Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can't Buy Me Love: Monetary Versus In-Kind Remedies

The choice of appropriate remedies is a major concern in all legal spheres, yet little has been done to determine which remedies people actually prefer. Scholarly debates on this issue are typically based on theoretical arguments and intuitions rather than experimental or empirical data. It is often assumed that people are indifferent between in-kind and monetary remedies of equal pecuniary value. Consequently, some scholars have argued, for instance, that people ordinarily view a contractual obligation as an option to either perform in-kind or pay expectation damages. This Article challenges the conventional wisdom that monetary remedies are usually a satisfactory substitute for in-kind redress. It presents new experiments that examine the choices laypersons and experienced businesspeople make between remedies and entitlements. The findings establish that members of both groups strongly prefer in-kind entitlements and remedies over monetary ones. For example, they would rather be given the very thing to which they were entitled than receive a monetary substitute, however accurately calculated. It is therefore possible that damages routinely fail to provide adequate compensation, even when they pertain to fungible, easily quantifiable assets. Since promoting individuals’ welfare is a major concern for legal policy-making, ignoring the preference for in-kind redress may lead to both inefficiency and unfairness. The Article offers various normative implications of the experimental findings, through the discussion of such in-kind remedies as specific performance of contractual obligations, injunctions for wrongful interference with property, compensation in development rights for takings of land, and apologies in defamation cases.
Dynamic Factor Model and Artificial Neural Network Models: To Combine Forecasts or Combine Models?

In this chapter, we evaluate the forecasting performance of the model combination and forecast combination of the dynamic factor model (DFM) and the artificial neural networks (ANNs). For the model combination, the factors that are extracted from a large dataset are used as additional input to the ANN model that produces the factor-augmented artificial neural network (FAANN). Linear and nonlinear forecasts combining methods are used to combine the DFM and the ANN forecasts. The results of the best combining method are compared to the forecasts result of the FAANN model. The models are applied to forecast three time series variables using large South African monthly data. The out-of-sample root-mean-square error (RMSE) results show that the FAANN model yields substantial improvement over the individual and best combined forecasts from the DFM and ANN forecasting models and the autoregressive AR benchmark model. Further, the Diebold-Mariano test results also confirm the superiority of the FAANN model forecast ’ s performance over the AR benchmark model and the combined forecasts.
Impact of Aboriginal Belief Systems on Natural Resources Management: Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP)

Limited research exist on the effect of beliefs systems on management of the natural resources especially in Africa. Past decades has experienced efforts made by NGOs, IGOs, Aboriginal people and government to facilitate an effective mechanism to collaboratively manage the forest resources. Nonetheless, a biodiversity hotspot is still being threatened and the collaborative management is ‘pretentious’ in MCNP. This research argues that, unless the complexities and dynamics of the belief and indigenous knowledge are understood and the incorporated into management of natural resources management, collaborative and sustainable management is impractical on MCNP. Sample selection was done using EpiInfo 6.04d ( CDC, 2001 ). We use survey of 238 household randomly selected from 14 of the 41 villages in MCNP (487 questionnaires), focused group discussions, key informant interviews and participant observations were used to collect data. Secondary data was obtained from the Ministry of forestry and Wildlife and also from park management. We find significant evidence (67%) that native beliefs which affect resource management exist in all the four clusters in MCNP. The rural area of Bomboko cluster are more prominent in practicing beliefs 78.3% followed by the Buea cluster with 62.5%. Only 18.5% confirmed that management observed beliefs. A majority of the people (89.5%) perceived that degradation of natural resources is as a result of disregard of native beliefs. Traditional forest conservation was practiced in areas that have traditional beliefs associated with forest resources P<0.001. Spearman’s Rho showed significant relationship between perceived traditional importance of forest and perceived importance of collaborative forest management. Focused group discussions disclosed dissatisfaction in management especially from the hunters and also exposed a momentous decline in the use of the bakweri language which has caused the erosion of culture and indigenous knowledge. We recommend empowerment of local people and integration of cultural beliefs and indigenous knowledge as well as active involvement of the aboriginal people in management and decision making of natural resources in MCNP. Keywords: Cultural beliefs, collaborative management, national parks, indigenous knowledge, natural resources management.
Nanotechnology Applications for Food and Bioprocessing Industries

Nanoscience is an emerging technology today with great application in different fields. Biocatalysts design, identification of different bacterial strains, monitoring the quality of food by different biosensors, food packaging with smart systems, active, intelligent and nano-encapsulation of bioactive food compounds are examples of some of these applications in the food industry. In this paper, some topics related to the potential of nanotechnology in the food industry are updated. In addition, some concerns about nanotechnology application in this popular industry are also discussed.
Isolation and characterization of microsatellite DNA loci from Russell's snapper ( Lutjanus russellii )

A total of 37 microsatellite loci from the Russell’s snapper, Lutjanus russellii , were successfully isolated and characterized. Thirty-four loci were polymorphic in L. russellii samples. Twenty of the 37 markers did not differ significantly from Hardy–Weinberg expected genotype proportions. Significant linkage disequilibrium was detected in one pairwise comparison. The numbers of alleles and observed heterozygosities in polymorphic loci ranged from two to 16 and from 0.41 to 0.95, respectively. These markers will be useful for studying the population genetic structure of this species.
Coupling Device with Resonant Cavities Based on Periodic Dielectric Waveguides

In this paper, we propose a coupling device based on periodic dielectric waveguide. In order to reduce the device size, two resonant cavities are added so that the light can be coupled between two periodic dielectric waveguides. Plane wave expansion method and two dimension finite difference time domain methods are used to analyze this device. The coupled transmission ratio of this device at the wavelength of 1550 nm is above 94%.
Existence of positive solution to a class of boundary value problems of fractional differential equations

This paper is devoted to the study of establishing sufficient conditions for existence and uniqueness of positive solution to a class of non-linear problems of fractional dif- ferential equations. The boundary conditions involved Riemann-Liouville fractional order derivative and integral. Further, the non-linear function f contain fractional order derivative which produce extra complexity. Thank to classical fixed point the- orems of nonlinear alternative of Leray-Schauder and Banach Contraction principle, sufficient conditions are developed under which the proposed problem has at least one solution. An example has been provided to illustrate the main results.
Population Structure of Pantropical Spotted Dolphins Near the Main Hawaiian Islands: Evidence of Multiple Genetic Stocks for Management

Understanding gene flow, diversity, and dispersal patterns is important for predicting effects of natural events and anthropogenic activities on dolphin populations. With the very recent exception of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens), Hawaiian odontocete species are managed as single stocks within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Overall, recent studies have indicated that some species show fidelity to individual islands, resulting in genetic differentiation, often with management implications. Our study focused on pantropical spotted dolphins, which are an important part of the Hawaiian ecosystem, involved in interactions with fisheries, and increasingly the target of ecotourism activities. Because of the level of human interaction, pantropical spotted dolphin stocks need to be defined accurately to be managed in a way that will avoid local population losses, especially given that the commercial and recreational troll fisheries near the islands “fish on dolphins” to catch tuna. We analyzed genetic samples for mtDNA and microsatellite loci from four island regions: Hawai‘i, 4-islands area, O‘ahu, and Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau. Our results support genetic differentiation among the regions and suggest that pantropical spotted dolphins near Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau are likely transient or in very low numbers. We suggest that the level of differentiation is enough to consider designating pantropical spotted dolphins in these regions as separate stocks. There was no strong evidence to support sex-biased dispersal. Possibly, differentiation is mediated by behavior adapted to differing habitat types.
The informational value of sovereign credit ratings

Diese Arbeit untersucht den Einfluss von Ratinganderungen durch Moody's Investor Service auf langfristige, europaische Staatsanleihen. Zunachst werden Ratingagenturen und deren Entwicklung analysiert. Um ihre Rolle in modernen Finanzmarkten zu verstehen, mussen die besonderen Markt- und Wettbewerbsgegebenheiten hervorgehoben werden. Danach wird ein moglicher Einfluss anhand wissenschaftlicher Literatur evaluiert. Als Grundlage fur die Identifikation von moglichen Machtquellen dienen die Markteffizienztheorie sowie der Aspekt des Reputationskapitals. Danach wird eine Eventanalyse uber einen Zeitraum von 2001 bis 2012 fur die 27 Mitgliedsstaaten der Europaischen Union durchgefuhrt. Die Struktur dieses Verfahrens erlaubt die Identifikation von anormalen Reaktionen der Zinssatze, verursacht durch Ratinganderungen. Zusatzlich wurde die Rolle von CDS-Papieren durch Granger-Kausalitatstest uberpruft. Anschliesend werden mogliche Masnahmen seitens europaischer Institutionen gegen den Einfluss der Ratingagenturen analysiert. Die Resultate zeigen einen starken Einfluss von Ratingagenturen, und lassen darauf schliesen, dass die Grundung einer europaischen Ratingagenturen diesen Effekt nicht verhindern konnen wird.
Laser bidezko ablazioaren egungo egoera eta aplikazioak ( State-ofthe-Art of laser ablation and its applications )

Since the early 80s, laser-ablation inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) has been widely explored and nowadays is considered to be one of the most versatile analytical techniques for the direct trace elemental and isotopic analyses of solid samples. The most remarkable features are ease of use, fast sample throughput, limited sample damages, high sensitivity and wide dynamic range which allows the simultaneous acquisition of major and trace elements, as well as the measEKAIA 31.indd 45 13/1/17 13:09:30 46 EKAIA, 31 (2017) N. Grijalba, F. Claverie, A. Donard , H. Tabouret, C. Pecheyran, N. Unceta, M.aA. Goicolea, R.J. Barrio urement of isotope ratios. Throughout this manuscript, the principles and general setup of LA-ICPMS will be extensively explained and the performance of femtosecondLA in comparison to nanosecond-LA discussed. In order to show the state of the art in this field a variety of examples for elemental analysis of solid samples in biological/environmental science, geochemistry and forensic science applications will be presented.
INDOOR MESH CLASSIFICATION FOR BIM

Abstract. This work addresses the automatic reconstruction of objects useful for BIM, like walls, floors and ceilings, from meshed and textured mapped 3D point clouds of indoor scenes. For this reason, we focus on the semantic segmentation of 3D indoor meshes as the initial step for the automatic generation of BIM models. Our investigations are based on the benchmark dataset ScanNet, which aims at the interpretation of 3D indoor scenes. For this purpose it provides 3D meshed representations as collected from low cost range cameras. In our opinion such RGB-D data has a great potential for the automated reconstruction of BIM objects.
Resident-City Identification: Translating the Customer Relationship Management Approach into Place Marketing Theory

The aim of this paper is to determine why and under which condition residents enter into a strong and committed relationship with their place of living. We will present a model which outlines how cities could strengthen the resident-city identification by increasing the perceived place complexity. The model translates the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) approach of the general field of marketing (Customer-Company Identification) to the field of place marketing and combines it with theory development in Social Identity Theory and Theory of Organizational Identification. We hypothesize that a strong residents-city identification results from identity fit between the city prototype and the self-concept of the resident. The proposed model outlines the important role of the perceived place complexity as moderating variable. We propose that higher perceived complexity of a city allows for higher perceived fit between the self and the city, higher optimal distinctiveness, and higher perceived attractiveness of identification with the city. The question of how to increase identification with a place is crucial for place marketing and urban governance. Based on a review of existing research in social science we will outline the positive effects of identification on commitment, resilience towards negative information, selective information seeking and satisfaction. Practical implications for place marketers and potential for future empirical research are discussed.
Design and Fabrication of an Electrostatic Variable Gap Comb Drive in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems

Polynomial driving-force comb drives are synthesized using numerical simulation. The electrode shapes are obtained using the indirect boundary element method. Variable gap comb drives that produce combinations of linear, quadratic, and cubic driving-force profiles are synthesized. This inverse problem is solved by an optimization procedure. Sensitivity analysis is carried out by the direct differentiation approach (DDA) in order to compute design sensitivity coefficients (DSCs) of force profiles with respect to parameters that define the shapes of the fingers of a comb drive. The DSCs are then used to drive iterative optimization procedures. Designs of variable gap comb drives with linear, quadratic and cubic driving force profiles are presented in this paper. Based on these designs, a comb drive which produces cubic polynomial driving force has been fabricated using the SCREAM I process.
Incorporating Liquidity Risk in Value-at-Risk Based on Liquidity Adjusted Returns ∗

In this paper, based on Acharya and Pedersen’s [Journal of Financial Economics (2006)] overlapping generation model, we show that liquidity risk could influence the market risk forecasting through at least two ways. Then we argue that traditional liquidity adjusted VaR measure, the simply adding of the two risk measure, would underestimate the risk. Hence another approach, by modeling the liquidity adjusted returns (LAr) directly, was employed to incorporate liquidity risk in VaR measure in this study. Under such an approach, China’s stock market is specifically studied. We estimate the one-day-ahead “standard” VaR and liquidity adjusted VaR by forming a skewed Student’s t AR-GJR model to capture the asymmetric effect, non-normality and excess skewness of return, illiquidity and LAr. The empirical results support our theoretical arguments very well. We find that for the most illiquidity portfolio, liquidity risk represents more than 22% of total risk. We also find that simply adding of the two risk measure would underestimate the risk. The accuracy testing show that our approach is more accurate than the method of simply adding. JEL Classification Codes: G11; G12; G18
Revisiting the Decline in the Exchange Rate Pass-Through: Further Evidence from Japan's Import Prices

Many empirical studies show common empirical findings that the exchange rate pass-through to import prices in advanced countries declined in the 1990s. Some of those studies, however, draw contrasting conclusions regarding the factors behind the decline. Campa and Goldberg (2002) point out that it comes mainly from the decrease in the import share of primary commodities, such as raw materials and fuels, while Otani, Shiratsuka, and Shirota (2003) make the case that it is mostly attributable to the decline in the exchange rate pass-through in each product category. In this paper, we empirically reexamine the validity of the contrasting hypotheses. Our empirical results demonstrate that the decline in the exchange rate pass-through to Japan's import prices excluding primary commodities is largely attributable to the decreases in the exchange rate pass-through in each product. Our empirical results also suggest the possibility that the declines in the long-term exchange rate pass-through to overall import prices are induced partly by the reduction in the import share of primary commodities. The second point, however, should be taken cautiously, because the precision of the estimates is not high enough to draw a definite conclusion.
Tertiary Level Students and the Mental Health Index (MHI-5) in Ireland

An examination of student mental health was conducted using the five item Mental Health Index (MHI), a subscale of the widely used SF-36 (Short Form Health Survey). Results support the use of the MHI, which was found to be to be a valid and reliable measure of mental health in Irish third-level students. As anticipated, females reported significantly higher levels of symptoms than males on the MHI. It was also noted that final year students report significantly worse mental health than other students. Comparison with a general population mean for a corresponding age group indicate significantly lower mental health status being recorded by the students in this study. Suggestions for further research are made.
Rectifying full-counting statistics in a spin Seebeck engine

We investigate the rectification and negative differential effects of full-counting statistics of conjugate thermal spin transport in a spin Seebeck engine. The engine is made by an electron/magnon interface diode driven by a temperature bias, of which the scaled cumulant generating function is formulated in the framework of nonequilibrium Green's function. The strongly fluctuating interfacial electron density of states induced by quantum dot is responsible for these intriguing properties. This work is relevant for designing efficient spin caloritronic engine and can broaden our view in nonequilibrium thermodynamics and the nonlinear phenomenon in quantum transport system.
Establishment and growth of mycorrhizal and rhizobium inoculated high-elevation native legumes on an unamended coal mine spobl dump in Southeastern British Columbia

Inoculation with mycorrhizae, Rhizobium or a combination of mycorrhizae and Rhizobium resulted in greater mean plant diameters, mean plant heights, mean numbers of leaves per plant and mean percentage flowering than the uninoculated control plants. Measured plant parameters for the single inoculation treatments, i.e., mycorrhizal or Rhizobium, were greater than the control, but the greatest increases were recorded for the combination inoculation treatment. The greatest differences in the measured parameters were recorded for silky locoweed (Oxytropis sericea Nutt.) although differences were also large for Bourgeau's milk-vetch (Astragalus bourgovii A. Gray), Robin's milk-vetch (Astragalus robbinsii [Oakes] A. Gray) and bent-flowered milk-vetch (Astragalus vexilliflexus var. nubilus Barneby).
Photosynthetic pigment content alterations in Arachis hypogaea L. in relation to varied irrigation levels with growth hormone and triazoles

Field experiments were conducted to identify the variation of photosynthetic pigment contents in peanut under drought stress, paclobutrazol (PBZ) and abscisic acid (ABA) and their combination. The pigment contents of the groundnut leaves increased with age in control and treatments. Drought stress decreased the chlorophyll, carotenoid, xanthophyll and anthocyanin contents. PBZ and ABA to the drought stressed plants increased the chlorophyll, carotenoid, xanthophyll and anthocyanin contents when compared to stressed and unstressed plants.
Soil buried mild steel corrosion by Bacillus cereus-SNB4 and its inhibition by Bacillus thuringiensis-SN8.

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of mild steel coupons (MSCs) under field simulated soil buried conditions was analysed up to exposure of 150 days. Water and nutrient broth impregnated soil buried MSCs were exposed to highly corrosive Bacillus cereus-SNB4, its non-corrosive antagonist Bacillus thuringiensis- SN8 and their co-culture. After 50 days, MIC rates of MSCs treated with B. cereus-SNB4 turned out to be 16.96 and 2.71 mg.dm -2 . d -1 for wet and nutrient broth impregnated soils, respectively. After 100 days the corresponding values were 41.01 and 9.26 mg.dm -2 . d -1 , respectively. At the last observational point average percent weight losses due to MIC of the coupons exposed to the B. cereus-SNB4 in wet and nutrient broth impregnated soils, were 32.89% and 1.83%, respectively. The reductions in MSCs weights following exposure to B. thuringiensis-SN8 and the co-culture were found even lesser than those of the control coupons throughout the study period. MIC inhibitory rather protective role of the bacterial antagonist is suggestive of secretion and involvement of some exoproduct(s) which made the MSCs resistant to the bacterially accelerated corrosion.
FIREFLY ALGORITHM BASED MAMMOGRAPHIC IMAGE ANALYSIS

Mammography images are used to detect tumor formation within breast tissues. It works as a monitoring stage where a medical practitioner judges that the probability of cancer. Several image processing techniques in conjunction with various algorithms shows ways to enhance and detect large tissue lumps. But the domain of new nature inspired metaheuristic algorithms remains untouched. Generally these algorithm are meant to solve optimization problems but this study attempts to involve one of the algorithms which is known as Firefly algorithm, to enhance the quality of mammographic image by enhancing the edge details and contrast. As this shown, next the enhanced result is segmented using self organizing map (SOM) to properly visualize the large tissue lump formation within breast, which is then clustered using K-means algorithm. The results of enhancement also shown via pick signal to noise ratio and histogram difference. Whereas segmentation results are presented for visual analysis only, because of the reason that mammographic images needs to be analyzed by medical practitioners as appears on screen.