Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Media, Institutions, and Government Action: Prevention vs. Palliation in the Time of Cholera

This paper studies how media and the quality of institutions affect government action taken before and after a natural disaster. Provided that more media activity is focused on post-disaster action, we show that more media activity and better democratic institutions both contribute positively to the palliative effort after the disaster, although corruption has a negative effect that decreases as media activity increases. On the preventive effort, however, media and democracy both have a negative effect, as does corruption. We provide empirical evidence based on major cholera epidemics and other natural disasters around the world, which largely support these hypotheses.
Holland Causal Inference and Statistical Fallacies 1

data. In: Berkane M (ed.) Latent Variable Modeling with Applications to Causality. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 69–117 Rubin D B 1974 Estimating causal effects of treatments in randomized and nonrandomized studies. Journal of Educational Psychology 66: 688–701 Rubin D B 1978 Bayesian inference for casual effects: The role of randomization. Annals of Statistics 6: 34–58 Shafer G 1996 The Art of Causal Conjecture. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Divergence of the correlation length for critical planar FK percolation with 1 ⩽ q ⩽ 4 via parafermionic observables

Parafermionic observables were introduced by Smirnov for planar Fortuin–Kasteleyn (FK) percolation in order to study the critical phase (p, q) = (pc(q), q). This paper gathers several known properties of these observables. Some of these properties are used to prove the divergence of the correlation length when approaching the critical point for FK percolation when 1 ⩽ q ⩽ 4. A crucial step is to consider FK percolation on the universal cover of the punctured plane. We also mention several conjectures on FK percolation with arbitrary cluster weight q > 0. This article is part of ‘Lattice models and integrability’, a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical in honour of F Y Wu's 80th birthday.
Molecular dynamics simulation of phase transformations in silicon monocrystals due to nano-indentation

This paper discusses the phase transformation of diamond cubic silicon under nano-indentation with the aid of molecular dynamics analysis using the Tersoff potential. By monitoring the positions of atoms within the model, the microstructural changes as silicon transforms from its diamond cubic structure to other phases were identified. The simulation showed that diamond cubic silicon transforms into a body-centred tetragonal form (β-silicon) upon loading of the indentor. The change of structure is accomplished by the flattening of the tetrahedron structure in diamond cubic silicon. Upon unloading, the body-centred tetragonal form transforms into an amorphous phase accompanied by the loss of long-range order of the silicon atoms. By performing a second indentation on the amorphous zone, it was found that the body-centred-tetragonal-to-amorphous phase transformation could be a reversible process.
Emerging Value: The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane (Cam) Model in Oral Carcinogenesis Research

New questions and technological advances in cancer research have led to renewed relevance for the chicken Chorioallantoic Membrane (CAM) model. The CAM model is a powerful tool to study early events of tumor progression of head and neck cancer. Several advantages of the CAM model over other in vivo models include its clinical relevance, cost effectiveness and the wide accessibility of chicken eggs. These benefits make the CAM model of cancer progression an attractive in vivo option for global oral cancer researchers.
Degradation Potential Of Free And Immobilized Cells Of White Rot Fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium On Synthetic Dyes

There is a growing public concern over toxicity and carcinogenicity of d yes which usually are of synthetic origins made up of complex aromatic molecular structures and highly recalcitrant. Over 10,000 dyes are commercially available and around 15% of the global dye production is being discharged to the aquatic environment untreated or with partial treatment. Direct disposal of these toxic dyes cause s deterioration of groundwater along with disruption of aquatic ecosystems and indirectly it enters into our food chain. Various treatment techniques such as physical, chemical, biological and advanced oxidation methods are available to treat the textile effluents and each has its own pitfalls and benefits depend on the techno-economical characteristics. Besides all techniques, biological methods are highly versatile, cost effective and minimal sludge production. Now considerable research efforts have been devoted to the biological treatment proces ses with the use of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. White rot fungi is one such well-known fungal family proven for effective dye decolourization. The evaluation of decolourization potential of free and immobilized cells of basidomycetes phanerochaete chrysosporium has been investigated in this study. Keywords: Biological methods; Dyes; Microbial decolourization; White rot fungi; Phanerochaete chrysosporium.
Safety Design for Simulation Models based on Formal Methods

Control theory researchers have been using DEVS models to formalize discrete event systems for a long time. Despite such systems are one of the main targets of Software Engineers, the DEVS formalism lacks tools offering representing and verifying safety properties. The general scope of the paper consists of extending the DEVS framework to support safety properties and verify them by using formal methods. Thus, we offer a possibility for DEVS user to describe safety properties and to verify formally if these properties are preserved during the evolution of the system. We called the extended formalism ” φ DEVS ”. Safety veriﬁcation is made once a ” φ DEVS ” model is translated to a formal speciﬁcation using Z notation by performing proof obligation.
Experimental investigation of snap-through motion of in-plane MEMS shallow arches under electrostatic excitation

We present an experimental investigation for the nonlinear dynamic behaviors of clamped–clamped in-plane MEMS shallow arches when excited by harmonic electrostatic forces. Frequency sweeps are conducted to study the dynamic behaviors in the neighborhoods of the first and third resonance frequencies as well as the super-harmonic resonances. Experimental results show local softening behavior of small oscillations around the first resonance frequency and hardening behavior at the third resonance frequency for small dc and ac loads. Interesting dynamic snap-through cross-well motions are observed experimentally at high voltages for the first time in the micro-scale world. In addition to the dynamic snap-through motion, the MEMS arch exhibits large oscillations of a continuous band of snap-through motion between the super-harmonic resonance regime and the first primary resonance regime. This continuous band is unprecedented experimentally in the micro/macro world, and is promising for a variety of sensing, actuation and communications applications.
A multiwavelength consensus on the main sequence of star-forming galaxies at z ~ 2

We compare various star formation rate (SFR) indicators for star-forming galaxies at 1.4 < z < 2.5 in the COSMOS field. The main focus is on the SFRs from the far-IR (PACS-Herschel data) with those from the ultraviolet, for galaxies selected according to the BzK criterion. FIR-selected samples lead to a vastly different slope of the SFRstellar mass (M∗) relation, compared to that of the dominant main sequence population as measured from the UV, since the FIR selection picks predominantly only a minority of outliers. However, there is overall agreement between the main sequences derived with the two SFR indicators, when stacking on the PACS maps the BzK-selected galaxies. The resulting logarithmic slope of the SFR-M∗ relation is ∼ 0.8 − 0.9, in agreement with that derived from the dust-corrected UV-luminosity. Exploiting deeper 24µm-Spitzer data we have characterized a sub-sample of galaxies with reddening and SFRs poorly constrained, as they are very faint in the B band. The combination of Herschel with Spitzer data have allowed us to largely break the age/reddening degeneracy for these intriguing sources, by distinguishing whether a galaxy is very red in B-z because of being heavily dust reddened, or whether because star formation has been (or is being) quenched. Finally, we have compared our SFR(UV) to the SFRs derived by stacking the radio data and to those derived from the Hα luminosity of a sample of star-forming galaxies at 1.4 < z < 1.7. The two sets of SFRs are broadly consistent as they are with the SFRs derived from the UV and by stackin the corresponding PACS data in various mass bins.
Surveying genome-wide levels of sequence divergence between species using comparative genomic hybridization: A proof-of-concept from Drosophila

Genome-wide analysis of sequence divergence among species offers profound insight regarding the evolutionary processes that shape species. When full-genome sequencing is not feasible for a broad comparative study, we propose the use of array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in order to identify orthologous genes with high sequence divergence. Here we discuss experimental design, statistical power, success rate, sources of variation and potential confounding factors. We used a spotted PCR product microarray platform from Drosophila melanogaster to assess sequence divergence on a gene-by-gene basis in three fully sequenced heterologous species (D. sechellia, D. simulans, and D. yakuba). Because full genome sequence is available for these species this study presents a powerful test for the use of aCGH as a tool to measure sequence divergence. We found a consistent and linear relationship between hybridization ratio and sequence divergence of the sample to the platform species. At higher levels of sequence divergence (< 92% sequence identity to D. melanogaster) ~84% of features had significantly less hybridization to the array in the heterologous species than the platform species, and thus could be identified as “diverged”. At the lower levels of divergence (97% identity and greater), only 13% of genes were identified as diverged. While ~40% of the variation in hybridization ratio can be accounted for by variation in sequence identity of the heterologous sample to D. melanogaster, other individual characteristics of the DNA sequences also contribute to variation in hybridization ratio, as does technical variation. Therefore, evolutionary process and genomic architecture that shapes species diversity can be addressed through the use of aCGH.
Two distinct patterns of spring Eurasian snow cover anomaly and their impacts on the East Asian summer monsoon

[1] The Eurasian snow cover anomaly in spring has been considered as one of the important factors affecting East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). The spring snow cover data for the period from 1972 to 2004 are used to extract dominant spatial patterns over the Eurasian region and to examine their impacts on the EASM through empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The first EOF mode is generally characterized by a continent-wide snow cover anomaly over the whole Eurasian region, while the second EOF mode is dominated by an east-west dipole structure over Eurasia. Our study indicates that the variability of dipole pattern snow cover is more closely related to the EASM rainfall than that of continent-wide snow cover. A strong dipole pattern with positive (negative) snow cover anomalies over western Eurasia and negative (positive) snow cover anomalies over eastern Eurasia signifies enhanced (reduced) summer rainfall over East Asia, and the Eurasian wave train pattern is apparent. An important implication of these results is that the spring snow cover anomaly over Eurasia provides a complementary precursor for EASM variability.
C L ] 1 5 N ov 2 01 8 Survey of Computational Approaches to Diachronic Conceptual Change Detection

Our languages are in constant flux driven by external factors such as cultural, societal and technological changes, as well as by only partially understood internal motivations. Words acquire new meanings and lose old senses, new words are coined or borrowed from other languages and obsolete words slide into obscurity. Understanding the characteristics of shifts in the meaning and in the use of words is useful for those who work with the content of historical texts, the interested general public, but also in and of itself. The findings from automatic lexical semantic change detection, and the models of diachronic conceptual change are currently being incorporated in approaches for measuring document across-time similarity, information retrieval from long-term document archives, the design of OCR algorithms, and so on. In recent years we have seen a surge in interest in the academic community in computational methods and tools supporting inquiry into diachronic conceptual change and lexical replacement. This article is an extract of a survey of recent computational techniques to tackle lexical semantic change currently under review. In this article we focus on diachronic conceptual change as an extension of semantic change.
What response rate can be expected from questionnaire surveys that address park and recreation issues

Executive Summary: Many park and recreation agencies use mail surveys to collect information. One concern is that those who return the surv^eys may have different views on an issue than non-respondents. This concern is reduced if a high response rate is obtained, which leads to the question, "What response rate is considered acceptable and achievable? " Literature suggests that 70% is an appropriate criterion for special-interest groups, but that this rate is not attainable for general population groups who have relatively littie interest in the issues addressed in the sur\'ey. This study explored three research questions: Do overall response rates differ across different types of populations? Do patterns of response rates between waves of mail surv^eys differ across types of populations? WTiat factors can be identified that account for differences in overall response rates? Data from 14 park and recreation sur\'eys were re\dewed. In each sun^ey, three waves of questionnaires were distributed. The sun'ey samples were classified into three interest categories: recreation, professional, and general. The analyses reaffirmed that overall response rates of 70% are a reasonable expectation from recreation interest samples, but among professional and general interest groups response rates of 60% and 55%, respectively, are a more realistic expectation. The ratios of responses between the three waves among recreation interest and general population samples were consistent, averaging approximately 60:28:12. However, among professional interest samples, the distribution of 37:47:16 showed a contrastingly hea\7 dependence on the middle wave. Differences in response rates appeared to be attributable primarily to salienc}^ of an issue to respondents. ^
A LARGER SAMPLE SIZE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER!!!

In a previous paper Neerchal, Lacayo and Nussbaum (2007) explored the behavior of the well-known problem of finding the optimal sample size for obtaining a confidence interval of a pre-assigned precision (or length) for the proportion parameter of a finite or infinite binary population. We illustrated some special problems that arise due to the discreteness of the population distribution and precision that is measured by the length of the interval rather than by the variance. Specifically, the confidence level of an interval of fixed length does not necessarily increase as the sample size increases. However, when such confidence levels are computed using normal approximations, we see a monotonic behavior. In this paper, we consider the corresponding problem under the Poisson approximation and show that for this distribution monotonicity does not hold and one should be beware of this seeming peculiarity in recommending sample sizes for studies involving estimation of means or proportions.
From Emerging to Connected E-Government: The Effects of Socioeconomics and Internal Administration Characteristics

The aim of this study is to explain the development of e-government using a new measure of the content, presentation, navigability and interaction of the websites created by public administrations as illustrated in the United Nations 2008 report, Services Delivery by Stages. These results differ from previous empirical analyses, showing that citizens" economic and education levels are not the main factors driving the development of digital administration. On the contrary, the sophisticated design of e-government seems to be linked strongly to the idea of a new public management defined by organizations such as OECD, as well as a North American style of economic development.
College graduates' experiences and attitudes during organizational entry

Much of the emphasis in HRD on new-employee development has been on task-related training or orientation programs. Little attention has been focused on integrating socialization research and interventions. The first step in integrating the two perspectives is obtaining a clearer description of what is occurring in the field. This descriptive study is designed to understand more fully how new college graduates experience organizational entry. A comprehensive survey instrument was sent to 2,214 bachelor's degree graduates one year after graduation, with a response rate of 38.2 percent. The sample was reduced to 378 graduates working in for-profit organizations and not in temporary employment. Twenty-four socialization scales were derived using exploratory factor analysis; descriptive statistics are reported for each scale and seven other established scales. Data are reported on the graduates' preemployment attitudes, organizational entry experiences, perceptions of their jobs, organizational understanding, new-employee attitudes, expectations, and adaptation strategies. Results indicate wide variability in socialization experiences and adaptation success and the need for HRD interventions. Implications for HRD research are discussed.
Researching together: Reflections on ethical research in remote Aboriginal communities

Ethical research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a complex and delicate space. It often juxtaposes Western views of ethical practice with Indigenous worldviews and values. The lead author’s doctoral research project has focused on the expectations, experiences and outcomes of boarding school for remote Aboriginal students, families and communities. This paper presents a thematic analysis of the reflections of the authors on working together on this research as a non-Indigenous researcher and an Aboriginal Community Researcher. Strategies to implement what the authors and literature describe as ethical practice in remote Aboriginal communities are discussed. Implications for future research and lessons learned through this experience are identified.
Edinburgh Research Explorer Bootstrapping Generators from Noisy Data

A core step in statistical data-to-text generation concerns learning correspondences between structured data representations (e.g., facts in a database) and associated texts. In this paper we aim to bootstrap generators from large scale datasets where the data (e.g., DBPedia facts) and related texts (e.g., Wikipedia abstracts) are loosely aligned. We tackle this challenging task by introducing a special-purpose content selection mechanism. 1 We use multi-instance learning to automatically discover correspondences between data and text pairs and show how these can be used to enhance the content signal while training an encoder-decoder architecture. Experimental results demonstrate that models trained with content-speciﬁc objectives improve upon a vanilla encoder-decoder which solely relies on soft attention.
Frequency Dependent Specialization for Processing Binaural Auditory Cues in Avian Sound Localization Circuits

Localizing sound sources is essential for survival of animals. It enables animals to avoid danger, or to catch their prey. The differences of sound information between two ears, those of interaural time and level difference (ITD and ILD), are important cues for sound source localization. The minimum resolvable angle of sound source separation is less than 30 along the horizontal plane in many species (cat, Casseday & Neff, 1973; rat, Masterton et al., 1975; songbirds, Klump et al., 1986; Park & Dooling, 1991; Klump, 2000), and in some species the resolution is extremely high. In human and in barn owl, the resolvable angle is as small as 1 (Mills, 1958; Knudsen & Konishi, 1979). ITD and ILD cues depend on the head size of animals and are quite small, particularly in small-headed animals. Thus processing of these cues may need specialization of individual neurons and neural circuits. The time and level information of sounds are captured in the cochlea, transformed to trains of action potentials in the auditory nerve fibers, and then transmitted to auditory nuclei in the brainstem. In the brainstem, time and level information are extracted in the cochlear nucleus and then transmitted in parallel pathways which are specialized to process ITD and ILD cues separately (Fig. 1A, indicating the auditory brainstem circuit in birds) (Sullivan & Konishi, 1984; Takahashi et al., 1984; Takahashi & Konishi, 1988; Warchol & Dallos, 1990; Moiseff & Konishi, 1983; Yin, 2002). Furthermore, in the auditory system, neurons are tuned to a specific frequency of sound (characteristic frequency, CF), and ITD and ILD cues are processed by each CF neuron (Brugge, 1992; Klump, 2000). Recently, a series of studies in the chicken have revealed several frequency dependent specializations in ITD coding pathway (Kuba et al., 2005; Yamada et al., 2005; Kuba et al., 2006). These specializations include the type and the density of ion channels, and their subcellular localization. Furthermore, recent observations in mammals and birds indicate that time and level information are not processed independently but rather cooperatively to enhance the contrast of interaural difference cues even at the first stage of processing of these cues in the brainstem auditory nuclei (Brand et al., 2002; Nishino et al., 2008; Sato et al., 2010). In this chapter, we will first summarize what is known about the neural specializations that enable the preciseness of coincidence detection of synaptic inputs, which is central to process the ITD. And then, we will review observations on how the interaction of time and level information of sounds modulates the processing of each ITD and ILD cue.