Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Geography, Livelihoods and Rural Poverty in Honduras: An Empirical Analysis using an Asset-base Approach

The overall objective of this paper is to develop an appropriate conceptual and analytical framework to better understand how prospects for growth and poverty reduction can be stimulated in rural Honduras. We employ complementary quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis, driven by an asset-base approach. Emphasis on assets is appropriate given high inequalities in the distribution of productive assets among households and geographical areas in Honduras. Such inequalities are likely to constrain how the poor share in the benefits of growth, even under appropriate policy regimes. We focus on household assets (broadly defined to include natural, physical, human, financial, social and locational assets) and their combinations necessary to take advantage of economic opportunities. We examine the relative contributions of these assets, and identify the combinations of productive, social, and location-specific assets that matter most to raise incomes and take advantage of prospects for poverty-reducing growth. Factor and cluster analysis techniques are used to identify and group different livelihood strategies; and econometric analysis is used to investigate the determinants of different livelihood strategies and the major factors that impact on income. Spatial analysis, community livelihood studies and project stocktakings are brought in to complement some of the more quantitative household survey data used. Our conclusions and recommendations are mainly focused on hillsides and hillside areas since the majority of the available data is for these areas.
Variance targeting estimation of the BEKK-X model

This paper studies the BEKK model with exogenous variables (BEKK-X), which intends to take into account the influence of explanatory variables on the conditional covariance of the asset returns. Strong consistency and asymptotic normality of a variance targeting estimator (VTE) is proved. Monte Carlo experiments and an application to financial series illustrate the asymptotic results.
Improving HF Radar Estimates of Surface Currents Using Signal Quality Metrics, with Application to the MVCO High-Resolution Radar System

AbstractEstimates of surface currents over the continental shelf are now regularly made using high-frequency radar (HFR) systems along much of the U.S. coastline. The recently deployed HFR system at the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) is a unique addition to these systems, focusing on high spatial resolution over a relatively small coastal ocean domain with high accuracy. However, initial results from the system showed sizable errors and biased estimates of M2 tidal currents, prompting an examination of new methods to improve the quality of radar-based velocity data. The analysis described here utilizes the radial metric output of CODAR Ocean Systems’ version 7 release of the SeaSonde Radial Site Software Suite to examine both the characteristics of the received signal and the output of the direction-finding algorithm to provide data quality controls on the estimated radial currents that are independent of the estimated velocity. Additionally, the effect of weighting spatial averages of radia.
Conjoint Analysis of Consumer Preferences for Broadband Services in Japan

This paper applies conjoint analysis to consumer preferences of Japan’s broadband services such as ADSL, CATV Internet, and FTTH. The stated preference method has advantages in analyzing innovative and qualitatively changing services from a longterm point of view. We make two points. First, we find that the actual availability of FTTH has an effect on consumers’ stated preferences: consequently, the WTP for 1 Mbps is about Y =32 ($0.29) for users with access to FTTH, while it is about Y45 ($0.41) for those without access to FTTH. Second, we show that stated preference and revealed preference may vary for a certain population: consequently, the WTP for 1 Mbps is about Y =32 ($0.29) based on the former, while it is about Y =20 ($0.18) based on the latter.
Verification of the Accuracy of Electronic Mandibular Movement Recording Devices: : An in vitro investigation

iii DEDICATION To " My Love " Dana who truly made this entire program possible. Without her total support, prayers, willingness to do whatever was needed and many hours of support this task would not have been accomplished. Her sacrifices were immeasurable. I am forever grateful and am blessed by having you in my life. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The SDSS-IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: selecting emission line galaxies using the Fisher discriminant

We present a new selection technique to produce spectroscopic target catalogues for massive spectroscopic surveys for cosmology. This work was conducted in the context of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), which will use∼200,000 emission line galaxies (ELGs) at 0.6 ≤ zspec ≤ 1.0 to obtain a precise Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation measurement. Our proposed selection technique is based on optical and near-infrared broad-band filter photometry. We use a training sample to defin e a quantity, the Fisher discriminant (linear combination of colours), which correlates best with the desired properties of the targ et: redshift and [Oii] flux. The proposed selections are simply done by applying a c ut on magnitudes and this Fisher discriminant. We used public data and dedicated SDSS spectroscopy to quantify the redshift distribution and [Oii] flux of our ELG target selections. We demonstrate that two of our selections fulfill the initial eBOSS /ELG redshift requirements: for a target density of 180 deg −2 ,∼70% of the selected objects have 0.6 ≤ zspec ≤ 1.0 and only∼1% of those galaxies in the range 0.6 ≤ zspec ≤ 1.0 are expected to have a catastrophic zspec estimate. Additionnaly, the stacked spectra and stacked deep images for those two selections show characteristic features of star-forming galaxies. The proposed approach using Fisher discriminant could however be used to effi ciently select other galaxy populations, based on multi-band photometry, providing that spectroscopic information is available. This technique could thus be useful for other future massive spectroscopic surveys such as PFS, DESI, and 4MOST.
A New Monte Carlo Filtering Method for the Diagnosis of Mission-Critical Failures

Testing large-scale systems is expensive in terms of both time and money. Running simulations early in the process is a proven method of finding the design faults likely to lead to critical system failures, but determining the exact cause of those errors is still time-consuming and requires access to a limited number of domain experts. It is desirable to find an automated method that explores the large number of combinations and is able to isolate likely fault points. Treatment learning is a subset of minimal contrast-set learning that, rather than classifying data into distinct categories, focuses on finding the unique factors that lead to a particular classification. That is, they find the smallest change to the data that causes the largest change in the class distribution. These treatments, when imposed, are able to identify the settings most likely to cause a mission-critical failure. This research benchmarks two treatment learning methods against standard optimization techniques across three complex systems, including two projects from the Robust Software Engineering (RSE) group within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center. It is shown that these treatment learners are both faster than traditional methods and show demonstrably better results.
THE MODERATING EFFECT OF FAMILY CONTROL ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BOARD OF DIRECTORS EFFECTIVENESS AND COST OF DEBT: EVIDENCE FROM OMAN

This paper is aimed at examining whether or not family control can influence board of directors’ effectiveness and thereby affect the cost of debt in the Sultanate of Oman. This paper reports the results from a hierarchical regression analysis based on 476 observations of firms listed on the Muscat Securities Market for the period 2005-2011. The paper contributes to the literature by extending previous cost of debt studies by considering the Sultanate of Oman business environment where family ownership control is more common. Additionally, this study contributes by using a composite measure of board of director characteristics to capture the combined effect of board effectiveness on the cost of debt based on the agency theory framework. This paper tests the moderating effect of family ownership control on the relationship between board of directors’ effectiveness and cost of debt. The empirical results indicate that family control positively moderates the relationship between board of director effectiveness and cost of debt. The results of this paper are useful to all stakeholders (including debt holders) by providing them with an important indicator regarding the kind of controlling shareholder on the board of directors that will protect their interests, especially in an environment of limited legal protection and law enforcement.
EXPERIENCES WITH OXIDATIVE DECOLOURISING PROCESSES IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN SUGAR CANE INDUSTRY BY

Hydrogen peroxide and ozone are two strong oxidants that may be used as decolourising agents in cane sugar refining, although thus far they have generally been little used. A review is presented of research done by the Sugar Milling Research Institute over the past 10 years into the application of these chemicals in the context of the Southern African sugar industry. Both hydrogen peroxide and ozone have proved to be effective in removing both colour and colour precursors when added to raw melt ahead of carbonatation. Factory trials have demonstrated significant improvements in refined sugar colours with dosages of 100-200 ppm on brix. Further trials are being undertaken in the 2001 season.
On the Sensitivity of Mean-Variance-Efficient Portfolios to Changes in Asset Means: Some Analytical and Computational Results

This paper investigates the sensitivity of mean-variance(MV)-efficient portfolios to changes in the means of individual assets. When only a budget constraint is imposed on the investment problem, the analytical results indicate that an MV-efficient portfolio's weights, mean, and variance can be extremely sensitive to changes in asset means. When nonnegativity constraints are also imposed on the problem, the computational results confirm that a positively weighted MV-efficient portfolio's weights are extremely sensitive to changes in asset means, but the portfolio's returns are not. A surprisingly small increase in the mean of just one asset drives half the securities from the portfolio. Yet the portfolio's expected return and standard deviation are virtually unchanged. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
The Impact Of Psychological Characteristics On The Effectiveness Of Motivational Interviewing Based Psychological Counseling

It is well known that in order to control the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease patients, their lifestyle should be taken into account (American Heart Association, 2012; Klumbiene et al., 2002). Studies of various disease patients’ manners (Knight et al., 2006; Thompson et al., 2011) confirm that motivational interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2013) is an effective method for changing unhealthy behavior. Nevertheless, our practical experience of motivational interviewing based psychological counseling with rehabilitation hospitals’ cardiac patients’ (Sinkariova et al., 2015) revealed noteworthy observations about some participants lack of motivation to change unhealthy behavior. This observation encouraged us to start a study with the aim to find out if cardiac rehabilitation participants’ personality traits and emotional state are related to the effectiveness of motivational interviewing based psychological counseling. The study used a quasi-experiment where cardiac rehabilitation patients were assigned to control (regular rehabilitation, n=55) or experimental (rehabilitation plus motivational interviewing based psychological counseling intervention, n=64) groups. A total of 119 participants (male=83, female=36, M age=60.47, SD=8.762) attended a survey, which included NEO-FFI, HADs, and “Readiness to change questionnaire” at the beginning and end of cardiac rehabilitation. Nonparametric data analysis showed that patients’ personality traits are not related to the effectiveness of motivational interviewing based counseling, whereas depression is positively related to the effectiveness of intervention to change alcohol consumption. Conclusions/Implications: Depression as an expression of emotional state is an important feature for the effectiveness of motivational interviewing based counseling to change cardiac patients’ alcohol consumption. Further understanding of relationships between psychological characteristics and the effectiveness of intervention could help to improve cardiac diseases prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.
FFT simulations and multi-coated inclusion model for macroscopic conductivity of 2D suspensions of compound inclusions

Article introduces the Fast-Fourier transformation method (FFT) and an approximation method to calculate the conductivity of compound-inclusion composites in two-dimensional space. The approximation compares favorably with the numerical results for a number of periodic and random models over a range of volume proportions of phases, but divers at large volume proportions of the included phases when the interactions between the inclusions are more pronounced.
Borel-Weil theorem for con guration varieties and Schur modules

We present a generalization of the classical Schur modules ofGL(n) exhibiting the same interplay among algebra, geometry, and combinatorics. A generalized Young diagramDis an arbitrary finite subset ofN×N. For eachD, we define the Schur moduleSDofGL(n). We introduce a projective variety FDand a line bundle LD, and describe the Schur module in terms of sections of LD. For diagrams with the “northeast” property(i1, j1), (i2, j2)∈D⇒(min(i1, i2),max(j1, j2))∈D,which includes the skew diagrams, we resolve the singularities of FDand show analogues of Bott's and Kempf's vanishing theorems. Finally, we apply the Atiyah–Bott Fixed Point Theorem to establish a Weyl-type character formula of the form:charSD(x)=∑txwt(t)∑i, j(1−xix−1j)dij(t),wheretruns over certain standard tableaux ofD. Our results are valid over fields of arbitrary characteristic.
A Three-Phase Approach to Efficiently Transform C# into KDM

The Knowledge Discovery Metamodel (KDM) of the Object Management Group (OMG) is used in diverse research areas for describing software artifacts. It was recently adopted as standard ISO/IEC 19506 and its source, code, and action packages are highly suited for enabling language-independent source code analysis. However, a program needs to be transformed to KDM before corresponding source level metrics can be computed. To be of practical use, such a transformation (1) has to be resource-efficient and (2) ideally can be constructed on the basis of existing grammars to mitigate construction effort for a specific programming language. In this paper, we present such an efficient transformation for C# that is structured along three fundamental phases covering distinct sub-transformations for the types, members and methods, and statements. As our approach systematically analyzes and re-engineers existing grammars and integrates appropriate decompilers, it provides insights for fluently building those program transformations in general. Our quantitative evaluation uses three C# open source systems and an industrial software from the financial sector. It shows that our approach can be successfully applied to these systems and that the transformation can efficiently transform the programs to KDM while keeping resource demand low.
Mechanical Characterization of Femoral Cartilage Under Unicompartimental Osteoarthritis

El objetivo de esta investigacion fue determinar las propiedades mecanicas y el espesor de cartilago articular en regiones femorales no afectadas en casos de osteoartritis unicompartimental de rodilla. Se realizaron pruebas en los especimenes utilizando un indentador cilindrico plano de 3mm de diametro y se aplico un desplazamiento de 0.5mm en puntos especificos de cartilago femoral de siete rodillas con osteoartritis unicompartimental. Se obtuvieron el espesor, la rigidez, el modulo elastico, modulo cortante y volumetrico. Estas propiedades y espesores fueron comparados con trabajos previos de otros autores para cartilago sano. Los resultados mostraron que las propiedades mecanicas obtenidas en este trabajo para cartilago articular con osteoartritis nicompartimental presentan una mayor magnitud (hasta 53%) respecto a las obtenidas para cartilago sano en trabajos previos. Sin embargo, se encontro que el espesor de cartilago reportado para cartilago sano es mayor (hasta 69%) que el medido en los especimenes de este trabajo. Adicionalmente, los resultados mostraron que los puntos de analisis correspondientes a la linea de desplazamiento en el eje de flexion cinematica de los condilos presentan una significativa (p
Stability analysis and dynamic equilibrium of a Kuroshio generator system

Global resources for conventional energy are currently being exhausted, and several countries worldwide are attempting to develop renewable energy. Current generator systems are a subject of ocean power research. This paper proposes a novel design of a Kuroshio generator system (KGS) that is suitable for the maritime environment of Taiwan (i.e., an average flow velocity of the Kuroshio Current is 1.45 m/s and the flow can be accelerated on Keelung Sill with a depth of 50-250 m). The KGS combined a reliable cable design and simple anchor system at sea and was not affected by motion changes of rotation axes in yaw and roll by way of an appropriate rudder design. An intuitive simulation method applied using MapleSim software was used to create a rigid KGS model. Different modeling frameworks for varied cable design and joint positions were adjusted to meet system requirements. An intuitive simulation method applied using MapleSim software was used to create a rigid KGS model. Different modeling frameworks for varied cable design and joint positions were adjusted to meet system requirements. The stability analysis was performed to determine dynamic equilibrium and motion behavior of the KGS and the combined cable design. The optimal spring stiffness and damper coefficient of polyester fibers were set as 5×105 N/m and 3×105 N∙s/m in the simulation, respectively. Furthermore, to achieve the torque equilibrium in pitch motion of the KGS, an optimal joint position that was relative to the leading infraedge of the outer duct was set at 2.2 m along the negative surge axis according to their responses in the simulation. Finally, the force and torque generated by the hydrodynamic effect in the KGS and the estimated specifications of a direct-drive permanent magnet generator equipped with an external rotor were imported into the simulation. Consequently, the motion ranges of translation axes in surge and heave were converged within 0.5 m, and the estimated output power in the KGS exceeded 54.8 kW.
Morphological features and mixing states of soot-containing particles in the marine boundary layer over the Indian and Southern oceans

Abstract. Mixing states of soot-containing aerosol particles constitute important information for the simulation of climatic effects of black carbon in the atmosphere. To elucidate the mixing states and morphological features of soot-containing particles over remote oceans, we conducted on-board observations over the southern Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean during the TR/V Umitaka-maru UM-08-09 cruise, which started from Benoa, Indonesia, on 1 December 2008 via Cape Town, South Africa, and which terminated in Fremantle, Australia, on 6 February 2009. The light absorption coefficients of size-segregated particles (< 0.5 and < 1.0 µm diameter) and aerosol number concentrations (0.1–0.5 µm diameter) were measured to assist direct aerosol sampling. Size-segregated aerosol particles were collected for chemical analysis using ion chromatography. For transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses using water-dialysis methods, dried submicrometer aerosol particles were collected using a cascade impactor. We analyzed 13 TEM samples. Results of water-dialysis analysis demonstrate that most particles were water-soluble. However, for all TEM samples, particles were rarely found (2.1 % of particles on a TEM sample at a maximum) containing insoluble residuals with the characteristic soot shape. For samples collected over the Indian and Southern oceans at latitudes less than 62∘ S, some (20–35 %) soot-containing particles were found as bare soot. For samples collected near the Antarctic coast (65–68∘ S, 38–68∘ E), all soot-containing particles were mixed with water-soluble materials. Furthermore, 56 % of soot-containing particles had a satellite structure formed by the impact of droplets such as sulfuric acid. Chemical analysis of submicrometer particles near the Antarctic coast revealed high concentrations of non-sea-salt (nss) SO42- and CH3SO3-, suggesting that aged soot-containing particles were transformed by soluble materials derived from dimethyl sulfide (DMS) oxidation. The obtained information of soot at various remote ocean areas is expected to be useful to understand long-range transport processes and to improve simulations of global soot concentration.
Housing Supply and Price Adjustment

We analyse two inter-related features of regional housing markets: determinants of new housing supply, and the impact of supply responsiveness on price dynamics. We demonstrate that a suitably specified q-theory model (including residential land values as well as construction costs) explains intended housing starts. Few prior studies have found significant land price effects, due either to their omission or (possibly) to incorrect data definition (use of agricultural rather than residential land values). We examine the interaction of supply responsiveness and price adjustment following demand shocks, using a new panel dataset covering 53 quarters across 73 regions of New Zealand. Regions with high supply responsiveness have relatively small price spikes following demand shocks, consistent with a rational response that limits house price jumps in regions with strong supply responses.