incorporating appropriate content has proven to be a complex and arduous task. This paper introduces a system that enables the discovery and classification of educational content from open corpus sources, such as the WWW, and facilitates the incorporation of such content into eLearning systems. The open corpus content service (OCCS) discovers, harvests and indexes content through the implementation of a focused Web crawler, content classifier and indexer. This reduces the cognitive load placed on the educator by content authoring, allowing them to focus on the pedagogical design of eLearning offerings.
Effective self-calibration for camera parameters and hand-eye geometry based on two feature points motions

A novel and effective self-calibration approach for robot vision is presented, which can effectively estimate both the camera intrinsic parameters and the hand-eye transformation at the same time. The proposed calibration procedure is based on two arbitrary feature points of the environment, and three pure translational motions and two rotational motions of robot endeffector are needed. New linear solution equations are deduced, and the calibration parameters are finally solved accurately and effectively. The proposed algorithm has been verified by simulated data with different noise and disturbance. Because of the need of fewer feature points and robot motions, the proposed method greatly improves the efficiency and practicality of the calibration procedure.