Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Triple Radar Arrangement for Level 2 ADAS Detection System in Autonomous Vehicles

The main functions of automated systems rely on advanced sensors for the detection and perception of the environment around the vehicle. Radars and cameras are commonly utilized to detect potential obstacles and vehicles ahead on the road. Nevertheless, cameras can generate spurious detections in extreme weather conditions, such as fog, rain, dust, snow, dark, and heavy sunlight in the sky. Due to limitations in the vertical field view of the radars, single radars are not reliable to detect the height of the targets precisely. In this paper, an innovative triple radar arrangement (long-range, medium-range, and short-range radars) with a sensor fusion technique is proposed to detect objects of different sizes in the level 2 Advanced Driver-Assistance (ADAS) system. The typical objects including trucks, pedestrians, and animals are detected in different scenarios. The developed model considered ISO 26262 and ISO/PAS 21448 to reasonably address insufficient robustness and the inability of the sensors. The models of sensor and level 2 ADAS systems are developed using MATLAB toolbox and Simulink. Sensor detection performance is determined by running simulations with a triple radar setup. Obtained results demonstrate that the proposed approach generates accurate detections of targets in all tested scenarios.
The Struggle for Control: How do Norwegian TV-Celebrities Deal With Critical Media Exposure?

Ten Norwegian TV-hosts, all nation-wide celebrities, were interviewed about their experiences with critical media exposure. How did they perceive their relationship with the press? What were the main sources of stress? How did they cope? All expressed a strong focus on impression management and self-presentation. The majority described an independent and often playful interaction with the press, in order to keep control over their programs and their privacy.All had experienced negative media exposure. Sources of stress were one-sided presentations, evil informers, personal attacks, and harming their family. They experienced both direct effects by the media coverage, and indirect effects through interaction with other people.The majority used problem-focused coping strategies, actively influencing the media coverage; emotion-focused strategies, regulating their thoughts and feelings; and meaning-focused strategies, allowing reflection. Proactive self-presentation work helped maintain and protect their identities.Two of the participants reported using more defensive strategies, and had suffered more intensely.
Economic valuation of recreational attributes using a choice experiment approach: An application to the Galapagos Islands

Despite the increasing number of visitors to Galapagos National Park, the tourism industry pays little attention to the distinct preferences of tourists toward park attributes, including both its natural resources and managerial emphasis. To “monetize” the benefits of these attributes requires utilizing nonmarket valuation techniques. Using a stated preference questionnaire, we estimated the economic value of the park’s recreational attributes. The following five attributes were selected: endangered species, prevalence of garbage, site infrastructure, air quality, and entrance fees. The results of this study demonstrate that tourists place the highest willingness to pay values on increased protection of animal species (US$26.9) and garbage reduction (US$111.2). These results highlight the economic contributions for park management, with a potential for value improvement of US$38.1 per tourist if the park’s combined attributes are upgraded from the present condition to the optimum condition.
Utilization of similar accident cases for safety education

Since fatal accidents in the construction industry occur frequently, our objective was to understand the causes and countermeasures for occupational accidents in the construction industry. Therefore, similar articles of occupational accident cases were extracted using the model BERT model against the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s database of occupational accident cases. From the extracted results, we proposed a method to be applied to safety education in the form of a checklist.
Current account modelling - long-term trends and cyclical factors

This article focuses on current account dynamics in selected Central European countries. We document that the current account is influenced both by long-term trends linked with the convergence process and by cyclical factors of the external environment. On this basis, we argue that both these factors - long-term and cyclical - should be taken into account in current account modelling, and we introduce an empirical model that can incorporate them consistently. We demonstrate this model on the example of the Czech Republic.
Impact of drought on dust storms: case study over Southwest Iran

Dust storms are common meteorological events in arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in Southwest Iran (SWI). Here we study the relation between drought events in Iraq and dust storms in SWI between 2003 and 2018. The HYSPLIT model showed that central and southern Iraq are the main dust sources for SWI. Mean annual aerosol optical depth (AOD) analysis demonstrated that 2008 and 2009 were the dustiest years since 2003 and there is an increased frequency of summertime extreme dust events in the years 2008 and 2009. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index revealed that drought in Iraq significantly affects dust storms in Iran. Similarly, dramatic desiccation of Iraq wetlands has contributed to increasing fall dust events in SWI. AOD in SWI is highly correlated (−0.76) with previous-month vapor pressure deficit (VPD) over Iraq, demonstrating the potential of VPD for dust event forecasting.
Improving firm survival: exports or outward foreign direct investment?

ABSTRACT Firm survival matters not only for the development of firms, but also for industrial development and macro-economic growth. This paper aims to explore a far less studied issue: the impact of exports and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on firm survival. First, this research explores the impact of pure-exports, pure-OFDI and mixed trade on firm survival based on a heterogeneous firm model with dynamic conditions. Second, this research demonstrates the theoretical hypothesis by employing micro-data from China and the multiple propensity score matching method. The results indicate that both exports and OFDI help improve firm survival, though the impact of pure-OFDI is larger. This conclusion is robust across different matching algorithms, research periods and empirical methods. The heterogeneous analysis indicates that the ‘exports/OFDI–firm survival’ relationship varies across both firm and economic characteristics. This research aims to guide firms’ optimal method of internationalisation and provide suggestions for the development of a new opening-up pattern.
A Choice‐Based Measure of Issue Importance in the Electorate

Measuring how much citizens care about dierent policy issues is critical for political scientists, yet existing measurement approaches have signicant limitations. We provide a new surveyexperimental, choice-based approach for measuring the importance voters attach to dierent positional issues, including issues not currently contested by political elites. We combine information from (i) direct questions eliciting respondents’ positions on dierent issues with (ii) a conjoint experiment asking respondents to trade-o departures from their preferred positions on those issues. Applying this method to study the relative importance of 34 issues in the UK, we show that British voters attach signicant importance to issues like the death penalty which are not presently the subject of political debate and attach more importance to those issues associated with social liberal-conservative rather than economic left-right divisions.
Subsidized Prices vs. Subsidized Quantities : Choosing Simple Instruments in Challenging Policy Regimes

This thesis studies the goals and means for reducing emissions. It consists of theoretical models that apply and extend the classical model that Martin L. Weitzman introduced in 1974. The Weitzman model restricts the means of regulation to price and quantity policies, which require setting either a price or a quota in the market for emissions production. Weitzman finds that the instruments are not equivalent, as asymmetric information induces societal costs that differ between price and quantity policies. In the thesis, the Weitzman model is extended by incorporating discrete choices, subsidization, and cost inefficiencies. The augmented models demonstrate that the new features change the classical instrument choice formula in significant ways. A discrete choice is a major project that produces considerable emission reductions with a considerable monetary outflow; an investment in green technology is an example of a discrete choice. A regulated firm is subsidized if it does not have to pay for every emission unit it produces. Taken together, the thesis discusses how subsidization manipulates emissions payments and discrete choices such that aggregate emissions reduction becomes inefficiently organized. Importantly, the thesis studies tradable permits (quantity policy) and environmental taxes (price policy) that both contain emission payments, so the instruments are vulnerable to subsidization and inefficiencies. The thesis traces instances of subsidization and subsequent cost inefficiency in environmental policy and discusses two general sources of inefficiencies in more detail: technical factors and political factors. Political inefficiency is the result of conflict between the regulator and various policy stakeholders. The regulator promotes the efficient use of natural resources, whereas the stakeholders often have other (usually narrower) goals—incumbent polluting firms seek tax exemptions while environmentalists aim for generous support for green technologies. Technical inefficiency is a more subtle concept and refers to the conflict that arises
Dynamics of digital entrepreneurship and the innovation ecosystem

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics of digital entrepreneurship and the role of innovation ecosystem in its shaping by applying a multilevel perspective on the phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory in-depth analysis of an IT company in Brazil is conducted using a quasi-mixed method design and three analytical techniques: pattern-matching, data exposure and social network analysis. The study is based on qualitative data, complemented by quantitative data. The case company is investigated within its time (historical development) and spatial (entire ecosystem) dimensions, providing an integrative approach to analysis. Findings The results revealed significant differences in a set of supporting innovation ecosystem’s actors and relationships throughout the development of the company from lower to higher levels of digitalization. The findings are discussed within a framework that links ecosystem’s actors at different layers with different levels of business digitalization. Research limitations/implications This research brings implications to SMEs in high-tech industries that are aiming to transform their business toward greater digitalization, and stresses the importance of strategic partners in innovation ecosystem in this process. Originality/value The novelty of this research is related to how external actors contribute to a company to adapt and create value, and how companies may exploit opportunities by configuring internal resources and external assets from strategic relationships. The study considers digital entrepreneurship in dynamics, distinguishes between different levels of digitalization and prescribes them different enablers and sets of relationships.
Nested citizens: macropolitics and microbehavior in comparative politics

The focus in the behavioral study of politics is on individuals. As a subfield of political science, it examines actions (e.g., voting and protest) as well as cognitions (perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs); and as a subfield of comparative politics, it examines them in one, several, or many different countries. It encompasses the study of both cognition and action, in large part because we have long believed that attitudes and beliefs explain action, but also because we are convinced that, in addition to formal institutions or processes, cognitive elements of politics such as legitimacy, values, or grievances are important indicators of the quality and nature of democratic and political life. This chapter reviews the intellectual foundations of the behavioral study of politics, and it does so with an eye to its evolution as a subfield of comparative politics. It also discusses the field's affinities with different theoretical traditions in political science and comparative politics. I discuss both the past and present of how we study comparative mass politics and describe how it has been transformed because of changes in technology and intellectual trends and in reaction to real-world events. I argue that, as a result of these changes, the study of mass politics has become more central to the study of comparative politics through its ecumenical relations with different theoretical traditions in the social sciences and comparative politics. Mixed Ancestry: Origins of Research on Comparative Mass Politics Two intellectual projects underlie the comparative study of behavioral politics.
Sensitivity to Status-Based Rejection: Implications for Female and Minority Criminal Justice Majors

Now more than ever, criminal justice agencies are looking to fill their ranks with a diverse workforce that reflects the populations they serve. Criminal justice is a field where diversity matters, is encouraged, and is sought after in recruitment efforts. Also, research shows that females are highly effective in this discipline due to their unique communication skills. Therefore, it is important for females and minorities to feel they are welcomed and belong in those agencies. This article explores how perceptions affect the employability of women and people of color. Exploring their level of confidence or anxiety about their future ability to adapt to their work environment could offer insights on how to better support criminal justice students and on how to help agencies to better integrate and maintain diversity in their organizations. This study examines criminal justice students’ sensitivity to status-based rejection. Specifically, college students in the field of criminal justice were surveyed regarding their anxieties and beliefs about how others’ perceptions of their status (gender, race, and/or ethnicity) might affect their professional careers. Results suggest that while females of all races and African American students of any gender are significantly more likely to be concerned about the potential for status-based rejection when employed, or trying to become employed, in the field of criminal justice, female Hispanic students are concerned about the combined effects of their race and gender on their future careers. Policy implications are discussed.
Bootstrap Confidence Intervals and Hypothesis Testing for Market Information Shares*

Market information shares are widely used in empirical finance to measure one market’s contributions to price discovery. In contrast to common factor components, the literature on market information shares only provides rudimentary tools to test general hypotheses. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that bootstrap confidence bands proposed by Sapp (2002) perform well if markets have similar information shares but are too narrow if one market dominates price discovery. We design a new bootstrap-based method to test the “one-central-market” hypothesis and show that our tests have correct size and substantial power against the null hypothesis. Empirical results in the context of CDS and bonds markets complement the theoretical analysis.
Supply Considerations for Scaling Up Clean Cooking Fuels for Household Energy in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries

Promoting access to clean household cooking energy is an important subject for policy making in low‐ and middle‐income countries, in light of urgent and global efforts to achieve universal energy access by 2030 (Sustainable Development Goal 7). In 2014, the World Health Organization issued “Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Household Fuel Combustion”, which recommended a shift to cleaner fuels rather than promotion of technologies that more efficiently combust solid fuels. This study fills an important gap in the literature on transitions to household use of clean cooking energy by reviewing supply chain considerations for clean fuel options in low‐ and middle‐income countries. For the purpose of this study, we consider electricity, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), alcohol fuels, biogas, and compressed biomass pellets burned in high performing gasifier stoves to be clean fuel options. Each of the clean fuels reviewed in this study, as well as the supply of electricity, presents both constraints and opportunities for enhanced production, supply, delivery, and long‐term sustainability and scalability in resource‐poor settings. These options are reviewed and discussed together with policy and regulatory considerations to help in making these fuel and energy choices available and affordable. Our hope is that researchers, government officials and policy makers, and development agencies and investors will be aided by our comparative analysis of these clean household energy choices.
The Transformation and Performance of Emerging Market Economies Across the Great Divide of the Global Financial Crisis

The process of central bank (CB) evolution by emerging market economies (EMEs), including central bank independence (CBI) and transparency (CBT), converged towards that of the advanced economies (AEs) before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-2008. It was greatly aided by the adoption of inflation targeting. In this paper we evaluate this convergence process for a representative set of EMEs and AEs since the disruption of the GFC. We use several measures of institutional development (changes in CBI, changes in CBT, changes in a new index of institutional resilience and changes in a new measure of CB credibility). We then use panel VARs based on both factor models and observed data to ascertain the impact of global shocks, financial shocks, trade shocks and credibility shocks on the EMEs versus the AEs.We find that although some EMEs did maintain the levels of CBI and CBT that they had before the crisis, on average they experienced a decline in institutional resilience to shocks and in the quality of their governance. Moreover it appears that CB credibility in EMEs was more fragile than was the case for the AEs in the face of the global shocks (from the US) than was the case for the AEs.
Identifying the Main Opportunities and Challenges from the Implementation of a Port Energy Management System: A SWOT/PESTLE Analysis

Climate change is among the greatest environmental threats facing the globe today and the abatement of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is concerning all the industrial sectors contributing to the problem. The maritime transport sector has already implemented several measures for energy efficiency for the reduction of its GHG emissions, including both vessels and ports. This paper focuses on the prospects and challenges facing the development of a port energy management system. It analyzes the main factors which exert an impact on such a plan and that need to be taken into account for its successful implementation. A SWOT/PESTLE analysis is utilized for the identification of the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that have a positive or negative effect on the adoption and successful implementation of a port energy management system. This analysis is based on empirical data from two leading North-European port authorities. Given the fact that ports are currently focusing on the reduction of their energy consumption, this paper’s results have particular significance in that they could enlighten and inform the adoption of a port energy management plan within ports.
Technical Efficiency in the Agricultural Business—The Case of Slovakia

The key element of the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy is sustainable agriculture where the social, economic, and environmental objectives should be fulfilled. This role can fulfill only those agricultural holdings that are effective in the transformation of inputs to outputs, and which do not waste the inputs. Therefore, we analyze the technical efficiency of the agricultural holdings in the Slovak regions, and try to identify the factors that are able to influence the efficiency of agricultural holdings. We can conclude that there are regional disparities in technical efficiency in Slovakia; however, the problem of inefficiency is not typical only for the agricultural holdings in the areas with natural constraints. These regional disparities should be considered when adopting a new political measure to support sustainable agriculture. By the results of econometric models, we find that the agricultural production diversity, the policy of the labor market, and tax policy are the important factors influencing the technical efficiency of the agricultural holdings in Slovakia.
How Do Teachers Use Textbooks and Other Print Materials? A Review of the Literature

Acknowledgments Jonathan Jansen, Director of the Improving Educational Quality project in South Africa, carefully reviewed the first draft of this study and made valuable suggestions for revisions and additions. We thank him for his help. We also thank Jane Shubert, Dena Duerbeck, and Gretchen Hummon for their support and editing. Executive Summary This study was motivated by the research interest of the Improving Educational Quality (IEQ) project in South Africa, where the staff is working with South Africans to conduct empirical research on textbook use in primary school classrooms. We wanted to review the literature on textbook use, both in developing countries and in the United States. We find a striking contrast between the kinds of questions asked in developing countries and those asked in the United States, and important differences in the conclusions drawn from the two lines of questioning. Recent research in developing countries stems largely from interest among World Bank staff-taking the economist's perspective-in determine the relative impact of textbooks on student achievement. In the United States, the questions come from a pedagogue's perspective, who asks what influences teachers' uses of textbooks and how use varies among teachers. Based on their analyses of existing data and experimental studies, the World Bank researchers are concluding that textbooks make more of an impact on student achievement than other inputs. Yet their research methodology was based on the availability of textbooks in the classroom and rarely established links between availability and use. This is especially interesting, because the two studies is which use is examined reveal a wide gap between the availability of textbooks and their use by teachers and students. This raises the issue (which we do not explore) of whether textbook availability is truly a significant input or merely a proxy for other variables that distinguish more effective schools from less effective ones. The policy implication of the World Bank research is that limited resources should go to textbooks prior to other inputs, such as teacher training. Research in the United States, where resources for schools are not as scarce and the issue of prioritizing inputs is less critical, also leads us to rethink assumptions about the value of textbooks in the classroom. The questions addressed in the literature we reviewed are these: _ How pervasive is the use of textbooks? _ How do teachers use textbooks to plan and make decisions about instruction? _ How do they …