Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dinosaurs in a Brave New World? Apprenticeships and Traineeships in the Age of Lifelong Learning. Working Paper.

The question of whether apprenticeships and traineeships can survive in Australia's emerging social and economic environment was explored through a review of two bodies of research. The first consisted of recent reviews of the quality of traineeships in Queensland and Tasmania and apprenticeships in Victoria. The second was a study on the future of work that was being conducted by the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training and Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training. The recent success of Australia's New Apprenticeship system was considered in the context of the structure, content, and skill requirements of the jobs currently being created. The following problems were identified as affecting the long-term survival of apprenticeships and traineeships: increasing detachment from a centralized industrial relations system and industrial awards; increasing reliance on skill opportunities provided by the content and structure of work in individual enterprises rather than within an industry; high levels of employer influence and declining levels of employer investment in training; increasing dependence on a regime of public subsidy and training regulation; uncertainty about how to deal the competing trends of on-skilling and de-skilling; and reluctance to admit that not all workplaces are or even aspire to be learning organizations. (Contains 12 references.) (MN) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
ECOLOGICAL MONITORING IN THE CASPIAN SEA (MOUTH ZONE OF THE RIVER VOLGA) WITH A SHIPBOARD LASER SPECTROMETER

Some peculiarities and results of ecological monitoring of the Caspian Sea coastal zone and the mouth zone of the river Volga are discussed. A shipboard laser spectrometer, elaborated by the authors, was included in the measuring complex of the new ecological patrol vessel Russia belonging to the Foreign Economic Association Zarubezhgeologia of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation. Emission spectra with laser excitation at 532 and 266 nm were registered both in motion of the ship and at stations, containing the Mie scattering line, the Raman scattering (RS) band from water, the fluorescence bands of dissolved organic matter (DOM), oil pollution (OP) and phytoplankton. For this specific aquatic region special attention was given to the determination of OP concentrations from the spectra. It is shown that the direct fluorescence method allows the OP concentration to be determined without sample preparation in all types of water down to 10 µg/l using a new water-soluble standard. A very high variability of the intensity of the abovementioned spectral bands was detected in the investigated area. The results demonstrate the practical application of the methods and tools of laser spectroscopy to the ecological monitoring of aquatic systems with complex structures and dynamics.
The Impact of Innovation on Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania: A Review of Empirical Evidence

This explanatory study uses a desktop methodology to investigate the world wide existing empirical studies1 results on the relationship between Innovation on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) performance. The literature survey reveal that the studies on innovation and its effect on performance are observed to have concentrated to Western, Middle and Far East and very little empirical evidence is noticeable in Africa. The issue of innovation and how it relate to firm`s performance and specially SMEs is therefore yet to be exhaustively explored. The results from review further find that no consistent results on whether the innovations altogether influence firms performance. The conclusion is therefore not generally viable. The nature of the empirical results reported in this paper indicates a need for such studies especially in Africa where the research fissure is widely observed in this area. The paper is thus a wakeup call for empirical studies that assess the impact of innovation on SMEs performance in Africa and Tanzania in particular where the studies of this nature are rarely found in the review of literature conducted in this paper.
The Role of Physiological Regulation in Understanding the Influence of Child Abuse Potential on Children’s Behavioral Problems

The current projectinvestigated the role of toddlers’ physiological regulation at 24 months in therelationship between prenatal maltreatment risk and internalizing andexternalizing problems at age 3 using a sample of 249 primiparious mothers andtheir first-born children. Regression analyses were used to explorephysiological regulation, indexed by sleeping, eating, sensory sensitivity andnegative emotionality, as a mediator of the relationship between abusepotential, measured by the Child Abuse Potential Inventory, and children’sproblematic behaviors. Findings revealed direct effects between child abuse potentialand internalizing and externalizing problems and child abuse potential and dysregulation.Further analyses highlighted regulation as a mediator of the relationshipbetween child abuse potential and internalizing problems, whereas both childabuse potential and children’s dysregulation were important in determiningexternalizing problems. Self-regulation appears to be a key target for interventionprograms for toddlers to halt the progression of behavioral problems often foundin maltreated children.
Immobilization of solids and mondriga quadratic forms

Robot hands with three point-like fingers (as we often picture them) are unable to get a steady hold on any 3-dimensional convex body K. Indeed, suppose that the positions of the fingers are the points plt p2, p3 in the boundary dK of K Then any half-line (of which there are plenty) contained in /^-supporting half-spaces through plf p2, p3 defines an escape direction for K. If we add a fourth finger to our robot hand, it is possible to choose p0, pr, p2, p3 e dKso that Kis unable to move by a simple translation. For example, it is sufficient to ask that each pi has a unique ^-supporting plane and that the four AT-supporting half-spaces intersect in a tetrahedron. However, K will still be able to wiggle a bit unless the points are chosen with extreme care. Namely (and generically speaking), we shall prove that a necessary condition for four points po,. ,p3edK to immobilize K is that the normal lines to K at po,. ,p3 belong to one ruling of a quadric surface. And furthermore, that if K is a tetrahedron and the points lie in the interior of its faces, this condition is also sufficient. Immobilization questions come from robotics, especially from grasping problems [5, 6]. In [1] a curvature criterion was established to decide when three points immobilize a plane figure. This curvature criterion allows us to prove that three points suffice to immobilize any convex figure (other than a disk), whose boundary has continuous curvature, and also that three points in the interior of the three sides of a triangle immobilize it if and only if the three normal lines are concurrent (see also [2]).
Water balance modelling in a semi-arid environment with limited in-situ data: remote sensing coupled with satellite gravimetry, Lake Manyara, East African Rift, Tanzania

Abstract. Accurate and up to date information on the status and trends of water balance is needed to develop strategies for conservation and the sustainable management of water resources. The purpose of this research is to estimate water balance in a semi-arid environment with limited in-situ data by using a remote sensing approach. We focus on the Lake Manyara catchment, located within the East African Rift of northern Tanzania. We use remote sensing and a semi-distributed hydrological model to study the spatial and temporal variability of water balance parameters within Manyara catchment. Satellite gravimetry GRACE data is used to verify the trend of the water balance result. The results show high spatial and temporal variations and characteristics of a semi-arid climate with high evaporation and low rainfall. We observe that the Lake Manyara water balance and GRACE equivalent water depth show comparable trends a decrease after 2002 followed by a sharp increase in 2006–2007. Despite the small size of Lake Manyara, GRACE data are useful and show great potential for hydrological research on smaller un-gauged lakes and catchments in semi-arid environments. Our modelling confirms the importance of the 2006–2007 Indian Ocean Dipole fluctuation in replenishing the groundwater reservoirs of East Africa. The water balance information can be used for further analysis of lake variations in relation to soil erosion, climate and land cover/land use change as well as different lake management and conservation scenarios. We demonstrate that water balance modelling can be performed accurately using remote sensing data even in complex climatic settings.
A new species of the Aprasia repens species-group (Squamata: Pygopodidae) from Western Australia

The worm lizard genus Aprasia is a distinct group of morphologically conservative, fossorial pygopodids. Current knowledge of their taxonomy is incomplete, particularly in Western Australia where they are most diverse. Recent biological surveys in Western Australia, using fenced pitfall traplines, combined with active searching near Dongara and on the two largest islands in the Houtman Abrolhos (East and West Wallabi) found three specimens of a very small Aprasia that were tentatively referable to A. repens. As such, they represented an additional species to the herpetofauna of the remote Abrolhos Archipelago. We further investigated these specimens by carrying out an analysis of allozyme and morphological variation in the A. repens species-group. We found the three specimens to be conspecifi c with each other yet distinct from all described species. The new species is closest genetically to A. repens, but in morphology is most similar to A. haroldi. Aprasia clairae sp. nov. differs from all other Aprasia by a conservative suite of morphological characters and by multiple fi xed allozyme differences. We also make remarks on the conservation status of the new species and other unresolved taxonomic issues within Aprasia.
The Integration of Stock Exchanges: The Case of the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA) and its Impact on Ownership And Internationalization Status in Colombian Brokerage Firms

This paper describes the changes in ownership and internationalization of the brokerage firms in Colombia as a result of the regional integration process of its stock exchange market through the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA). It proposes that the integration of stock exchanges generated transformations within the brokerage sector, and affected companies in response pursue different strategies to remain competitive in the current state of affairs. In the case of Colombia, stock exchange integration through MILA has resulted into mergers between local brokerage firms, acquisitions from both national and international companies and changes in ownership. Este articulo describe los cambios de titularidad y la internacionalizacion de las companias de corretaje colombianas, como resultado del proceso de integracion regional de su mercado bolsista, a traves del Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano (MILA). El documento propone que la integracion de las bolsas ha generado transformaciones dentro del sector de los corretajes y que, en respuesta, las empresas afectadas persiguen diferentes estrategias para seguir siendo competitivas dentro de la situacion actual de los negocios. En el caso de Colombia, la integracion de la bolsa a traves del MILA ha originado fusiones entre los corretajes locales, adquisiciones por parte de empresas nacionales e internacionales y cambios de titularidad.
Integral Transform Parameter Estimation

There are many reasons for considering estimation in a transformed version of a problem. In this paper we look at a class of compartment models, and see that it is possible to estimate the underlying parameters more easily in a transformed problem. In particular, it is not necessary to know the form of the regression function in order to perform the estimation in the Laplace space. We show how to construct estimators of the underlying model coefficients that are consistent and asymptotically normal. The effectiveness of the estimation method is also illustrated with a simulation and an analysis of data.
Numerical and experimental investigation of impinging turbulent flow of twin jets against a wall

In the present study, impinging of vertical twin jet against a horizontal plate is numerically and experimentally investigated. Four two equation RANS based turbulence models are used and their capabilities to simulate such complicated turbulent flow were examined. The two fluid jets are separated by a thin membrane. The inlet jet hydraulic diameters are the same and the Reynolds number of external flows of jets is 13500. The ratio of width of nozzles (e) to nozzle-to-plate distance (H) considered as 1:10. The turbulent models used in this work are k-e, k-e RNG, k-ω and k-ω SST. The results obtained by the models were compared with each other as well as two-dimensional PIV data to evaluate the capabilities of such models for this kind of flows. By comparing the numerical and experimental results, it is concluded that all of the models can predict acceptable results in the free jet area, but in the near wall region none of the models can predict flow characteristics with reasonable accuracy. It was observed that, at low nozzle-to-plate distances, the prediction results of the turbulence models are approximately in accordance with the experimental data, particularly for a zone near the midline separating the two jets.
Evaluation and analysis of realizing broker-based content routing protocols in SDN

Publish/subscribe provides a valuable communication model to the future Internet due to the decoupling of end-users from each other. One of the stubborn challenges that face recent contentbased publish/subscribe systems is the trade-off between the usage of the network bandwidth and the end-to-end delay of published events. This trade-off is imposed by the fact that most implementations depend on software brokers to filter incoming messages towards received requests from subscribers. Although this approach for filtering may present the most bandwidth efficient solutions, the use of brokers adds to the network end-to-end delay. The installed brokers are implemented at the application layer and hence the original path between publishers and subscribers is extended which adds to the delay in which messages are forwarded from publishers to subscribers. Along with the delay imposed by the extended path, another processing delay is added to the system based on the time needed for filtering incoming messages at the brokers. As the time factor is crucial to the real-world applications that depend on the content-based publish/subscribe paradigm, recent implementations try to tackle this problem by exploiting the deployed hardware in the underlying infrastructure for filtering operations. In-network filtering is enabled with the help of Software Defined Networking (SDN) technology as it allows the installment of content filters directly to the network switches/routers. Even though this approach significantly reduces the end-to-end delay, it suffers when the bandwidth efficiency is evaluated. Caused by the inherited hardware limitations, installing content filters on hardware network elements limits their expressiveness. This increases the number of published messages from publishers to subscribers on different network links which requires more bandwidth. As an intermediate solution between the two filtering approaches, the work of this thesis is the realization of a hybrid content-based publish/subscribe middleware that allows filtering operations in both network and application layers.
The Estimation of the Structural Budgetary Deficit for Romania in the Context of Accession to the Euro Zone

Romania is preparing to enter a superior stage of integration - the admission in the euro zone. In this context, the study estimates the structural budgetary deficit, considering it as being one of the most relevant indicators to evaluate the performance of the fiscal management, as well as the degree to which the Romanian fiscal policy is ready to act as a single instrument capable of stabilizing the national economy after the Euro zone admission. The paper is structured as follows: (i) estimating the potential GDP and the output gap by the production function approach and by using the Hodrick-Prescott filter; (ii) estimating the budgetary cyclical deficit based on the sensitivity of the deficit (using the elasticities of government revenues and expenditures in relation to GDP) and the level of the output gap and, afterwards, the structural budgetary component; (iii) conclusions and recommendations.
Productivity Growth across Spanish Regions and Industries: A Production-Frontier Approach

Badunenko O. and Romero-Ávila D. Productivity growth across Spanish regions and industries: a production-frontier approach, Regional Studies. This paper decomposes labour productivity growth into components attributable to technological change, technological catch-up, capital deepening and human capital accumulation. This is done through a production-frontier approach applied to Spanish data disaggregated along regional and sectoral dimensions. It is shown that capital deepening is the primary contributor to productivity growth, closely followed by human capital and technological change; widespread efficiency losses substantially impede productivity growth; productivity convergence is driven by higher efficiency losses exhibited by rich regions; analysis of sectoral data shows marked differences in productivity performance; and aggregate productivity growth is driven by intra-sectoral productivity dynamics rather than by structural change.
Swirl chamber for vitrification of fly ashes

The study presents the concept of a swirl chamber used for vitrification of fly ashes. It assumes the use of coal dust in the process of fly ash melting. The coal dust supplied to the swirl chamber and gasified in the atmosphere of O 2 , CO 2 and H2 O allows for obtaining combustible gases composed of CO and H 2 , which are burnt with the pneumatically supplied fly ash. The above process allows for obtaining a product in the form of a molten slag which does not contain coal grains. The study presents numerical calculations for the process of combustion and gasification of coal dust and opportunities for ensuring adequate parameters in the fly ash melting zone. The combustible gases obtained during the process of gasification can be supplied to the chamber of a pulverized-bed boiler.
Variation of carbon isotope fractionation in hydrogenotrophic methanogenic microbial cultures and environmental samples at different energy status

Methane is a major product of anaerobic degradation of organic matter and an important greenhouse gas. Its stable carbon isotope composition can be used to reveal active methanogenic pathways, if associated isotope fractionation factors are known. To clarify the causes that lead to the wide variation of fractionation factors of methanogenesis from H2 plus CO2 (), pure cultures and various cocultures were grown under different thermodynamic conditions. In syntrophic and obligate syntrophic cocultures thriving on different carbohydrate substrates, fermentative bacteria were coupled to three different species of hydrogenotrophic methanogens of the families Methanobacteriaceae and Methanomicrobiaceae. We found that C‐isotope fractionation was correlated to the Gibbs free energy change (ΔG) of CH4 formation from H2 plus CO2 and that the relation can be described by a semi‐Gauss curve. The derived relationship was used to quantify the average ΔG that is available to hydrogenotrophic methanogenic archaea in their habitat, thus avoiding the problems encountered with measurement of low H2 concentrations on a microscale. Boreal peat, rice field soil, and rumen fluid, which represent major sources of atmospheric CH4, exhibited increasingly smaller , indicating that thermodynamic conditions for hydrogenotrophic methanogens became increasingly more favourable. Vice versa, we hypothesize that environments with similar energetic conditions will also exhibit similar isotope fractionation. Our results, thus, provide a mechanistic constraint for modelling the 13C flux from microbial sources of atmospheric CH4.
Light and electron microscopic studies on the oviduct epithelium of the Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos)

Summary: The present study was undertaken to investigate the histochemical properties and light and electron microscopic morphology of the oviduct of laying Pekin ducks and Pekin ducks in the quiescent phase of the reproductive cycle. The oviducts of five healthy, two-year-old adult laying Pekin ducks and five five-month-old Pekin ducks in the quiescent phase of the reproductive cycle, obtained from the Farm of Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, constituted the material of the present study. The oviduct of the Pekin duck was segmented into five regions, namely, the infundibulum, magnum, isthmus, uterus and vagina. Along the oviduct, the tunica mucosa forms convolutions protruding into the lumen, and the height of these convolutions were determined to increase in the regions of the magnum and uterus. The lamina epithelialis was ascertained to be composed of ciliated and secretory cells. The lamina propria was filled with glands in the magnum, isthmus and uterus. In laying ducks, the PAS-positive reaction in the isthmus and the performic acid/Alcian blue pH 2.5 reaction in the magnum were determined to be very strong. On the other hand, due to the cells forming the lamina epithelialis and the proprial glands not having developed fully, these reactions were observed to be weak in ducks in the quiescent phase of the reproductive cycle. In electron microscopic examinations, a single type of secretion granule, of medium electron density and varying size, was observed in the secretory cells of the lamina epithelialis. Electron dense secretion granules were present in the proprial glands of the magnum and isthmus, whereas proprial glands of the uterus contained electron light granules.
Enhancement of Dynamic Encoded Multispectral Images for Effective Visualization

The paper proposes a novel method which dynamically encodes the multispectral images followed by image enhancement. The compression or encoding of images works with its unique spectral characteristics. The encoding algorit hm shows its performance on the ba sis of image content. An image can be categorized a s semantic classes or datatype classes. Semantic classes are nothing but the regions like clouds, mo untains, rivers etc. Datatype classes are smooth re gions and textured regi If a particular region of interest is concerned for the application, semantic classes are exposed and compressed. The proposed work concentrates on datatype classes. Initially Pr incipal Component Analysis and Wavelet transformation are carried out in t spatial and spectral domain respectively. The transformed image is then segment ed into smooth and textured regions. Based on the region, compression technique is applied dynami cally. SPIHT is used for smooth regions since it we ll suits for images wit more smooth regions and similar ly wavelet method for textured regions thereby inco rporating the advantages of both the algorithms. A variety of enhancement techniques are applied to the compressed image and the results ar e compared using the metrics WQM and CEF.