Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identifying local housing markets through revealed preference

ABSTRACT A new empirical approach to identify local housing markets (LHM’s) is proposed, which focuses on the spatial correlation between local house price indices constructed from repeat sales data. It extends the work of Pryce who claimed that if housing in different locations are perfect substitutes, their house price indices should be perfectly correlated over time. Pryce’s work represents a paradigmatic change in identifying local housing markets using revealed preferences rather than hedonic pricing. It requires spatial panel data for house prices which we construct using repeated sales data to generate house price indices for Tel Aviv (1998–2014) for over 100 census tracts. These price indices are used to define LHMs. The number of LHMs varies inversely with the degree to which house prices in locations belonging to the same LHM, are expected to be correlated. It also varies directly with the order of contiguity of these locations. Results point to considerable spatial heterogeneity in house price movement. This belies the popular impression that the Tel Aviv housing market is relatively homogeneous, characterised by expensive housing and uniform house price movements.
Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: Challenges Faced by Social Workers in Child Protection Organisations

Social workers employed in Child Protection Organisations (CPOs) are frequently confronted with child sexual abuse cases. This paper aims to determine the challenges faced by social workers employed by CPOs when dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse. A qualitative study was done using focus group discussions with 71 social workers as participants. The social developmental welfare approach and legislative mandates were used to analyse the research problem of challenges that social workers experience when dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse allegations. The findings indicate that existing South African policies, conventions and legislation do not always complement each other, but rather create challenges and uncertainties amongst social workers in this field. This, together with insufficient resources for service delivery, often leads to re-victimisation of the child who has been sexually abused. This paper concludes with recommendations based on the social developmental principles that suggest integrated and collaborative partnerships to ensure effective responses to child sexual abuse cases. Secondly, it urges universities to relook their curricula to ensure sufficient training for undergraduate social worker students takes place to deal with sexual abuse allegations.
Astro2020 APC White Paper LiteBIRD: an all-sky cosmic microwave background probe of inﬂation

polarized ﬂuctuations in background the signature of gravitational waves inﬂation, a on the Universe a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. measurements from the largest angular scales and the full frequency range to constrain Galactic foregrounds, L ite bird best advantage of the unique window of space. L ite bird will have a powerful to separate Galactic foreground emission from the CMB to its 15 frequency bands spaced between 40 and 402 GHz and sensitive 100-mK bolometers. ite stringent control of systematic errors due to the benign thermal environment at the second Lagrange point, L2, 20-K rapidly rotating half-wave plates on each telescope, the ability to crosscheck its results by measuring both the reionization and recombination peaks in the B -mode power spectrum. ite step space COBE and each
Statistical power curve modeling to estimate wind turbine power output

In the wind industry, the power curve serves as a performance index of the wind turbine. The machine-specific power curves are not sufficient to measure the performance of wind turbines in different environmental and geographical conditions. The aim is to develop a site-specific power curve of the wind turbine to estimate its output power. In this article, statistical methods based on empirical power curves are implemented using various techniques such as polynomial regression, splines regression, and smoothing splines regression. In the case of splines regression, instead of randomly selecting knots, the optimal number of knots and their positions are identified using three approaches: particle swarm optimization, half-split, and clustering. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory datasets have been used to develop the models. Imperial investigations show that knot-selection strategies improve the performance of splines regression. However, the smoothing splines-based power curve model estimates more accurately compared with all others.
Investigation of electrophysical and thermophysical characteristics of a low frequency nitrogen inductive discharge

A low-frequency (100 kHz) ferromagnetic enhanced nitrogen inductive discharge has been experimentally investigated in the nitrogen pressure range of 5–55 Pa and discharge current density of 20–80 mA/cm2. Dependence of the discharge electric field strength E on the gas pressure was measured for various discharge currents. Dependence of the neutral gas temperature on the gas pressure and discharge current was determined using optical emission spectroscopy, from the measured 0–0 vibro-rotational band of the second positive system of molecular nitrogen (C3Πu–B3Πg). Based on the determined neutral gas temperatures, values of the reduced electric field strength E/N were calculated.
NEW MEDIA AND DIGITAL SURVEILLANCE REFLECTIONS

The self-renewing structure of the technology has enabled various transformations to change the existing order. This new technological structure, based on the digitalization of the individual and the society has created differences in the structure. A number of new surveillance practices have emerged in order to provide control in the digital society and to prevent possible problems. In the light of literature review, the results of the digital developments as a result of the rapid changes in human life are examined. In the study, a group of 10 subjects, aged between 18 and 23 years, focused on a group of seven subjects prepared with the data obtained from literature reviews. The questions asked in focus group work have been prepared by compiling the data on new media applications in social, economic and state dimensions. According to the results of the analysis obtained with the data obtained from the study, it was recorded that the focus group participants expressed their beliefs about the state, the economic and the social dimension of the surveillance and that even the developments were facilitated. In this context, it is seen that the criticism of the new media technologies and the new media users' satisfaction with the concept of oversight have an inverse proportion.
Resilient User-Side Android Application Repackaging and Tampering Detection Using Cryptographically Obfuscated Logic Bombs

Application repackaging is a severe threat to Android users and the market. Not only does it infringe on intellectual property, but it is also one of the most common ways of propagating mobile malware. Existing countermeasures mostly detect repackaging based on app similarity measurement, which tends to be imprecise when obfuscations are applied to repackaged apps. Moreover, they rely on a central party, typically the hosting app store, to perform the detection, but many app stores fail to commit proper effort to piracy detection. We consider building the application repackaging detection capability into apps, such that user devices are made use to detect repackaging in a decentralized fashion. The main challenge is how to protect the detection code from being manipulated by attacks. We propose a creative use of logic bombs, which are otherwise regularly used in malware. The trigger conditions of bombs are constructed to exploit the differences between the attacker and users, such that a bomb that lies dormant on the attacker side will be activated on the user side. The detection code, which is part of the bomb payload, is executed only if the bomb is activated. We introduce cryptographically obfuscated logic bomb to enhance the bomb: (1) the detection code is woven into the neighboring original app code, (2) the mixed code gets encrypted using a key, and (3) the key is deleted from the app and can only be derived when the bomb is activated. Thus, attacks that try to modify or delete the detection code will corrupt the app itself, and searching the key in the application will be in vain. Moreover, we propose a bomb spraying technique that allows many bombs to be injected into an app, multiplying the needed adversary effort for bypassing the detection. In addition to repackaging detection, we present application tampering detection to fight attacks that insert malicious code into repackaged apps. We have implemented a prototype, named BombDroid, that builds repackaging and tampering detection into apps through bytecode instrumentation. The evaluation and the security analysis show that the technique is effective, efficient, and resilient to various bomb analysis techniques including fuzzing, symbolic execution, multi-path exploration, and program slicing. Ethical issues due to the use of logic bombs are also discussed.
Bank Dividend Policy and Degree of Total Leverage

We provide one of the first investigation on the impact of the degree of total leverage to the dividend policy of bank. We use a large sample of US bank holding companies from 2000:Q1 to 2017:Q4 to shed light our research question. Our empirical analysis provides consistent evidence that banks with high degree of total leverage (i.e. banks with a relatively high fixed-to-variables costs) are less likely to pay dividends, and they spend a lower fraction of incomes to pay back shareholders, suggesting a higher conservatism in dividend policy of banks subject to high degree of total leverage. The evidence remains unchanged with alternative econometric approaches, alternative measures of dividend policy and degree of total leverage. We further document that this higher conservatism is strengthened for a sample of banks with low franchise value during the financial crises. Our result suggests that the conservatism in dividend policy of banks with high degree of total leverage seems to be related to the precautionary motives aimed at preserving corporate resources under financial distress. Our study contributes to the literature of cost structure and dividend policy by pointing out that the impacts of the degree of fixed-to-variable expenses to dividend policy are extended to the case of banks.
Impact of Direct Tax and Indirect Tax on Economic Growth in Vietnam

Tax can be categorised into direct tax and indirect tax. This paper uses the ordinary least-squares regression method to study the impact of direct and indirect tax on economic growth in Vietnam in the period 2003-2017. Statistical data is collected from the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam. Theoretically, tax generates the state budget revenue and is a tool to regulate the economy. The results of statistical tests show that tax has a positive impact on Vietnam's economic growth. However, the effects of direct tax and indirect tax are different. The indirect tax has a positive influence and promote Vietnam's economic growth, while the impact of the direct tax is invisible. There has not been sufficient evidence to confirm that the indirect tax has a more positive impact than the direct tax. To promote economic growth, Vietnam needs to restructure its tax system towards: (1) Increasing the proportion of indirect tax, reducing the proportion of direct tax in the state budget revenue; (2) Expanding tax bases; (3) Reducing tax rates of corporate income tax and personal income tax; (4) Increasing tax rates of environmental protection tax, natural resources tax, value added tax and excise tax on some types of goods which harm health and environment.
Universal Dependencies 2.5 Models for UDPipe (2019-12-06)

Tokenizer, POS Tagger, Lemmatizer and Parser models for 94 treebanks of 61 languages of Universal Depenencies 2.5 Treebanks, created solely using UD 2.5 data (http://hdl.handle.net/11234/1-3105). The model documentation including performance can be found at http://ufal.mff. cuni.cz/udpipe/models#universal_dependencies_25_models . To use these models, you need UDPipe binary version at least 1.2, which you can download from http://ufal.mff. cuni.cz/udpipe . In addition to models itself, all additional data and value of hyperparameters used for training are available in the second archive, allowing reproducible training.
Characterization of the complete plastome sequence of Torreya grandis var. jiulongshanensis (Taxaceae), a rare and endangered plant species endemic to Zhejiang province, China

Abstract Torreya grandis var. jiulongshanensis (Taxaceae) is an evergreen tree endemic to Zhejiang province, China, and it is listed as a rare plant species with extremely small populations. In our present study, we assembled the chloroplast (CP) genome of T. grandis var. jiulongshanensis using high-throughput sequencing data generated by an Illumina Hiseq X Ten platform. The results indicate that the complete CP genome is 136,705 bp in size with an overall guanine and cytosine content of 35.5%. The plastome has lost its quadripartite structure. In the CP genome, there are a total of 119 genes, including 82 protein-coding genes, 4 ribosomal RNA genes, and 33 transfer RNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that T. grandis var. jiulongshanensis is a sister species to T. grandis.
Oral Microbiome Response to Powered vs Manual Toothbrush: Protocol for a Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis

Background: Subclinical changes in response to different types of toothbrushes represent a challenging knowledge gap in the context of self-administered oral hygiene regimes; therefore, this systematic review will be the first to evaluate the oral microbiome response to powered versus manual toothbrushes.Methods: We will conduct a systematic review using the Cochrane Handbook’s guidelines and will adhere to a standardized reporting format: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). A comprehensive search strategy will be conducted in the following databases for published studies: Ovid MEDLINE(R), EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest Central, ProQuest Dissertations Theses Global, Bibliographia Medica Cechoslovaca, and Dentistry Oral Sciences Source. Following a two-level screening process, data including the full reference, objectives, target population, description of the intervention and control intervention, outcome measures, design, length of the post-intervention follow-up period, and the study results will be extracted, synthesized, and reported. Risk of bias and quality of the studies will also be assessed.Discussion: No primary data collection will be undertaken; therefore, no formal ethical assessment is required. The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.Registration: The protocol has been registered with the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42020153557) since April 28th, 2020.
“Beyond Personal Beliefs”

Using a qualitative method, our study aims to explore, identify, and describe Italian health care providers’ reflections on the contraceptive behaviors of adolescents attending family health centers, and health care providers’ self-perception of their own job attitudes toward these adolescent patients. Semi-structured interviews with 46 Italian health care providers were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis. Two main themes emerged from the thematic data analysis regarding Italian health care providers’ self-perceptions and reflections. The first main theme was labeled “adolescents’ contraceptive behavior” and included two subthemes: “adolescents are confused and unprepared” and “contraception is a girls’ responsibility. ” The second theme was labeled “job attitudes with adolescents,” and included three subthemes: “to inform and to educate,” “to build trustful relationships,” and “to go beyond personal beliefs. ” The findings of this study showed that Italian health care providers perceive themselves as nonjudgmental and they interpret their own behavior as an attempt to answer adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs in an open-minded way. Their work with adolescent patients with relation to contraceptive behaviors is led by the desire to educate through building a significant and long-term relationship that could sustain these patients.
Interfacial instability at a heavy/light interface induced by rarefaction waves

The interaction of rarefaction waves and a heavy/light interface is investigated using numerical simulations by solving the compressible Euler equations. An upwind space–time conservation element and solution element (CE/SE) scheme with second-order accuracy in both space and time is adopted. Rarefaction waves are generated by simulating the shock-tube problem. In this work, the SF6/air interface evolution under different conditions is considered. First, the gas physical parameters before and after the rarefaction waves impact the interface are calculated using one-dimensional gas dynamics theory. Then, the interaction between the rarefaction waves and a single-mode perturbation interface is investigated, and both the interface evolution and the wave patterns are obtained. Afterwards, the amplitude growth of the interface over time is compared between cases, considering the effects of the interaction period and the strength of the rarefaction waves. During the interaction of the rarefaction waves with the interface, the Rayleigh–Taylor instability induced by the rarefaction waves is well predicted by modifying the nonlinear model proposed by Zhang & Guo (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 786, 2016, pp. 47–61), considering the variable acceleration. After the rarefaction waves leave the interface, the equivalent Richtmyer–Meshkov instability is well depicted by the nonlinear model proposed by Zhang et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 121(17), 2018, 174502), considering the growth rate transition from Rayleigh–Taylor instability to Richtmyer–Meshkov instability. The differences in the heavy/light interface amplitude growth under the rarefaction wave condition and the shock wave condition are compared. The interface perturbation is shown to be more unstable under rarefaction waves than under a shock wave.
Risk On-Risk Off: A Regime Switching Model for Active Portfolio Management

Unlike passive management, where investors almost do not buy and sell securities, active management involves a set of trading rules that govern investment decisions regarding mainly market timing. In this paper, we take the basics of active management and the two fund separation approach, to exploit the fact that an investor can switch between the market portfolio and the risk free asset according to the perceived state of the nature. Our purpose is to evaluate if there is an active management premium by testing performance with our own non-conventional multifactor model, constructed with a Hidden Markov Model which depending on the market states signaled by the level of volatility spread. We have documented that effectively, there is present a premium for actively manage the strategies, giving evidence against the idea that “active managers” destroy capital. We then propose the volatility spread as the active management factor into the Carhart´s model used to evaluate trading strategies with respect to a benchmark portfolio.
Nematode communities, plant nutrient economy and life‐cycle characteristics jointly determine plant monoculture performance over 12 years

Knowledge from agriculture and ecological field studies suggests that plant monocultures lose productivity over time, but the drivers underlying the long‐term performance of monocultures of grassland species are not completely understood. We examined the performance of 60 grassland species growing in monoculture for 12 years in a biodiversity experiment (Jena Experiment) and studied three groups of biotic drivers potentially affecting plant performance in monocultures over time: 1) soil biota (nematode communities, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi), 2) leaf traits related to leaf economics spectrum, and 3) plant life‐cycle characteristics related to buffered population growth (viable seeds in topsoil, seedling density, seed survival). Monocultures of 15 out of 60 species increased productivity, while monocultures of the remaining 45 species showed slight to strong losses of productivity over time, resulting in zero biomass in 15 species. All three biotic drivers were related to the varying long‐term performance of monocultures. Their combined influence on monoculture performance could be interpreted as a tradeoff between ‘fast’ versus ‘slow’ life strategies. ‘Fast’ species showed rapid resource use and little buffering of population growth through a viable seed bank, which led to high biomass production in young monocultures but a consecutive loss of biomass production over time. ‘Slow’ species were characterized by positive nematode effects (high abundance of predatory nematodes), conservative use of resources, and a viable seed bank with high recruitment success resulting in gradually increasing productivity over time. In summary, our study highlights the importance of studying long‐term field monocultures to investigate the complex role of different biotic drivers responsible for productivity changes over time. These insights provide an essential baseline for estimating biodiversity effects on productivity as well as to understand and predict long‐term performance of plant populations.
Comparative study of macroscopic traffic flow models at road junctions

We qualitatively compare the solutions of a multilane model with those produced by the classical Lighthill-Whitham-Richards equation with suitable coupling conditions at simple road junctions. The numerical simulations are based on the Godunov and upwind schemes. Several tests illustrate the models' behaviour in different realistic situations.