Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A PANEL DATA MODELLING OF AGGLOMERATION AND GROWTH: CROSS-COUNTRY EVIDENCE

This manuscript analyzes the relationships between urban agglomeration and economic growth. We apply a static and dynamic panel data from European Union (EU-27), the United States, Japan, New Zealand and Mexico for the period 1990 to 2008. The results show that growth is highly correlated with urban agglomeration. The econometric models show that international trade is an important vehicle to expand the economic growth. The models also indicate that human capital promotes the economic growth.
6 Chapter b In vivo glucose and fat metabolism at rest and during moderate-intensity exercise in patients with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency

Objective: to study glucose and fat metabolism at rest and during moderate-intensity exercise in patients with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD). Study design: contemporary stable isotope methodology with [U-13C]palmitate and [6,6-H2]glucose in combination with deuterated water was applied to compare fat and glucose metabolism between four adult patients with MCADD (age: 27.3 ± 9.3 yrs, BMI: 24.6 ± 3.8 kg/m2) and four matched control subjects (age: 27 ± 4.6 yrs, BMI: 23.4 ± 3.5 kg/m2) at rest and during 1.5 hrs. of moderate-intensity cycling exercise (50% Wmax). Results: no significant differences were detected between patients with MCADD and control subjects in glucose kinetics, either at rest or during exercise, or in palmitate turnover, FFA turnover, whole-body fat oxidation, carbohydrate oxidation, muscular glycogen oxidation or fat oxidation from plasma and muscle derived triglycerides during exercise. Plasma FFA oxidation was significantly lower in patients at the end of exercise. At rest, plasma FFA turnover was significantly higher in patients with MCADD, whereas plasma FFA concentrations were not significantly different. Norepinephrine at rest was significantly higher in patients with MCADD, but no significant differences in regulatory hormones were detected between patients and control subjects at the end of exercise. Conclusions: whole-body fat oxidation is not impaired and gluconeogenesis is stimulated normally in adult patients with MCADD during moderate-intensity exercise. Plasma FFA turnover at rest is elevated in MCADD patients and might result in ectopic fat accumulation, eventually causing insulin resistance.
Genetic variation and population structure of Asarum misandrum (Aristolochiaceae) in Korea

ABSTRACT: Genetic variation in Asaum misandrum, a woodland herb in Korea, was investigated based on alloz-yme analysis with starch gel electrophoresis. All of previously reported populations in Korea were sampled andseven loci from six enzymes were analyzed. Overall genetic variation of A. misandrum population showed con-siderably high levels of genetic variation within the species (A = 2.05, P = 71.4, H E = 0.294). A positive F IS value of A. misandrum indicated overall deficiency of heterozygotes, and a low F ST value (0.112) meant very lit-tle differentiation among populations. Factors contributing to the high levels of genetic diversity found withinpopulations of A. misandrum include population maintenance via wide distribution range from Korea to Japanand primarily outcrossing breeding system. Although it showed moderate genetic diversity level, most habitatsof the species were scattered and discontinuous. Besides, low numbers of individuals were found in the mosthabitats and individuals are collected frequently from the wild due to the unique shape of the flowers as well asthe rarity of the species. Thus, there is a need to set up a reasonable conservation strategies including the main-tenance mechanism of genetic diversity of A. misandrum.
Ergodicity breaking in a model showing many-body localization

We study the breaking of ergodicity measured in terms of return probability in the evolution of a quantum state of a spin chain. In the non-ergodic phase a quantum state evolves in a much smaller fraction of the Hilbert space than would be allowed by the conservation of extensive observables. By the anomalous scaling of the participation ratios with system size we are led to consider the distribution of the wave function coefficients, a standard observable in modern studies of Anderson localization. We finally present a criterion for the identification of the ergodicity-breaking (many-body localization) transition based on these distributions which is quite robust and well suited for numerical investigations of a broad class of problems.
Ultrasound-guided paravertebral blockade reduced perioperative opioids requirement in pancreatic resection: A randomized controlled trial

Background Perioperative opioid use for pain control has been found to be associated with side effects and adverse prognosis. In this study, we hypothesized that paravertebral block could reduce the consumption of opioids during pancreatic resection surgery. Methods We conducted a prospective, randomized trial. Patients with resectable pancreatic cancer were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: those who received bilateral paravertebral block combined with general anesthesia [bilateral paravertebral blockade (PTB) group] or those who received only general anesthesia (Control group). The primary endpoint was the perioperative consumption of opioids (sufentanil and remifentanil). The main secondary endpoints were pain scores, complications, and serum cytokine levels. Results A total of 153 patients were enrolled in the study and 119 cases were analyzed. Compared to the control group, patients in PTB patients had significantly lower perioperative (30.81 vs. 56.17 µg), and intraoperative (9.58 vs. 33.67 µg) doses of sufentanil (both p < 0.001). Numerical rating scale scores of pain were comparable between the two groups. No statistical differences in complications were detected. Conclusion Bilateral paravertebral block combined with general anesthesia reduced the perioperative consumption of opioids by 45%. Registration number ChiCTR1800020291 (available on http://www.chictr.org.cn/).
Extending methane profiles from aircraft into the stratosphere for satellite total column validation: A comparative analysis of different data sources

Airborne observations of greenhouse gases are a very useful reference for validation of satellite-based column averaged dry air mole fraction data. However, since the aircraft data are available only up to about 9-13 km altitude, these profiles do not fully represent the depth of the atmosphere observed by satellites and therefore need to be extended synthetically into the stratosphere. In the near future, observations of CO₂ and CH₄ made from passenger aircraft are expected to be available through the In-Service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) project. In this study, we analyse three different data sources that are available for the stratospheric extension of aircraft profiles by comparing the error introduced by each of them into the total column and provide recommendations regarding the best approach. First, we analyse CH₄ fields from two different models of atmospheric composition - the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Integrated Forecasting System for Composition (C-IFS) and the TOMCAT/SLIMCAT 3-D 20 chemical transport model. Secondly, we consider scenarios that simulate the effect of using CH₄ climatologies such as those based on balloons or satellite limb soundings. Thirdly, we assess the impact of using a-priori profiles used in the satellite retrievals for the stratospheric part of the total column. We find that the models considered in this study have a better estimation of the stratospheric CH₄ as compared to the climatology-based data and the satellite a-priori profiles. Both the C-IFS and TOMCAT models have a bias of about -9 ppb at the locations where tropospheric vertical profiles will be measured 25 by IAGOS. The C-IFS model, however, has a lower random error (6.5 ppb) than TOMCAT (12.8 ppb). These values are well within the minimum desired accuracy and precision of satellite total column XCH₄ retrievals (10 ppb and 34 ppb, respectively). In comparison, the a-priori profile from the University of Leicester Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) Proxy XCH₄ retrieval and climatology-based data introduce larger random errors in the total column, being limited in spatial coverage and temporal variability. Furthermore, we find that the bias in the models varies with latitude and season. Therefore, applying appropriate bias correction to the model fields before using them for profile extension is expected to further decrease the error contributed by the stratospheric part of the profile to the total column.
Element fluxes from the volcanic front of Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Geochronologic and geological data define a 600 ka age for the current volcanic front in Costa Rica. In Nicaragua, this age is less constrained but is likely within the range 600 ka to 330 ka. In Costa Rica, the new geochronologic data significantly improve estimates of the volumes of the volcanoes because they define the contact between the active volcanoes and the previous volcanic front, which is substantially older (2.2 to 1.0 Ma). In addition, the contrast in extrusive volcanic flux between western Nicaragua (1.3 × 1010 kg/m/Myr) and central Costa Rica (2.4 × 1010 kg/m/Myr) is greatly reduced from previous estimates and now within the range of error estimates. We estimate the subducted component of flux for Cs, Rb, Ba, Th, U, K, La, Pb, and Sr by subtracting estimated mantle‐derived contributions from the total element flux. An incompatible element‐rich OIB source for the Cordillera Central segment in Costa Rica makes the subducted element flux there highly sensitive to small changes in the modeled mantle‐derived contribution. For the other three segments studied, the estimated errors in concentrations of highly enriched, subduction‐derived elements (Cs, Ba, K, and Pb) are less than 26%. Averaged over the time of the current episode of volcanism, the subduction‐derived fluxes of Cs, Ba, K, Pb, and Sr are not significantly different among the four segments of the Central American volcanic front in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The subduction‐derived fluxes of Th and La appear to increase to the SE across Nicaragua and Costa Rica, but the estimated errors in their subduction‐derived concentrations are very high, making this variation questionable. The lack of change in the fluxes of Cs, Ba, K, Pb, and Sr argues that the well‐defined regional variation in Ba/La is the result of changes in the mode or mechanics of fluid delivery into the mantle wedge, not the total amounts of fluids released from the slab. Concentrated or focused fluids in Nicaragua lead to high degrees of melting. Diffuse fluids in Costa Rica cause lower degrees of melting.
Coexistence of Spin Density Wave (SDW) and Superconductivity in Ba 1-x K x Fe 2 As 2

With the use of a model Hamiltonian and retarded double time green’s function formalism, we obtain mathematical expressions for spin density wave and superconductivity parameters. The model reveals a distinct possibility of the coexistence of magnetic phase and superconductivity, which are two usually irreconcilable cooperative phenomena. The work is motivated by the recent experimental evidences of coexistence of spin density wave and superconductivity in a number of FeAs-based superconductors. The theoretical results are then applied to show the coexistence of spin density wave and superconductivity in iron pnictide compound Ba1-xKxFe2As2 (0.2 ≤ x < 0.4).
THE ROLE OF BRAND LOYALTY, CUSTOMER AND BRAND RELATED CUES IN THE GAS STATION INDUSTRY IN TURKEY

The main objective of this article is to investigate the role of brand loyalty, customer (i.e. perceptions about service quality, switching cost, access convenience, and satisfaction) and brand related factors (i.e. brand trust and brand affect) in the gas stations industry. Data were collected by survey method from 204 participants who are master’s degree students and get service from the gas stations in Ankara, Turkey. Based on the regression analyses conducted, it was found that both brand quality and access convenience have a positive impact on customer satisfaction. In addition, access convenience has a positive impact on switching costs. Furthermore, customer satisfaction, switching costs, brand trust and brand affect influences brand loyalty positively. In contrary, access convenience does not have a significant influence on brand loyalty.
Are Union Members Happy Workers after All? Evidence from Eastern and Western European Labor Markets

Based on data from the European Values Study (EVS), we compare the determinants of job satisfaction and the impact of union membership in Eastern and Western European labor markets. Correcting our regressions for union endogeneity and controlling for individual characteristics, values and beliefs, and important aspects of a job, we find a positive association between unionization and job satisfaction. This is contrary to the dominant view of the impact of unionization on job satisfaction suggesting that there is a strong, negative relationship between the two variables. We also uncover distinct attitudinal differences between Eastern and Western European employees, highlighting persistent influences of former communist labor relations.
Characteristics of Haze Days Variation of Beijing in Recent 33 Years and Its Causative Factors

In this paper, the climatic statistical characteristics of annual number of haze days in Beijing and relationship between haze days and meteorological factors, underlying surface conditions and atmospheric aerosol are analyzed using the station observation data, land use data and remote sensing retrieval data. The results show that: haze days significantly rose from 1980 to 2012, the number of annual haze days of Beijing increased from 48 days in 1980s to 55days in 1990s, and then 73days in 2000s. From 1980 to 2012, the number of haze days presents a significant positive correlation with annual mean temperature and mean pressure, but presents a significant negative correlation with gale days, which shows that meteorological factors are important factors in haze days changing. From 1996 to 2008, the number of haze days presents a significant negative correlation with ecological land and agricultural land, but presents a significant positive correlation with construction land, residential settlements and industry and mining, traffic land, and build-up areas, which means that ecological land which is mainly covered by vegetation has an inhibitory effect on haze, while the increasing of construction land aggravates haze. From 2000 to 2012, the number of haze days presents a significant positive correlation with MODIS AOD, which shows that the increasing of air pollutant emissions promotes the formation of haze. KEYWORD: Haze days; Meteorological factors; Underlying surface conditions; Atmospheric aerosol; Correlation analysis
Stormflow‐hydrograph separation based on isotopes: the thrill is gone — what's next?

Hprovedanirresistibletemptation, and was a vast improvement over graphical separationand solute tracer methods that were prevalent at the time. Eventu-ally, hydrologists realized that this new method entailed a plethoraof assumptions about temporal and spatial homogeneity of isotopiccomposition (many of which were commonly violated). Nevertheless,hydrologists forged ahead with dozens of isotope-based hydrograph-separation studies that were published in the 1970s and 1980s.Hortonian overland ﬂow was presumed dead. By the late 1980s,the new isotope-based hydrograph separation technique had movedinto adolescence, accompanied by typical adolescent problems suchas confusion and a search for identity. As experienced hydrologistscontinued to use the isotope technique to study stormﬂow hydrol-ogy in forested catchments in humid climates, their younger peersfollowed obligingly—again and again. Was Hortonian overland ﬂowreally dead and forgotten, though? What about catchments in whichpeople live and work? And what about catchments in dry climatesand the tropics? How useful were study results when several of theassumptions about the homogeneityof source waters were commonlyviolated? What if two components could not explain the variation ofisotopic composition measured in the stream during stormﬂow? Andwhat about uncertainty? As with many new tools, once the initialshine wore off, the limitations of the method became a concern—oneof which was that isotope-based hydrograph separations alone couldnot reveal much about the ﬂow paths by which water arrives at astream channel during storms.During the late 1980s and early 1990s, isotope-based hydro-graph separation techniques matured into young adulthood. Unlikethe early studies that separated hydrographs into two componentsbased only on time, increasingly complex approaches emerged thatallowed stormﬂow-hydrograph separation into three-componentsthat reﬂected the geographic source areas of runoff. Hydrologistsalso began to incorporate error into their studies, and, most impor-tantly, began to combine isotope-based hydrograph separations withphysical measurements such as groundwater levels and soil watercontent to learn more about hydrologic ﬂow paths. As the sciencematured further in the 1990s, a point was reached at which isotope-based hydrograph separations alone were insufﬁcient to guarantee
EXPLORING PICTORIAL RUNES IN LUCA ENOCH’S COMIC BOOK SERIES GEA

Drawing on the work of Forceville (2005, 2006, 2011), who employed linguistic tools in analysing comics, the paper deals with pictorial runes as a specific type of visual information found in comic books. As Kennedy (1982) proposes, pictorial runes are graphic devices used in pictures to modify the literal depictions of objects, intended to convey certain aspects of those objects that are otherwise difficult to depict literally. In comics, they are usually employed to imply various emotions, such as anger, fear, pain, or surprise, and indicate speed or the direction of a moving object, among other things. Using the research model presented by Forceville (2011), the paper aims at identifying and categorising pictorial runes in a popular Italian comic book series Gea , in an attempt to corroborate the above method and add to the list of already inventoried runes. Furthermore, the new runes found in this comic book series show evidence of being indexical, rather than symbolic, signs. The paper also briefly outlines the distribution of runes across the entire series.
Numerical investigation of natural convection heat transfer of nano-fluids in a micro-channel

An enhanced cell-centered finite-volume procedure has been presented for solving the natural convection of the laminar Al O /Water nanofluid flow in a Γ shaped micro-channel in the slip flow region, including the effects of velocity slip and temperature jump at the wall, which are the main characteristics of flow in the slip flow region. In provided FORTRAN code, an explicit fourth-order Runge–Kutta integration algorithm has been applied to find the steady state solutions. Also an artificial compressibility technique has been to couple the continuity to the momentum equations. The Grashof numbers from 10 to 10 have been considered. Results show that decreasing the mean diameters of nanoparticles, increases the Nusselt number. Increasing the mean nanoparticle volume fraction increases the Nusselt number. Also by increasing the Knudsen number, the Nusselt number decreases. Keywords : velocity slip; temperature jump; Knudsen number; nanoparticle.
Ontology Middleware for Integration of IoT Healthcare Information Systems in EHR Systems

Healthcare sectors have been at the forefront of the adoption and use of IoT technologies for efficient healthcare diagnosis and treatment. Because healthcare IoT sensor technology obtains health-related data from patients, it needs to be integrated with the electronic healthcare records (EHR) system. Most EHR systems have not been designed for integration with IoT technology; they have been designed to be more patient-centric management systems. The use of the IoT in EHR remains a long-term goal. Configuring IoT in EHR can enhance patient healthcare, enabling health providers to monitor their patients outside of the clinic. To assist physicians to access data resources efficiently, a data model that is semantic and flexible is needed to connect EHR data and IoT data that may help to provide true interoperability and integration. This research proposes a semantic middleware that exploits ontology to support the semantic integration and functional collaborations between IoT healthcare Information Systems and EHR systems.
On Fatigue Damage Computation in Random Loadings with Threshold Level and Mean Value Influence

The probability density functions used to characterize the distribution of fatigue cycles in random loads are usually defined over an infinite domain. This means that they give a non-zero probability to count cycles with an infinitely large peak or valley, which however seems of less physical sense. Moreover, practically all the methods existing in the literature completely neglect the negative effect on fatigue strength produced by fatigue cycles with positive mean values. With theses premises, this work tries to further extending the probabilistic theory used by the frequency-domain methods by addressing to distinct problems. First, it tries to include in cycle distributions the effect of both a threshold level SL (representing a limit state of the system) and the ultimate static strength Su. Secondly, it uses the Goodman mean value correction to include the effect of mean values of counted cycles in the fatigue analysis of random loads by frequency-domain methods. The fatigue load is modeled as a stationary random process X(t) with constant mean value mc; two approaches of increasing complexity are presented: in the first one, only the effect of mc is considered, while in the second one also the effect of the random mean value mr, calculated with respect to mc, is added. The proposed theoretical formulae are applied to two frequency-domain methods, namely the narrow-band approximation and the TB method. Finally, a comparison of the proposed formulae with the results from preliminary numerical simulations is shown. keyword: Random loading, Rainflow count, Fatigue damage, Mean value effect, Threshold level.
Present-Biased Preferences and Publicly Provided Health Care

In this paper, we analyze the welfare effects of publicly provided health care in an economy where the consumers have "present-biased" preferences due to quasi-hyperbolic discounting. The analysis is based on a two-type model with asymmetric information between the government and the private sector, and each consumer lives for three periods. We present formal conditions under which public provision to the young and middle-aged generation, respectively, leads to higher welfare. Our results show that quasi-hyperbolic discounting provides a strong incentive for public provision to the young generation; especially if the consumers are naive (instead of sophisticated).