Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Investigation of Consumption CAPMs in the Australian Market

We test conditional (C)CAPMs in the Australian equity market. The conditional variables used are Lettau and Ludvigson’s (2001a, 2001b) consumption-wealth ratio, Campbell and Cochrane’s (1999) surplus consumption ratio and Santos and Veronesi’s labor income to consumption ratio (2006). We test the cross-sectional implications of these variables using the Fama-French 25 size and book-to-market portfolios and the Australian industry portfolios. The Fama-MacBeth (1973) cross-sectional regressions on the 25 size/BM portfolios show that the conditional model using some scaling variable can perform better than the unconditional models. However, these conditional models cannot outperform the Fama-French three-factor model. The conditional CCAPM with the labour income to consumption ratio as the scaling factor can match more closely to the FamaFrench three-factor model. We also find consumption growth is non-contemporaneously related to portfolio returns as the consumption risk premium is positive and statistically significant using consumption growth two-quarter ahead. The asset pricing models perform poorly for the 19 industry portfolios. JEL Classification: G12
POSSIBILITIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF WASTEWATER FROM PRIMARY PETROLEUM CLARIFIERS

Wastewater from the oil industry treatment is very difficult to achieve in an uniform matter. Therefore, pre-treatment steps are often required in order to reduce the compounds’ elimination and to determine which treatment cannot be eliminated in the biological stage. Application of a pre-treatment process eliminates certain compounds with specific microorganisms that do not fit with the activated sludge. In this paper, the details of this solution were studied. It was established a reduction of the benzene concentration from 82.23 mg/L to 18.04 mg/L, toluene 3.08 mg/L to 1.15 mg/L, xylene at 4.1 mg/L to 3.1 mg/L and naphthalene 7.08 mg/L to 4.96 mg/L. Experiments have shown a decrease of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons concentration below the limit of detection of the device.
Dynamic capabilities from an institutionalist viewpoint

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the effects of strategic, technical and institutional response, in the perspective of dynamic capability facing environmental changes, considering that the literature has few references on how institutional factors contribute to a firm’s dynamic capabilities. A case study was conducted on the oldest journalistic enterprise in Brazil. It was found that the organizational practices with dynamic capabilities were conditioned by mechanisms and factors that have extrapolated intentions, expectations, and planning skills of the firm’s own Board of Directors. The new social structure found in the organization is based on the interpretations of the journalists themselves, regarding the social reality of the field of journalism, was supported by the coherent interpretative schemata of some managers in order to reduce the uncertainty caused by institutional demands of the rapidly changing reading habits of people. The study revealed that strategic practices such as making the newspaper known at schools, development of a digital newspaper, showed the influence of institutions as a new normative order, social responsibility, greater legitimacy, and at the same time, a higher capacity of the organization to adapt to its business environment. These aspects, reflect a cultural structure that is reproduced at the company in its practices for the continuous use of new technologies and new social demands.
Reconstructing ENSO: the influence of method, proxy data, climate forcing and teleconnections

In this study we compare three newly developed independent NINO3.4 sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions using data from (1) the central Pacific (corals), (2) the TexMex region of the USA (tree rings) and (3) other regions in the Tropics (corals and an ice core) which are teleconnected with central Pacific SSTs in the 20th century. Although these three reconstructions are strongly calibrated and well verified, inter‐proxy comparison shows a significant weakening in inter‐proxy coherence in the 19th century. This breakdown in common signal could be related to insufficient data, dating errors in some of the proxy records or a breakdown in El Niño–Southern Oscillation's (ENSO's) influence on other regions. However, spectral analysis indicates that each reconstruction portrays ENSO‐like spectral properties. Superposed epoch analysis also shows that each reconstruction shows a generally consistent ‘El Niño‐like’ response to major volcanic events in the following year, while during years T + 4 to T + 7 ‘La Niña‐like’ conditions prevail. These results suggest that each of the series expresses ENSO‐like ‘behaviour’, but this ‘behaviour’ does not appear to be spatially or temporally consistent. This result may reflect published observations that there appear to be distinct ‘types’ of ENSO variability depending on location within the tropical Pacific. Future work must address potential dating issues within some proxies (i.e. sampling of multiple coral heads for one location) as well as assessing the time stability of local climate relationships with central Pacific SSTs. More emphasis is needed on sampling new and extending old coral proxy records from the crucial central and eastern tropical Pacific region. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and © Crown Copyright 2009.
Blue Eye Disease in Dog with Hyperthermia at Pindi Bhattian DistrictHafizabad, Pakistan

Blue eye disease is caused by the virus Blue-eye paramyxovirus (BEPV), which is a negative sense single stranded RNA (ssRNA) virus. It causes nervous, reproductive and respiratory signs in its domestic host, the pig. The disease is not considered a zoonotic. Generally pigs suffer from anorexia, weight loss, and reluctance to move, dehydration, periorbital and conjunctival swelling (chemosis) and purulent/serious ocular discharge and corneal opacity. The virus also causes neurological signs including tetra paresis, opisthotonus, dysmetria, proprioceptive disorders, tremors, nystagmus mydriasis, blindness, decreased or absent menace response and respiratory signs; tachypnea, dyspnea, and open mouthed breathing. The virus only shows clinical signs in pigs but antibodies can be detected in rabbits, rats, dogs and cats [1]. But in this case a black colored local unidentified breed of male dog developed fever, anorexia and tremors with intense blue color of cornea.
Welfare improving product bans

We formulate a model of vertical differentiation to evaluate the welfare effects of removing a low quality product from the market. The mechanism through which a welfare improvement might arise is simple: Once the low quality low cost alternative is banned, entry into the high quality segment becomes more likely. This in turn may lead to a significant reduction in the price of the high quality product. We find that such a ban might improve aggregate welfare when consumers value the higher quality more, the marginal cost of producing high quality is lower, the price of low quality is higher, and the price sensitivity for high quality is not too high.
Search Algorithms and Recognition of Small Details and Fine Structures of Images in Computer Vision Systems

Search algorithms and object recognition in digital images are used in various systems of technical vision. Such systems include: vision systems of robots, the system of recognition and identification of fingerprint, authentication system for stamp on a document and many others. Description of known search algorithms and the recognition of objects in images is well represented in the literature, for example, in (Gonzalez & Woods, 2002) and (Pratt, 2001). Review of the literature shows that in most cases, problems of recognition take into account such characteristics of the object as its geometric shape and distribution of luminosity over the entire area of the object. As a criterion of recognition the standard deviation is commonly used. Spectral characteristics, the numerical moments, color characteristics, segmentation, etc. are used in addition to the basic attributes. Wavelet analysis and fractal recognition are the latest methods (Potapov et al., 2008) in image processing and pattern recognition. Algorithms for searching small details and fine structures are used in detection and analysis of the quality of images. The accuracy of search and recognition of fine details is affected by the distortions arising during the digital compression and transmission of image signals through a noisy communication channel with interference. The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) is considered nowadays the most popular criterion of noisy images (Pratt, 2001). According to this criterion the normalized root-mean-square deviation of color coordinates is calculated and the averaging is carried out at all pixels of the image. Thus, the closer the noisy image to the original, the bigger the PSNR value and therefore the better its quality we have. However this and other similar metrics (e.g., MSE) allow for estimating only rootmean-square difference between images, therefore the best results from the metrics point of view are not always correspond to the best visual perception. For instance, the noisy image containing fine details with low contrast can have high PSNR value even when the details are not visible on the background noise. A number of leading firms suggest hardware and software for the objective analysis of dynamic image quality. For example, Tektronix – PQA 300 analyzer, Snell & Wilcox – Mosalina software, Pixelmetrix – DVStation device (Glasman, 2004). Principles of image quality estimation in these devices are various. For example, PQA 300 analyzer measures image quality on algorithm of “Just Noticeable Difference – JND”, developed by Sarnoff
Strategic Marketing Practice Considerations in Family Business in Nigeria

The purpose of this study is to fill a gap in the literature by examining a medium-sized firm. Most modern economies are characterized by a significant group of middle-sized firms, still owner-managed, but with multimillion naira turnovers. Many of these remain family companies and constitute an important reservoir of business initiative. One such family business is the focus of this research. The results of the study suggest that neither the existing typologies of small firm approaches to marketing nor the formal models of marketing attributed to big companies necessarily characterize the marketing planning and management of family business in Nigeria.
Preconcentration and separation of some heavy metal ions by solid-phase extraction using silica modified with zirconium phosphate

An analytical method was developed for the separation and preconcentration of Cu2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, Ni2+ and Fe3+ from surface water samples collected from ten locations at Suez Gulf, using silica gel chemically modified with zirconium (IV) phosphate. The effects of pH value, time of stirring, concentration of eluting acids and some common ionic species on the separation and preconcentration of the investigated metal ions in synthetic aqueous solutions were firstly studied. The results indicate that the optimum conditions for separation are pH = 5.0- 5.5 and time of stirring = 30 min. HNO3 is better eluent for the investigated metal ions than HCl hence 2M HNO3 was used as an eluent. Citrate and EDTA severely affect on the recovery of the metal ions therefore the water samples were previously oxidized to digest organic matter prior to the application process. Key words: Separation, preconcentration, modified silica, metals, water.
A New Method for Sperm Detection in Human Semen: Combination of Hypothesis Testing and Local Mapping of Wavelet Sub-Bands

Introduction Automated methods for sperm characterization in microscopic videos have some limitations such as: low contrast of the video frames and possibility of neighboring sperms to touch each other. In this paper a new method is introduced for detection of sperms in microscopic videos. Materials and Methods In this work, first microscopic videos are captured from specimens of human semen. Several frames of these videos are transformed to wavelet sub-bands and bit-related planes are constructed from wavelet sub-bands separately. Finally, the acquired bit planes are mapped by different local mapping functions and decision is made using continuity and discontinuity of the mapping results. Based on the above decision procedure, each region of the microscopic image is assigned to either a sperm or other parts of semen. Results Performance of the proposed method was evaluated by two sets of microscopic videos which have been captured from semen of some infertile men. The first sets belonged to semen specimens with low densities of sperms and the second set belonged to semen specimens with high densities of sperms. Conclusion The results of this study revealed that the proposed method in this work is more efficient in sperm detection and extraction compared with the current approaches in both scenarios. Furthermore, it is evident that for specimens with higher sperm densities the proposed method improved sperm detection also reduces false detection rate considerably.
Brain Tumor Classification Based on Statical Feature Extraction

In this paper, Automated brain tumor classification is implemented by employing Probabilistic Neural Network with image and data processing techniques. Human inspection being the conventional method for medical resonance brain images classification and tumors detection. Operator-assisted classification methods are impractical for larger amount of data and are also non-reproducible. Medical Resonance images normally contains a noise which is caused by operator performance that can lead to serious inaccuracies classification. For Neural networks the use of artificial intelligent techniques, for instance, has shown great potential. Hence, Probabilistic Neural Network is applied for this purpose in this paper. Decision making has been performed in two stages: feature extraction, Neural Network training. Probabilistic Neural Network gives fast and accurate classification and is a promising tool for classification of the tumors.
Developing heterogeneous corpora using the Digital Replay System (DRS).

This paper reports on the latest developments made as part of the ESRC funded Understanding Digital Records for eSocial Science Project (DReSS) at the University of Nottingham. Specifically, it reports on some of the issues and challenges that are currently being faced in compilation and use of heterogeneous multi-modal corpora comprised of heterogeneous datasets; discussing some of the optimum ways in which these datasets are recorded, processed, stored and accessed/interrogated by the linguist. The paper profiles the Digital Replay System (DRS) software which is being developed to support these processes.
Diurnal cycle of fossil and nonfossil carbon using radiocarbon analyses during CalNex

Radiocarbon (14C) analysis is a unique tool to distinguish fossil/nonfossil sources of carbonaceous aerosols. We present 14C measurements of organic carbon (OC) and total carbon (TC) on highly time resolved filters (3–4 h, typically 12 h or longer have been reported) from 7 days collected during California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change (CalNex) 2010 in Pasadena. Average nonfossil contributions of 58% ± 15% and 51% ± 15% were found for OC and TC, respectively. Results indicate that nonfossil carbon is a major constituent of the background aerosol, evidenced by its nearly constant concentration (2–3 μgC m−3). Cooking is estimated to contribute at least 25% to nonfossil OC, underlining the importance of urban nonfossil OC sources. In contrast, fossil OC concentrations have prominent and consistent diurnal profiles, with significant afternoon enhancements (~3 μgC m−3), following the arrival of the western Los Angeles (LA) basin plume with the sea breeze. A corresponding increase in semivolatile oxygenated OC and organic vehicular emission markers and their photochemical reaction products occurs. This suggests that the increasing OC is mostly from fresh anthropogenic secondary OC (SOC) from mainly fossil precursors formed in the western LA basin plume. We note that in several European cities where the diesel passenger car fraction is higher, SOC is 20% less fossil, despite 2–3 times higher elemental carbon concentrations, suggesting that SOC formation from gasoline emissions most likely dominates over diesel in the LA basin. This would have significant implications for our understanding of the on‐road vehicle contribution to ambient aerosols and merits further study.
A VARIANT OF LSD-SLAM CAPABLE OF PROCESSING HIGH-SPEEDLOW-FRAMERATE MONOCULAR DATASETS

Abstract. We develop a new variant of LSD-SLAM, called C-LSD-SLAM, which is capable of performing monocular tracking and mapping in high-speed low-framerate situations such as those of the KITTI datasets. The methods used here are robust against the influence of erronously triangulated points near the epipolar direction, which otherwise causes tracking divergence.
WEB-SERVER APPLICATION FOR FAST AND ROBUST RECOGNITION OF EXHIBITS IN THE MUSEUM

This document represents a web-server based application designed for the purpose of exhibits’ recognition in a museum, based on photos made with the help of phone. Image recognition was conducted with the help of SURF[1] algorithm. Server was implemented with the usage of Netty library. Because of the parallel approach used both in the classification part and during the exchange of data between client and server the system is fast and able to decrease time of working by usage of all available cores of hardware.
Communication Needs of Japan and the United States: A Comparative Analysis of the Use of Mobile Information Services

Mobile marketers are anxious to gain knowledge about the use of mobile services in different cultures and countries. The aim of this research is to construct a method for comparing consumer demand for mobile information services in different countries. We attempted to gain a understanding of the cross-national needs structure through a comparison of use intentions between the United States (at the University of California at Los Angeles) and Japan. Toward this end, we extracted use intention factors from both the locations. The results confirmed the following four factors: the information- intensive factor, the entertainment factor, the low penetration service factor, and the communication tool factor. This study also found that the two countries have different needs characteristics for a certain mobile communication service, i. e. , mobile e-mail, and roughly the same needs characteristics for mobile entertainment services and for mobile information services except "radio".
Evaluation on Higher Education Using Data Envelopment Analysis

The goal of higher education is to provide students an equal opportunity to access their education for success. With significant competition within the peer group, potential students look for quality, flexibility, and affordability in the educational environment. In addition, the relationship between students and the institution involves a concentrated and more specific set of expectations. In order to improve students’ academic performance and fulfill individual needs, universities aim to enhance the quality of students’ learning environment and academic achievements. The higher education system relies on efficient operation and strategic planning to fulfill students’ needs through an internal emphasis on institutional performance improvement. A study on measuring the performance of higher education is presented. The research was focused on four-year and above, public and not-for-profit private universities in the southern region (AL, AR, KY, LA, MS, OK, TN, and TX) of the United States. The data includes 270 universities which were obtained from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. This study applied the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach; the purpose is to use a linear programming model to demonstrate a novel benchmarking process of higher education institutional performance and determine an overall benchmark for institutions within each classified group. From the results, suggestions are provided for the general guidance of planners and decision makers in the higher education system.
Context, Content, and Composition: Questions of Intended Meaning and the Asokan Edicts

The Asokan edicts are a familiar and common form of archaeological and textual evidence frequently cited in discussions of the Mauryan polity. This paper is an attempt to move toward a more nuanced understanding of these inscriptions by examining earlier interpretations and previously held assumptions. One of the major assumptions questioned here is the way in which the edicts are frequently viewed as boundary markers of a uniformly administered empire. The focus here is on the edicts found in the southern Deccan; a region whose actual relationship with the northern-based Mauryas is little understood but an area that is often assumed to have been incorporated into their empire. This interpretation is primarily supported by the presence of eleven rock edicts in the modern-day states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. However, a closer look at the context, content, and composition of the edicts suggests that the relationship of this region to the Mauryan polity is not necessarily as clear-cut as previously believed. A structural loosening of the epistemological definition of empire has re-opened questions of what this relationship might have looked like and how it can be studied. A critically refined analysis of the edicts is useful in providing a starting point to this inquiry, particularly by examining the question of meaning. By adopting the use of multidisciplinary perspectives, this paper argues that a simultaneous analysis of archaeological context, historical content, and linguistic composition is a useful strategy for examining issues of intended meaning and audience through the more specific problems of visibility, address, and comprehension.
Three-dimensional strain imaging and related strain artifacts using an ultrasonic 3D abdominal probe

Presents a new system for fast and efficient acquisition of ultrasonic three-dimensional data sets for strain imaging. The authors apply their technique to a typical strain imaging phantom which consists of a soft sponge with a hard inclusion. With this set-up they demonstrate the applicability of the proposed system. Using this system they demonstrate the presence of a three-dimensional strain artifact.
Imbibition with swelling: Capillary rise in thin deformable porous media

The imbibition of a liquid into a thin deformable porous substrate driven by capillary suction is considered. The substrate is initially dry and has uniform porosity and thickness. Two-phase flow theory is used to describe how the liquid flows through the pore space behind the wetting front when out-of-plane deformation of the solid matrix is considered. Neglecting gravity and evaporation, standard shallow-layer scalings are used to construct a reduced model of the dynamics. The model predicts convergence to a self-similar behavior in all regions except near the wetting front, where a boundary layer arises whose structure narrows with the advance of the front. Over time, the rise height approaches the similarity scaling of t^{1/2}, as in the classical Washburn or BCLW law. The results are compared with a series of laboratory experiments using cellulose paper sheets, which provide qualitative agreement.