Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A LARGE DEVIATION PRINCIPLE FOR THE EQUILIBRIUM STATES OF HÖLDER POTENTIALS: THE ZERO TEMPERATURE CASE

Consider a α-Holder function A : Σ → ℝ and assume that it admits a unique maximizing measure μmax. For each β, we denote μβ, the unique equilibrium measure associated to βA. We show that (μβ) satisfies a Large Deviation Principle, that is, for any cylinder C of Σ, \[ \lim_{\beta \to +\infty} \frac{1}{\beta} \log \mu_{\beta}(C)=-\inf_{x \in C} I(x) \] where \[ I(x)=\sum_{n\geq0}(V\circ\sigma-V-(A-m))\circ\sigma^n(x), \quad m=\int\! A\,d\mu_{\max} \] where V(x) is any strict subaction of A.
The Design of an Ecosystem-Education Board Game Integrating Role-Play and Peer-Learning Mechanism and Its Evaluation of Learning Effectiveness and Flow

The teaching activities in ecosystem education are now more interactive in addition to the traditional classroom lectures, films, or field trips. In particular, game-based learning helps learners’ motivation and the opportunities for peer learning. Board games that do not need electricity and focus on players’ interactions are now widely used in many teaching practices in Taiwan. Based on cognitive learning theories and collaborative learning theories, the present study designed My country, My Animal, a board game that integrated role plays and peer learning mechanism, to enhance learners’ understanding of the habitats of Formosan Black Bears and the related environmental issues. In this game, the learners played specific roles to rescue the bears by exploring forest geography, analyzing and managing the events in the cards, and collecting appropriate tool cards for peer discussions and solving the game tasks. Fifty-seven junior high school students in Taiwan participated in this empirical study, investigating the learners’ learning effectiveness and their flow state in the game. The results showed that the learners’ learning effectiveness related to the ecosystem knowledge of Formosan Black Bears was enhanced at a significant level as well as their high flow evaluated by the flow scale. These findings indicated that this board game helped improve motivation and learning efficacy to some extent. Moreover, no significant difference between genders was found in terms of their flow and learning effectiveness, which suggested that this game was suitable for both the male and female students. These findings were discussed with implications according to gamebased learning and ecosystem education issues.
Construction and Validation of EFL Learners’ Attitudes toward English Pronunciation (LATEP): A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

The present study aimed at constructing and validating a scale to measure the significance of pronunciation in English language learners’ perspectives within four major domains of Linguistic, Psychological, Sociocultural, and World Englishes that are highly associated with pronunciation ability. Building upon the previous literature, the Learner Attitudes Toward English Pronunciation (LATEP) scale was constructed in six-point Likert type format. In order to verify its construct validity, the hypothesized four-solution model underwent Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis through AMOS with a sample-size of 243 advanced EFL learners. The results of the study showed initial poor fit of the LATEP model to the sample data; however, the model was revised by removing seven items from the questionnaire as well as the addition of a correlational path between two error terms. LATEP scale may be applied into various fields of study to fill the inherent gaps in the realm of English language learning.
Empirical tests of life‐history evolution theory using phylogenetic analysis of plant demography

1. A primary goal of evolutionary ecology is to understand factors selecting for the diversity of life histories. Life‐history components, such as time‐to‐reproduction, adult survivorship and fecundity, might differ among species because of variation in direct and indirect benefits of these life histories in different environments or might have lower‐than‐expected variability because of phylogenetic constraints. Here, we present a phylogenetic examination of demography and life histories using a data base of 204 terrestrial plant species.
Stochastic frontiers, productivity effects and development projects

A common objective of many development projects is to promote output growth as well as better management in order to improve incomes and reduce poverty. Â In other words, the purpose is to induce upwards shifts in the production frontier (i.e., technological change) while also promoting better management (i.e., narrowing the gap from the frontier). Given the link between managerial performance and technical efficiency, stochastic production frontiers are well suited for the task from a methodological point of view. Despite this suitability, work linking stochastic frontiers with impact evaluation methods has just begun and a major hurdle is resolving biases that might arise from selection on observables and unobservables. Â This article provides an overview of how impact evaluation and stochastic frontiers, two well-established areas in applied econometrics, are being brought together to shed light on the productivity effects of agricultural development interventions. Â
A PLANAR OUT-OF-PHASE POWER DIVIDER WITH UNEQUAL POWER DIVIDING RATIO

A planar power divider with unequal power division and out-of-phase feature is presented. Firstly, the principle of the proposed power divider containing transmission lines with the same characteristic impedance is analyzed. The power dividing ratio can be adjusted by only the electrical lengths of the transmission lines. Design equations of the proposed circuit are derived. Secondly, the method to reduce the size of the power divider is discussed. For illustration, a 2 : 1 prototype operating at 1.5 GHz is designed, fabricated and measured. The measured results show that S21, S31, and S11 are about −1.84, −4.96 and −28.4 dB at 1.5 GHz, respectively, that the isolation S23 is better than −20 dB from 1.44 to 1.56 GHz and that the phase difference between two output ports is about 180.54◦ at the center frequency.
Capital Adjustment Patterns in Manufacturing Plants

A common result from altering several fundamental assumptions of the neoclassical investment model with convex adjustment costs is that investment may occur in lumpy episodes. This paper takes a step back and asks "How lumpy is investment? " We answer this question by documenting the distributions of investment and capital adjustment for a sample of over 13,700 manufacturing plants drawn from over 300 four-digit industries. We find that many plants do undergo large investment episodes; however, there is tremendous variation across plants in their capital accumulation patterns. This paper explores how the variation in capital accumulation patterns vary by observable plant and firm characteristics, and how large investment episodes at the plant level transmit into fluctuations in aggregate investment. (Copyright: Elsevier)
Using human-dimensions research to reduce implementation uncertainty for wildlife management: a case of moose (Alces alces) hunting in northern Ontario, Canada

Abstract Context. Wildlife managers frequently use regulations to alter the preferred hunting strategies and outcomes of hunters. However, hunters can respond to changing social and resource conditions resulting from regulations in ways that can surprise wildlife managers. Aims. The specific research questions were (1) how does the availability of licences (tags) required to harvest adult moose (Alces alces) relate to the success of hunters at filling these tags and (2) how do hunting pressure and the density of calf moose relate to the harvest rate of the calf population. Methods. Information about hunters, harvest-related outcomes and moose abundance were estimated from social surveys and aerial inventories in 46 wildlife management units (WMUs) in northern Ontario, Canada. An information-theoretic approach was used to select regression models that predicted the average annual filling rate of tags for adult moose and for the average annual proportion of calf population harvested by hunters in the WMUs. Key results. Tag filling rates were negatively and strongly associated with the availability of tags to hunters in the WMUs. The proportion of calf population harvested was positively related to hunting pressure and negatively related to the density of calf populations in the WMUs. Conclusions. As tags became more scarce, hunters appeared to become more skilled at harvesting adult moose. As calf density declined, hunters harvested larger proportions of the population, indicating a possible inverse density-dependent relationship between abundance and harvest. Implications. Understanding hunters and their actions and role within a larger social-ecological system are critical for helping to reduce the uncertainty of implementing regulations for managing wildlife. Without having this understanding, it is easy for managers to become trapped in situations where the intent of management actions is undermined by the abilities of hunters who respond to both changing social and resource conditions.
The Vicious Cycle of the Foreign Military Debt

This paper aims at estimating first the effects of defense spending on the main determinants of growth, and second the extent to and the channels through which the military debt of Greece influences the overall debt burden of the country, and consequently the critical determinants of economic growth and development. Increased imports of sophisticated weapons and military equipment can be financed at the cost of investment (guns v. ploughshares), or/and at the cost of human capital formation (guns v. butter and chalk), or at the cost of increasing the foreign debt of the country. It is this last case which is investigated in this paper. Our empirical results indicate that whatever the necessity and the benefits of the security aspect of defense, its economic costs are quite substantial. The military as a claimant of resources has a negative and non trivial effect on physical capital accumulation, and human capital formation. Moreover, financing increased military imports through borrowing from abroad has a negative and significant effect on the determinants of growth and development.
Experimental investigation of damage and fracture in glassy materials at the nanometre scale

Slow crack advance is observed in real time via an Atomic Force Microscope in a minimal glass, amorphous Silica, under stress corrosion. Fracture proceeds through the nucleation, growth and coalescence of damage cavities, as recently reported in an aluminosilicate glass. The crack growth velocity as observed at the continuum scale is shown to be dominated by accelerating phases corresponding to the cavity coalescence with the main crack front. The process zone at the crack tip is then determined, and shown to increase with time when both the average crack growth velocity and the mechanical stress are kept constant. Transport of water molecules within the process zone is conjectured to be the dominant mechanism responsible for this time evolution. Migration of alkali Na ions in more complex Silicate glass is finally evidenced at the sub-mocrometric scale by observing through AFM the crack propagation in binary Na2O/SiO2 glasses.
Numerical simulation of explosive volcanic eruptions from the conduit flow to global atmospheric scales

Volcanic eruptions are unsteady multiphase phenomena, which encompass many inter-related processes across the whole range of scales from molecular and microscopic to macroscopic, synoptic and global. We provide an overview of recent advances in numerical modelling of volcanic effects, from conduit and eruption column processes to those on the Earth s climate. Conduit flow models examine ascent dynamics and multiphase processes like fragmentation, chemical reactions and mass transfer below the Earth surface. Other models simulate atmospheric dispersal of the erupted gas-particle mixture, focusing on rapid processes occurring in the jet, the lower convective regions, and pyroclastic density currents. The ascending eruption column and intrusive gravity current generated by it, as well as sedimentation and ash dispersal from those flows in the immediate environment of the volcano are examined with modular and generic models. These apply simplifications to the equations describing the system depending on the specific focus of scrutiny. The atmospheric dispersion of volcanic clouds is simulated by ash tracking models. These are inadequate for the first hours of spreading in many cases but focus on long-range prediction of ash location to prevent hazardous aircraft - ash encounters. The climate impact is investigated with global models. All processes and effects of explosive eruptions cannot be simulated by a single model, due to the complexity and hugely contrasting spatial and temporal scales involved. There is now the opportunity to establish a closer integration between different models and to develop the first comprehensive description of explosive eruptions and of their effects on the ground, in the atmosphere, and on the global climate.
THE SURFACE CHARACTER OF Staphylococcus aureus ISOLATED FROM SUBCLINICAL MASTITIS OF DAIRY COW SUPPORTING ADHERENCE TO UDDER EPITHELIAL CELL

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one among pathogen bacteria that caused mastitis in dairycow in Indonesia. Its ability to initiate infection depends on the surface character of the bacteria. Thesurface character of S. aureus is determined by the corelation of red blood cell hemagglutination activity,hydrophobicity, production of protein A, and bacterial adherence to the mammary epithelial cells of thehost. This research was designed to characterize the surface of S.aureus, which correlates to bacterialadherence. Four isolates of S. aureus were taken from subclinical mastitis milk of dairy farm in Malang,East Java. The surface character of S.aureus was determined by performing the red blood cellhemagglutination test using the dairy cow erythrocyte suspension with concentration of 0.5%, 1%, and2%. The hydrophobicity expression was determined by Salt Aggregation Test (SAT) method using theAmmonium Sulfate suspension with concentration of 1.2 M, 1.6 M, 2.0 M, 2.4M, and 3.2 M. Serum softagar (SSA) test was used to indicate the production of protein A; Ability of adhesion was done byadhering the S.aureus, which were already labelled by Fluorescent Ichtiocyanate (FITC) to themammary epithelial cell of post-calving mice. Result of this this research showed that the surfacecharacters of S.aureus, which correlates to the adherence, comprise of erythrocytes hemagglutinationability, hydrophobicity, and protein A production. Isolates of S.aureus, which is hydrophobic, possesshaemagglutinine, and protein A were able to adhere to mammary epithelial cell with higher quantity
Micro-scale distribution of beam trawl effort in the southern North Sea between 1993 and 1996 in relation to the trawling frequency of the sea bed and the impact on benthic organisms

This paper analyses the spatial distribution of fishing effort in a sample of 25 Dutch commercial beam trawlers fishing for sole and plaice in the period 1993-1996, based on an automated recording system with an accuracy of about 0.1 nautical mile. Intensive fishing occurred along the borders of the closed areas (12 mile zone and the 'plaice-box', a protected area in the eastern part of the North Sea) and at certain off-shore grounds in the southern and central North Sea. Effort distribution was studied within 30 x 30 (ICES rectangles), 10 x 10, 3 x 3 and 1 x 1 nautical mile squares and showed a patchy distribution. The degree of patchiness decreased with resolution. Within 3 x 3 mile squares, beam trawling was randomly distributed in some parts of the most heavily fished ICES rectangles but patchily distributed in others. Within 1 x 1 mile squares, the distribution became random within more than 90% of the squares. The micro-distribution showed a remarkable similarity between the 4 years with a mean coefficient of overlap of 0.66, range 0.56-0.76. The microdistribution of the sampled vessels was raised to the total Dutch fleet in order to estimate the frequency at which the sea bed was trawled. It was estimated that during the four year study period in eight of the most heavily fished rectangles of the North Sea, 5% of the surface area was trawled less than once in 5 years and 29% less than once in a year. The surface area of the sea bed that was trawled between 1 and 2 times in a year was estimated at 30%. The surface area trawled more than five times in a year was estimated at 9%. The relevance of the findings for the study of the impact of beam trawling on the benthic fauna is discussed.
Formation and convergence of nanocracks in mechanically loaded nanocrystalline solids

A theoretical model is suggested which describes formation and convergence of nano-scale cracks along grain boundaries in nanocrystalline materials under quasistatic mechanical loading. In the framework of the suggested model, the convergence of cracks is described as a percolation process consisting of independent elementary events each being the formation of a nano-scale crack along one grain boundary. The effect of a distribution in geometric parameters (length, orientation) of grain boundaries in a mechanically loaded nanocrystalline solid on the convergence of nano-scale cracks, leading to the macroscopic crack formation, is analysed.
The median winter snowline in the Alps

The relative duration of snow cover in a season is a number between zero and unity; here it represents the probability to encounter, at a given station, snow of at least 5 cm depth. We use routine station data of snow depth for the winters 1961–2000 to explore the pattern of relative snow duration in the Alps. A horizontal isoline is drawn across all stations that exhibit 50 % snow duration; we consider this isoline the median snowline. We further introduce the mountain temperature as linear expansion of the Central European temperature with respect to station coordinates; it separates the large-scale European temperature from the local-scale vertical lapse rate and serves as substitute for the station temperature. The mountain temperature allows to condense the snow data of all stations and years into one analytical curve, the state function of snow duration. This curve yields every desired snowline; the median snowline coincides with the altitude of maximum sensitivity of snow duration to European temperature. The median snowline in winter is located at an average altitude of 641 m and slightly slopes downward towards the eastern Alps. The average altitude varies considerably from winter to winter under the influence of European temperature fluctuations; it shifts upward by about 123 m per ◦C climate warming.
Advancing Value-Relevance Studies on Non-Financial Information : A Complementary Approach

This study investigates the value-relevance of non-financial information published in the narrative part of SPI annual reports. Our research contributes to the issue by introducing a new and objective approach for measuring non-financial information: based on a combination of content and factorial analysis, we quantify the extent of profitability and sustainability related information and find evidence for a positive relation to share price. The measurement aims to take both quantity and variety of expressions into account and proves that this is of investors' interest. Furthermore, consistent with prior studies based on Ohlson´s (1995) value-relevance model, we consider financial statement data and find that net income and book value of equity are positively related to market value. Our findings implicate that both, numerical and non-numerical information influence investors' perceptions and are therefore, crucial to be included in annual reports as the major communication tool.
Modelling short-term aging of asphalt binders using the rolling thin film oven test

Simulation of short-term aging of asphalt binders is a widely used procedure in asphalt binder characteriza - tion for predicting the binder response to plant mixing and paving under controlled laboratory conditions. There are two laboratory test methods for evaluating the short-term aging of asphalt binders: ( i) a method using rotating pans filled with a thin asphalt film termed thin film oven test (TFOT) and (ii) a method using rolling cylindrical asphalt containers termed rolling thin film oven test (RTFOT). In this paper, an attempt is made to develop generalized models for short-term aging effects using the RTFOT aging time as a benchmark. Six binder types representing two PG grades and three source suppliers are conditioned to varying levels of RTFOT aging and tested using the dynamic shear rhe- ometer (DSR). Aging effects are modelled using independent temperature shift models for the shear modulus and phase angle. The paper discusses the sources of errors in producing generalized models and some potential applications of aging models. The research revealed that it is possible to develop and implement such models for unmodified binders. Resume : La simulation du vieillissement a court terme des liants asphaltes est une procedure largement utilisee pour la caracterisation des liants asphaltes afin de predire la reponse du liant au melange en usine et au pavage sous des conditions de laboratoire controlees. Il existe deux methodes d'essais en laboratoire afin d'evaluer le vieillissement a court terme des liants asphaltes. Une methode employant des plateaux rotatifs remplis d'un mince film d'asphalte ap- pele essai d'un film mince au four (« thin film oven test, TFOT ») et une methode employant des contenants d'asphalte cylindriques roulant appele essai d'un film mince roulant au four (« rolling thin film oven test, RTFOT »). Dans cet article, une tentative est faite afin de developper des modeles generalises pour les effets du vieillissement a court terme en utilisant le temps de vieillissement RTFOT comme reference. Six types de liant representant deux ni- veaux de performance (« Performance Graded, PG ») et trois fournisseurs ont ete conditionnes a differents niveaux de vieillissement RTFOT et testes en utilisant le rheometre dynamique de cisaillement (« Dynamic Shear Rheometer, DSR »). Les effets du vieillissement sont modelises en utilisant des modeles independants de changements de tempera- ture pour le module de cisaillement et l'angle de phase. Cet article discute des sources d'erreurs lorsque des modeles generalises sont produits, et de quelques applications potentielles des modeles de vieillissement. La recherche a revele qu'il est possible de developper et de mettre en œuvre de tels modeles pour des liants non-modifies. Mots cles : asphalte, vieillissement, RTFOT, DSR, rheologie des liants, module de cisaillement, angle de phase. (Traduit par la Redaction) Shalaby 144
Estimating Germany's Potential Output

Potential output measures a country's attainable aggregate living standard and is thus one of the most important categories of economics. It is also a key indicator for monetary and fiscal policy. Despite its prominence, however, potential output is a difficult concept to pinpoint both theoretically and even more so empirically. The article discusses the reasons for the marked revisions of potential output estimates by major international organisations. The authors then present the results of our attempts to quantify Germany's potential output based on a production function approach coupled with the Kalman-filter technique to estimate the NAIRU. The authors find that potential output and potential output growth greatly depend on how the NAIRU and potential total factor productivity are modelled. Given the difficulties involved in robustly estimating potential output, especially in real time, economic policy makers need to learn to pursue their policy objectives without reference to this variable.