Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Smart Technologies in Reducing Carbon Emission: Artificial Intelligence and Smart Water Meter

Global warming caused by greenhouse gases (GHG) is regarded as one of the biggest threats facing our world. Climate scientists predict that a 1.5°C rise in global temperature may cause the extinction of 25% of the Earth's animals and plants disappear. In this fearsome prospect, carbon emission was identified as the main factor contributing to this issue, and needed to be effectively controlled to mitigate their detrimental impacts on the environment as well as human life. GHG mitigation requires developing and implementing policies, and utilizing new technologies to reduce GHG. In this paper, we explore the role of smart technologies in reducing the carbon emission. With the increasing deployment of Smart water meters across Australia in the last five years, an intelligent and knowledge base system called Autoflow© has been developed to help: (i) monitor and predict carbon emission level from water consumption in realtime (e.g. Property A: Carbon emission from 6am-6pm tomorrow is 12.4kg), and (ii) suggest options for reducing water consumption and carbon emission. This Autoflow© system operates based on smart algorithms including Dynamic Time Warping, Hidden Markov Model, Dynamic Harmonic Regression and Artificial Neural Network, and has potential to go beyond Australian border in a very near future to help effectively sustain the limited water resource and environment around the word.
Public Policy Making: Process and Principles

Preface Chapter 1 The Context of Public Policy Chapter 2 Triggering Mechanisms: Catalysts for Public Policies Chapter 3 The Public Agenda: Focal Point for Policy Decisions Chapter 4 The Policy Makers: Roles and Realities Chapter 5 Implementation: Converting Policy Commitments into Practice Chapter 6 Evaluation: Assessments and Directions Chapter 7 Public Policy Making in an Evolutionary Context Notes Index
Bolsa Família and Household Labor Supply

There is considerable debate about whether social protection programs providing transfers to households create disincentives for labor supply, but little attention is paid to the effect of programs on other forms of labor reallocation. This article estimates the impact of Brazil’s Bolsa Família program on several dimensions of household labor supply, using propensity-score-weighted regression. We find no disincentive effects on aggregate household labor supply but large effects on labor allocation between sectors and across household members. The program causes a substantial reallocation of labor hours from formal- to informal-sector work. We argue that this shift is plausibly induced by the program’s use of formal-sector income to determine means-tested eligibility. The shift toward informal work is observed only in urban areas, not in rural areas—a pattern consistent with larger formal/informal wage differentials in rural areas. We also find reallocation of labor hours from females to males in rural households, with potentially mixed implications for rural women’s time burden and decision-making power.
Strengthening the weak link in strategic executive development: Integrating individual development and global business strategy

The global business environment of the 1990s provides both challenge and opportunity to human resource development to become an integral player in helping implement business strategy. The results of two best practice studies suggest that some leading firms such as 3M and Motorola are doing just that. At these companies current strategic business issues are the drivers of flexible and opportunistic executive development activities. Naturally occurring on-the-job experiences are consciously utilized in such a way that helping executives to develop becomes an integral part of conducting business. The implications of linking executive development to business strategy for practice and for future research are discussed. © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The Effects of a Month-Long Sabbatical Program on Helping Professionals of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations in South Korea: Burnout, General Health, Organizational Commitment, and the Sense of Well-being

This study aimed to examine the effects of a month-long sabbatical program for helping professionals of nonprofit human service organizations in South Korea. To investigate the effects of a month- long sabbatical program, eight helping professionals who took a month-long paid sabbatical were compared to eight matched professionals in a comparison group experiencing equivalent work conditions. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected separately before and after the intervention and the results were converged. Findings from the quantitative data analysis showed that the program decreased the level of burnout and increased the level of general health, organizational commitment, and sense of well-being; the findings were validated by the qualitative analysis results.
New modes of teacher pre-service training and professional support

This chapter synthesises established critiques of existing teacher professional development (pre-service and continuing professional development) to suggest that the institutions created to prepare and develop teachers in the last century will be inadequate to meet the large scale needs of the twenty first. The chapter draws on a number of innovatory programmes (including the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) programme and the English in Action Bangladesh programme) to suggest that (i) existing institutions will need to change their role, (ii) new more distributed, school based modes of education and training will need to be developed and (iii) that reform of the teacher education curriculum will be essential to this process (particularly as it relates to the teacher role in raising achievement and retaining pupils in the schooling process).
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF BRAIN TUMORS

Introduction Primary brain tumors may present with neuro-psychiatric symptoms in a few cases. This study tries to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of various behavioral and psychological manifestations (BPS) of diagnosed cases of primary brain tumors. Methodology We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire based study among consenting patients diagnosed with primary brain tumors at a Government Medical College and Hospital at Faridabad, Haryana. The behavioral and psychological symptoms were assessed through the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) having a severity assessor and a Caregiver Distress Scale. Results Behavioral and psychological symptoms were present in 36 (72%) out of 50 randomly selected subjects. The commonest symptoms were anxiety, irritability and dysphoria. BPS, their severity and caregiver distress were significantly associated with tumors of size greater than 4 cm, located in frontal/temporal and parietal regions, exhibiting midline shift and mass effect (p<0.05). Caregiver distress was also predicted by psychotic and behavioral type of symptoms as compared to mood symptoms (p<0.05). Conclusion Neuropsychiatric symptoms may be the primary presentation and the only clue to the presence of a brain tumor. Clinicians must have a high index of suspicion in patients with new-onset psychiatric symptoms, having atypical presentations and not responding to standard treatment.
Environment-Aware CMT for Efficient Video Delivery in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) have gained significant attention with capabilities of retrieving video and audio streams, still images, and scalar sensor data but with challenge of high data loss. As more and more wireless devices are equipped with multiple network interfaces, multimedia delivery over multipath has been cognized as a more promising approach in wireless transmission. In this paper, based on the Concurrent Multipath Transfer (CMT) extension for Stream Control Transport Protocol (SCTP), we propose a novel environment-aware CMT (e-CMT) to overcome the high data loss challenge, as well as “a hot potato” congestion problem in wireless transmission. The e-CMT provides environment-aware cognitive ability for efficient video delivery with three modules, which are Path Quality-aware Model (PQM) that devotes to estimate path quality and select candidate path using for retransmission, Adaptive Retransmission Trigger (ART) that contributes to cognize packet loss and trigger efficient retransmission behaviors, and Congestion-avoid Data Distributor (CDD) that serves to enable Partial-Reliable retransmission to mitigate congestion condition. We design a close realistic topology to present how the e-CMT outperforms the original CMT for efficient video delivery over multihomed WMSNs.
Does Piped Water Improve Household Welfare? Evidence from Vietnam

Clean water is essential for human survival. Yet, many people do not have access to clean water in Vietnam. Only around 23% of the population had access to piped water in 2006. This study measures the effect of piped water on household welfare using difference-in-differences estimators and panel data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys. Findings show that the effect of piped water on household income and labor supply is positive but small and not statistically significant. The effect of piped water on sickness of household members is negative but not statistically significant.
Beyond Good and Evil

UNTIL RECENTLY, HANNAH ARENDT'S THEORY of political action has been colonized almost exclusively by champions of a dialogical, consensus-based model of politics. Habermas provides perhaps the best example of a "consensus" reading of Arendt, a reading which stresses her distinction between action and speech, on one hand, and work, labor, and instrumentality, on the other. For Habermas and many others, Arendt's theory of action starkly underlines the difference between a politics of dialogue, persuasion, and agreement and a politics of interests, strategy, and efficiency.1 Arendt's primary contribution to political theory, it is claimed, is her rescue of the intersubjective essence of political action action as "acting together, acting in concert" from the oblivion threatened by the technocratic usurpation of the practical.2 The belated reception of Arendt's work in France has begun to call this reading into question. The influence of Arendt on such theorists as Phillipe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy, and Jean-Francois Lyotard (to name but a few) is unmistakable. Their work has helped draw attention to a less dialogue-centered Arendt. For example, Lyotard's work on the gap between political and cognitive judgment refers us to the "pagan" Arendt, the Arendt who is highly skeptical of a rationalized, theory-derivative politics.3 His polemical critique of consensus-oriented politics (in The Postmodern Con-
The eventuality of property rights on economic growth in developing countries

One of the most important Factors for economic growth in each society is protecting property rights which can present Freedom, Safety and Justice that can lead to economic growth. For this purpose I tried to not only define the property rights but also accumulation of physical and human capital and also on economic growth. This study uses Dincer's (2007) model who suggests neoclassical growth model proposed by Mankiu et al. (1992) to analyze the effects of the property rights protection on the levels of economic performance. This study consists of 19 developing countries. The collected data covers the period from 2000-2010. It also predicts that protecting property rights has a positive effect on the accumulation of physical and human capital and economic growth. Normal 0 false false false RU X-NONE X-NONE
Optimum Constrained Portfolio Rules in a Diffusion Market

A portfolio selection model is derived for diffusions where inequality constraints are imposed on portfolio security weights. Using the method of stochastic dynamic programming Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equations are obtained for the problem of maximizing the expected utility of terminal wealth over a finite time horizon. Optimal portfolio weights are given in feedback form in terms of the solution of the HJB equations and its partial derivatives. An analysis of the no‐constraining (NC) region of a portfolio is also conducted.
A NEXT GENERATION SMART CONTRACT & DECENTRALIZED APPLICATION PLATFORM

When Satoshi Nakamoto first set the Bitcoin blockchain into motion in January 2009, he was simultaneously introducing two radical and untested concepts. The first is the "bitcoin", a decentralized peer-to-peer online currency that maintains a value without any back ing, intrinsic value or central issuer. So far, the "bitcoin" as a currency unit has taken up the bulk of the pu blic attention, both in terms of the political aspects of a currency without a central bank and its extreme upwar d and downward volatility in price. However, there is also another, equally important, part to Satoshi's g rand experiment: the concept of a proof of work-based blockchain to allow for public agreement on the order of t ransactions. Bitcoin as an application can be described as a first-to-file system: if one entity has 50 BTC, and simultaneo usly sends the same 50 BTC to A and to B, only the transaction that gets confirmed first will process. T here is no intrinsic way of determining from two transactions which came earlier, and for decades this stymied t he development of decentralized digital currency. Satoshi's blockchain was the first credible decentr alized solution. And now, attention is rapidly starting to shift toward this second part of Bitcoin's technolo gy, and how the blockchain concept can be used for more than just money.
Apomine Enhances the Antitumor Effects of Lovastatin on Myeloma Cells by Down-Regulating 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A Reductase

Apomine, a 1,1-bisphosphonate-ester with antitumor activity, has previously been reported to strongly down-regulate 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), the rate-limiting enzyme in the mevalonate pathway responsible for the prenylation of proteins. Here, we show that although apomine down-regulated HMG-CoA reductase protein levels in myeloma cells, it did not inhibit protein prenylation, and apomine-induced apoptosis could not be prevented by mevalonate, indicating that apomine cytotoxicity is independent from its effects on HMG-CoA reductase. Instead, apomine cytotoxicity was prevented by the addition of phosphatidylcholine, which is similar to the previously reported ability of phosphatidylcholine to overcome the cytotoxicity of farnesol, whereas phosphatidylcholine had no effect on down-regulation of HMG-CoA reductase by apomine. These findings raised the possibility that apomine, independent from its own cytotoxic effects, could enhance the antitumor effects of the competitive HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin via down-regulating HMG-CoA reductase. Indeed, treatment with apomine in combination with lovastatin resulted in synergistic decreases in viable cell number and induction of apoptosis. At the concentrations used, apomine down-regulated HMG-CoA reductase protein levels without being cytotoxic. Accumulation of unprenylated Rap1A by lovastatin was enhanced in the presence of apomine. Furthermore, synergy was completely prevented by mevalonate, and apomine did not synergize with desoxolovastatin, which does not inhibit HMG-CoA reductase. We conclude that the synergistic drug interaction results from an enhancement by apomine of the effects of lovastatin, mediated by down-regulation of HMG-CoA reductase by apomine. Thus, these findings demonstrate a novel strategy for enhancing the antitumor effects of lovastatin.
Hospitalisation conventionnelle vs prise en charge à domicile: analyse des préférences individuelles par une expérience en choix discret

L’objet de ce travail est d’eclairer les enjeux de la prise en charge a domicile a partir du point de vue des usagers. Il s’agit plus precisement d’etudier les preferences que les individus accordent aux differentes caracteristiques decrivant leur mode de prise en charge afin de mieux comprendre les determinants de leur choix entre l’hospitalisation classique et la prise en charge a domicile. Pour ce faire, nous recourons a une experience en choix discrets (DCE) aupres de patients et d’un echantillon en population generale. L’introduction d’un attribut monetaire dans le DCE permet notamment d’estimer des dispositions a payer pour reduire la mobilisation de l’entourage familial dans le cadre de la prise en charge a domicile, documentant ainsi la question des soins informels, du point de vue du patient et non de l’aidant comme c’est generalement le cas dans la litterature.
Design of circular polarized DRAs with improved axial ratio bandwidth

A novel approach to improve axial ratio (AR) and axial ratio bandwidth (ARB) of circular polarized (CP) dielectric resonator antennas (DRA) excited with dual-point feeds is presented. It is applicable to different CP DRA cross sections excited though two inputs with a 90-degree angular separation. First, excitation of the DRA ports that substantially improves AR in the broadside direction at the CP DRA operation bandwidth is calculated by means of the closed-form formulas processing the simulated far-fields of the DRA excited with only one input. It is also established that a certain rigorously computed DRA port excitation of unequal amplitudes and 90-degree phase shift may be sufficient-from practical point of view-to improve ARB of a DRA of interest. Second, this excitation can be used to define design requirements for a microstrip branch-line coupler feeding the CP DRA. Numerical examples illustrate our approach.
Service Quality Perceptions of Customers About Mobile Telecommunication Services: A Case of India

ABSTRACT Because of the intangible nature of services, there is always a challenge in front of service providers to find out which dimensions of service quality are more important for customers. The author presents the results of a study in India that assesses the service quality perceptions of customers about mobile telecommunication services. EFA explained 69.694% of variance and extracted eight service quality dimensions. The results of a multiple regression analysis show that customers attributed the highest importance to employee performance followed by transmission quality, competitiveness, support attributes, reliability, credibility, operational efficiency, and convenience. The sample consisted of 411 respondents.
Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling in Tourism Research

Although the number of empirical applications of partial least–squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in tourism has increased in the last two years, Assaker, Huang, and Hallak have conducted the only assessment on the use of PLS-SEM in four studies and with a limited number of criteria. Thus, this study aims to critically analyze how the PLS-SEM method has been applied in 44 articles published in 11 leading tourism journals from 2000 to 2014 in terms of four key criteria: (1) themes explored and main motivations for using PLS-SEM; (2) characteristics of proposed models; (3) how the models were evaluated; and (4) the use of more advanced analyses within the method. The findings revealed that although applications in tourism have improved in recent years, problematic aspects in the application of PLS-SEM in tourism research still exist. The article provides suggestions on how to improve the use of PLS-SEM in future tourism applications.
Antigenic changes in lipopolysaccharide I of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae in root nodules of Vicia sativa subsp. nigra occur during release from infection threads

Three different monoclonal antibodies raised against the O antigen-containing lipopolysaccharide (LPS I) of free-living cells were used in an immunocytochemical study to follow the fate of LPS I on the outer membrane of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae 248 during the nodulation of Vicia sativa subsp. nigra. After immunogold labeling, the LPS I epitopes were detected on the outer membrane of bacteria present in infection threads throughout the nodule. Epitopes were not detectable on bacteria released from the infection thread. The data show that the LPS I epitopes present on rhizobia in infection droplets disappear shortly before or during endocytosis of the bacteria into the host plant cell cytoplasm. The abruptness of the change suggests an active degradation or modification of LPS I epitopes rather than only a repression of their synthesis.
Crystal Structure of a Hydrophobic Immunodominant Antigenic Site on Hepatitis C Virus Core Protein Complexed to Monoclonal Antibody 19D9D6 1

The first crystal structure of a complex between a hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein-derived peptide (residues 13–40) and the Ab fragment of a murine mAb (19D9D6) has been solved, allowing determination of the recognized epitope and elucidation of its conformation. This Ab, raised against the first 120 residues of the core protein, recognizes core particles and strongly competes with anticore human Abs, suggesting that it is highly representative of the human anti-HCV core response. Its epitope lies within the first 45 aa of the protein, the major antigenic segment of core recognized both by murine and human Abs. Surprisingly, the recognized epitope (29–37: QIVGGVYLL) has an unusual preponderance of hydrophobic residues, some of which are buried in a small hydrophobic core in the nuclear magnetic resonance structure of the peptide (2–45) in solution, suggesting that the Ab may induce a structural rearrangement upon recognition. The flexibility may reside entirely within the Ag, since the Fab′-peptide complex structure at 2.34 Å shows that the Ab binding site is hardly perturbed by complexation. Given that the recognized residues are unlikely to be solvent exposed, we are left with the interesting possibility that Ab-core interactions may take place in a nonaqueous environment.
Effects of Maternal Lead Acetate Exposure during Lactation on Postnatal Development of Testis in Offspring Wistar Rats

Objective(s) During recent years, there has been an increasing interest in contribution of environmental pollutants as heavy metals to human male infertility. Present study was aimed to investigate the effects of maternal lead acetate exposure during lactation on postnatal development of testis in offspring rats. Materials and Methods A total of 60 female rats randomly divided into four equal groups; control and three treatment groups received 20, 100 and 300 mg/kg/day lead acetate via drinking water from day 2 to day 21 of lactation. At 7, 14, 21, 28, 60, 90 and 120 days after birth, the testis weight and volume of offspring were measured and their epididymal semen analyzed. Following tissue processing, 5 µm sections were stained with haematoxylineosin and evaluated with quantitative techniques. Testicular parameters in different groups were compared by one-way ANOVA. Results Testis weight and volume of offspring decreased significantly in a dose-related manner in moderate (P< 0.05) and high (P< 0.01) doses groups. Dose-dependent significant reductions were seen in seminiferous tubules diameter and germinal epithelium height during neonatal, prepubertal and postpubertal periods in moderate (P< 0.05) and high (P< 0.01) doses groups until 90 and 120 days after birth, respectively. Significant decreases were observed in mean sperm density of offspring at puberty in moderate and high doses groups until 90 and 120 days after birth, respectively. Testosterone levels decreased significantly in a dose-related manner at puberty in moderate and high doses groups. Conclusion