Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GPS-derived ground deformation (2005–2014) within the Gulf of Mexico region referred to a stable Gulf of Mexico reference frame

Abstract. This study investigates current ground deformation derived from the GPS geodesy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico region. The positions and velocity vectors of 161 continuous GPS (CGPS) stations are presented with respect to a newly established local reference frame, the Stable Gulf of Mexico Reference Frame (SGOMRF). Thirteen long-term (> 5 years) CGPS are used to realize the local reference frame. The root mean square (RMS) of the velocities of the 13 SGOMRF reference stations achieves 0.2 mm yr−1 in the horizontal and 0.3 mm yr−1 in the vertical directions. GPS observations presented in this study indicate significant land subsidence in the coastal area of southeastern Louisiana, the greater Houston metropolitan area, and two cities in Mexico (Aguascalientes and Mexico City). The most rapid subsidence is recorded at the Mexico City International airport, which is up to 26.6 cm yr−1 (2008–2014). Significant spatial variation of subsidence rates is observed in both Mexico City and the Houston area. The overall subsidence rate in the Houston area is decreasing. The subsidence rate in southeastern Louisiana is relatively smaller (4.0–6.0 mm yr−1) but tends to be steady over time. This poses a potential threat to the safety of coastal infrastructure in the long-term.
Feedback for a better teaching - A general questionnaire to collect student ratings of teaching in Norwegian

The aim of the present work was to develop a Norwegian questionnaire for collecting student rating of teaching (SRT) at university level. For this purpose, an established international questionnaire (Trier Inventar zur Lehrevaluation, TRIL) was translated into Norwegian and evaluated using peer-evaluation of the questionnaire. The peer evaluators found that the questionnaire assess the important characteristics of teaching quality, is applicable in all academic fields, and provides feedback that can be utilized to improve teaching behaviour. Thus, the here developed Norwegian version of the TRIL appears to be a suitable instrument to obtain SRTs. However, factor-structure and psychometrical properties of the presented translation remain to be evaluated in future studies.
Digitizing the Public Organization : Information System Architecture as a Key Competency to Foster Innovation Capabilities in Public Administration

The aim of this paper is to focus on the problems encountered in digitizing public administration. It puts emphasis on what is at stake with e-administration and underlines the contrast with the high rate of failure in managing such projects. After a review of why so many projects fail, the paper outlines, through the experience of a pilot project implemented in the Ministry of Finances in France, which key competencies need to be improved in the public sector and what could be an appropriate training program.
Trauma Experience , Identity , and Narratives

Peristiwa kekerasan dan mengerikan seperti konflik berdarah dan pembunuhan merupakan suatu realitas yang meninggalkan dampak permanen pada korban. Individu yang mengalami trauma akan terus menerus bergumul dengan makna kejadian yang telah dialami bahkan sesudah peristiwa trauma itu sendiri berlalu. Elemen kritikal bagi individu yang mengalami trauma adalah asesmen subyektif mengenai bagaimana mereka merasa terancam dan tak berdaya. Studi tentang trauma sosial-psikologi menghadapkan kita pada kondisi mengenai kodrat manusia baik dari sisi terbaik maupun terburuk.Makalah ini dimulai dengan bahasan mengenai apa yang menjadikan trauma dan bagaimana trauma berpengaruh atas hidup individu yang mengalaminya. Sebagai fenomen yang berkaitan erat dengan stres, maka akan bermanfaat bila dampak trauma dipertimbangkan dari aspek diri (self), yang mana konsep self ini sendiri merupakan seperangkat faktor yang kompleks. Trauma akan menggoyangkan dan bahkan mengubah komponen struktural dan fungsional dari self. Dihadapkan dengan pengalaman trauma, individu harus memobilisasikan segenap sumbersumber yang ada dalam diri maupun dalam lingkungannya sebagai jalan koping dengan situasi hidupnya. Pembahasan tentang koping akan mencakup konseptualisasi yang lebih luas daripada apa yang telah diusulkan oleh Lazarus. Perspektif yang lebih luas ini lebih bermanfaat bagi kita khususnya bila kita mempelajari naratif sebagai upaya oleh individu untuk memahami dan memaknai apa yang telah menimpa diri mereka. Setiap orang memiliki motif untuk menemukan makna, nilai-nilai (values) dan tujuan hidup, khususnya setelah mereka mengalami peristiwa yang mengancam kehidupan mereka, semua aspek ini muncul dalam naratif.
Using a matching analysis to evaluate the structural effects of farm-investment support in Austria

The increasing demand for agricultural policy evaluation and the complexity of identifying the effects of policy measures are two challenges to agricultural economics. In this context the following paper shows the opportunities and limitations of the direct radius-matching method in evaluating EU rural development policies, as exemplified by the agricultural investment support program for Upper Austria. To determine the causal effects of investment support on the structure of participating farms, the matching approach is combined with the Difference-inDifference estimator. The results show positive, but heterogeneous average effects on utilized agricultural area (UAA) and total livestock units (LU). As this approach is based on crucial assumptions, sensitivity analyses with modified calliper width for radius-matching are used. They show that wide callipers are preferable to narrow ones, when heterogeneous effects appear. The possible conclusion is that this approach is superior to the common method, such as before-/after-Comparison and regressions analysis, for evaluating the EU rural development when appropriate data and theoretical basis for the assumptions are available.
Antireflection and light trapping of subwavelength surface structures formed by colloidal lithography on thin film solar cells

In this paper, we present a novel design of a surface nanostructure that suppresses the reflectivity and provides forward diffraction for light trapping. The structure under study comprises periodic nanoislands fabricated using self‐assembly polystyrene spheres, which are applicable to large‐area fabrication. We also show preliminary fabrication results of the proposed structure. The periodic nanoislands reduce the reflectivity through gradient effective refractive indices and enhance light trapping through diffraction in a periodic structure. We first systematically study the antireflection and light trapping effects using a rigorous coupled‐wave analysis and then calculate the short‐circuit current density of a 2‐μm‐thick crystalline silicon with periodic nanoislands and an aluminum back reflector. The optimum short‐circuit current density with periodic nanoislands achieves 25 mA/cm2 theoretically, which shows a 76.9% enhancement compared with that of bare silicon. Moreover, the structure also provides superior photocurrent densities at large angles of incidence, compared with conventional antireflection coatings. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Exposure to air pollution in general population living in urban and rural environment: urinary benzene as biological index of exposure

Evidence is needed regarding air pollutant exposure in general population. One of the most important contributors to air urban pollution is benzene, a widespread air pollutant present both in outdoor and indoor environments, and a well known human carcinogen. The aim of our study was to investigate the use of urinary (u) unmodified benzene (UB) as a biomarker of air environmental pollution for general population. u-UB and u-cotinine were measured in urine samples of 243 Italian children (5-11 years) recruited in a cross-sectional study. Urine samples were collected at the end of the day, an analytical determination of benzene was performed by solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) – GC/MS. Analytical results were compared with data obtained from questionnaires about participants’ main potential exposure factors. The main findings were that u-UB levels were influenced by secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure and urbanization of residence areas. In addition, data showed that, excluding children exposed to SHS, u-UB concentrations were about 2-fold higher in subjects living in urban areas than in those in the rural environment (medians=210.50 and 92.50 ng/L, respectively). These results were confirmed by multivariate linear regression model. In conclusion, we found that u-UB is a good biomarker of benzene exposure in general population. In addition, u-UB could be considered as a synthetic biological index for the assessment of population exposure to atmospheric pollution.
Blocking probability analysis of wireless sensors that employ opportunistic spectrum access

Opportunistic accessing of vacant channels of licensed spectrum by non-licensed wireless devices offers a convenient solution to the spectrum scarcity problems experienced by many wireless communication systems. Due to the fixed assignment policy of spectrum, some of the licensed frequencies are not in full utilization by their licensed users. On the other hand, there exists a severe scarcity of bandwidth for new wireless services. In this context, opportunistic access is found to be a boon, to overcome the spectrum scarcity problems. In this paper, opportunistic accessing of vacant channels by the wireless sensors is analysed. Finding the number of devices that can be supported for the available vacant bandwidth is the main focus of the work. Assessing the blocking probabilities experienced by the devices is found to offer an approximation of the number of devices that can be accommodated in a given scenario, for permissible blocking rates. This kind of analysis can help in proper planning of such wireless sensor networks, to deploy them in a way that they can make use of the white space bandwidths efficiently.
Factors influencing the adoption of mobile services consumers ' preferences using analytic hierarchy process

Suggested Citation: Nikou, Shahrokh; Mezei, Jozsef; Bouwman, Harry; Liu, Yong (2011) : Factors influencing the adoption of mobile services consumers' preferences using analytic hierarchy process, 22nd European Regional Conference of the International Telecommunications Society (ITS2011), Budapest, 18 21 September, 2011: Innovative ICT Applications Emerging Regulatory, Economic and Policy Issues, ITS, Budapest
INFERENCE FOR PARTLY LINEAR ADDITIVE COX MODELS

The partly linear additive Cox model is a useful tool for modeling fail- ure time data with multiple covariates. The global smoothing method based on polynomial splines has been demonstrated as an efficient estimation approach for this model in the sense that it achieves the semiparametric information bound. However, there is no method available for consistently estimating the asymptotic variance matrix of the resulting estimators of finite parameters, which hampers inference for the model. This motivates us to propose a bootstrap method for esti- mating the distributions of the estimators; it is shown to be consistent. Moreover, to test linear hypotheses on the finite parameters, we propose a new test statistic and obtain its asymptotic null distribution. We show that the test is consistent and can detect alternatives nearing the null hypothesis at a rate of √ n. Our results enable inference about the model based on the efficient polynomial splines estima- tion. Simulations are conducted to demonstrate nice performance of the proposed method. A data example is also given.
Three octave spanning supercontinuum by red-shifted dispersive wave in photonic crystal fibers

This article presents a three-layer index guided lead silicate (SF57) photonic crystal fiber which simultaneously promises to yield large effective optical nonlinear coefficient and low anomalous dispersion that makes it suitable for supercontinuum (SC) generation. At an operating wavelength 1550 nm, the typical optimized value of anomalous dispersion and effective nonlinear coefficient turns out to be ~4 ps/km/nm and ~1078 W−1km−1, respectively. Through numerical simulation, it is realized that the designed fiber promises to exhibit three octave spanning SC from 900 to 7200 nm using 50 fs ‘sech’ optical pulses of 5 kW peak power. Due to the cross-phase modulation and four-wave mixing processes, a long range of red-shifted dispersive wave generated, which assists to achieve such large broadening. In addition, we have investigated the compatibility of SC generation with input pulse peak power increment and briefly discussed the impact of nonlinear processes on SC generation.
Relationship between climate variables... RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIMATE VARIABLES, TRUNK GROWTH RATE AND WOOD DENSITY OF Eucalyptus grandis W. Mill ex Maiden TREES1

1 Received on 25.03. 2013 accepted for publication on 17.12. 2015. 2 Universidade Federal de Goiás, Escola de Agronomia, Goiânia, GO – Brasil. E-mail: <crsettejr@hotmail.com>. 3 Universidade de São Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Departamento de Ciências Florestais, Piracicaba, SP Brasil. E-mail: <mtomazel@usp.br>. 4 Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Vila Real – Portugal. E-mail: <jlousada@utad.pt>. 5 Universidade Federal de Goiás, Escola de Agronomia, Goiânia, GO Brasil. E-mail: <dlpes@agro.ufg. br>. 6 Centre de Coopération Internationale En Recherche Agronomique Pour Le Dével, Programme Arbres Et Plantations, Esalq Usp Pesquisador Visitante, Piracicaba, SP. E-mail: <laclau@cirad.fr>. *Corresponding author.
accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving' BOUNDEDLY RATIONAL EQUILIBRIUM AND RISK PREMIUM

When people agree to disagree, how the disagreement among agents impact on the market is the main concern of this paper. With the standard mean variance framework, this paper considers a market of two risky assets and two agents who have different preference and biased beliefs in the mean and variance/covariance of the asset returns. By constructing a consensus belief, the paper develops an concept of boundedly rational equilibrium (BRE) to characterize the market equilibrium and examines explicitly the impact of heterogeneity on the market equilibrium and risk premium when the disagreements among the two agents are mean preserved spreads of a benchmark homogeneoue belief. It shows that, in market equilibrium, the biased mean preserved spreads in beliefs among the two agents have significant impact on the risk premium of the risky assets and market portfolio, and adding a riskless asset in the market magnifies the impact of the heterogeneity on the market. The results show that both optimism/pessemism and confidence/doubt can increase the market risk premium and reduce the riskfree rate. JEL Classification: G12, D84.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Method of moments estimation of GO-GARCH models

We propose a new estimation method for the factor loading matrix in generalized orthogonal GARCH (GO-GARCH) models. The method is based on the eigenvectors of a suitably defined sample autocorrelation matrix of squares and cross-products of the process. The method can therefore be easily applied to high-dimensional systems, where likelihood-based estimation will run into computational problems. We provide conditions for consistency of the estimator, and study its efficiency relative to maximum likelihood estimation using Monte Carlo simulations. The method is applied to European sector returns, and to the correlation between oil and kerosene returns and airline stock returns.
Study of Bose-Einstein Correlation Within the Framework of Hadronic Mechanics

The Bose-Einstein correlation is the phenomenon in which protons and antiprotons collide at extremely high energies; coalesce one into the other resulting into the fireball of finite dimension. They annihilate each other and produces large number of mesons that remain correlated at distances very large compared to the size of the fireball. It was believed that special relativity and relativistic quantum mechanics are the valid frameworks to represent this phenomenon. Although, R.M. Santilli showed that the Bose-Einstein correlation requires four arbitrary parameters (chaoticity parameters) to fit the experimental data which parameters are prohibited by the basic axioms of relativistic quantum mechanics, such as that for the vacuum expectation values. Moreover, Santilli showed that correlated mesons can not be treated as a finite set of isolated point-like particles as required for the exact validity of the Lorentz and Poincare's symmetries, because the event is non-local due to overlapping of wavepackets and consequential non-Hamiltonian effects. Therefore, the Bose-Einstein correlation is incompatible with the axiom of expectation values of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we study Santilli's exact and invariant representation of the Bose-Einstein correlation via relativistic hadronic mechanics including the exact representation of experimental data from the first axiomatic principles without adulterations, and consequential exact validity of the Lorentz-Santilli and Poincare-Santilli isosymmetries under non-local and non-Hamiltonian internal effect. We finally study the confirmation of Santilli's representation of the Bose-Einstein correlation by F. Cardone and R. Mignani.
Institutional Change and Economic Growth in Pakistan

This study attempts to isolate causes of institutional change and investigates the role it plays in achieving economic development. Institutional change is vital for sustainable economic growth but literature shows that related empirical evidence is limited. In this paper Multiple Indicators and Multiple Causes Model is employed. The results reveal that in case of Pakistan control of corruption, rule of law, privatization, liberalization, and voice accountability are the most important causes of institutional change. In addition to this export orientation also have a positive effect on institutional change whereas macroeconomic instability has a negative impact. Furthermore, there exists a significant positive relation between institutional change and economic development in Pakistan. The first section of the study provides an introduction, and section two provides relevant literature review. In section three methodology employed by the study is discussed. Section four presents results and discussion. Section five chalks out policy implications and concludes the study.
Spermine Treated-Adipose Tissue-Derived Multi-Lineage Progenitor Cells Improve Left Ventricular Dysfunction in a Swine Model of Chronic Myocardial Infarction

Background: The polyamine spermine enhances differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into cardiac lineage. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of spermine on the differentiation of human adipose tissuederived multi-lineage progenitor cells (hADMPCs) into cardiomyocytes both in vitro and in vivo and any subsequent functional effect in a swine model of chronic myocardial infarction. Methods and results: Spermine increased the expression of cardiac markers nkx2.5, islet-1, α-cardiac actin and cardiac troponin I (to 11.2-, 27.5-, 43.6- and 19.1-fold, relative to baseline, respectively) in hADMPCs. Chronic myocardial infarction model with left ventricular dysfunction was induced by balloon occlusion of the diagonal coronary artery followed by reperfusion, with subsequent similar procedure conducted one week later in the left ascending coronary artery (#6). Four weeks later, the immunosuppressed animals (with CyA 5.0 mg/kg intramuscularly (i.m) body weight/day) were transplanted with spermine-treated hADMPC (1×105 , 3×105 , 1×106 or 3×106 cells/kg body weight) via the coronary artery (#6). Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography at 0, 4, 8 and 12 weeks post-transplantation. Transplantation of these cells improved cardiac function and the most effective dose was 3x105 cells/kg (ejection fraction; 33.4%, 47.0%, 51.5% and 52.9% at 0, 4, 8 and 12 weeks post-transplantation, respectively). At 12-week post-transplantation, spermine-treated hADMPCs differentiated into human-specific troponin I- and α-cardiac actin-positive cells in vivo. Conclusion: Spermine induced differentiation of hADMPCs into cardiomyocytes both in vitro and in vivo and cellular cardiomyoplasty improved cardiac function. Cellular cardiomyoplasty using hADMPC could be potentially effective cell-based therapy.
The Effect of Adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards on Quality of Financial Reports in Public Sector in Kenya

Quality financial reports plays significant role in accountability of government to their citizens and how it meets its financial management responsibilities. The introduction of IPSAS formed an important part of public sector reforms and followed a global trend in government accounting in response to calls for greater government financial accountability and transparency which is a fundamental principles of democracy. This study focused on effect of adoption of IPSAS on quality of financial reports in meeting the criteria for decision usefulness. The design of this study was the descriptive survey design while the target population was the 19 ministries of the national government in Kenya. Data was collected using secondary means and was analysed using descriptive statistics and t-test for differences. The study indicated enhancement in the quality of characteristics of comparability, relevance, timeliness and faithful representation by adoption of IPSAS while the quality of characteristics of understandability declined. The study also showed no significant difference in items pertaining to transparency and accountability indicating that the goal for government reforms in achieving greater transparency and accountability may not be fully achieved. The study also revealed that adoption of IPSAS is adjudged to have moderate effect on quality of financial reports in public sector in Kenya using a 5 point likert scale. The study concluded that there exist statistically significant difference between old accounting standard-based financial reports and IPSAS-based financial reports in meeting the criteria for decision usefulness as revealed by paired-sample t-test.
Reconstitution of heterochromatin spreading on designer chromatin reveals a two-state activation mechanism for the histone methyltransferase Suv39h1

Specialized chromatin domains contribute to nuclear organization and the regulation of gene expression. Gene-poor regions are demarcated by the activity of the histone methyltransferase, Suv39h1, which di-and trimethylates lysine 9 of histone H3 (H3K9me2/3). A positive feedback loop is hardwired into the domain architecture of Suv39h1, enabling it to spread H3K9me2/3 over extended heterochromatic regions. However, little is known about how feedback loops operate on complex biopolymers such as chromatin, in part because of the difficulty in obtaining suitable substrates. Here we describe the synthesis of multi-domain ‘designer chromatin’ templates and their application to dissecting Suv39h1 regulation. We uncover a two-step activation switch where H3K9me3 recognition and subsequent anchoring of the enzyme to chromatin allosterically promotes methylation activity, and confirm that this mechanism contributes to chromatin recognition in cells. We propose that this mechanism serves as a paradigm in chromatin biochemistry since it enables highly dynamic sampling of chromatin state combined with targeted modification of desired genomic regions.