Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Required Data Span to Detect Sea Level Rise

Altimetric measurements indicate that the global sea level rises about 3 mm/year, however, in various papers different data spans are adopted to estimate this value. The minimum time span of TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) and Jason-1 (J-1) global sea level anomalies (SLA) data required to detect a statistically significant trend in sea level change was estimated. Seeking the trend in the global SLA data was performed by means of the Cox-Stuart statistical test. This test was supported by the stepwise procedure to make the results independent of the starting data epoch. The probabilities of detecting a statistically significant trend within SLA data were computed in the relation with data spans and significance levels of the abovementioned test. It is shown that for the standard significance level of 0.05 approximately 5.5 years of the SLA data are required to detect a trend with the probability close to 1. If the seasonal oscillations are removed from the combined T/P and J-1 SLA data, 4.3 years are required to detect a statistically significant trend with a probability close to 1. The estimated minimum time spans required to detect a trend in sea level rise are addressed to the problem of SLA data predictions. In what follows, the above-mentioned estimate is assumed to be minimum data span to compute the representative sample of SLA data predictions. The forecasts of global mean SLA data are shown and their mean prediction errors are discussed. trend itself but, in turn, to estimate the data span which is required to detect a statistically significant trend. The practical usage of such estimates follows from the SLA prediction studies. In what follows, in order to construct the representative sample of SLA forecasts, one needs to fix arbitrarily the first starting prediction epoch. If one knows the minimum time span of the SLA data to detect a statistically significant trend in them (which is the main and the most straightforward component for extrapolation), it is assumed to be the first starting prediction epoch. The method for seeking the above-mentioned estimates was proposed by Niedzielski & Kosek (2006) and presented first at the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna in April 2006. The results gained using this simulationbased statistical technique (Niedzielski & Kosek, submitted) are applied in this article to support the evaluation of the prediction results obtained by different forecasting techniques. Thus, this paper aims to combine the SLA predictions with the detailed analysis of the rate of sea level rise.
Designing global leadership development programmes that promote social capital and knowledge sharing

This paper explores the role of Global Leadership Development (GLD) programmes for developing the social capital of multinational enterprises and ultimately the enhancement of knowledge sharing across corporate divisions and national borders. Drawing on both qualitative interview and survey data, we find that GLD programmes can promote cross-border knowledge sharing. However, the effects of such programmes depend on their design. We identify two factors crucial for social capital development and knowledge sharing: first, a selection issue related to participants' previous experience with leadership programmes and, secondly, a process issue which concerns the quality of the social interaction in the group work.
Corporate Governance and Market Value: Evidence from Turkish Banks

Corporate governance is one of the most talked-about topics in business and academic world, and has received considerable attention especially after corporate scandals and crises. Numerous studies have examined the relation between corporate governance practices and firm performance, but mostly in developed markets. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the relation between corporate governance and firm value in an emerging market and assess the corporate governance practices of listed banks in Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE). Using main measures used in other studies such as ownership, board structure and disclosure practices as corporate governance indicators and ROA and share price for performance, the regression showed that banks with lower governance ratings deliver higher share value due to their higher risk, while banks with higher governance ratings generate lower share value because of their lower risk. The result suggests that stock prices fairly reflect the higher risk of poorly governed firms and lower risk of well-governed firms.
Master Thesis Detection of emotions in event related potentials

This thesis explores measuring emotions using event-related potentials (ERP) and extends the idea to measure beer drinkability. The first part explains the background for the experiment electroencephalography (EEG), eventrelated potentials (ERP), emotions, and summaries the similar experiments that were used as headstones for the final experiment. The crucial component should be late-positive potential (LPP) but it can omit earlier components too. The study uses also other ways to underlay the results from ERP. There are structured questionnaire Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) and peripheral devices that record blood pulse and skin conductance. The practical part deals with creating of the scenario, data recording and processing. There is also described a subject preparation. The pictures from International Affective Picture System (IAPS) are projected to the subjects to bring emotions. Pictures are divided into four categories positive, neutral, negative and not assigned (beer) pictures. The emotions are measured with the not assigned category.
:C PHOSPHOR FOR PERSONNEL DOSIMETRY USING OPTICALLY STIMULATED LUMINESCENCE TECHNIQUE

Thermoluminescence (TL) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dosimetry, play an important role in the measurement of doses from external radiation source, received by individuals working in radiation environment such as nuclear reactors, industrial radiography, space and diagnostic radiology applications. Conventionally, radiation monitoring has been carried out using Thermally Stimulated Luminescence (TSL) technique. In this technique, ionizing radiation creates electrons and holes, some of which are trapped in metastable energy levels (called trapping centres) created by pre-existing defects in the material. For measurement of radiation, the material is heated, whereby trapped carriers are excited to conduction band (for electrons) or valence band (for holes), where they are mobile. As the carriers move, they are captured by other types of energy levels created by defects (called luminescence centres). This results in emission of light, which is measured by using a photomultiplier tube. The integrated intensity of emitted light is a measure of radiation received by the material (i.e. absorbed dose). In a relatively recent technique called Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL), carriers are excited from trapping centres, using visible light for stimulation instead of heat. Generally, the stimulation is carried out by light of wavelength outside the emission spectrum, (selected using dependence of photo-ionization cross-section of the K.P. Muthe, S.K. Gupta, J.V. Yakhmi Technical Physics and Prototype Engineering Division and M.S. Kulkarni, D.R. Mishra, N.S. Rawat and D.N. Sharma Radiation Safety Systems Division
Optimal portfolio strategies under a shortfall constraint

We impose dynamically, a shortfall constraint in terms of Tail Conditional Expectation on the portfolio selection problem in continuous time, in order to obtain optimal strategies. The financial market is assumed to comprise n risky assets driven by geometric Brownian motion and one risk-free asset. The method of Lagrange multipliers is combined with the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation to insert the constraint into the resolution framework. The constraint is re-calculated at short intervals of time throughout the investment horizon. A numerical method is applied to obtain an approximate solution to the problem. It is found that the imposition of the constraint curbs investment in the risky assets.
Sexual dimorphism in conspicuousness and ornamentation in the enigmatic leaf‐nosed lizard Ceratophora tennentii from Sri Lanka

Measures of physiological performance capacity, such as bite force, form the functional basis of sexual selection. Information about fighting ability may be conveyed through a structural feature such as a rostrum (i.e. horn) or a colour signal and thereby help reduce costly conflict. We quantified sexual dimorphism in key traits likely to be the targets of sexual selection in Tennent’s leaf-nosed lizard (Ceratophora tennentii) from Sri Lanka, and examined their relationship to bite force and body condition. We found body length and bite force to be similar for males and females. However, head length was significantly greater in males and they had significantly more conspicuous throats and labials (chromatic contrast and luminance) than females. Males also had a proportionally larger rostrum, which we predicted could be an important source of information about male quality for both sexes. Rostrum length was correlated with throat chromatic contrast in males but not females. Nonetheless, the rostrum and aspects of coloration did not correlate with bite force or body condition as we predicted. We have no information on contest escalation in this species but if they rarely bite, as suggested by a lack of difference in bite force between males and females, then bite force and any associated signals would not be a target of selection. Finally, males and females had similar spectral reflectance of the mouth and tongue and both had a peak in the ultra-violet, and were conspicuous to birds. Lizards only gaped their mouths during capture and not when threatened by a potential predator (hand waving). We hypothesize that conspicuous mouth colour may act as a deimatic signal, startling a potential predator, although this will need careful experimental testing in the future. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 00, 000–000. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: bite force ‐ colour ‐ deimatic signal ‐ horns ‐ performance capacity ‐ reptile ‐ sexual selection ‐ sexual dimorphism.
Macroeconomic Crisis and Individual Performance: The Mexican Experience

This paper considers financial, operational, solvency, and performance ratios, in order to detect when there were balance sheets’ variations related to the 1994 Mexican currency crisis. Quarterly results for 88 non-financial Mexican companies that survived the crisis are used, and tests for structural change are performed. Findings show that generally firms’ balance sheets deteriorated between the fourth quarters of 1993 and 1995, which points the possibility of corporate roots of the macroeconomic crisis. Although in most cases firms’ balance sheets improved after the crisis, the recovery was partial and gradual, and overall this episode was prejudicial even for surviving companies.
Studies on Antibacterial Activity, Phytochemical Analysis of Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) - An Important Calorie Free Biosweetner

Stevia rebaudiana is an outstanding herb bearing leaves of very refreshing sweet taste and remarkable health promoting activities. Â The herb is nutrient rich, containing substantial amounts of protein, calcium, phosphorous, sodium, magnesium, zinc, rutin, vitamin A, vitamin C and other nutrients, yet has no caloric value. Â Six solvent extracts from leaf, three solvent extracts from flower of stevia were assayed for in vitro antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas fluorescence, the zone of inhibition were compared with different standard antibiotics. Â Phytochemical screening of the crude extracts revealed the presence of secondary compounds such as alkaloids, flavonids, steroids, tannins and phenols. The organic solvent extracts of flowers are very active against the tested bacterial stains when compared with leaf extracts. Â Among the entire extracts petroleum ether flower extract showed high activity (11-13 mm zone of inhibition) on all the tested organisms. Â Petroleum ether leaf and flower extracts gave very low MIC values. Petroleum ether flower extract gave lowest MIC values (0.390 to 1.562 Âµg/ml) against all the bacterial isolates tested.
Quantification in Multiplex Format as a Challenging Goal for Plant Pathogen Molecular Diagnostic Assays

Accurate detection and identification of plant pathogens is fundamental to plant disease management. The lack of rapid, accurate and reliable means by which plant pathogens can be detected and identified has been one of the main limitations in plant disease management, and has prompted the development of alternative diagnostic technologies. Increasingly, molecular methods that are based on the detection of nucleic acids are implemented for routine plant pathogen diagnosis. Now that a number of molecular assays have been established, the latest challenge is to be able to quantify pathogen biomass, preferentially in multiplex format, with these assays. However, the development of technology for accurate quantification bears a number of pitfalls that will be highlighted in this review. The ability to perform pathogen quantification will result in a novel challenge; namely to be able to predict disease development based on pathogen densities in a specific environment. Issues that are of relevance to these topics are discussed in this review.
Neither the frying pan nor the fire: In search of a balanced authentic e-learning design through an educational design research process

Teaching in higher education in the 21st century can be a demanding and complex role and academic educators around the globe are dealing with questions related to change. This paper describes a new type of a professional development program for teaching faculty, using a pedagogical model based on the principles of authentic e-learning. The program was developed with the help of an iterative educational design research process and rapid prototyping based on on-going research and redesign. This paper describes how the findings of the evaluations guided the design process and how the impact of the measures taken was in turn researched, in order to eventually identify and refine design principles for an authentic e-learning program for international teaching faculty professional development.
Effects of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide on amino acid and NH4+‐N cycling in a temperate pine ecosystem

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is expected to increase forest productivity, resulting in greater carbon (C) storage in forest ecosystems. Because elevated atmospheric CO2 does not increase nitrogen (N) use efficiency in many forest tree species, additional N inputs will be required to sustain increased net primary productivity (NPP) under elevated atmospheric CO2. We investigated the importance of free amino acids (AAs) as a source for forest N uptake at the Duke Forest Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) site, comparing its importance with that of better‐studied inorganic N sources. Potential proteolytic enzyme activity was monitored seasonally, and individual AA concentrations were measured in organic horizon extracts. Potential free AA production in soils ranged from 190 to 690 nmol N g−1 h−1 and was greater than potential rates of soil NH4+ production. Because of this high potential rate of organic N production, we determined (1) whether intact AA uptake occurs by Pinus taeda L. , the dominant tree species at the FACE site, (2) if the rate of cycling of AAs is comparable with that of ammonium (NH4+), and (3) if atmospheric CO2 concentration alters the aforementioned N cycling processes. A field experiment using universally labeled ammonium (15NH4+) and alanine (13C3H715NO2) demonstrated that 15N is more readily taken up by plants and heterotrophic microorganisms as NH4+. Pine roots and microbes take up on average 2.4 and two times as much NH4+ 15N compared with alanine 15N 1 week after tracer application. N cycling through soil pools was similar for alanine and NH4+, with the greatest 15N tracer recovery in soil organic matter, followed by microbial biomass, dissolved organic N, extractable NH4+, and fine roots. Stoichiometric analyses of 13C and 15N uptake demonstrated that both plants and soil microorganisms take up alanine directly, with a 13C : 15N ratio of 3.3 : 1 in fine roots and 1.5 : 1 in microbial biomass. Our results suggest that intact AA (alanine) uptake contributes substantially to plant N uptake in loblolly pine forests. However, we found no evidence supporting increased recovery of free AAs in fine roots under elevated CO2, suggesting plants will need to acquire additional N via other mechanisms, such as increased root exploration or increased N use efficiency.
Translation Recognition in Learners of Arabic

The current study explored the role of phonology in the processing of Arabic words in native English speakers learning Arabic. Previous research demonstrates that three factors play a role in the mental processing of multiple languages: orthography, phonology, and semantics. Cognate studies have revealed that orthography is not the most important factor, but the roles of phonology and semantics are still indistinguishable from one another. The current study utilized phonologicallyembedded English words within Arabic words at three different points in the word, beginning, middle, and end, to determine the role of phonology separate from that of semantics (e.g., , pronounced tareekh, and tar is a beginning overlap pair). Participants from the University of Arkansas Arabic language program completed a translation recognition task. They were shown an Arabic word, followed by an English word, and asked to identify whether the English word was the correct translation. It was predicted that participants would take longer to say “no” to false translations with phonological overlap than to false translations without phonological overlap and that less experienced learners would exhibit this effect to a higher degree than more experienced learners. While, as predicted, the reaction times for false translations with phonological overlap were substantially slower than reaction times for false translations without phonological overlap in beginning and middle overlap conditions, no significant differences were found. Arabic proficiency was found to be negatively correlated with amount of phonological interference. The results generally support the importance of phonology in the mental processing of multiple languages, which can be combined with other findings in language research to supplement language learning programs.
Effect of winds and waves on salt intrusion in the Pearl River estuary

Abstract. Salt intrusion in the Pearl River estuary (PRE) is a dynamic process that is influenced by a range of factors and to date, few studies have examined the effects of winds and waves on salt intrusion in the PRE. We investigate these effects using the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system applied to the PRE. After careful validation, the model is used for a series of diagnostic simulations. It is revealed that the local wind considerably strengthens the salt intrusion by lowering the water level in the eastern part of the estuary and increasing the bottom landward flow. The remote wind increases the water mixing on the continental shelf, elevates the water level on the shelf and in the PRE and pumps saltier shelf water into the estuary by Ekman transport. Enhancement of the salt intrusion is comparable between the remote and local winds. Waves decrease the salt intrusion by increasing the water mixing. Sensitivity analysis shows that the axial down-estuary wind, is most efficient in driving increases in salt intrusion via wind straining effect.
Excited meson spectroscopy with two chirally improved quarks

The excited isovector meson spectrum is explored using two chirally improved dynamical quarks. Seven ensembles, with pion masses down to \approx 250 MeV are discussed and used for extrapolations to the physical point. Strange mesons are investigated using partially quenched s-quarks. Using the variational method, we extract excited states in several channels and most of the results are in good agreement with experiment.
Sparse Bayesian Learning for DOA Estimation in Heteroscedastic Noise

The paper considers direction of arrival (DOA) estimation from long-term observations in a noisy environment. In such an environment the noise source might evolve, causing the stationary models to fail. Therefore a heteroscedastic Gaussian noise model is introduced where the variance can vary across observations and sensors. The source amplitudes are assumed independent zero-mean complex Gaussian distributed with unknown variances (i.e. the source powers), inspiring stochastic maximum likelihood DOA estimation. The DOAs of plane waves are estimated from multi-snapshot sensor array data using sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) where the noise is estimated across both sensors and snapshots. This SBL approach is more flexible and performs better than high-resolution methods since they cannot estimate the heteroscedastic noise process. An alternative to SBL is simple data normalization, whereby only the phase across the array is utilized. Simulations demonstrate that taking the heteroscedastic noise into account improves DOA estimation.
Nurse teachers’ perceived competencies in the context of students’ first clinical placements: A qualitative study

This study seeks to illuminate the competencies of nurse teachers (NTs) and their operationalization in the context of clinical placement by exploring the challenges of being an NT, as experienced and articulated by diverse groups of interacting agents: NTs, mentors, and students. To gain insight into this area, we employed an interpretative qualitative approach, and applied data source and methodology triangulation: Focus group discussions with nurse mentors and students and e-mail interviews with NTs responsible for the placement learning were performed. Five main themes were revealed: NTs’ personal and professional mastery, mastery of student support, mastery of mentor support, mastery of learning/teaching environment, and mastery of conditions while in the clinical placement. In addition, NTs emerged as coordinators, mediators, and moderators of a complex system. Within this system, the complex interplay of diverse components can have various facilitating or obstructing effects. Considering this complexity, we argue that part of those effects is directly connected to individual NTs’ characteristics, combination of professional competencies, and application of these competencies in specific situations. We also propose that institutional and departmental contexts, as well as professional contexts of nursing practice and education, influence both teachers and students. Our research draws attention to the further development of organized and structured cooperation within and across institutions in establishing and maintaining links among different contexts of nursing education. With regard to placement learning, the complementary competencies of NTs and mentors, which mesh across fields and domains of expertise, appear to be a possible solution.