Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of Commuting Distance and Job Accessibility for Residents in a U.S. Legacy City

Job accessibility has been examined over the years, especially in older industrial cities. More specifically, job accessibility of different groups of workers remains a topic of interest for targeted policymaking to improve economic conditions. This article analyzes the commuting distance sensitivity of different groups of workers and applies commuting distance sensitivity to job accessibility calculation. The Longitudinal Employer–Household Dynamics (LEHD) data set is used to calculate job-specific distance decay parameters, commuting threshold, and job accessibility. Suitable jobs are controlled by income and industry sector. A conditional distance decay function based on commuting distance sensitivity is introduced and applied to job accessibility. Distance affects job accessibility only beyond a certain threshold, which varies by worker characteristics. The results show that workers in different income, age, and industry categories have varying commuting thresholds; that is, the distance they are willing to commute to get to a job. Commuting threshold is expected to affect the value and spatial distribution of job accessibility. When considering commuting threshold, adding more jobs nearby might not reduce commuting distance to a large extent. Future studies need to understand the process that will inform residents about job opportunities so that accessibility can translate into employment. Key Words: commuting distance sensitivity, conditional distance decay, job accessibility, LEHD, low-wage jobs.
Multilayer modeling of porous grain surface chemistry - I. The GRAINOBLE model

Context. Mantles of iced water mixed with carbon monoxyde, formaldehyde, and methanol are formed during the so-called prestellar core phase. In addition, radicals are also thought to be formed on the grain surfaces, and to react to form complex organic molecules later on, during the so-called warm-up phase of the protostellar evolution. Aims. We aim to study the formation of the grain mantles during the prestellar core phase and the abundance of formaldehyde, methanol, and radicals trapped in them. Methods. We have developed a macrosopic statistic multilayer model that follows the formation of grain mantles with time and that includes two effects that may increase the number of radicals trapped in the mantles: i) during the mantle formation, only the surface layer is chemically active and not the entire bulk; and ii) the porous structure of grains allows the trapping reactive particles. The model considers a network of H, O, and CO forming neutral species such as water, CO, formaldehyde, and methanol, plus several radicals. We ran a large grid of models to study the impact of the mantle multilayer nature and grain porous structure. In addition, we explored how the uncertainty of other key parameters influences the mantle composition. Results. Our model predicts relatively high abundances of radicals, especially of HCO and CH3 O( 10 −9 −10 −7 ). In addition, the multilayer approach enables us to follow the chemical differentiation within the grain mantle, showing that the mantles are far from being uniform. For example, methanol is mostly present in the outer layers of the mantles, whereas CO and other reactive species are trapped in the inner layers. The overall mantle composition depends on the density and age of the prestellar core as well as on some microscopic parameters, such as the diffusion energy and the hydrogenation reactions activation energy. Comparison with observations allows us to constrain the value of the last two parameters (0.5–0.65 and 1500 K, respectively) and provide some indications on the physical conditions during the formation of the ices.
DEFORMATION DETECTION IN PIPING INSTALLATIONS USING PROFILING TECHNIQUES

As-Built surveys of buildings and installations have received greater attention in recent years. An example is the 3D digital reconstruction of existing piping installations at chemical plants for plant maintenance, upgrades and safety standard concerns. This paper is directed at the reconstruction of piping installations with particular emphasis on the detection of deformities in pipes. Reconstruction begins with the automatic detection of individual piping elements which requires a prior segmentation. For segmentation, the profile intersection technique is used. Surfaces are considered as a network of intersecting curves as opposed to surface patches. Recreating such curves on a point set, and intersecting them, segments are identified. The entire scan is partitioned into a series of scan planes referred to as profiles. Points are then connected in each profile based on the surface they represent forming line segments. The line segments, which represent curves, are then intersected to identify segments. For pipes, line segments are elliptical. The centre of an ellipse lies on the pipes’ axis and the semi minor axis is equivalent to the radius of the pipe. Therefore together the centres and semi minor axis are used to describe the position, orientation, size and radius of a pipe. For deformed pipes, the line segments deviate from the elliptical shape. By identifying deviations of the line segments from the elliptical shape deformations are identified. The algorithm allows for cylinders, spheres, cones and tori to be detected including deformities in their shape. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the algorithm.
Study of Single-Step SNP BLUP in a Japanese Holstein Population

Single-step SNP BLUP (ssSNP) with a residual polygenic effect is theoretically equivalent to single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP). Our objectives were to implement ssSNP in a Japanese Holstein population and to compare the ssSNP and ssGBLUP. Data from 2,221,477 cows (4,126,586 305-days milk yield records for the first three lactations) were used. There were 9,786 sires with daughters; 4,080 of the sires were genotyped. The dataset also included 1,588 young bulls. 42,275 SNP markers were considered. A repeatability model was used. ssSNP used values of 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, and 0.2 for the residual polygenic variance parameter (k). Pearson correlations between ssSNP and ssGBLUP and regression slopes of ssGBLUP on ssSNP for SNP effects were lower than expected. These results are thought because many small estimates of SNP effects are noisy. Genotyped sires with daughters showed high correlations when k was 0.3 or more. k=0.2 resulted in slightly lower correlations. In the case of young bulls, correlations and regression slopes were lower than those for reference animals. k=0.2 in ssSNP resulted in unexpected estimates of SNP effects and genomic EBV. This result may be due to insufficient number of reference animals.
Civic Engagement Through Critical Action Research: Reflections on Ten Years of Forestaction Nepal Experience

This paper describes a mode of ‘doing civic action’. It is based on the experience of a large NGO in Nepal, ForestAction. It details the method that was developed, termed ‘Critical Action Research’ (CAR). CAR "emphasises learning from practice, collating and communicating critical evidence for transforming policy dialogue while also empowering right holder citizens and their alliances through sharing knowledge counteracting the dominant system". The paper also details the historical and political economic context in which CAR developed, provides examples of how CAR operated at different levels of forest and natural resources governance and outlines the challenges faced by CAR innovators. It suggests ways forward for NGOs wishing to bridge the divide of academic/research, advocacy, and service delivery.
Identifying the Capabilities of Data Mining in Providing the Quality in Technical Education

In the today’s competitive academic environment, due to the increased private participation and urge to meet the growing demand & supply of technical education, most of the Higher Education Private Institutions (HEPI), imparting Technical Education in India are primarily focusing on maximizing the effectiveness of the institutions in terms of quality Education. Quality, in general is crucial for customer satisfaction, accountability, maintaining standards and attracting better stakeholders and finally surviving in cut-throat competition. The one of the ways towards solution, to meet the challenge of providing and improving the quality of education is to facilitate these institutions with new knowledge related to the educational processes and entities for the better decisionmaking. And such knowledge (hidden patterns) can be extracted from historical and operational data residing in the educational organization’s databases using data mining techniques. Data mining techniques are analytical tools that can be used to extract meaningful knowledge from large data sets which could further be useful for the decision making processes. In this paper, an attempt is being made to identify and present the capabilities of data mining in the context of Technical Education.
P53 and HIS-tag Binding

P53 is a globular protein with distinct domains and a key tumor suppressor that functions through transcriptional transactivation, repression and protein-protein interactions. Numerous studies have implicated protein-protein interactions between p53 and a multitude of cellular proteins with a variety of known functions. Because of these interactions, and the many gene expression regulations, a multitude of potential mechanisms and their relationship to tumor suppression have been proposed. It is desirable to test these interactions in an in vitro setting to demonstrate that any identified interaction is direct. Due to the difficulties associated with purifying recombinant full-length p53, many studies have utilized the p53 DNA binding domain to test for direct protein interactions with p53. The DNA binding domain of p53 is structured, folds independently and dictates the stability of the full-length protein. Therefore, it is reasonable to perform in vitro experiments with this isolated domain. However, we demonstrate that if a HIStag is present on the interacting partner when testing for an interaction with p53, this can lead to detection of an artefactual protein-protein interaction raising the possibility of false positive results. Furthermore, the presence of the HIS-tag promotes aggregation and precipitation of the p53 DNA binding domain.
Coupled Hydrogeophysical inversion for soil hydraulic property estimation from time-lapse geophysical data

Accurate estimation of top soil hydraulic properties is important for understanding water flow and solute transport in the vadose zone. Coupled hydrogeophysical inversion schemes that enable the use of multiple geophysical and hydrologic data for the estimation of soil hydraulic properties have recently been proposed. In these coupled inversion schemes, a hydrologic model describing the process under investigation is coupled to a forward geophysical model and hydraulic parameters are directly estimated from geophysical measurements. While these schemes provide a suitable platform for the integration of multiple geophysical and hydrologic data, efficient methods to combine these data types for improved parameter estimation still warrant investigation. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of estimating three topsoil Mualem-van Genuchten parameters (α, n and Ks) from the fusion of inflow and electrical resistance measurements obtained under constant head infiltration. In addition to using only inflow or electrical resistances, we investigated three methods of combing these data for improved estimation of topsoil hydraulic parameters. Our results show that using inflow alone does not provide a unique solution to the inverse problem. Better results are obtained with the additional use of electrical resistances. We show that successful data fusion within the coupled hydrogeophysical inversion framework depends on the choice of an appropriate objective function. We obtained the best data fusion results when an objective function defined as the sum of the root mean square error of both data types normalized by the standard deviation of the respective measurements was used. In this case, the inverted hydraulic parameters were very comparable to reference values obtained from a multi-step outflow experiment carried out with undisturbed soil cores from the experimental site. It is concluded that the coupled hydrogeophysical inversion framework is a promising tool for non-invasive near surface hydrological investigations. Chapter 2. Coupled hydrogeophysical fusion of ERT and inflow data 10 2.
Income Distribution, Poverty Trap and Economic Growth

The post-war growth experiences of developing countries lead to the idea that income equality may accelerate economic growth. In this paper, a theoretical model showed the possibility that equality makes a country human-capital abundant, which enables industrialization and higher economic growth. On the other hand, in unequal developing countries where majority of people manage to survive at minimum consumption level, human capital investment such as schooling cannot be done. Such countries become unskilled labor abundant and suffer further from low economic growth. In addition, the two-good framework showed the possibility that protecting infant industry with dynamic externality enhances economic growth.
Volume effects in the London housing market

Purpose This paper aims to extend existing research in relation to both the importance of volume effects within housing markets and the specific behaviour of the London housing market. A detailed borough-level examination is undertaken of the relationships between volume, house prices and house price volatility. Support for alternative housing market theories, the degree of heterogeneity in house price behaviour across boroughs and the extent to which housing displays differing properties to other financial assets are examined. Design/methodology/approach Correlation analyses, causality testing and volatility modelling are undertaken in extended forms which synthesise and extend approaches within the housing, economics and finance literatures. The various modelling and testing techniques are supplemented via the use of alternative variable transformations to evaluate housing market behaviour in detail. Findings Novel findings are provided concerning both volume effects within housing markets generally and the specific properties of London housing market. Evidence concerning bubbles, the volatility-reducing effects of volume, the importance of geographical and price-related factors underlying the relationship between volume and both house price growth and volatility and the presence of asymmetric adjustment in the London housing market are all provided. The extent and nature of the support available for alternative housing market theories are evaluated. Originality/value The volatility-reducing effects of volume within housing markets, along with volume effects and the presence of asymmetric adjustment within the London housing market are examined for the first time. New empirical evidence on the support for alternative housing market theories and the differing empirical characteristics of housing relative to other financial assets are presented.
Public Management at the Ballot Box: Performance Information and Electoral Support for Incumbent English Local Governments

Publishing performance information about local public services, an increasing trend in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, matters politically because it has an effect on incumbent local governments' electoral support. Voters are able to use performance information to punish or reward incumbents in the elections that follow their publication, which may fill a gap in the chain of accountability between voters and governments. We model the introduction of published Comprehensive Performance Assessments of local authorities in England, which make summary information about performance available to voters, as a shock to the relationship between voters and incumbents. Controlling for an unpublicized measure of performance change over time, change in the local tax level, change in local economic conditions, and whether the local incumbent is the party of the incumbent government at the national level, we find negativity bias. Incumbents in local authorities in the poor performance category experience a substantial reduction in aggregate vote share at the election following publication, but there is no similarly sized reward for those in the highest performance category.
The Patchwork of Knowledge Management A qualitative study on how Knowledge Management is understood in the professional context of Swedish business law firms

This paper investigates how the Knowledge Management (KM) phenomenon is understood in the field of business law firms in Sweden, by focusing on KM professionals and practitioners across hierarchical levels. The study uses a qualitative method and examines how four business law firms as well as one KM consulting firm perceive the management phenomena of KM within their highly institutionalized field. Field material has been collected by conducting 22 interviews with respondents at the five different firms. This paper uses the theoretical framework of institutional theory and institutional logics to analyze the data, and the main findings show that there is one emerging KM logic within the field of business law firms in Sweden. In addition, the study identifies a number of tensions regarding how KM is understood in relation to professionalism and KM practices. Thus, this paper provides new insights in the following three areas; the ambiguity of practices KM accounts for in business law firms, the role of professions in assimilating an emerging management concept such as KM, and the importance of networks and collectivism in imitating processes across institutional levels. The paper may inspire to a continued discussion on KM and its patchwork within professional service firms.
The Impact of Sales Promotion on Brand Equity: The Case of Brewery Industry

The effects of sales promotion on the creation of brand equity; effects of brand equity dimensions on overall brand equity; and the nature of inter-relationship among brand equity dimensions is a new area of research in Ethiopia. By adapting exploratory approach, the study assumed a positive sales promotion-brand equity dimensions-overall brand equity linkage in the Ethiopian beer market. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to verify the conceptual model, that is, the hypothesized linkage. The study is purely quantitative and a cross-sectional descriptive research design was applied. The study confirmed brand equity is a multidimensional concept that consists of brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand associations. Brand loyalty exerts a great influence on the formulation of brand equity and it is a holistic concept. The nature of brand equity dimensions relationship in the Ethiopian brewery industry is a causal order. The study also indicated that sales promotion affecting the formulation of brand equity with different level of intensity. The study further concluded that monetary promotion affecting positively the creation of brand equity by influencing brand awareness, brand associations and perceived quality; and non-monetary sales promotion affecting positively the formulation of brand equity by influencing brand awareness and negatively by affecting perceived quality. Keywords: Brand Equity, Brand Loyalty, Perceived Quality, Brand Associations, Brand Awareness, Sales Promotion, Ethiopia
Bit Rate Tra ffi c Engineering in MPLS Networks with Flow-Based Multipath Routing ∗ ∗

In this paper, we propose a novel traffic engineering architecture for IP networks with MPLS backbones. In this architecture, two link-disjoint label switched paths, namely the primary and secondary paths, are established among every pair of IP routers located at the edges of an MPLS backbone network. As the main building block of this architecture, we propose that primary paths are given higher priority against the secondary paths in the MPLS data plane to cope with the so-called knock-on effect. Inspired by the ABR flow control mechanism in ATM networks, we propose to split traffic between a source-destination pair between the primary and secondary paths using explicit rate feedback from the network. Taking into consideration the performance deteriorating impact of packet reordering in packet-based load balancing schemes, we propose a traffic splitting mechanism that operates on a per-flow basis (i.e., flow-based multipath routing). We show via an extensive simulation study that using flowbased multipath traffic engineering with explicit rate feedback not only provides consistently better throughput than that of a single path but is also void of out-of-order packet delivery. key words: MPLS networks, traffic engineering, multipath routing, available bit rate
ANOTHER NUMERICAL METHOD OF FINDING CRITICAL VALUES FOR THE ANDREWS STABILITY TEST

We propose a method, alternative to that of Estrella (2003, Econometric Theory 19, 1128–1143), of obtaining exact asymptotic p-values and critical values for the popular Andrews (1993, Econometrica 61, 821–856) test for structural stability. The method is based on inverting an integral equation that determines the intensity of crossing a boundary by the asymptotic process underlying the test statistic. Further integration of the crossing intensity yields a p-value. The proposed method can potentially be applied to other stability tests that employ the supremum functional.
Mobile Commerce Adoption in North American Organizations: An Empirical Study of Organizational Factors

In recent years, the shift from 2G/2.5G to 3G or 4G technologies has allowed for higher data transfers. In addition to these advancements, smart phones have opened up new ways to promote products and services. As a result, organizations have invested heavily in mobile shopping channels to disseminate content and promote their goods and services (Liu and Liou, 2011). Mobile commerce (mcommerce) can be viewed as electronic transactions that are conducted through the use of mobile devices such as cellular phones and other mobile devices (Jessup and Valacich, 2007) including tablet PCs. Tiwari and Buse (2007) have defined it as any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobiles’ access to computer-mediated networks with the help of mobile device. Abstract
A new approach to solve non-regular constrained optimization problems. An application to optimal provision of public inputs

This paper describes a new method for solving non-regular constrained optimization problems when standard methodologies do not work properly. Our method (the Rational Iterative Multisection Procedure, RIMP) consists of different stages that can be interpreted as different requirements of precision by obtaining the optimal solution. We have performed an application of RIMP to the case of public inputs provision under two tax settings. We prove that the RIMP and the standard Newton-Raphson (NR) method achieve the same results with regular optimization problems while the RIMP takes advantage over NR when facing non-regular optimization problems.
Higher-order topological insulators protected by inversion and rotoinversion symmetries

We provide the bulk topological invariant for chiral higher-order topological insulators in (i) fourfold rotoinversion invariant bulk crystals, and (ii) inversion-symmetric systems with or without an additional threefold rotation symmetry. These states of matter are characterized by a nontrivial ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ index, which we define in terms of symmetric hybrid Wannier functions of the filled bands, and can be readily calculated from the knowledge of the crystalline symmetry labels of the bulk band structure. The topological invariant determines the generic presence or absence of protected chiral gapless one-dimensional modes localized at the hinges between conventional gapped surfaces.