Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Balassa-Samuelson Effect in Latvia 1 Jelena Popova

This paper investigates the Balassa-Samuelson effect in Latvia. It is based on the Latvia’s quarterly data for the time period from 1995 to 2002 since we eliminate the early years of transition. Using conventional time series econometric technique we find strong empirical evidence in favor of internal transmission mechanism, i.e. productivity growth in the open sector leads to an increase in the relative price of non-tradable goods. The existence of external transmission mechanism is also accepted, since higher than in Germany productivity growth in the Latvia’s open sector brings about higher non-tradables inflation and thus overall inflation reflecting also the appreciation of the CPI-based real exchange rate. The paper also calculates inflation, inflation differential vis-à-vis Germany and real appreciation justified by the Balassa-Samuelson effect. We find that inflation rate in Latvia attributable to the Balassa-Samuelson effect amounts to 0,5-1%, but long term value for inflation in Latvia resulting from productivity gains in the open sector is found to be 1-2%. Accordingly to our estimates the impact of the Balassa-Samuelson effect on inflation differential with respect to Germany is not expected to exceed 1,5% in the following years. Thus an increase in productivity in the open sector is not assumed to hinder Latvia’s ability to fulfill the Maastricht criteria.
The Impact of Leader's Cultural Intelligence on Organizational Commitment

Previous studies have consistently shown that Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is an important skill in today’s organizations. The literature on leadership suggests that CQ has the potential to increase both employee commitment and organizational outcomes. This study is a survey related to leadership style at organizations. The research attempts to investigate how leaders affect staff’s Organizational Commitment (OC). We found that there is a significant relationship between leaders’ CQ who operates with meta-cognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral with OC. Moreover, the quality of leadership within an organization had an effect on the OC.
An Outlyingness Matrix for Multivariate Functional Data Classification

The classification of multivariate functional data is an important task in scientific research. Unlike point-wise data, functional data are usually classified by their shapes rather than by their scales. We define an outlyingness matrix by extending directional outlyingness, an effective measure of the shape variation of curves that combines the direction of outlyingness with conventional depth. We propose two classifiers based on directional outlyingness and the outlyingness matrix, respectively. Our classifiers provide better performance compared with existing depth-based classifiers when applied on both univariate and multivariate functional data from simulation studies. We also test our methods on two data problems: speech recognition and gesture classification, and obtain results that are consistent with the findings from the simulated data.
Parameter uncertainty in forecast recalibration

Ensemble forecasts of weather and climate are subject to systematic biases in the ensemble mean and variance, leading to inaccurate estimates of the forecast mean and variance. To address these biases, ensemble forecasts are post‐processed using statistical recalibration frameworks. These frameworks often specify parametric probability distributions for the verifying observations. A common choice is the normal distribution with mean and variance specified by linear functions of the ensemble mean and variance. The parameters of the recalibration framework are estimated from historical archives of forecasts and verifying observations. Often there are relatively few forecasts and observations available for parameter estimation, and so the fitted parameters are also subject to uncertainty. This artefact is usually ignored. This study reviews analytic results that account for parameter uncertainty in the widely used Model Output Statistics recalibration framework. The predictive bootstrap is used to approximate the parameter uncertainty by resampling in more general frameworks such as non‐homogeneous Gaussian regression. Forecasts on daily, seasonal and annual time‐scales are used to demonstrate that accounting for parameter uncertainty in the recalibrated predictive distributions leads to probability forecasts that are more skilful and reliable than those in which parameter uncertainty is ignored. The improvements are attributed to more reliable tail probabilities of the recalibrated forecast distributions.
The power of corporate branding in enhancing brand loyalty - The case of Mauritius telecom service provider

Purpose: The paper investigates the power of corporate branding in enhancing customer loyalty in the telecommunications sector in Mauritius and explores the influence of perceived brand values, brand associations, brand positioning/image, brand trust and brand presence on loyalty towards the telecom service provider with the aim of identifying possible predictors of loyalty towards the telecom service provider’s customers. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 300 customers were interviewed over a period of 3 weeks using a face to face interview. Findings: The findings indicate that perception of brand trust is a good predictor of loyalty towards a telecom service provider. Key recommendations are discussed Originality/value: To our knowledge, there have not been any studies that have specifically the influence of brand-related factors on loyalty in the telecom industry in Mauritius. This study therefore offers a unique opportunity to assess the power of corporate branding as a predictor of loyalty.
DNA sequence monomorphism of Indian spiny-tailed lizard Saara hardwickii suggests urgent conservation

The present study was carried out from January to June 2016 in Rajasthan that aimed to sequence the 16S rRNA gene of S. hardwickii to trace genetic variation. Non-invasive molecular techniques were used to isolate DNA from fecal matter. The sequences were edited and assembled using SeqMan computer program, aligned with six global sequences following Clustal W algorithm to ascertain single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA v6.0 with 1000 bootstrap replicates. Multiple sequence alignment with global sequences showed single bp changes at four positions in Indian and two global samples. Phylogenetic analysis revealed shared ancestry between Indian and these two global samples with indels at seven bp positions 126-128 (insertion) and 249-252 (deletion), and largely due to the movement of specimens involved in illegal trading. The study though short term, quite promising and revealed monomorphic nature of Indian isolates that suggests urgent conservation of the species in India.
Construction of Multi Viewpoints Database by GA for AR

Recently, as a useful application, the Augmented Reality (AR) has been widely adopted in mobile devices. In order to make the AR working smoothly on a low calculation ability smartphone, the high robustness and low calculation cost method is required. To realize such requirements, the Representative Image (RI) has been proposed. But, it does not guarantee the robustness in every case. In this study, an improved RI method using genetic algorithm is proposed. The numerous simulation result shows the proposed method is more robustness than the traditional one.
Preparation and characterization of expanded graphite/Ag nanoparticle composites for the improvement of thermal diffusion

− Expanded graphite (EG)/Ag nanoparticle composites were synthesized by the chemical reduction of Ag ions, followed by the addition of expanded graphite into an Ag reducing solution. The prepared composites showed uniform dispersion of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of expanded graphite and exhibited relatively higher thermal conductivities than those of pure expanded graphite. In the case of 10% Ag content in the composite, the thermal conductivity in the thickness direction was 78% higher than the pure expanded graphite. We suggest that EG/Ag nanoparticle composites are a strong candidate for advanced heat spreading material.
ASSESSMENTS OF SENTINEL-2 VEGETATION RED-EDGE SPECTRAL BANDS FOR IMPROVING LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION

Abstract. The Multi Spectral Instrument (MSI) onboard Sentinel-2 can record the information in Vegetation Red-Edge (VRE) spectral domains. In this study, the performance of the VRE bands on improving land cover classification was evaluated based on a Sentinel-2A MSI image in East Texas, USA. Two classification scenarios were designed by excluding and including the VRE bands. A Random Forest (RF) classifier was used to generate land cover maps and evaluate the contributions of different spectral bands. The combination of VRE bands increased the overall classification accuracy by 1.40 %, which was statistically significant. Both confusion matrices and land cover maps indicated that the most beneficial increase was from vegetation-related land cover types, especially agriculture. Comparison of the relative importance of each band showed that the most beneficial VRE bands were Band 5 and Band 6. These results demonstrated the value of VRE bands for land cover classification.
SPRINTING CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN'S 100 METER FINALS AT THE IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHOPS DAEGU 2011

This study analyzed the sprinting characteristics of the finalists during the women's 100 m event in the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 in order to provide important information to track and field coaches and athletes. Five high speed cameras (Casio, Japan) with a sampling frequency of 300 Hz were used to calculate the number of steps, step length, and stride frequency of the eight sprinters in the women’s final event. There was a tendency to show a better performance time with a high number of steps (p=0.13) and shorter stride length (p=0.14) among the eight sprinters. Furthermore, stride frequency and performance time were negatively correlated as a higher stride frequency had a positive impact on performance time (p=0.02). Based on the relationship between COM velocity and lower extremity joint angles, the 4 top ranked sprinters showed the different strategies to maintain a high COM velocity during the mid portion of the race.
Cepheids as tracers of star formation in M32 I. Observations and identifications

Cepheid variables can be used for more than just a distance indicator. Since the age can be determined from the period, they can be used to trace the star for- mation history of a galaxy. We have identied 130 new Cepheid variable candidates in M 31, particularly along the spiral arm regions in the north-east of the galaxy. These areas had not been searched for Cepheids in the previous study by Baade and collaborators. The contam- ination of our sample by other types of variables is low (<3%). For V< 21, the completeness is 53%. These Cepheids will be used to explore the star formation his- tory in M 31.
Wideband Direction of Arrival (DOA) Estimation: A Comparative Study of Wideband MUSIC Method, Joint Diagonalization Structure (JDS) Method and Beam-Space Genetic Algorithm (BGA)

In this paper, a comparat ive study of Wideband MUSIC method, Joint Diagonalizat ion Structure (JDS) method and Beam-Space Genetic Algorithm (BGA) is presented with respect to resolution probability and Root mean square error (RMSE) evaluated in both low and high Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) reg ions. The simulat ion results show that BGA has higher resolution probability than the JDS method and Wideband MUSIC method in low SNR region while in the h igh SNR region, Wideband MUSIC has higher resolution probability followed by BGA and JDS method. RMSE is smallest for BGA as compared to JDS and Wideband MUSIC in low SNR region. In the high SNR region, Wideband MUSIC has smallest RMSE followed by BGA and JDS method.
Organizational Characteristics and Employee Overall Satisfaction: A Comparison of State-Owned and Non State- Owned Enterprises in Vietnam

Differences in employee overall job satisfaction between public and private sector organizations have long been a topic of organizational academic debate. This study looks at the differences and the relationships between organizational characteristics and employee overall satisfaction between the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and the Non-State-OwnedEnterprises (Non-SOEs) in Vietnam. The purpose of this study is threefold: 1) to examine the differences in organizational characteristics in 7 components including purposes, structure,leadership, relationships, rewards, helpful mechanisms, and attitude toward change; 2) to examine the differences in employee overall satisfaction; and 3) to explore the relationshipbetween organizational characteristics and employee overall satisfaction between the two sectors. The sample includes 20 SOEs and 20 Non-SOEs with a total of 860 employees. The findings empirically reinforce existing organization behavior literature: employee satisfaction is to some extent shaped by the settings of their organizations. Limitations and future research opportunities are also identified.
RESULT MINING: ANALYSIS OF DATA MINING TECHNIQUES IN EDUCATION

Data mining or Knowledge discovery (KDD) is extracting unknown (hidden) and useful knowledge from data. Data mining is widely used in many areas like retail, sales, e- commerce, remote sensing, bioinformatics etc. Student's performance has become one of the most complex puzzle for universities and colleges in recent past with the tremendous growth. In this paper, authors deployed data mining techniques like classification, association rule, chi-square etc. for knowledge discovery. For this study, authors have used data set containing Approx. 180 MCA (post graduate) students results data of 3 colleges. Study found that one can apply data mining functionalities like Chi-square, Association rule and Lift in Education and discover areas of improvement.
Catching-Up from Way Behind: How Timor-Leste Can Avoid the Dutch Disease?

This paper seeks to analyse the capacity of the newly independent but petroleum rich Timor-Leste to avoid experiencing the “Dutch Disease”. The historical and social circumstances of Timor-Leste has left the resource-rich country with serious challenges to break out from the resource curse with the incidence of poverty rising over the last decade and the social indicators of child mortality rates and life expectancy falling very slowly. The evidence shows that Timor-Leste is facing mounting obstacles as oil and gas, which has contributed little to direct employment, continues to dominate GDP, with cereal yields from the agricultural sector showing a trend fall over the last decade. The paper offers policy recommendations to assist the government in its efforts to bolster the non-petroleum sectors through technological capability building targeted at the productive sectors of agriculture and manufacturing in order to avoid the resource curse.
An interuptible load management method with considering voltage stability in a restructured power system: An OPF approach

A common standpoint shared by nearly all restructured electricity market is designation of a system operator that is responsible for reliable real time control and secure operation of the transmission system. This enables efficient operation of competitive electricity and ancillary services markets. Reactive power and voltage support are among those services should be provided efficiently for preventing occurrence of voltage instability in a power system. Common experiences of power system operation under restructuring environment in different countries, reveal that Independent System Operator (ISO) should pay attention to recognition of power stability margin more precisely than before. In this new era all rivals compete for higher profit margin in trading of electricity as much as possible. This strategy might endanger some parts of power system. Therefore it is vital for ISO to procure different kinds of ancillary services necessary for harness of power system instability. Generally voltage magnitudes at load buses are regulated with injection or absorption of determined amounts of reactive power at voltage control buses where reactive power can be provided by special devices such as generators, fixed capacitors, static VAR compensator and etc. Besides procurement ISO will attempt to use reactive power resources to keep away from voltage instability points such as saddle node Bifurcation (SNB) or Limit Induced Bifurcation (LIB) points as far as possible [1]. Prominent characteristic of reactive power strongly requests that it should be provided locally rather than transferring from long distances. In these areas where reactive power encounters with shortage in resources ISO can take advantage of interruptible loads to overcome the problems. Interruptible loads can be exploited for different purposes, for instance increasing active / reactive power reserves, promoting stability conditions, congestion management and etc in a deregulated power system. The benefits of using interruptible loads are debated in [2–4] with all the specifics. [5] Demonstrates the advantage of interruptible loads to increasing active power reserve while [6] investigates the profits gained at using them for improving of introduced static voltage stability index. In this paper appose to [6] we use voltage stability margin index as a main constraints of an OPF based structure proposed for managing interruptible loads in a restructured power system. Other constraints of this optimisation problem consist of limits pertain to magnitudes of bus voltages, magnitudes of transmission line currents and constraints related to resource's limits. The model is then implemented by introducing a new OPF method through Particle Swarm Optimisation algorithm. Case study on the IEEE 14 bus test system is reported to illustrate the proposed method.
Effects of hypoxia storage on gene transcript accumulation during tomato fruit ripening

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a climacteric fruit, i.e., during ripening an increase in ethylene synthesis and high rate of respiration are observed. Low oxygen levels might inhibit or block ethylene biosynthesis and therefore retard the ripening process. Despite commercial applications of low oxygen treatments, the precise mode of action of low oxygen in fruit tissues and ripening is not well understood. In order to delineate the molecular responses to low oxygen stress in fruits, hypoxia-responsive tomato genes encoding heat shock factors, heat shock proteins, and enzymes involved in fermentation and ethylene synthesis pathways were analyzed. In this study, tomato fruit stored under hypoxia conditions showed that HSP17.7 and HSP21 genes were highly induced by low oxygen level, indicating their primary role in maintaining cellular homeostasis after this stress.
Defining species boundaries in the Merodon avidus complex (Diptera, Syrphidae) using integrative taxonomy, with the description of a new species

Several recent studies have detected and described complexes of cryptic and sibling species in the genus Merodon (Diptera, Syrphidae). One representative of these complexes is the Merodon avidus complex that contains four sibling species, which have proven difficult to distinguish using traditional morphological characters. In the present study, we use two geometric morphometric approaches, as well as molecular characters of the 5’-end of the mtDNA COI gene, to delimit sibling taxa. Analyses based on these data were used to strengthen species boundaries within the complex, and to validate the status of a previously-recognized cryptic taxon from Lesvos Island (Greece), here described as Merodon megavidus Vujic & Radenkovic sp. nov. Geometric morphometric results of both wing and surstylus shape confirm the present classification for three sibling species- M. avidus (Rossi, 1790), M. moenium Wiedemann in Meigen, 1822 and M. ibericus Vujic, 2015-and, importantly, clearly discriminate the newly-described taxon Merodon megavidus sp. nov. In addition to our geometric morphometric results, supporting characters were obtained from molecular analyses of mtDNA COI sequences, which clearly differentiated M. megavidus sp. nov. from the other members of the M. avidus complex. Molecular analyses revealed that the earliest divergence of M. ibericus occurred around 800 ky BP, while the most recent separation happened between M. avidus and M. moenium around 87 ky BP.
Who are the Indian Middle Class? A Mixture Model of Class Membership Based on Durables Ownership1,

The size and consumption habits of the Indian middle class have evoked considerable attention in the recent past. Yet the definition of the middle class has been nebulous at best. Most available estimates have used arbitrary income cutoffs to identify the classes, resulting in a wide range of estimates of the size of the middle class that depend on the researcher’s assumptions about the appropriate cutoffs. I propose the use of a mixture model of class membership to identify and estimate the size of the lower, middle and upper classes in urban India, based on their distinct durables ownership densities. There are no external assumptions about who constitutes the classes, apart from the fact that their durables ownership patterns are different. Estimates using NSS data (55th Round, 1999-00) suggest that the urban middle class in India constitutes approximately 62% of urban households (which implies about 17% of all households) with mean ownership of 3 durable goods (out of 12). I also estimate the probability that each household in the sample belongs to a particular class and based on this information, back out some class-specific socioeconomic characteristics. The estimates suggest a larger urban middle class and lower class-defining income cutoffs than found (or used) in previous studies.
Oligopolistic Competition Among Inequity Averse Firms

This papers studies how competition in oligopolistic markets is affected when firms are averse to inequity in the sense of Fehr and Schmidt (1999). We find that if firms compete in quantities and have similar costs, then inequity aversion between firms gives rise to a continuum of equilibria. The equilibria can be ranked in terms of welfare for firms and for consumers. An increase in compassion between firms moves the set of equilibria closer to the collusive outcome. By contrast, an increase in envy between firms moves the of set of equilibria closer to the perfectly competitive outcome. These results also hold under price competition in differentiated products. However, when firms are Bertrand competitors, inequity aversion between firms either has no impact on the set of equilibria or it can lead firms to charge higher prices. Finally, the paper shows that even when all firms are strictly averse to inequality, the impact of inequity aversion on equilibrium outcomes vanishes with an increase in the number of firms in the market.
Causality Between Exports and Imports of Agricultural Sector in The Case of Pakistan

This article examines the link between agricultural raw material exports and agricultural raw material imports in the developing economy like Pakistan. Using the annual data from 1971–2007, this study finds that agricultural raw material exports and agricultural raw material imports are cointegrated. There is unidirectional causality from agricultural raw material imports to agricultural raw material exports in the long run and no causality in either direction in the short run.