Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spill-over effects of monetary policy: a progress report on interest rate convergence in Europe

This study examines differences in the interest rate response to an ECB policy impulse in the euro area, the new EU-member states, and in the other non-eurozone EU countries in order to gauge the degree of interest rate alignment in Europe. To this end, PANIC, a Panel Analysis of Non-stationarity in I diosyncratic and Common components, is employed in a structural factor set-up. Under the assumption that the ECB sets the short end of the yield curve, the analysis shows that : (i) The response of Europe's money and government bond markets to new information can be summarized by two common stochastic trends and one stationary common factor, which together explain more than 68% of the overall variation of the two market segments; (ii) one of the factor innovations can be associated with the ECB's policy stance, which strongly affects the short end of the euro area's yield curve; (iii) compared to the euro area, the short-term market segments in the new EU-member states react, on average, 12% more weakly to the monetary policy signal, whereas these countries' long-term government bond yields respond up to 25% more strongly to such a common innovation.
Wilton, N. (2011) Do employability skills really matter in the gradu-

Two dominant rationales are offered by UK policymakers for the continued expansion of higher education; to service the high-skill labour requirements of a knowledge economy and to increase educational and employment opportunities for underrepresented groups. The discourse of employability connects these two rationales in a simplistic manner. Individual employability is described as both the means by which to obtain and maintain high quality employment and to eradicate the social reproduction of inequality. However, evidence drawn from a survey of graduate careers suggests that for a cohort of recent business and management graduates, the relationship between employability and employment is far from straightforward. The data suggest that traditional labour market disadvantage still appears to be an impediment to achievement, regardless of the extent to which graduates develop employability skills during their undergraduate studies.
Adequate Employment, Underutilisation and Unemployment: An Analysis of Labour Force Outcomes for Australian Youth.

This paper considers youth labour market disadvantage and presents an analysis which juxtaposes the role of individual supply characteristics with labour demand characteristics to advance an understanding of youth labour market outcomes. The paper takes the concept of employability and using data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics Australia (HILDA) survey and the Australian Bureau of Statistics Household and Population Census develops probit regressions of separate labour force states against individual supply-side and regional level demand characteristics. The results illustrate the importance of considering both supply side and demand side characteristics when considering labour market outcomes and developing potential policy interventions.
Cerro Negro — Assessment of Beach Slope and Indetermination of the Operational Limits of Centrifugal Pumps

There currently exists a strong tendency to apply paste and thickened tailings technology to the management and deposition of tailings. This is particularly valid in the study of the ‘Los Corralillos’ Tailings Impoundment of the Cerro Negro iron mine, given the two intrinsic advantages of this technology: (i) location in an arid area in the North of Chile (where the water resource is very scarce) and (ii) an important potential in size reduction of the containment dam. Due to the relative location between the plant and the impoundment and to the solids content level of the tailings at the plant, one of the most important aspects refers to the thickening stages and the location of the thickeners. For the analysis of alternatives for the tailings thickening and transport, as well as to estimate the deposition slope, a series of thickening tests, at a pilot scale, and laboratory rheology tests at the laboratory were performed using tailings slurry at various solid contents. This paper describes the process performed focusing on two critical aspects such as: difficulties in determining the maximum level of slurry solid content that can be pumped by centrifugal pumps, and the estimate of the deposition slope based on results of the rheological tests. Finally, conclusions and recommendations of complementary studies are provided oriented at facilitating the key decisions.
Sleeping on the Enemy's Couch: Psychotherapy Across Ethnic Boundaries in Israel

This paper discusses the impact of the Jewish-Arab conflict on overt and covert layers of therapeutic encounters that take place across boundaries between the two nationalities. We refer mainly to the prevalent case of Arab patients treated by Jewish therapists. We discuss the implications of intergroup tension, cultural differences, and status disparities on the therapeutic dynamics. Our focus is on the effect of these variables on the processes of transference and counter-transference, on perceptions and interpretations of behaviors, on sources of resistance, and on the inability of therapists to take the patients’ perspective. Side by side with the psychoanalytical approach, the article utilizes various social-psychological theories, mainly social identity theory, in deriving insights regarding tensions between the interpersonal/therapeutic dimension and the intergroup dimension. Recommendations for improving therapies in the discussed case are suggested.
Current arrangements for national and regional conservation of animal genetic resources

Muchos paises han implementado la crioconservacion para ayudar a que se gestionen mejor sus recursos zoogeneticos (AnGR por sus siglas en ingles). Un banco de germoplasma compuesto de varios paises puede desempenar un papel relevante en el esfuerzo ejercido a nivel internacional para la gestion de los AnGR. Para valorar mejor estas actividades, el Grupo de Trabajo Tecnico Intergubernamental de la Comision de Recursos Geneticos para la Alimentacion y la Agricultura, invito a la FAO a que informara acerca de la situacion de los programas nacionales e internacionales para el almacenamiento de AnGR. Por consiguiente, la FAO puso en marcha una encuesta sobre este tema en enero de 2010. El cuestionario estaba compuesto por 16 preguntas sobre varias materias relacionadas con la conservacion de los AnGR, incluyendo los bancos de germoplasma compuestos de varios paises. Se recibieron respuestas validas de 166 personas desde 90 paises. Muchos paises llevan a cabo la conservacion de AnGR, siendo los programas de conservacion in situ los mas comunes. El numero de programas de crioconservacion es aproximadamente la mitad del numero de programas de conservacion in situ para la mayoria de las especies de ganado. Se informo que en el 20% de los paises, aproximadamente, existen bancos de germoplasma totalmente operativos, y existen planes para la puesta en marcha de bancos de germoplasma a lo largo de los proximos cinco anos en un 50% adicional de los paises. La falta de apoyo financiero y la baja prioridad dentro de las politicas nacionales relativas al ganado fueron los obstaculos mas comunmente mencionados para la creacion de los bancos de germoplasma. Se tuvo conocimiento acerca de un reducido numero de bancos de germoplasma compuestos de varios paises; sin embargo, el interes en dichas actividades fue alto. Solo alrededor del 10% de los paises senalo tener aversion por los bancos de germoplasma compuestos de varios paises. Entre los factores que contribuyen a la falta de bancos de germoplasma compuestos de varios paises se encuentran la falta de financiacion, reglamentacion sobre el intercambio internacional de material genetico y la falta de consenso acerca del funcionamiento de los bancos de germoplasma.
Investigation of Ground Frequency Characteristics

Four-electrode method is one of the well-known methods in measuring ground resistivity. But, most faults currents and lightning currents have high frequencies components. It is proposed to develop this method to study ground frequency characteristics. A step like current was injected into ground to measure the ground impedance. The ground impedance is assumed to be frequency dependent parallel resistance/capacitance. Two equations were proved to estimate ground resistivity and permittivity from four-electrode method. An analytical model was proposed to model studied cases. The four electrodes are divided to equal spheres and complex image method had been used to satisfy the boundary conditions and penetration depth effects. The calculated results show good agreement with the measured results.
Game Based Energy Cost Optimization for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Communication Networks

Due to the limited transmission power, the data transmission between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the ground station often needs the synergetic forwarding. The optimization of the synergetic forwarding organization is important to the performance of the unmanned aerial vehicle communication networks. This paper aims to optimize the energy cost using the synergetic forwarding mode in the unmanned aerial vehicle communication networks. To reduce the expensive information exchange and improve the robust of the network, we put forward an energy cost orient forwarding allocation approach using game based intelligent algorithm. The theoretic analysis and simulation results verify that the put forward method could achieve optimal energy cost communication organization.
Lean management literature review 2009-2013: the inflation phase and setting the pace towards agility

The adoption of Lean Production practices by growing numbers of organizations and the tangible benefits in applying them, highlights the vast potential of operational and economic gains that companies can achieve by implementing Lean Management. Following Stone’s [2012] segmentation of Lean literature into time phases, we titled the five-year period 2009–2013 as the “inflation” phase, since about 50% of the total count of academic articles on the phenomenon ever published were during this period. The author also reviews recent literature regarding the concepts of “agile manufacturing”, often seen as the next step after “lean manufacturing” in the evolution of Operations Management and of lean supply chain and agile supply chain management, being closely relevant to both.
Prototipos para transmisión de datos sobre fibra óptica plástica en cortas distancias implementados en FPGA

This work describes two media converter prototypes for transmitting 10Mb/s & 100Mb/s Ethernet data over large core (1mm) Step-Index Polymer Optical Fiber (SIPOF). In terms of reach, both prototypes greatly outperform previously published results and current commercial media converters based on POF as well as CAT-5 systems. These results encourage the deployment of POF for short and medium reach communications systems such as the last part of access networks, in-house and in-building networks, industrial automation, airplane and ship cabling and in general for all those environments in which not only characteristics like ease of installation and low-cost are desired, but also the inherent advantages of fiber optic transmission systems like electromagnetic compatibility issues. Index Terms — Polymer Optical Fiber, Pulse Amplitude Modulation, Media Converter, Industrial Application.
Impacts of shipping emissions on PM2.5 pollution in China

Abstract. With the fast development of seaborne trade and relatively more efforts on reducing emissions from other sources in China, shipping emissions contribute more and more significantly to air pollution. In this study, based on a shipping emission inventory with high spatial and temporal resolution within 200 nautical miles (Nm) to the Chinese coastline, the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model was applied to quantify the impacts of the shipping sector on the annual and seasonal concentrations of PM2.5 for the base year 2015 in China. Emissions within 12 Nm accounted for 51.2 %–56.5 % of the total shipping emissions, and the distinct seasonal variations in spatial distribution were observed. The modeling results showed that shipping emissions increased the annual averaged PM2.5 concentrations in eastern China up to 5.2 µg m−3, and the impacts in YRD (Yangtze River Delta) and PRD (Pearl River Delta) were much greater than those in BTH (Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei). Shipping emissions influenced the air quality in not only coastal areas but also the inland areas hundreds of kilometers (up to 960 km) away from the sea. The impacts on the PM2.5 showed obvious seasonal variations, and patterns in the north and south of the Yangtze River were also quite different. In addition, since the onshore wind can carry ship pollutants to inland areas, the daily contributions of shipping emissions in onshore flow days were about 1.8–2.7 times higher than those in the rest of the days. A source-oriented CMAQ was used to estimate the contributions of shipping emissions from maritime areas within 0–12, 12–50, 50–100 and 100–200 Nm to PM2.5 concentrations. The results indicated that shipping emissions within 12 Nm were the dominant contributor, with contributions 30 %–90 % of the total impacts induced by emissions within 200 Nm, while a relatively high contribution (40 %–60 %) of shipping emissions within 20–100 Nm was observed in the north of the YRD region and south of Lianyungang, due to the major water traffic lanes far from land. The results presented in this work implied that shipping emissions had significant influence on air quality in China, and to reduce its pollution, the current Domestic Emission Control Area (DECA) should be expanded to at least 100 Nm from the coastline.
Effects of Stocking Density on Growth and Production Performance of Indigenous Stinging Catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch)

An on-farm experiment was undertaken in nine earthen ponds to evaluate the growth and production potentials of stinging catfish shing, Heteropneustes fossilis for the period of six months from March to August 2010. Three stocking densities such as 1,25,000 (T 1 ), 1,87,500 (T 2 ) and 2,50,000 ha -1 (T 3 ) were tested with three replications each. Fish were fed with commercial pelleted feed containing 35% crude protein. After six months rearing, the mean harvesting weights of shing were 69.42±6.20, 58.74±3.85 and 49.50±4.52g in T 1 , T 2 and T 3 , respectively. Significant (P<0.05) highest mean harvesting weight was found in T 1 . The best survival was found in T 1 (87%) among the treatments. The calculated mean production of shing ( H. fossilis ) in three treatments such as T 1 , T 2 and T 3 were 7549±52, 9031±71 and 8786±60 kg ha -1 , respectively, which were significantly different (p<0.05) from each other. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/ijarit.v2i2. 14009 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 2 (2): 9-14 December, 2012
Head and thoracic transformations caused by ectopic expression of Antennapedia during Drosophila development

Segmental identity in Drosophila is controlled by the activities of the homeotic genes. One such gene is Antennapedia, which is required for the proper development of the thoracic segments. Alteration of Antennapedia expression either in mutants, or artificially using an inducible promoter, can lead to alterations of segmental identity. In this report, we present the consequences of ectopic expression of the Antennapedia gene under the control of a heat-shock promoter, at distinct stages throughout Drosophila development. In young embryos, up to the stage of germ-band retraction, the ubiquitous expression of the Antennapedia protein causes a range of effects throughout the embryo, including failure of head involution, induction of extra denticles on the dorsal surface of the head and disruption of the prothoracic denticle belts. In older embryos, it results in larval lethality. Heat shocks during larval development can lead to defects in leg formation, but no alterations in leg identity have been observed. However, clear transformations of head towards second (meso-) thoracic segment can be induced in early third instar larvae. There is a distal-to-proximal temporal response to ectopic Antennapedia expression in the antennal disc, as evidenced by successive transformations of the arista, third antennal segment, second antennal segment and occiput towards their corresponding leg and dorsal thoracic structures. Overproduction of Antennapedia protein during the pupal stage is generally lethal. Comparison of the homeotic transformations in, and Western analysis of, different lines suggests that a relatively large amount of Antennapedia protein is required to cause antenna-to-leg transformations, and further argues that, in general, developmental programmes in the insect are well buffered against the effects of ectopic homeotic gene expression. Immunodetection of Scr and Antp protein also allows us to interpret the results in light of the hypothesis that the various selector genes compete with one another to control not only their own expression, but also that of downstream genes. The role of Antennapedia in imaginal disc determination is also discussed.
Student Spin-off Intentions in Malaysian Higher Educational Institutions: Founders' Characteristics and University Roles

This study aims to examine the effects of founders’ characteristics and university roles on student spin-off intentions in Malaysian higher educational institutions. The study of student spin-offs has captured the attention of policymakers, educators and researchers because of its contribution to achieving a university’s vision and mission, regional economic growth, knowledge commercialization and employment generation. This study involved online survey research designed and informed by two research questions. A stratified sampling technique was applied and was able to obtain 369 samples from the founders of student spin-offs from eleven public universities in Malaysia. The data was analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that four of the six paths in the conceptual model were significant and affirmed the direction proposed by this study. The need for achievement, innovativeness, a propensity for risk taking and self-efficacy were seen to be positively related to student spin-off intentions. However, two constructs, namely locus of control and university roles were not significant in relation to student spin-off intentions. This study will provide valuable insights for policymakers and universities enable them to reduce the number of unemployed graduates and create a viable entrepreneurial ecosystem within the universities. The majority of student spin-off studies have been conducted in developed countries so this study could offer different insights from previous studies because the setting is a developing country.
Availability as an Operational Efficiency Indicator of Medical Equipment

The problem of operational efficiency assessment of purchased medical equipment is becoming critical, due to increasing public spending on medical devices. It has been shown that a significant amount of medical equipment is not in an operable state, for many different reasons. Commonly used complex operational efficiency indicators take the standby and down states of medical equipment into account together, as they do not have the potential to provide separate analyses of the efficiency of medical device management at healthcare facilities. Thus, the goal of this study was to identify and describe indicators for a more detailed assessment of operational efficiency of medical equipment in terms of different causes of the standby state. Systematization of causes of the standby state was implemented based on the performance data of different types of medical equipment. Managerial availability was developed as a measure of the operational efficiency of medical equipment, based on separating the standby state from the down state. Additional operational efficiency indicators found on components of standby time of medical equipment were suggested. The proposed indicators were calculated for some types of medical equipment as examples of its application. Proposed managerial availability levels and corresponding thresholds were suggested.
A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF MULTICOINTEGRATION RELATIONSHIPS WITH REGIME SHIFTS

In this paper we model the multicointegration relation proposed by Granger and Lee (1989, 1990) allowing for regime shifts. Following a single equation ap- proach and using the I(2) approximation to the concept of multicointegration, we analyze the eect of the existence of structural breaks on the asymptotic distributions of estimators and test statistics related to multicointegration. Al- ternatively we derive new critical values for the residual-based Dickey-Fuller class of tests that accounts for regime shifts. Finite sample performance is investigated using Monte Carlo simulation. We complete the study with an em- pirical application of the life-cycle hypothesis, which is a recurrent example in the literature of the existence of multicointegration relations in economics.
Perceptions and uptake of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Services among Primary School Teachers in Nakuru County, Kenya: Addressing containment of HIV/AIDS pandemic

Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) is a component of national response to HIV and AIDS prevention. It marks the entry point for early treatment; as well as providing information for behavior change and stigma management. Studies reveal a dearth of information on teachers’ response to VCT services in Kenya. This study was conducted to determine perceptions on uptake of VCT services, with a view to informing policy deliberations. We applied a cross-sectional survey design to source data from 600 teachers. The analysis generated crosstabulations with Chi-square statistic, beta coefficients (β) and odds ratios (OR). The study found that only 157 (26.2%) participants had voluntarily taken HIV test. Teachers perceiving themselves to be ‘very susceptible’ to HIV infection had about 2.3 times the odds of utilizing VCT services as those believing that they were ‘not susceptible’ [ρ-value = 0.047, OR = 2.255, C.I. = 1.411-3.602]. Teachers perceiving that voluntary testing was ‘very useful’ in HIV prevention were about 1.7 times as likely to utilize VCT services as those believing that voluntary testing was ‘not useful’ (ρ-value = 0.013, OR = 1.737, C.I. = 1.323 -2.281). Teachers knowing at least one VCT facility had about 3.3 times the odds of taking VCT services as those not knowing any facility (ρ-value = 0.002, OR = 3.320, C.I. = 1.668-6.607). In conclusion, scaling-up information dissemination is likely to improve knowledge and service uptake. The study calls for more media campaigns through radio; mobile VCT outlets and integration of VCT facilities in schools.
Foreign exchange risk premia: from traditional to state-space analyses

This paper examines foreign exchange risk premia from simple univariate regressions to the state-space method. The adjusted traditional regressions properly figure out the existence and time-evolving property of the risk premia. Successively, the state-space estimations overall are quite rationally competent in examining the essence of time variability of the unobservable risk premia. To be more precise, the coefficients on the lagged estimated time-series are significant and the disturbance combined from the observation and transition equations in the state-space system, rational and premium errors, respectively, is statistically white noise. Such the two residuals are discovered to move oppositely with their covariance approaching zero suggested by the empirics. Besides, foreign exchange risk premia are projected and found significantly stationary at level and relatively volatile throughout time with some clustering. This volatility is however not quite dominant in the deviations of forward prediction errors.