Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Causal Relationship between Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and CO2 Emissions: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach

Energy plays an important role in economic development worldwide. The increase of energy consumption showed that CO2 emissions in the atmosphere have increased dramatically, and these lead many scientists to push governments of the developing countries to take action for the formulation of environmental policies. Many studies have attempted to look for the direction of causality between energy consumption (EC), economic growth (GDP) and CO2 emissions mainly on developing countries. This paper, therefore, applies the panel unit root tests, panel cointegration methods and panel causality test to investigate the relationship between energy consumption (EC), economic growth (GDP) and CO2 emissions for three countries of Southern Europe (Greece, Spain, and Portugal) covering the annual period 1960-2009. The FMOLS and DOLS are then used to estimate the long run relationship between the variables. The findings of this study reveal that there is a short-run bilateral causal link between the examined variables. However, in the long run, there is a unidirectional causality running from CO2 emissions to energy consumption (EC), and economic growth (GDP) and a bilateral causality between energy consumption and economic growth. This indicates that energy is a force for economic growth both in short and long run as it is driven from economic growth. Moreover, to face the heterogeneity on the three countries of Southern Europe we use the FMOLS and DOLS estimation methods. Keywords: Energy consumption, Panel cointegration, FMOLS and DOLS Methods. JEL Classification: C33; O13; Q43
A High-Performance Data-Dependent Hardware Divider

Hardware dividers are needed in many areas of applications like computer floating-point units, communication systems, cryptography, signal processing, etc. The performance requirements of these applications differ regarding data and architectural issues. In this paper, the basic principles used in hardware integer dividers are shown. A hybrid data-dependent divider is proposed based on several improvements that speedup division on average for 600%. Data-dependent performance was simulated on a parallel computer cluster in order to search a larger number of cases. Different principles for the generation of random numbers were used to emphasize potential advantages or drawbacks of the proposed dividers.
Cisplatin plus gemcitabine versus gemcitabine for biliary tract cancer.

BACKGROUND There is no established standard chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancer. We initially conducted a randomized, phase 2 study involving 86 patients to compare cisplatin plus gemcitabine with gemcitabine alone. After we found an improvement in progression-free survival, the trial was extended to the phase 3 trial reported here. METHODS We randomly assigned 410 patients with locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, or ampullary cancer to receive either cisplatin (25 mg per square meter of body-surface area) followed by gemcitabine (1000 mg per square meter on days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks for eight cycles) or gemcitabine alone (1000 mg per square meter on days 1, 8, and 15, every 4 weeks for six cycles) for up to 24 weeks. The primary end point was overall survival. RESULTS After a median follow-up of 8.2 months and 327 deaths, the median overall survival was 11.7 months among the 204 patients in the cisplatin-gemcitabine group and 8.1 months among the 206 patients in the gemcitabine group (hazard ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.52 to 0.80; P<0.001). The median progression-free survival was 8.0 months in the cisplatin-gemcitabine group and 5.0 months in the gemcitabine-only group (P<0.001). In addition, the rate of tumor control among patients in the cisplatin-gemcitabine group was significantly increased (81.4% vs. 71.8%, P=0.049). Adverse events were similar in the two groups, with the exception of more neutropenia in the cisplatin-gemcitabine group; the number of neutropenia-associated infections was similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS As compared with gemcitabine alone, cisplatin plus gemcitabine was associated with a significant survival advantage without the addition of substantial toxicity. Cisplatin plus gemcitabine is an appropriate option for the treatment of patients with advanced biliary cancer. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00262769.)
Cytoskeletal involvement in the regulation of aqueous humor outflow.

Fluid flow in the anterior chamber maintains intraocular pressure (IOP) and globe shape and supplies oxygen and nutrients to the nonvascularized cornea, lens, and trabecular meshwork (TM). Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy often caused by elevated IOP consequent to abnormally high resistance to aqueous humor drainage via the TM and Schlemm’s canal. Compounds with cytoskeletal effects offer therapeutic possibilities for substantial long-term IOP reduction. Most current IOP-reducing agents either suppress aqueous humor production or increase outflow through the ciliary muscle, thus reducing aqueous humor flow through the TM, perhaps compromising an already compromised tissue and potentially stressing the cornea and lens. Glaucoma patients usually receive several of these agents concurrently. Recent studies indicate that the TM cytoskeleton may be involved in the regulation of aqueous humor outflow. A cytoskeletal agent acting directly on the TM/Schlemm’s canal to reduce outflow resistance would be more consistent with normal physiological function, and recent developments indicate that this approach is moving toward fruition. FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF THE TM The TM consists of arrays of collagen beams covered by endothelium-like cells, with extracellular material/matrix (ECM) occupying the spaces between the beams. The outermost juxtacanalicular or cribriform region has no collagenous beams but rather several cell layers immersed in loose ECM. The adjacent Schlemm’s canal is a continuous endothelium-lined channel that drains aqueous humor to the general venous circulation. Trabecular meshwork structure and experimental flow studies suggest that flow resistance is maximal in the outermost region, but the exact location and nature of the major resistance barrier, and the exact flow pathways through the TM and the inner wall of Schlemm’s canal, are not clear either in the normal or the glaucomatous eye. With age, resistance increases, TM cells decrease, and alterations of the ECM in the juxtacanalicular region occur. Glaucomatous eyes exhibit fewer TM cells and abnormal-appearing juxtacanalicular ECM compared with age-matched normals, all suggesting that cells and ECM in the juxtacanalicular region may be critical in resistance regulation. Cell shape, volume, contractility, and adhesion to neighboring cells and to the ECM, and amount and composition of the ECM, could affect resistance by altering the dimensions or direction of flow pathways and could be therapeutic targets to reduce flow resistance.
Monetary Policy Shocks in a Two-Sector Open Economy: An Empirical Study

This paper studies the effects and the transmission mechanism of unexpected monetary policy shocks in an open economy setting within the context of a VAR frame- work. It considers an economy with two sectors, a tradable sector and a non-tradable sector. For a given country, economic sectors are defined according to the proportion of output that is exported to other countries. This paper departs from the standard literature in that it tries to isolate the differential effects that monetary policy shocks may have on these two distinct sectors of the economy. The results show that the behavior of these two sectors varies whithin a country, with the tradable sector showing a higher degree of responsiveness to policy shocks than the non-tradable. This result is robust across the different countries in the sample and for a synthetic aggregate. The evidence presented gives an indication that industrial structure may be an important component for the analysis of monetary policy. JEL Classification: C32, E52, F31, F42
The Lagrangian structure of ozone mini-holes and potential vorticity anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere

An ozone mini-hole is a synoptic-scale area of strongly reduced column total ozone, which undergoes a growth-decay cycle in association with baroclinic weather systems. The tracks of mini-hole events recorded during the TOMS observation period over the Northern Hemisphere provide a database for building anomaly fields of various meteorological parameters, following each mini-hole center in a Lagrangian sense. The resulting fields provide, for the first time, a complete mean Lagrangian picture of the three-dimensional structure of typical ozone mini-holes in the Northern Hemisphere. Mini-holes are shown to be associated with anomalous warm anticyclonic flow in the upper troposphere and cold cyclonic anomalies in the middle stratosphere. Ascending air columns occur upstream and descent downstream of the mini-hole centers. Band-pass filtering is used to reveal the transient synoptic nature of mini-holes embedded within larger scale circulation anomalies. Significant correlations between ozone and Ertel's potential vorticity on isentropes (IPV) both near the tropopause and in the middle stratosphere are shown and then utilized by reconstructing the Lagrangian analysis to follow local IPV anomalies instead of ozone minima. By using IPV as a proxy for ozone, the geopotential anomaly dipolar structure in the vertical characteristic of mini-holes is shown to result from a superposition of two largely independent dynamical components, stratospheric and tropospheric, typically operating on different time scales. Hence, ozone mini-holes may be viewed primarily as phenomena of coincidence.
Competition and strategy of Chinese firms: An analysis of top performing Chinese private enterprises

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the key elements in the strategy of leading Chinese private firms in order to identify the key factors that are associated with the success of these firms.Design/methodology/approach – Secondary data source from the self report of 30 of the top 50 private enterprises of 2004 in China as the basis for analysis. In analysing these self reports, a table was compiled that records the name of each case study firm, nature of its businesses, its ranking in the top 50 in 2004, background of the owner entrepreneur/CEO, history of the firm, and key elements of strategies.Findings – The paper identifies that the key success factors of these firms appear to be associated with firm growth through business diversification, development of international market, strong emphasis on product innovation and quality enhancement, strategic marketing, product and corporate branding, and importantly, entrepreneurship of owner managers/CEOs and reform of corporate governance. Also .
Consonant Class Discrimination in Dysarthric Speech Based on Support Vector Machine Using Class-Dependent Acoustic Parameters

In this paper, we propose a consonant class discrimination (CCD) method in dysarthric speech, where a support vector machine (SVM) is employed by using class-dependent acoustic parameters. To this end, each consonant is categorized into one of five classes according to the manner of articulation such as stop, affricate, fricative, nasal and glide. In the proposed CCD method using SVM, acoustic parameters distinctive to consonant classes are extracted and they include the spectral energy ratio between the low and high frequency bands, zero crossing rate, spectral flatness, spectral peak frequency, and so on. The effectiveness of the proposed CCD method is demonstrated by using a database composed of mild and severe dysarthric speeches. As a result, it is shown that the proposed CCD method employing class-dependent acoustic parameters relatively reduces average discrimination error rate by 7.67%, compared to that employing mel-frequency cepstral coefficients.
ÎI-(Òe 3 ) la 2

§2. Previous discussions §2.1. The expression was discussed by Sigrist 1981, 184-185; and by Civil 1994, 74 and 185 (see also van de Mieroop 1987, 140). Sigrist’s discussion primarily concerns texts about the construction of doors. The records that use the expression ÎI la2 list large amounts of hides in various colors, leading Sigrist to the conclusion that the hides were used to decorate the door, or that the door itself consisted of hides hanging from the upper lintel. §2.2. His interpretation was challenged by Civil in his discussion of the same expression in texts recording hides for the construction of plows. Civil argued that ÎI la2 probably refers to a leather strap, which was part of the construction of a plow and a door.
Using ensembles of decision trees to predict transport mode choice decisions: Effects on predictive success and uncertainty estimates

The application of activity-based models of travel demand to planning practice has triggered interest in issues that potentially improve the accuracy and/or usefulness of model forecasts. The limited knowledge of uncertainty propagation in complex stochastic model systems has put uncertainty analysis high on the research agenda to differentiate between simulation error and policy effects. Focusing on transport mode choice, this paper draws attention to the use of model ensembles, which has hardly been explored in travel demand forecasting. Prior studies predicting transport mode choice has typically relied on a single equation, relating observed transport mode choices to a set of personal and contextual variables. The estimated single model is then assumed to apply to all individuals. This paper explores the idea of replacing a single equation/representation with an ensemble of model predictions, using the decision tree formalism. Potentially, ensembles better capture the notion that travellers may use different heuristics in their transport mode decisions. The aim of the study is to investigate whether the use of a model ensemble of different decision heuristics will reduce the error/uncertainty in predicting transport mode decisions. Results of the study, conducted in the Rotterdam region, The Netherlands, suggest that the accuracy of predicting transport mode choice is improved, albeit non-monotonically, with increasing ensemble size. Simultaneously, the uncertainty related to these predictions is decreasing. Finally, it is shown that the importance of the selected explanatory variables co-varies with ensemble size. Estimation results tend to become stable in this study with an ensemble size of approximately 20 decision trees.
Definition of Software Process Lines for Integration of Scrum and CMMI

The adoption of Agile Methods, like Scrum, in conjunction with maturity models, like Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), often leads to variation of process. Process definition is a complex and difficult task, requiring a lot of effort and experience. Software Process Line (SPrL) has been considered a suitable paradigm for software process tailoring and reuse; and there is a lack of approaches that use SPrL concepts for modeling these approaches in conjunction. This paper presents the definition of a SPrL considering Project Planning and Project Monitoring and Control process areas in processes using Scrum agile methodology together with CMMI maturity model. It is expected the presented SPrL assists software organizations to tailor processes that meet both approaches.
Breaking the wave of democracy: The effect of foreign aid on the incumbent's re-election probability

We investigate whether foreign aid affects the probability of incumbent's re-election and then the Schumpeterian quality of democracy in developing countries. We present a simple theoretical framework, which captures the competitiveness of elections through the Tullock's approach based on the Contest Success Function. We obtain an ambiguous theoretical effect of foreign aid on the incumbent probability to be reelected: Foreign aid increases the prize of the electoral contest stimulating the challenger to increase his campaign effort; But, the incumbent may divert part of the aid, improving his advantage and reducing political competition. We investigate empirically this effect using panel data from 60 aid-recipient countries between 1980 and 2005. Our analysis shows that foreign aid increases the incumbent's re-election probabilities. However, this effect depends on recipients' democratic level and on the nature of foreign aid, consistently with our theoretical framework. While financial aid increases the probability of incumbent's re-election, political aid, especially through assistances in developing competitive electoral systems, reduces this probability.
Multiple sclerosis and the hygiene hypothesis

In 1966 Leibowitz et al.1 first suggested that the prevalence of MS was correlated with a childhood environment characterized by a high level of sanitation. Similar observations have led to the formulation of the hygiene hypothesis, which holds that a relative lack of “evolutionarily normal” childhood infectious exposures may predispose susceptible individuals to allergic and autoimmune diseases later in life. Recent findings that are consistent with the hygiene hypothesis have come from studies in epidemiology, immunology, and animal models, as well as successful clinical trials of probiotic treatment for allergic and autoimmune diseases.2-4 In this regard, many observers have noted that the prevalence of MS in the developed world far exceeds that of regions characterized by widespread childhood infection or poor sanitation. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, to date the global relationship between MS incidence and parasitic exposure has only been addressed in qualitative terms. To address this issue quantitatively, we first noted the global prevalence of Trichuris trichiura , a common human helminth with world-wide distribution and a surrogate marker for 1) infection with other macroparasites as well a marker for 2) low levels of community sanitation. Initial …
Pulsars revived by gravitational waves

Binary neutron stars mergers that are expected to be the most powerful source of energy in the Universe definitely exist in nature, as is proven by the observed behavior of the Hulse-Taylor binary radio pulsar. Though most of energy in such events is radiated in gravitational waves, there probably exist several mechanisms giving also electromagnetic radiation. We propose a new one, involving a revival of the radio pulsar several orbital cycles before the merger.
Validation of String Test for Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infections

ABSTRACT The method of recovering Helicobacter pylori DNA or viable cells absorbed on a string that a person has swallowed and that is retrieved an hour later (string test) should be a useful alternative to traditional analysis of cells or DNA obtained by endoscopy, which is invasive, uncomfortable, relatively costly, and ill-suited for community-based and pediatric studies. Here we assayed the sensitivity and validity of the string test versus conventional endoscopic biopsy for detecting and analyzing H. pylori infection. Forty-four people with gastric complaints were studied using both H. pylori culture and urease gene (ureB) PCR. H. pylori organisms cultured from strings and biopsy specimens from the same patients were fingerprinted by the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method. Biopsy sections were also hematoxylin and eosin and silver stained for H. pylori detection. H. pylori was cultured from 80% of strings and detected by PCR from 91% of strings from participants whose biopsies had been H. pylori positive by culture, PCR, and/or histology. Strains recovered from strings and biopsy specimens yielded identical or closely related RAPD profiles in each of the 24 cases tested. We conclude that the string test is a useful method for H. pylori recovery and analysis when relatively noninvasive procedures are needed.
Speech to text for Indonesian homophone phrase with Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient

In this study, speech to text system for homophone phrases in Indonesian was designed using an extraction method which featured Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC). Feature extraction results were classified by comparing the two classifiers of Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN) and K-Nearest Neigbour (KNN). The input data used were the recordings of each of 3 male and female respondents. The recording process was conducted for 5 seconds at a sampling frequency of 16 kHz and at channel mono. Classification results with test data to BPNN showed accuracy rates of 96.67% and 90% respectively for male and female respondents. Moreover, the level of accuracy obtained on KNN amounted to 83.33% for males and 73.33% for females.
Visual Deprivation Decreases Somatic GAD65 Puncta Number on Layer 2/3 Pyramidal Neurons in Mouse Visual Cortex

Proper functioning of the visual system depends on maturation of both excitatory and inhibitory synapses within the visual cortex. Considering that perisomatic inhibition is one of the key factors that control the critical period in visual cortex, it is pertinent to understand its regulation by visual experience. To do this, we developed an immunohistochemical method that allows three-dimensional (3D) analysis of the glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) 65-positive inhibitory terminals in the visual cortex. Using this method on transgenic mice expressing yellow fluorescence protein (YFP) in a subset of neurons, we found that the number of somatic GAD65-puncta on individual layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons is reduced when mice are dark-reared from birth and reverted to normal levels by re-exposure to light. There was no change in GAD65-puncta volume or intensity. These results support the reorganization of inhibitory circuitry within layer 2/3 of visual cortex in response to changes in visual experience.
USING LANDSAT TM DATA FOR MAPPING OF THE QUATERNARY DEPOSITS IN CENTRAL SWEDEN

This paper summarises the use of digital remotely sensed data for Quaternary deposits mapping in central Sweden. Landsat TM scene of the beginning of May 1985 was applied. Only six groups of quaternary deposits were distinguished. The classification accuracy of the resultant map was about 50 % in average. Comparison was done with the existing map of Quaternary deposits.
Vehicle Impact Prevention at U-turns through Steering Angle Estimation Using Fuzzy Logics

In this research paper RetroU, an intelligent transport system is proposed. It is a two piece automated system which offers to prevent collision of vehicles with road medians / dividers while taking a Uturn; thereby reducing accidents and traffic congestions. The vehicle’s B and C pillar regions are often blind spots for the vehicle drivers, mainly for cars and buses, thereby allowing ‘vehicle–median collision’ to be highly plausible. Moreover, there is an increasing chance of bottlenecks in traffic due to improper flow of traffic at U-turns. To prevent such incidents, this built-in system assists the driver in easy navigation at U-turn using Fuzzy logics. The steering angle and turn radius calculated are fed back to the driving wheel to perform a smooth turn. Radar sensors placed in the road medians compute and communicate the rate of rotation of the vehicle to the driving wheel, when the driver wishes to go for a turn. This system is highly adaptable for countries such as India, Nepal and South Africa, where the feasibility of implementing, rather fruitful mechanism such as ‘Michigan left’ and ‘Median turn thru’ is not possible due to lack of space and resources.