Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do I Belong Here? Exploring Immigrant College Student Responses on the SERU Survey Sense of Belonging/Satisfaction Factor. SERU Consortium Research Paper. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.13.10.

The immigrant college student population will likely continue to increase. This exploratory study addresses the questions: To what extent does sense of belonging/satisfaction of recent immigrant college students differ from non-immigrant college students? Do perceived self-ratings of belonging vary by immigrant generations? This research draws on a new extensive data source, the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey. Survey data from the 2009 SERU is based on the responses from 55,433 undergraduate students from six-large research institutions from across the United States. Findings suggest that immigrant studentsâ€™ perception of their sense of belonging and satisfaction is significantly lower than their non-immigrant peersâ€™ perceptions. Immigrant college students -- whether they were a recent immigrant that arrived in the country as a child, or arrived later as a teenager or young adult, or are the children of parents born outside the U.S. ( 2nd generation) -- consistently reported lower levels of belonging/satisfaction as compared to their 3rd or 4th generation (i.e., nonimmigrant) peers. Responses within the immigrant generation groups were similar. The following implications were highlighted: effective practice and application strategies for student affairs practitioners and faculty members who work directly with immigrant college students; policy development suggestions for both academic and student affairs administrators; future research inquiries for scholars who are interested in this fast growing population of college students.
The Mechanics and Statistics of Active Matter

Active particles contain internal degrees of freedom with the ability to take in and dissipate energy and, in the process, execute systematic movement. Examples include all living organisms and their motile constituents such as molecular motors. This article reviews recent progress in applying the principles of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and hydrodynamics to form a systematic theory of the behavior of collections of active particles–active matter–with only minimal regard to microscopic details. A unified view of the many kinds of active matter is presented, encompassing not only living systems but inanimate analogs. Theory and experiment are discussed side by side.
Aggregate implications of financial and labour market frictions

This paper develops a model with both financial and labor market frictions, and jointly analyzes the precautionary behavior of firms and households. Financial frictions generate costly bankruptcy risk for firms and limited insurance against unemployment risk for workers. We solve and simulate a calibrated version of the model and show that the precautionary decisions of households and firms interact with each other to significantly amplify the effect of financial factors on aggregate output and unemployment, even in the absence of price and wage rigidity. This result can be interpreted as a negative demand externality. Firms fire workers to maximize profits, but do not internalize the negative effect of the increase in unemployment on households. Households consume less to increase precautionary saving, but do not internalize the negative impact of their decision on firms' profits and default risk. The importance of this externality is quantitatively large. We calibrate an economy with moderate default risk in firms and a very small risk aversion and precautionary behavior of households, obtaining an equilibrium unemployment level of 6.5%. Increasing risk aversion to more realistic levels increases equilibrium unemployment up to 11.1%. The same increase in risk aversion applied to an economy with more severe firm financing frictions increases unemployment from 7.7% to 21.6%. Finally, we conduct policy experiments and analyze to what extent firing costs and unemployment benefits reduce the impact of this negative externality.
Performance of ‘Carrick’ pear grafted on quince rootstocks

Abstract – The performance of ‘Carrick’ pear grafted on different quince rootstocks was evaluated at the experimental field of the Federal University of Pelotas. Plant material consisted of 6-year-old ‘Carrick’ pear in spacing 1 x 5m (2000 trees ha-1), trained as central leader and grafted on quinces ‘Portugal’, ‘MC’, ‘BA29’, ‘D’vranja’ and ‘Inta 267’. Assessed parameters were: yield, yield efficiency and trunk cross sectional area (TCSA). Yield efficiency was higher with ‘Portugal’ and ‘MC’ in all growing seasons. Rootstock ‘Portugal’ induced the greatest yield in all growing seasons but 2011/2012, when no differences were found among the rootstocks. The greatest cumulative yield was found with ‘Portugal’. By TCSA, rootstocks ‘Inta 267’, ‘D’Vranja’ and ‘BA29’ are more vigorous than ‘MC’ and ‘Portugal’. ‘Portugal’ was the most productive rootstock for ‘Carrick’ and also one of the most dwarfing.Resumo – O desempenho da pereira ‘Carrick’ enxertada em diferentes porta-enxertos de marmeleiro foi avaliado durante quatro safras no campo experimental da Universidade Federal de Pelotas. O material vegetal consistiu de plantas de pereira ‘Carrick’ com seis anos de idade (1x5m; 2.000 plantas ha-1; conduzidas no sistema de líder central), enxertadas nos portaenxertos Portugal, MC, BA29, D’vranja e Inta 267. Os parâmetros avaliados foram: produtividade, eficiência produtiva e área da seção transversal do tronco (ASTT). A eficiência produtiva foi maior com ‘Portugal’ e ‘MC’ em todas as safras, exceto em 2011/12. O porta-enxerto Portugal induziu a maior produtividade em todas as safras, com exceção de 2011/2012, em que não houve diferenças entre os porta-enxertos. Os resultados da ASTT mostram visivelmente que os porta-enxertos ‘Inta 267’, D’Vranja e BA29 são mais vigorosos que MC e Portugal. Pode-se concluir que a produtividade de pereira ‘Carrick’ é maior com o porta-enxerto ‘Portugal’, o qual também reduz significativamente o vigor.
İnşaat Mühendisleri Özelinde Eş Zamanlı Mühendislik Yaklaşımının İrdelenmesi

Insaat sozlesmelerinde is sahipleri, mimarlar, muhendisler ve muteahhitler gibi farkli taraflar projenin farkli asamalarina dahil olurlar. Bircok paydasin farkli asamalardaki ise dahil edilmesi genelde bu paydaslarin memnuniyetsizligi ile sonuclanir. Eszamanli Muhendislik kavrami tum paydaslar icin acik bir platform sunarak, artan proje suresi ve yetersiz musteri memnuniyeti gibi istenmeyen sonuclar icin bir cozum sunabilir. Bu calismanin amaci da, Turkiye’de, kamu ve ozel sektorde calisan insaat muhendisleri ozelinde Eszamanli Muhendislik algisinin ve bu yaklasimi etkileyen faktorlerin saptanmasi ve EM’nin uygulanmasi sirasinda karsilasilan zorluklarin ve uygulamasiyla edinilebilecek faydalarin yorumlanmasi, seklinde ozetlenebilir. Bunun icin web tabanli olarak hazirlanan bir anket, meslek odalari vasitasiyla Turkiye’nin cesitli illerinde, kamu ve ozel sektorde calisan insaat muhendislerine ulastirilmistir. Calisma sonucunda; Turkiye’de kamu ve ozel sektorde calisan insaat muhendislerinin genel olarak es zamanli muhendislik hakkinda teorik bilgi sahibi olduklari, fakat cogunun henuz bunu uygulama olarak tecrube etmedikleri tespit edilmistir.
Discovery of Paleozoic Fe-Mg carpholite in Motalafjella, Svalbard Caledonides: A milestone for subduction-zone gradients

Paleozoic blueschist facies rocks are relatively scarce on Earth due to warmer geother- mal gradients at that time and/or later reequilibration. Ferro-magnesiocarpholite (Fe-Mg carpholite), the typical low-temperature blueschist facies index mineral in metapelites, was discovered 30 yr ago and is known only in Tethyan belts metamorphosed ,80 m.y. ago. Herein we report the discovery of Paleozoic Fe-Mg carpholite in the ca. 470 Ma blueschists of Motalafjella, Svalbard Caledonides, the oldest known occurrence on Earth. The car- pholite-bearing rocks reached pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions of 15-16 kbar and 380-400 8C and followed a nearly isothermal exhumation path. In the cooling Earth per- spective, these P-T estimates for Motalafjella blueschists demonstrate the existence of cold subduction-zone gradients (;7 8C/km) from the middle Paleozoic onward.
Brief communication: Remotely piloted aircraft systems for rapid emergency response: road exposure to rockfall in Villanova di Accumoli (central Italy)

Abstract. The use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPASs) in geosciences is often aimed at the acquisition of an image sequence to produce digital models and orthophotographs of the topographic surface. The technology can be applied for rockfall hazard and risk assessment. To study rockfalls, an approach consists in the application of numerical models for the computation of rockfall trajectories. Data required for such simulations include digital terrain models, location of the instability source areas, and the mechanical properties of the terrain. In this article, we present an analysis of the earthquake-triggered rockfall that occurred along the SP18 in Villanova di Accumoli (Lazio, central Italy) during the seismic sequence that started on 24 August 2016. A survey with a multicopter was carried out to obtain a surface model of the terrain and identify and characterize the source areas and other instable blocks in areas not accessible in the field. The investigated area extends for 6500 m2 and was covered by 161 photographs that were used to obtain an orthophoto with a ground resolution of 2.5 cm and a digital surface model with a ground resolution of 20 cm × 20 cm, which was processed and fused with GNSS real-time kinematic data. To obtain a map of potential rockfall trajectories, we run the numerical model STONE, using as origin of the boulders both source areas mapped in the field and pixels with a slope angle above a selected threshold. Results showed that only the part of the road SP18 already affected by the rockfall was exposed to further rockfall impacts. In particular, it was observed that 29.2 % (i.e. 12 123) of the 41 500 simulated trajectories may potentially reach or cross this tract of the road. Based on these data, limited protection measures were suggested. The combined use of RPAS data, fused with ground GPS points, an accurate geomorphological survey, and terrain static and dynamic parameters from the literature allows fast, low-cost, and replicable rockfall numerical modelling useful for emergency response and adoption of proper protection measures.
Energetic-lattice based optimization

Hierarchical segmentation has been a model which both identifies with the construct of extracting a tree structured model of the image, while also interpreting it as an optimization problem of the optimal scale selection. Hierarchical processing is an emerging field of problems in computer vision and hyper-spectral image processing community, on account of its ability to structure high-dimensional data. Chapter 1 discusses two important concepts of Braids and Energetic lattices. Braids of partitions is a richer hierarchical partition model that provides multiple locally non-nested partitioning, while being globally a hierarchical partitioning of the space. The problem of optimization on hierarchies and further braids are non-tractable due the combinatorial nature of the problem. We provide conditions, of h-increasingness, scale-increasingness on the energy defined on partitions, to extract unique and monotonically ordered minimal partitions. Furthermore these conditions are found to be coherent with the Braid structure to perform constrained optimization on hierarchies, and more generally Braids. Chapter 2 demonstrates the Energetic lattice, and how it generalizes the Lagrangian formulation of the constrained optimization problem on hierarchies. Finally in Chapter 3 we apply the method of optimization using energetic lattices to the problem of extraction of segmentations from a hierarchy, that are proximal to a ground truth set. Chapter 4 we show how one moves from the energetic lattice on hierarchies and braids, to a numerical lattice of Jordan Curves which define a continous model of hierarchical segmentation. This model enables also to compose different functions and hierarchies
Human capital development in the international organization: rhetoric and reality

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to present empirical evidence of the nature of corporate rhetoric in developing human capital and how it becomes embedded within a large international organization operating in the Nordic region. The qualitative case study aims to examine the sensemaking of individual managers, and how human capital rhetoric is selected, acted upon, and retained by employees.Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory case study approach is taken in order to provide an in‐depth understanding of the rhetoric and reality of human capital development. Focus groups, archival data, and interviews with key informants (i.e. external consultants, senior executives, managers, and employees from various departments across the Nordic business units) are used to explore different perspectives on the phenomena of human capital development.Findings – The findings highlight a number of key dimensions that can distort the rhetoric of human capital: corporate strategy, organizational structure, mana.
Role of Syzygium Cumini Seed Extract in Preventing the 7, 12-Dimethylbenz (a) anthracene Induced Skin Carcinogenesis

Investigation of cancer chemopreventive and anti-oxidative property of S.cumini seed extract (SCE) on 7,12-dimethyl benz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced skin carcinogenesis in mice. Animals were divided into four groups on the basis of their respective treatments wherein mice of Group I & II served as vehicle treated and SCE treated controls respectively. For induction of skin tumors, mice of Group III and IV were applied topically with 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) followed 2 weeks later by repeated application of croton oil (1% in acetone three times a week) and continued till the end of the experiment (i.e. 16 weeks). Mice of Group IV were administered S.cumini seed extract (SCE) at peri- & post-initiational stage. The results of the study revealed a significant decrease in incidence, cumulative number of papillomas, tumor yield and tumor burden in mice of Group IV as compared with DMBA alone at the end of experiment. A significant reduction in tumor weight and tumor volume was also observed. Reduction in the incidence and number of papilloma, the preneoplastic lesions, was considered to be the mean of assessment. Significant (p<0.01) decrease in the level of lipid peroxidation and significant (p<0.01-p<0.001) enhancement in the activity of antioxidants (GSH, SOD, Vitamin-C) and total proteins levels were recorded in Group IV. SCE was also found potential in reducing the histopathological lesions induced in tumors by DMBA. From the present study, it can be inferred that Syzygium cumini possesses has chemopreventive and anti-oxidative potential for chemical induced carcinogenesis. Such chemopreventive activity may be linked with the antioxidant/free radical-scavenging constituents present in the extract.
Development in Remote Regions: What Do We Know?

This article assesses a recent body of research on economic development and socio-political change in northern and other remote regions of developed Western nations. The regions include northern Canada, Alaska, northern Scandinavia, Australia's Northern Territory, and Micronesia. Research topics covered are theoretical perspectives, resource development, Native claims, and village economies. "Remote regions" are physically, economically, and politically distant from centers of wealth and power, they are culturally or ethnically diverse and sparsely settled; and they exhibit extreme limits on their autonomy, self-sufficiency, and welfare. "Development" of these regions is defined as the overcoming of internal and external obstacles to change in conditions associated with their remoteness. The authors ask whether the research has increased our understanding of the nature of these regions and of their development problems. Their answer is generally affirmative, but they also identify specific research gaps, problems, and needs. The latter include needs for more explicit theorizing, comparative and historical approaches, and research on resource ownership, Native claims outcomes, village subsistence, and population migration. Key words: Canada, Alaska, remote regions, development, resources, Native claims, village economies
Food web structure of an Arctic lake (Pulmankijärvi, northern Finland) studied by stable isotope analyses

The food web structure in Pulmankijarvi was studied using stable isotope analyses to evaluate the relative importance of littoral and pelagic food sources to a relatively diverse Arctic fish community. European whitefish is the most abundant species in the lake, and three groups were separated based on size and gill raker number. Results from a twosource mixing model indicated that littoral food sources dominated the energy flow to most of the fish populations, but pelagic food sources were essential to the diets of two groups of European whitefish as well as Arctic char. Densely-rakered whitefish are primarily supported by zooplankton, and mysids are probably an important component in the partially pelagic diets of both sparsely-rakered whitefish >100 g and Arctic char. Because sparsely-rakered whitefish aged 5+ to 9+ years are likely the most abundant fish in Pulmankijarvi, pelagic production may be extremely important to the overall fish biomass in this Arctic lake. Comparisons with other Arctic lakes having contrasting fish communities indicate that larger lake size and increased inter-specific competition probably explain the reduced reliance on littoral food sources for Arctic char and brown trout in Pulmankijarvi.
Calibration of Regional Seismic Stations in the Middle East with Shots in Turkey

The objective of this project is to calibrate regional travel-times and propagation characteristics of seismic waves in Turkey and surrounding areas in the Middle East in order to enhance detection and location capabilities in the region. Important data for the project will be obtained by large calibration shots in central and eastern Turkey. The first, a two-ton shot, was fired in boreholes near Keskin in central Anatolia on 23 November 2002. The explosives were placed in 14 holes, each 80 m deep, arranged in concentric circular arrays. Ninety temporary seismic stations were deployed within a 300 km radius around the shot. The permanent stations of the Turkish National Seismic Network provided a good azimuthal coverage as well as three radial traverses. Most stations within a radius of 200 km recorded the shot. Travel-time data have been analyzed to obtain a detailed crustal model under the shot and along the profiles. The model gives a 35 km thick crust, characterized by two layers with velocities of 5.0 and 6.4 km/s. The P{sub n} velocity was found to be 7.8 km/s. The crustal thickness decreases to the north where the profile crosses the North Anatolian fault. There is a slight increase inmore » crustal velocities, but no change in crustal thickness to the west. Data analysis effort is continuing to refine the regional velocity models and to obtain station corrections. « less
The paradox of progressivity in low-tax countries: income tax in Guatemala

The Kakwani and Reynolds-Smolensky indices are used to analyse the consequences of tax reforms in terms of a tax’s progressivity and redistributive capacity. Nonetheless, these indices can only serve as a basis for normative judgments in reforms where revenue remains constant. As this is generally not the case with tax reforms in practice, the Reynolds-Smolensky index is usually broken down into changes in the average tax rate and changes in the Kakwani index. This article argues that this procedure has serious disadvantages, especially in countries with low levels of tax revenue. To help overcome these problems, a number of alternative indicators are proposed based on the traditional indices, to make it possible to analyse the redistributive and progressivity effects of reforms that generate changes in revenue. These indicators are then used to analyse hypothetical reforms to income tax in Guatemala.
Development of Highly Sensitive FRET Based Biosensor to Detect Cell Death Pathways

Author(s): Hariharan, Chitra | Advisor(s): Liao, Jiayu | Abstract: Cell death is a major process in a biological cell that occurs during development, homeostasis and immune regulation in multicellular organisms. Dysregulation of cell death pathway has been implicated in many diseases. Principle cell death pathways includeapoptosis, autophagy, necrosis, mitotic catastrophe etc. Knowledge of cell death pathways and the reason the cell chooses to die one way or the other, are key factors to understand the disease, the way it affects the cellular system and subsequent drug discovery.This study is focused on developing genetically encoded Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) based biosensors to identify apoptosis and autophagy pathways in vitro. FRET is an energy transfer phenomenon which occurs between two spectrum-overlapping fluorophores that are in close proximity. The design of the sensor is based on enzyme substrate dynamics and consists of a reporter gene fused between fluorescent proteins. Additionally, FRET based protease assay has been used to determine the kinetics of Atg4A, an enzyme involved in autophagy. The kinetic parameters km, kcat, kcat /km were derived using real time detection method. To take this forward, the sensor will be transfected in H460 lung cancer cell line to identify the type of death the cell chooses on treatment with sumoylation inhibitors that were previously developed in the lab. MTS assay was conducted to establish the supremacy of sumoylation inhibitors over other commercially available drugs. In conclusion, the biosensor developed in this study is highly sensitive in detecting apoptosis and autophagy and can be used to derive quantitative data using FRET technology. It can be used both in vitro and in mammalian cells and can differentiate between apoptosis and autophagy. The results of this study can help to expand biomedical knowledge by illuminating the mechanisms of different cell death pathways. This will pave way for simple and non-invasive ways to modulate cell death pathways for therapeutic intervention in the future.
Out-of-Plane and In-Plane Magnetization Behavior of Dipolar Interacting FeNi Nanoislands around the Percolation Threshold

Magnetic properties of inhomogeneous nanoisland FeNi films were studied by SQUID magnetometry. The FeNi films with nominal thickness ranging from 0.6 to 2.0 nm were deposited by rf sputtering on Sitall glass substrates and covered by a protecting Al2O3 layer on the top. The SQUID data indicate pronounced irreversibility behavior for the out-of-plane temperature-dependent magnetization response measured at H≃100 Oe using zero-field cooling ZFC and field-cooled warming FCW after the applied dc magnetizing field Hm≃2 T for the FeNi samples with nominal thickness 1.1 nm ≲d≲1.8 nm, below the percolation threshold. The positive difference between the FCW and ZFC data identifies two irreversibility temperature scales, TB≈50 K and T⁎≈200 K, which can be associated with the superparamagnetic and superferromagnetic behavior in inhomogeneous nanoisland FeNi films, respectively. However, above the film percolation threshold, we observed a crossover from the out-of-plane to in-plane magnetization orientation. Here, the in-plane FCW-ZFC difference implies negative remanent magnetization response in the temperature range TB≲T≲T⁎. The observed magnetization properties can be associated with the presence of the superferromagnetic phase in self-assembled clusters of quasi-2D metallic magnetic FeNi nanoislands.