Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ensuring public debt sustainability in Africa Prospects and policies

Shortly after being hit by the global financial crisis in 2009, Africa staged a robust economic recovery and is now one of the fastest growing regions in the world. The continent’s performance is projected to remain strong despite the fragile and tepid global recovery. As several studies and scholars have now pointed out, Africa has the potential to become a global growth pole over the longer term. However, vast infrastructure and human capital gaps constrain Africa’s development. Balancing the need to scale up growth-enhancing public outlays and debt sustainability is therefore a key policy challenge ahead.
Advances in discrete element method application to grinding mills

Discrete element method (DEM) has made significant impact in the design and operation of grinding mills. The internal charge motion of grinding balls and ore can be readily examined. As a result, this method enables one to design and examine mill internals via simulation. This manuscript details essential advances made with DEM. These include mill power draft calculations, shell lifter design, lifter wear prediction, pulp lifter simulation and ore particle breakage in grinding mills. The status of advancement in each of these topics is discussed.
A Comprhensive CBVR System Based on Spatiotemporal Features Such as Motion,Quantized Color and Edge Density Features

Rapid develop ment of the mult imedia and the associated technologies urge the processing of a huge database of video clips. The processing efficiency depends on the search methodologies utilized in the video processing system. Use of inappropriate search methodologies may make the processing system ineffective. Hence, an effective video retrieval system is an essential pre-requisite for searching relevant videos from a huge collection of videos. In this paper, an effective content based video retrieval system based on some dominant features such as motion, color and edge is proposed. The system is evaluated using the video clips of format MPEG-2 and then precision-recall is determined for the test clip.
Effective Heat Transfer Properties of Graphene Sheet Nanocomposites and Comparison to Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites

By incorporating nanoinclusions (carbon nanotubes, graphene sheets) with exceptional thermal conductivity into a polymer matrix, one would expect to improve the heat performance of resulting nanocomposites. However, the effective thermal conductivity of carbon-based nanocomposites is strongly influenced by the Kapitza interfacial resistance. In this study, a comparison between carbon nanotubes and graphene sheet nanocomposites that takes into account dispersion patterns of the nanoinclusions and the Kapitza resistance is performed by means of a Monte Carlo simulation. It is found that graphene-based nanocomposites can be more efficient thermal conductors than carbon nanotube ones not only because of smaller Kapitza resistance but also because of the geometry of the graphene sheet. When the Kapitza resistance is reduced by appropriate functionalization of the graphene sheets and when the graphene sheet inclusions yield nematic patterns, our calculations suggest the possibility of obtaining composite materi.
Heat transfer and dynamics of the droplet on a superheated surface

The conditions governing the collapse of a "Leidenfrost drop", e.g. a liquid drop supported by a vapour film on a heated surface was studied analytically. Robust analytical model for the phenomenon has been developed and numerical simulation has been done. The model was represented by two second-order non-linear differential equations for the radius of evaporating drop and its distance over the heated surface. The results obtained have shown the high-frequent oscillations of the drop over the hot plate until complete evaporation of the drop occurs. In contrast with existing precise complex models, the mathematical model developed was simple and could be used for the qualitative estimation of different parameters and quantitative estimation of the integral behaviours of the drop such as time for complete drop evaporation. The effects of surfactants on the Leidenfrost phenomenon and its industrial applications were discussed.
Efficiency in Banking: Empirical Evidence from the Savings Banks Sector

This study aims to contribute to the established literature by using the Fourier flexible functional form and stochastic cost frontier methodologies to estimate scale economies and X-inefficiencies for a large sample of European savings banks between 1989 and 1996. In their extensive review of the bank efficiency literature, Berger and Humphrey note that the volume of European studies has not matched that of the USA and there exists a paucity of cross-country studies. Whereas scale economies are widespread and positively related to bank size, we find no evidence of a significant relationship between size and X-efficiency. Generally, scale economies are found to range between 7 and 10 per cent, while X-inefficiency measures appear to be much larger, around 22 per cent. These results suggest that European savings banks can obtain cost reductions through reducing managerial and other inefficiencies and also by increasing the scale of production. Copyright 2002 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
The Lithium future—resources, recycling, and the environment

The demand for Lithium‐ion batteries as a major power source in portable electronic devices and vehicles is rapidly increasing. I use cumulative data of vehicle, mobile phone, laptop, and digital camera production to show that demand will overshoot the available global Lithium resources before 2025. Even if 100% of all Lithium‐ion batteries were recycled today, recycling could not prevent this resource depletion in time. As the increasing Lithium scarcity will increase the price, it will be feasible to mine diluted resources with a strong environmental impact. I highlight these impacts in Lithium‐rich Bolivia, the potential new “Saudi Arabia of Lithium. ” Lithium extraction is likely to cause substantial water pollution, and—through impacts on native diversity—facilitate human health impacts from cyanobacteria that are normally kept at bay by native flamingos. The strongly intertwined Lithium extraction impacts on the environment, biodiversity, and human health from evaporative ponds and ore mining need to be taken into consideration when we discuss resource protection and opportunities from Lithium recycling. Overall, sensible Lithium recycling strategies can provide effective resource and environmental protection right now but urgently need to be supplemented by alternative technologies in the near‐future.
Addition of sodium bicarbonate to colostrum: Effects on IgG absorption and hematocrit in neonatal calves

ADDITION OF SODIUM BICARBONATE TO COLOSTRUM: EFFECTS ON IgG ABSORPTION AND HEMATOCRIT IN NEONATAL CALVES by Colleen E. Chapman University of New Hampshire, September 2011 Twenty-six Holstein bull calves born from primiparous and multiparous cows without dystocia were assigned to a randomized complete block design to one of two treatments within each block: colostrum with no supplemental sodium bicarbonate or colostrum with 30 g of supplemental sodium bicarbonate. Calves were fed colostrum from nine different batches with an immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration of 82.05 ± 8.45 g/L and the total amount of IgG fed of 329.89 ± 34.56 g at 0 h and 6 h postpartum. Calves were fed 2 L of milk replacer (MR) at 24, 36, and 48 h postpartum. The addition of sodium bicarbonate had no affect on IgG absorption. Serum IgG concentrations at 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h postpartum were not different between calves supplemented with or without 30 g of sodium bicarbonate to colostrum. Area under the curve (AUC) for IgG was also not affected by the sodium bicarbonate treatment and apparent efficiency of
Effect of composite microstructure on electrical and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl acetate) composites with carbon black and clay.

Effect of Composite Microstructure on Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Poly(vinyl acetate) Composites with Carbon Black and Clay. (August 2007) Sethu M. Miriyala, B.E. , Andhra University, India Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Jaime Grunlan The electrical and mechanical behavior of carbon black filled poly(vinyl acetate) latexbased and solution-based polymer composites was examined. A set of experiments were performed to distinguish composites with a segregated network (emulsion-based) from those with random dispersion (solution-based) of the filler. The percolation thresholds for the emulsion-based composites were near 1.2 vol% carbon black, while the solutionbased composites were around 8.2 vol% carbon black. This difference is due to the segregated network formation, which leads to excluded volume effects in emulsionbased systems. This excluded volume created by the solid polymer particles forces the carbon black particles into conductive pathways at low concentration. In the solutionbased case, fully solvated polymer results in a random dispersion of carbon black. The segregated network composite also shows significant improvement in both electrical conductivity and storage modulus with low carbon black loading, while the solutionbased composite achieves significant property enhancements at higher carbon black loading because of the greater percolation threshold. The effect of clay in both emulsion and solution-based composites with carbon black was also studied by preparing composites with three clay concentrations (0.2, 0.4 and 2 wt%). In emulsion-based
Mangrove species and stand mapping in Gazi bay (Kenya) using quickbird satellite imagery

This paper presents an automated method for mangrove stand recognition (delineation and labeling) and species mapping based on fuzzy per‐pixel classification techniques of a QuickBird satellite image. The four dominant mangrove species in Gazi Bay (Kenya) are mapped with an overall accuracy of 72 percent, where the two socio‐economically most important species are mapped with user accuracies above 85 percent. Mangrove stand maps were compared to visual delineations done by an expert interpreter and the quality was based on the quantity of overlap one has with the other. An overall correspondence up to 86 percent was achieved.
Ultrabright GeV Photon Source via Controlled Electromagnetic Cascades in Laser-Dipole Waves

Electromagnetic cascades have the potential to act as a high-energy photon source of unprecedented brightness. Such a source would offer new experimental possibilities in fundamental science, but in the cascade process radiation reaction and rapid electron-positron plasma production seemingly restrict the efficient production of photons to sub-GeV energies. Here, we show how to overcome these energetic restrictions and how to create a directed GeV photon source, with unique capabilities as compared to existing sources. Our new source concept is based on a controlled interplay between the cascade and anomalous radiative trapping. Using specially designed advanced numerical models supported with analytical estimates, we demonstrate that the concept becomes feasible at laser powers of around 7 PW, which is accessible at soon-to-be-available facilities. A higher peak power of 40 PW can provide 10(9) photons with GeV energies in a well-collimated 3-fs beam, achieving peak brilliance 9 x 10(24) ph s(-1) mrad(-2) mm(-2)/0.1%BW.
The Beauty and the Beast – smallpox and marriage in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Sweden

The present study shows that physical attraction played an important role for marriage. Pockmarked persons married about two years later than persons without disfigured faces. Pockmarked men experienced similar disadvantages to women at the marriage market. It is the birth cohorts between the last decades of the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth century that are of most interest for the study. During the period when these cohorts were acting at the marriage market there was a fairly equal balance between persons who had a previous experience of smallpox and persons without facial pockmarks. This historically unique situation created a marriage pattern where previously infected persons married much later than ‘healthy’. Pockmarked persons also faced a considerably greater risk of never marrying and when they did so, they almost always chose a partner with a similar experience of smallpox. Correspondingly ‘healthy’ persons chose to marry each other. More than 25 years ago A. J. Coale argued that the existence of common age patterns of marriage was discovered as a by-product of research on the historic decline of marital fertility in Europe. The findings which are presented in this study also have their roots in fertility research. The original aim was to see if smallpox infection had a negative impact on fertility or not. What first appeared as a significant difference in fertility between the previously smallpox infected and the never-infected cohorts was explained by differences in marriage ages. Persons who had experienced smallpox gave birth to fewer children, ∗ Address all communications to: Peter Sköld, Demografiska Databasen, Umea universitet, 90187 Umeå; Tel. : +46(0)90 – 786 63 47; Fax: +46 (0)90 786 69 58; E-mail: peter.skold@ddb.umu. de 1 Coale A. J. (1971). Age patterns of marriage. Population Studies 25:2, 193.
A review on methods to estimate a CT from MRI data in the context of MRI-alone RT

Background: In recent years, Radiation Therapy (RT) has undergone many developments and provided progress in the field of cancer treatment. However, dose optimisation each treatment session puts the patient at risk of successive X-Ray exposure from Computed Tomography CT scans since this imaging modality is the reference for dose planning. Add to this difficulties related to contour propagation. Thus, approaches are focusing on the use of MRI as the only modality in RT. In this paper, we review methods for creating pseudo-CT images from MRI data for MRI-alone RT. Each class of methods is explained and underlying works are presented in detail with performance results. We discuss the advantages and limitations of each class. Methods: We classified recent works in deriving a pseudo-CT from MR images into four classes: segmentation-based, intensity-based, atlas-based and hybrid methods and the classification was based on considering the general technique applied. Results: Most research focused on the brain and the pelvic regions. The mean absolute error ranged from 80 to 137 HU and from 36.4 to 74 HU for the brain and pelvis, respectively. In addition, an interest in the Dixon MR sequence is increasing since it has the advantage of producing multiple contrast images with a single acquisition. Conclusion: Radiation therapy is emerging towards the generalisation of MRI-only RT thanks to the advances in techniques for generation of pseudo-CT images and the development of specialised MR sequences favouring bone visualisation. However, a benchmark needs to be established to set in common performance metrics to assess the quality of the generated pseudo-CT and judge on the efficiency of a certain method.
Modelling the Effect of Overseas Adaptation and Competence of Expatriate Managers on Job Performance in China

Along with the trend of globalization, more and more companies are adopting international operations and actively establishing overseas subsidiaries. However, the selection of the right and effective expatriates to successfully carry out the company’s international operations mission is an important task for these multinational companies. Using expatriate managers in China as the survey respondents, this study analyzed the influence of expatriate managers’ overseas adaptation and personal competence upon performance. The result of this study is expected to offer some suggestions for expatriate managers assigned to China in order to avoid the effect of mal-adaptation and a worse performance, which could cause increased costs for a company’s international operations.
Computer game based multimedia training and cognitive flexibility

The current study investigated the utility of a computer game based multimedia training for fostering cognitive flexibility. Prior studies have shown a transfer of fast decision-making skills from the virtual environment of a computer game into the real world. This study aimed to tie in on examining the effectivity of game based learning, with regard to the skill of conscious decision making, called cognitive flexibility, which comprises an individual’s awareness of communication alternatives, willingness to adapt to novel situations, and the self-efficacy in doing so. Nine managers and a mixed sample of twenty students and young employees participated in an experiment comprising of either one hour of playing a well chosen computer game or watching it, which served as control condition. The dependent variables were, besides cognitive flexibility, presence, enjoyment, and retention. The training did not prove to be effective in increasing the participants’ cognitive flexibility, though its impact was identified of being highly influenced by prior game experience, which may facilitate the experience of presence and enhance the information processing of game content. A computer game based multimedia training as used in this study showed to have the potential of being beneficial in the context of developing the ability of cognitive flexibility; however, it is not suitable for everyone so that training material and participants have to be matched with great care. Furthermore, the interest and motivation has to be considered, because willing gamers are more easily transferred in a state of enjoyment and presence, and thus have greater chances to profit from the training. In addition to that, phases of reflection might be considered to be included in training, to facilitate and control the learning process.
STOCHASTIC PDEs WITH FUNCTION-VALUED SOLUTIONS ∗)

The paper provides necessary and sufficient conditions underwhich stochas- tic heat and wave equations on R d have function-valued solutions. The results extend, to all dimensions d and to all spatially homogeneous perturbations, recent characterizations by Dalang and Frangos (DaFr). The paper proposes a natural framework for a study of nonlinear stochastic equations. It is based on the har- monic analysis technique and on the stochastic integration theory in functional spaces. Generalizations to the d-dimensional torus and to nonlinear equations are discussed as well.
Assessing the vulnerability of a habitat forming macroalga to climate warming : roles of physiology, ecology and evolutionary processes in determining resilience

xiv ABSTRACT Anthropogenically mediated climate change is having profound impacts on the distribution, abundance and functioning of species worldwide. Marine macroalgae are important foundation species due to their role in facilitating biodiversity through provision of resources and moderating stress. Accurate predictions of how macroalgae will respond to global warming require a better understanding of factors that lead to the vulnerability of species. This thesis aimed to examine the exposure and underlying biological traits that explain the sensitivity and resilience to warming in a dominant and endemic intertidal macroalga, Hormosira banksii, with the ultimate goal of assessing its vulnerability to changes in climate
Exact Abelian and Non-Abelian Geometric Phases

The existence of Hopf fibrations S^{2N+1}/S^1 = CP^N and S^{4K+3}/S^3 = HP^K allows us to treat the Hilbert space of generic finite-dimensional quantum systems as the total bundle space with respectively $U(1)$ and $SU(2)$ fibers and complex and quaternionic projective spaces as base manifolds. This alternative method of studying quantum states and their evolution reveals the intimate connection between generic quantum mechanical systems and geometrical objects. The exact Abelian and non-Abelian geometric phases, and more generally the geometrical factors for open paths, and their precise correspondence with geometric Kahler and hyper-Kahler connections will be discussed. Explicit physical examples are used to verify and exemplify the formalism.
Variability assessment and construction of infectious clone of Indian Apple Scar Skin Viroid

Apple scar skin viroid (ASSVd) is widely distributed and economically important pome-fruit infecting viroid belonging to the genus Apscaviroid. It causes huge economic losses to the apple industry. Apple fruits with dappling, scarring, cracking and deformation symptoms were noticed during survey of apple growing regions of Himachal Pradesh, India. ASSVd was detected from four isolates showing dappled fruits. Molecular characterization of the viroid was done. Ten clones each from five isolates were sequenced out of which seven new sequence variants of ASSVd were found. Four of the clones were 330 nucleotides (nt) long and the other eight had an additional nucleotide. The clones showed significant sequence variability (94-100%) with each other. Variability was more common in the pathogenic domain of the viroid genome. Present isolates grouped with some Chinese and Korean isolates in phylogenetic analysis. The study reports seven new sequence variants of ASSVd and also gives a first molecular evidence of a viroid infection (ASSVd) in apple from India. Infectious clone of ASSVd were constructed for in vitro mutagenic studies. Keywords : Apple scar skin viroid , cloning, DNA sequencing, phylogenetic analysis
Direct Torque Control with Adaptive PI Speed Controller based on Neural Network for PMSM Drives

This paper presents an adaptive speed controller based on artificial intelligent technique to improvethe performance of classical Direct Torque Control (DTC) for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) drives. The proposed method applies back propagation (BP) based neural network (NN) to tune the parameters of classical proportional-integral (PI) speed controller. Comparisons between conventional PI speed controller and proposed method are carried out by Simulation.Simulation results demonstrate that conventional DTC system based on the proposed NN speed controller can achieve higher performance with fast speed response, small overshoot and robustness.
The impact of meteorological analysis uncertainties on the spatial scales resolvable in CO 2 model simulations

A new model for greenhouse gas transport has been developed based on Environment and Climate Change Canada's operational weather and environmental prediction models. When provided with realistic posterior fluxes for CO2, the CO2 simulations compare well to NOAA's CarbonTracker fields, and to near surface continuous measurements, columns from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), and NOAA aircraft profiles. This coupled meteorological 15 and tracer transport model is used to study the atmospheric modulation of CO2 transport. The predictability of CO2 due to initial state sensitivity is shorter than that for the temperature field but is consistent with the predictability of the wind fields. However, when broken down into spatial scales, CO2 has predictability at the very largest scales due to long time scale memory in surface CO2 fluxes as well as in land and ocean surface forcing of meteorological fields. The predictability due to the land and ocean surface is most evident in boreal summer when biospheric uptake produces large spatial gradients in 20 the CO2 field. Predictability errors provide an upper limit for errors arising solely from the use of uncertain meteorological analyses. When considering meteorological analysis errors, CO2 can be defined only on large scales. Thus, there is a spatial scale below which information cannot be obtained simply due to the fact that meteorological analyses are imperfect. Compared to the spatial scales resolvable in the context of imperfect atmospheric analyses, the differences between two sets of posterior fluxes are resolvable only for very large scales. Similarly, the impact of convective tracer transport exceeds that 25 due to atmospheric analysis errors for only the largest spatial scales.