Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study on analysing the criteria's for selection of shipping carriers in Chinese shipping market using analytical hierarchy process

Globalisation has led to the increased export and import of goods worldwide. Due to this, the selection of the right mode of transportation for heavy (huge) goods items is a challenging task for industries. In this regard, maritime transport is the best way to send huge goods compared to other modes of transportations. The objective of this study is to investigate the essential criteria for shipping carrier and to rank them with the help of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in the perspective of the Chinese shipping market. From the results, it is observed that the most important criteria are cargoes' damage degree when they are received (R2). It is acting as an important criteria and reliability for on-time delivery (R1) and the carrier's ability of multimodal transportation (C1) are the next priority criteria's for the selection of shipping carrier.
Is worker repression risky? Foreign direct investment, labour rights and assessments of risk in developing countries

ABSTRACT Quantitative assessments of ‘country risk’ produced by private rating agencies have become influential among multinational firms considering investment in the developing world. This article considers whether developing countries exhibiting more labour rights violations are associated with higher risk ratings. It draws from existing literature on the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the relationship between labour rights and FDI to illuminate the ways in which labour repression may indicate increased risk for potential investors. It implements a set of time series of cross-sections models for 95 developing countries, from 1985 to 2003. These models present predictors of a long-established risk index, plus an additional latent risk measure created through factor analysis of three separate and distinct risk ratings. Results indicate a consistent association between increased labour rights violations and increased risk ratings. The article extends the analysis to highlight the heterogeneous nature of FDI and possible sector-specific relationships between labour rights and risk ratings. The paper argues that the economic profile of a country may condition the relationship between labour rights and risk ratings.
Differential Difference Current Conveyor Transconductance Amplifier: A New Analog Building Block for Signal Processing

A new active building block for analog signal processing, namely, differential difference current conveyor transconductance amplifier (DDCCTA), is presented, and performance is checked through PSPICE simulations which show the usability of the proposed element is up to 201 MHz. The proposed block is implemented using 0.25 µm TSMC CMOS technology. Some of the applications are presented using the proposed DDCCTA, namely, a voltage mode multifunction filter, a current mode universal filter, an oscillator, current and voltage amplifiers, and grounded inductor simulator. The feasibility of DDCCTA and its applications is confirmed via PSPICE simulations.
Bilateral free trade agreements : Boon or bane for regionalism in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific?

Since the late 1990s there has been a rapid proliferation of bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) projects in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific, regions previously largely devoid of FTA activity by comparison to others. As this trend has intensified, so have discussions on whether it will help advance regional co-operation and integration. This paper examines the nature of FTAs themselves and the main causes of East Asia and Asia-Pacific FTAs. The 'lattice regionalism' hypothesis is considered: whether dense economic bilateralism provides a sub-structural foundation on which economic regionalism (i.e. co-operation and integration) can build. Closely related is the issue of competing FTA models and modalities in the Asia-Pacific, and special attention is afforded to the 'asymmetric neoliberal' FTA model of the United States and the 'developmental–industrial' FTA model championed by Japan. It is argued that the contrasts between these make the emergence of an Asia-Pacific FTA unlikely in even the distant future. Japan's FTA model is also considered relative to perhaps East Asia's most important FTA project, the ASEAN–China FTA (ACFTA), and we discuss how bilateral FTA developments in the region more generally may or may not lead to enhanced regional economic co-operation and integration in East Asia.
The Inflation and Productivity Relationship in Poland

Poland belongs to the most advanced group of transition economies. Poland has succeeded in stabilizing its economy, yet inflation has proven resilient. This paper examines the causality issue, in a Granger-temporal causal sense, between price level and productivity in a bivariate and multivariate context in Poland over the period 1991:I-1998:IV. The empirical results suggest that a bivariate relationship between inflation and productivity is spurious. When we control for fluctuations of monetary policy on the bivariate relationship between price level and productivity the evidence suggests that Granger- causation must exist in at least one direction. Vector error-correction model estimation shows that productivity growth and inflation are econometrically
Unit Roots Tests: Evidence from the Foreign Exchange Futures Market

Abstract In this paper, tests are conducted for the presence of unit roots in the autoregression representation of foreign exchange currency futures price series. The results obtained from five different currency futures over the 1977–1983 period suggestthat foreign currency futures rates have autoregressive representations with a singleunit root (i.e., borderline nonstationarity). In view of this result, it appears thatthe process generating the natural logarithm of foreign currency futures rates may well be approximated by random walks.
Developing analysis and testing plug‐ins for modern IDEs: an experience report

Plug‐ins have become an important part of today's Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). They are useful not only for extending the IDEs’ functionality but also for customizing the IDEs for different types of projects. In this paper, we discuss some features that IDEs should provide to support the development of a specific kind of plug‐ins—plug‐ins that implement program analysis and software testing techniques. To guide the discussion, we first provide a survey of existing testing and analysis plug‐ins and, for each of these plug‐ins, discuss the details of the IDE support they use. We then present a case study based on our personal experience with building a regression‐testing plug‐in for two different IDEs. Finally, we use our findings to make a generalized discussion on the kind of capabilities a platform should provide to better support the development of program analysis and software testing plug‐ins.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
UEvora at CLEF eHealth 2017 Task 3

This paper describes the methods we used for our participation to CLEF eHealth 2017 Task 3 IRTask 1: ad-hoc search. This task aims at retrieving information relevant to people seeking health advice on the web. We present our work of using query reformulation techniques in this paper. We use cTAKES, a clinical natural processing system, to identify UMLS concepts in the original query. Query expansion techniques are then applied to the identified medical concepts. Query expansion based on UMLS meta-thesaurus or a Word2vec model trained with domain data is used in our work. We also use other techniques, like increasing the weight of the terms that are considered to catch the users’ need much more compared to other terms.
Security of Property Rights for Whom?

Property insecurity of non-elites can be compatible with or even enhance economic growth, but it also encourages conflict—which can undermine long-term growth and economic development. Using a new set of indicators which measure the property insecurity of marginalized ethno-cultural minority groups, this article demonstrates that the severity of property insecurity for the worst-off group in a country is strongly associated with the onset of armed conflict, and—once civil war is controlled for—property insecurity for marginalized minorities corresponds with higher growth rates. Economic growth can occur when the property rights of elites are secure but marginalized minorities face a high risk of expropriation, as land may be reallocated into the hands of investors with skills and access to capital. However, the potentially growth-enhancing effect of forced displacement and resettlement is reduced, because the property insecurity of minorities also increases the likelihood of armed conflict.
The value chain: the original breakthrough

Alludes to the concept of the value chain — which was seen as a powerful tool enabling strategists to diagnose and enhance competitive strategy (first put forward in Porter's 1980 book ‘Competitive Strategy’). Describes the value system as having at least three additional value chains of which account must be taken: supplier value chains; channel value chains; and buyer's value chains. Concludes a firm's co‐ordination might be improved ‘by relating its organizational structure to the value chain, and the linkages within it and with suppliers or channels’.
Influences on the Power of Public Relations Professionals in Organizations: A Case Study

For many years, public relations practitioners have aspired to and worked to- ward professional status for their work. Public relations scholars, in turn, have examined the literature on professionalism in the social sciences to determine the requisites of that status and to evaluate the extent to which public relations meets them. The literature suggests that power and autonomy in organizations are among the most important characteristics of a profession. This participant observation study of a high-tech firm examined the process by which public relations practitioners sought autonomy in making decisions about the content of an employee newsletter. I found that professionalism did not provide the practitioners with total autonomy. Rather, professionalism provided them with the credibility needed to negotiate for autonomy. As a result, professionalism also helped the practitioners to change the management of the firm slowly from a closed system to a more open and symmetrical system.
Novel EBG grounded PIFA for improved directivity in mobile communication bands

A Novel EBG grounded PIFA has been designed for Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) frequency band (2.1 GHz) with good directivity. In this paper a uniplanar compact Electromagnetic Band Gap (UC-EBG) structure is designed to use as ground for a Planar Inverted F Antenna (PIFA), to improve its radiation pattern and suppress the surface waves. The proposed EBG grounded PIFA has shown improvement over conventional PIFA in directivity, front to back ratio and radiation pattern. The front to back ratio has been improved from 8.75 dB to 15.80 dB.
Size and Determinants of Capital Structure in the Greek Manufacturing Sector

Increasing competition in the European Union (EU) and world markets affects the Greek manufacturing sector. Capital structure is essential for the survival, growth and performance of a firm. There has been a growing interest worldwide in identifying the factors associated with debt leverage. However, nothing has been done so far in contrasting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large sized enterprises (LSEs) on these aspects. SMEs are very important in the Greek manufacturing sector for employment and growth. Empirical studies show that capital structure and the factors affecting it vary with firm size. In this paper we investigate the determinants of capital structure of Greek manufacturing firms and formulate some policy implications that may improve the financial performance of the sector. Our study utilizes panel data of two random samples, one for SMEs and another for LSEs. The findings show that profitability is a major determinant of capital structure for both size groups. However, efficient assets management and assets growth are found essential for the debt structure of LSEs as opposed to efficiency of current assets, size, sales growth and high fixed assets, which were found to affect substantially the credibility of SMEs. In an era of increasing globalization, the findings imply that Greek SMEs should focus their efforts on (a) increasing their cash flow capacity through better assets management and achievement of higher exports and (b) ensuring good bank relations, but at the same time, turn to alternative forms of financing. Greek LSEs should adopt strategies that will lead to the improvement of their competitiveness and securing new forms of financing. Government policy measures aiming at structural changes and economic efficiency should be designed clearly depending upon its targets: SMEs need policies that will encourage information exchange and co‐operation in local and foreign markets and use of e‐business, as well as, financial assistance. On the other hand, LSEs should be supported by policies aimed at new high‐technology investments, entrance of new firms and foreign investments in the country, tax alleviation and increase of R&D and training expenditures. The upgrading and transparency of the capital market in Greece is expected to improve the capital structure of Greek manufacturing firms.
Transport Planning in Jakarta

This article is concerned with existing proposals for improving public transport in Jakarta. Although Jakarta has a long history of transport studies, with more than 25 studies undertaken since 1975, public transport has experienced no obvious improvement. This article critically evaluates existing proposals, with the focus on how they attempt to address problems related to bus transport. The analysis reveals that, by adopting the standard Urban Transport Planning (UTP) process developed in the context of Western industrial cities, the transport studies have been largely directed towards inappropriate technology-transfer solutions. The studies uniformly propose replacing the existing bus system with short-term solutions that implement 'bus priority' schemes. The analysis also reveals that, rather than planning coherently, the proposals for Jakarta have been highly fragmented and lacking in detail. This is due largely to the nature of the studies, that regard bus improvement as a temporary measure prior to the implementation of a mass rapid transit (MRT) system, and also because of their over-reliance on market mechanisms, claiming that such mechanisms will allow 'self-correction' of the problems.
The effects of cancer chemotherapeutic agents on normal hematopoietic precursor cells: a review.

The effects of antineoplastic agents, singly or in combination, on normal hematopoietic precursor cells have been reviewed. Following a description of the assays used (e.g., spleen colony, in vitro colony, repopulating ability), the dose response and/or time response for each drug are presented by species and by assay as available. The schedule of drug administration, the time of the assay, and the proliferative state of the target population are the most important determinants. Alkylating agents, antitumor antibiotics, and 5-fluorouracil have exponential dose survival curves. "Phase-specific" agents such as antimetabolites, Vinca alkaloids, and ribonucleotide reductase inhibitors have plateaus in their dose survival curves, although the level of this plateau is different for different agents. Most drugs are more effective against rapidly proliferating cells although busulfan is less effective. Direct interspecies comparisons are possible with some of the clonogenic assays, which may allow prediction of the magnitude of human hematological toxicity for new agents or combinations.
Direct laser writing of 3D protein structures with nanoscale feature sizes

We report preliminary results of three-dimensional (3D) protein structures with nanoscale feature sizes fabricated by two-photon direct laser writing (DLW). For this fabrication technology, we combine the established DLW technology with previously reported 3D protein structure fabrication by photosensitized crosslinking. We demonstrate the fabrication of 2D and 3D protein structures with nm-sized features. We report dependency of line height and independency of line width on writing parameters within the investigated range. Further, we demonstrate the biocompatibility of protein structures with nanoscale features to NIH/3T3 fibroblasts. This fabrication method enables the creation of biocompatible protein scaffolds down to the nm-range for cell studies and medical application.
Teaching for present and future competency: A productive focus for professional learning

The key competencies are a potentially transformative feature of the New Zealand Curriculum. However, the way in which they have been understood and implemented in schools points to tensions and challenges that may prevent them from acting as agents of curriculum change. One recent researcher /practitioner partnership developed materials that show how a close interweaving of key competencies and traditional subject learning might transform the taught curriculum. Analysis of the practice of the teachers who contributed to this project suggests that refocusing teacher thinking about purposes for learning is likely to be a critical change lever. A clear focus on students’ present and future needs must be part of any re-imagining of purposes for teaching and learning, and hence of the taught curriculum.
Exchange market pressure, stock prices, and commodity prices in West Africa

As Africa continues its decade of rapid economic growth, the continent also faces the risk of becoming more susceptible to financial ‘contagion. ’ Capital flows and trade linkages might cause one country’s currency market to influence those of its neighbors. Likewise, shocks to global commodity or asset markets might induce a crisis in one or more countries in the region. This study generates monthly measures of exchange market pressure (EMP) for four individual West African countries, as well as for the WAEMU franc zone, from 2002 to 2012. Vector Autoregressive (VAR) methods are then used to test for linkages among them, as well as to analyze the effects of various external price shocks. A number of spillovers are uncovered. More importantly, local connections dominate global ones in the case of stock- and commodity-price declines. Ghana, for example, is shown to be a ‘commodity currency’ when West African commodity prices are included in the VAR, but not when a global index is used.
The Dutch Triangle

This article offers a framework for a new performance measure based on behavioral finance theory. The authors argue that the average return above a designated minimal acceptable return is a proxy for upside potential, a valuable new way of measuring return. Style analysis is a very important factor. Unlike the information ratio, however, the “upside potential ratio” that the authors propose does not penalize the manager for performance above the mangers' benchmark An analysis of Dutch mutual funds indicates this approach is applicable to small markets as well as large markets.
Temporary Foreign Workers and Regional Labour Market Disparities in Canada

Les programmes qui concernent les travailleurs étrangers temporaires sont en général considérés comme des solutions à court terme à une pénurie de main-d’œuvre dans certaines régions ou dans certains métiers ou professions. Au cours de la dernière décennie, les différentes régions canadiennes ont connu une croissance économique inégale, et certaines ont souffert d’une importante pénurie de main-d’œuvre. Le Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires a donc été élargi, et l’admissibilité au programme a été facilitée ; or, au cours de la même période, les disparités régionales en matière de chômage se sont renforcées. Dans cet article, nous montrons que la persistance de ces disparités est en partie due à la plus grande disponibilité de main-d’œuvre étrangère temporaire. Cela indique donc que les décideurs politiques n’ont pas réussi à évaluer correctement le besoin de cette main-d’œuvre, ce qui aurait permis d’éviter que la présence de ces travailleurs ne produise l’effet inverse de ce qui était souhaité sur le marché du travail canadien.
Solving the Non-Convexity Problem in Some Shopping-Time and Human-Capital Models

Several works in the shopping-time and in the human-capital literature, due to the nonconcavity of the underlying Hamiltonian, use …rst-order conditions in dynamic optimization to characterize necessity, but not su¢ ciency, in intertemporal problems. In this work I choose one paper in each one of these two areas and show that optimality can be characterized by means of a simple aplication of Arrow’s (1968) su¢ ciency theorem.
Human Capital Policy

This paper considers alternative policies for promoting skill formation that are targeted to different stages of the life cycle. We demonstrate the importance of both cognitive and noncognitive skills that are formed early in the life cycle in accounting for racial, ethnic and family background gaps in schooling and other dimensions of socioeconomic success. Most of the gaps in college attendance and delay are determined by early family factors. Children from better families and with high ability earn higher returns to schooling. We find only a limited role for tuition policy or family income supplements in eliminating schooling and college attendance gaps. At most 8% of American youth are credit constrained in the traditional usage of that term. The evidence points to a high return to early interventions and a low return to remedial or compensatory interventions later in the life cycle. Skill and ability beget future skill and ability. At current levels of funding, traditional policies like tuition subsidies, improvements in school quality, job training and tax rebates are unlikely to be effective in closing gaps.
Reconsideration of the planetary boundary for phosphorus

Phosphorus (P) is a critical factor for food production, yet surface freshwaters and some coastal waters are highly sensitive to eutrophication by excess P. A planetary boundary, or upper tolerable limit, for P discharge to the oceans is thought to be ten times the pre-industrial rate, or more than three times the current rate. However this boundary does not take account of freshwater eutrophication. We analyzed the global P cycle to estimate planetary boundaries for freshwater eutrophication. Planetary boundaries were computed for the input of P to freshwaters, the input of P to terrestrial soil, and the mass of P in soil. Each boundary was computed for two water quality targets, 24 mg P m − 3, a typical target for lakes and reservoirs, and 160 mg m − 3, the approximate pre-industrial P concentration in the world’s rivers. Planetary boundaries were also computed using three published estimates of current P flow to the sea. Current conditions exceed all planetary boundaries for P. Substantial differences between current conditions and planetary boundaries demonstrate the contrast between large amounts of P needed for food production and the high sensitivity of freshwaters to pollution by P runoff. At the same time, some regions of the world are P-deficient, and there are some indications that a global P shortage is possible in coming decades. More efficient recycling and retention of P within agricultural ecosystems could maintain or increase food production while reducing P pollution and improving water quality. Spatial heterogeneity in the global P cycle suggests that recycling of P in regions of excess and transfer of P to regions of deficiency could mitigate eutrophication, increase agricultural yield, and delay or avoid global P shortage.