Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethnic Partition as a Solution to Ethnic War: An Empirical Critique of the Theoretical Literature

Partition theorists argue that when violent ethnic conflict is intense, civil politics cannot be restored unless ethnic groups are demographically separated into defensible enclaves. The empirical evidence suggests otherwise. Some theorists of ethnic conflict argue that the physical separation of warring ethnic groups may be the only possible solution to civil war. Without territorial partition and (if needed) forced population movements, they argue, ethnic war cannot end and genocide is likely. Other scholars have counterargued that partition only replaces internal war with international war, creates undemocratic successor states, and generates tremendous human suffering. So far this debate has been informed by few important case studies. Sambanis uses a new set of data on civil wars to identify the main determinants of ethnic partitions and to estimate their impact on the probability of wars recurrence, on low-grade ethnic violence, and on the political institutions of successor states. Sambanis's analysis is the first large-sample quantitative analysis of the subject, testing the propositions of partition theory and weighing heavily on the side of its critics. He shows that almost all the assertions of partition theorists fail to pass rigorous empirical tests. He finds that, on average, partition does not significantly reduce the probability of new violence. A better strategy might be to combine ethnic groups, but most important is to establish credible and equitable systems of governance. It is also important not to load the strategy with subjective premises about the necessity of ethnically pure states and about the futility of interethnic cooperation. This paper - a product of Public Economics, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to study the economics of civil wars. The author may be contacted at nsambanis@worldbank.org.
Spatiotemporal expectations of apparent motion and the effect of attentional control

An experimental investigation was conducted on whether and how temporal expectation influences visual processing in moving objects, while also considering the role of attention control. Data on reaction times were collected as outcome measures from two behavioural experiments. In experiment 1, participants (n = 36) were asked to monitor the movement of an object until its disappearance and respond quickly when it reappeared. The trajectory of an object before its disappearance generates expectations regarding the position and/or timing of its subsequent reappearance. Results revealed that all states of expectation significantly shortened reaction times compared with no expectation. In experiment 2, participants (n = 34) performed the same reaction time task while simultaneously engaging in a working memory task, which comprised memorising a string of characters. Results indicated that there is no difference in reaction times between the only temporal expectation and no expectation. Taken together, these results provide evidence to suggest that participants could predict the location and/or timing of target onset based on rhythmic moving objects, and that a secondary cognitive task impaired temporal expectation. These findings support the temporal expectation hypothesis regarding moving objects requiring attentional control resources.
Preliminary Results of Anthropogenic Seismicity Monitoring in the Region of Song Tranh 2 Reservoir, Central Vietnam

Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant and the reservoir containing backed up water are located in the Quang Nam province (Central Vietnam). The region experiences unusual seismic activity related to the reservoir impoundment, with earthquakes of magnitude up to 4.7. In result of cooperation between the Institute of Geophysics, Vietnam Academy of Sciences and Technology and the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences a seismic network has been built to facilitate seismic monitoring of the Song Tranh 2 area. The network, operating since August 2013, consists of 10 seismic stations. Here we show that the network is sufficient for advanced data processing. The first results of monitoring of the earthquake activity in Song Tranh 2 area in the period between 2012 and 2014, especially the completeness of catalogs, study and comparisons between water level and the seismic activity suggest direct connection between reservoir exploitation and anthropogenic seismicity.
Syn‐sedimentary structural controls on basin deformation in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

Abstract The Plio-Quaternary history of the Gulf of Corinth Basin has been controlled by dominantly north-south extension. The basin has an asymmetric graben geometry that is, at the present time, controlled by a master fault (the Gulf of Corinth Fault) downthrowing to the north and running offshore from the north Peloponnese coast. Detailed structural interpretation of single-channel seismic data collected during RRS ‘Shackleton’ cruise 1/82 combined with onshore structural studies indicates that the basin geometry is not controlled simply by the main Gulf of Corinth Fault. The subsidence history for the uppermost 1 km of sediment can be documented using time-structure contour maps and isochron maps. These indicate that there is a general narrowing in the size of the basin with time, achieved by fault-controlled subsidence switching to antithetic faults concentrated towards the basin centre. It can also be demonstrated that growth of sediments into topographic lows is not only controlled by sea bed rupture but also by more passive sea bed flexure over ‘blind’ faults at depth. The main conclusion of this study is that the 3D geometry of the Gulf of Corinth Basin changes not only spatially but also temporally. Active growth faulting and, therefore, the position of depocentres can switch across the basin and the relative importance of synthetic and antithetic faults controls the geometry of the basin, forming grabens, asymmetric grabens and half-grabens throughout the basin history.
Sistema de Video-on-Demand para IPTV

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is based on the distribution of television services over IP networks. IPTV is redefining the concept of media broadcast providing a vast amount of services in one single environment. The digital revolution also helped to create and deliver a high quality media solutions, using lower bit rates. One of the most demanding services is the Video-OnDemand (VOD). This implicates a dedicated streaming channel for each user in order to provide normal media player commands (i.e. pause, fast forward). Most multimedia companies offer personalized products that sometimes do not fulfil all the users needs, and are far from being a cheap solution. Only a personalized system built solely with open-source tools, may provide all the requirements we want. Our goal was to create a reliable and scalable VOD service, fully capable of dealing with the present state-of-the-art multimedia technologies. As this project was mainly for an Internet environment a Web Services (WS) exposure was needed to maximize the potential of our service, providing other developers the right tools to build and integrate our services in different applications. The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and the REpresentational State Transfer (REST) were currently the most used Web Services protocols and each one was widely spread among services like Facebook and Google. Both a Administration and User’s interface was needed to fully manage all the video metadata and contents, and properly view it in a rich and appealing application providing the ultimate proof of concept. In the end of this thesis we were able to acknowledge that the developed system, far from being an enterprise solution, was in fact capable of levelling with existing solutions, and could become even better with further development.
Impact of Enthalpy-Based Ensemble Filtering Sea Ice Data Assimilation on Decadal Predictions: Simulation with a Conceptual Pycnocline Prediction Model

AbstractThe non-Gaussian probability distribution of sea ice concentration makes it difficult to directly assimilate sea ice observations into a climate model. Because of the strong impact of the atmospheric and oceanic forcing on the sea ice state, any direct assimilation adjustment on sea ice states is easily overridden by model physics. A new approach implements sea ice data assimilation in enthalpy space where a sea ice model represents a nonlinear function that transforms a positive-definite space into the sea ice concentration subspace. Results from observation–assimilation experiments using a conceptual pycnocline prediction model that characterizes the influences of sea ice on the decadal variability of the climate system show that the new scheme efficiently assimilates “sea ice observations” into the model: while improving sea ice variability itself, it consistently improves the estimates of all “climate” components. The resulted coupled initialization that is physically consistent among all coup.
Implication of Genetic Variants Near TCF7L2, SLC30A8, HHEX, CDKAL1, CDKN2A/B, IGF2BP2, and FTO in Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity in 6,719 Asians

OBJECTIVE— Recent genome-wide association studies have identified six novel genes for type 2 diabetes and obesity and confirmed TCF7L2 as the major type 2 diabetes gene to date in Europeans. However, the implications of these genes in Asians are unclear. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— We studied 13 associated single nucleotide polymorphisms from these genes in 3,041 patients with type 2 diabetes and 3,678 control subjects of Asian ancestry from Hong Kong and Korea. RESULTS— We confirmed the associations of TCF7L2, SLC30A8, HHEX, CDKAL1, CDKN2A/CDKN2B, IGF2BP2, and FTO with risk for type 2 diabetes, with odds ratios ranging from 1.13 to 1.35 (1.3 × 10−12 < Punadjusted < 0.016). In addition, the A allele of rs8050136 at FTO was associated with increased BMI in the control subjects (Punadjusted = 0.008). However, we did not observe significant association of any genetic variants with surrogate measures of insulin secretion or insulin sensitivity indexes in a subset of 2,662 control subjects. Compared with subjects carrying zero, one, or two risk alleles, each additional risk allele was associated with 17% increased risk, and there was an up to 3.3-fold increased risk for type 2 diabetes in those carrying eight or more risk alleles. Despite most of the effect sizes being similar between Asians and Europeans in the meta-analyses, the ethnic differences in risk allele frequencies in most of these genes lead to variable attributable risks in these two populations. CONCLUSIONS— Our findings support the important but differential contribution of these genetic variants to type 2 diabetes and obesity in Asians compared with Europeans.
Prevalence and psychological correlates of anxiety symptoms in subthreshold depressive adolescents with a high level of rumination response style

This study examined between anxiety symptoms in subthreshold depressive (SD) adolescents with rumination and their personal predispositions. A total of 371 SD adolescents were enrolled in the study (females 55.26%, mean age = 16.34, SD = 0.96). The adolescents completed the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), Center for Epidemiological Survey-Depression Scale (CES-D), Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), Individualism-Collectivism Scale (ICS), and Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC). Results following univariate analysis, logistic regression (backward: Wald), and the area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) revealed a pattern among individuals with subthreshold depression and high levels of rumination. The SD adolescents with a high level of rumination scored higher on vertical individualism, which values independence, autonomy, competitiveness, and a desire for high status. Additionally, they also exhibited higher athletic competence, a self-esteem dimension related to one’s perceived skill, ability, and confidence in physical activities and sports. The combination of vertical individualism and athletic competence differentiated SD adolescents from those without anxiety symptoms. Our results suggest high vertical individualism and high athletic competence likely contribute to anxiety symptoms in SD adolescents with a high level of rumination.
Improving The Efficiency Of Detection Of Denial-Of-Service Attacks Using Multivariate Correlation Analysis

The Internet has recently grown into a fascinating network of web servers, database servers, and cloud computing servers. Its numerous internet offerings allow consumers to access services and information from anywhere at any time. However, because to the Internet's pervasiveness, many online services are continually exposed to security breaches. An adversary's Denial-of-Service assault on genuine users can be highly damaging and annoying. Denial-of-service (DoS) assaults are becoming increasingly complicated and daunting for enterprises of all sizes. Following a review of the many strategies for detecting DoS assaults on network services, an effective solution for securing online services is provided. In our proposed system, Multivariate Correlation Analysis – Attack Cosmean Cluster Forest (MCA-ACMCF), applies MCA to network traffic characterisation and uses anomaly-based detection to identify attacks. A triangular area approach is also proposed to improve and speed up MCA. Contrary to data mining, machine learning and statistical analysis suffer from large false-positive rates due to ignoring fundamental connections among features. Accuracy, precision, recall, F-measures, and statistical metrics like Mean absolute error, Root mean squared error, relative absolute error, and root relative squared error are used to evaluate the MCA-ACMCF model’s performance and is found to have an accuracy of 99.98 percent.
Accounting for the New Gains from Trade Liberalization

We measure the "new" gains from trade reaped by Canada as a result of the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA). We think of the "new" gains from trade of a country as all welfare effects pertaining to changes in the set of firms serving that country as emphasized in the so-called "new" trade literature. To this end, we first develop an exact decomposition of the gains from trade which separates "traditional" and "new" gains. We then apply this decomposition using Canadian and US micro data and and that the "new" welfare effects of CUSFTA on Canada were negative.
Effect of the Firing Temperatures on the Phase Evolution and Electrical Properties of 0.85[0.94Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.06BaTiO3]-0.15[Na0.73Bi0.09NbO3] Ceramics Synthesized via the Solid-State Combustion Method

Abstract In this research paper, we describe 0.85[0.94Bi0. 5Na0.5TiO3-0.06BaTiO3]-0.15[Na0.73Bi0. 09NbO3] (BNT-BT-NBN) ceramics fabricated by the solid-state combustion technique. The phase evolution, microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric and energy storage properties were examined. The BNT-BT-NBN powders and ceramics were calcined and sintered between 650–900 °C and 1100–1175 °C, respectively, for 2 h. All samples showed a typical perovskite structure, as revealed by X-ray diffraction. The Rietveld refinement analysis of the ceramics suggested the samples sintered between 1100 and 1150 °C had coexisting R + T phases, while the R + T+C phases were observed in the ceramics sintered at 1175 °C. The average grain size of the samples increased from 0.52 to 1.39 μm with increased sintering temperature. The density of the ceramics increased from 5.12 to 5.45 g/cm3 when the sintering temperature increased from 1100 to 1150 °C, and then decreased. Increasing the sintering temperature from 1100 to 1150 °C caused the dielectric constant at T s (ε s) and the dielectric constant at T m (ε m) to increase from 1727 to 1945 and 1564 to 1750, respectively, and then ε s and ε m declined. All BNT-BT-NBN ceramics had good dielectric temperature stability with only a±10% change when the temperature ranged from room temperature to ∼300 °C. The optimum energy-storage properties (W rec = 0.62 J/cm3 and η = 83.2%) were obtained from the BNT-BT-NBN ceramics sintered at 1150 °C for 2 h. This data indicates that BNT-BT-NBN ceramics can be useful as lead-free materials for high density energy-storage capacitors.
for imaging of the brain. Comparison of spin-echo MR pulse sequences

PURPOSE: To determine the value of the gradient-and spin-echo (GRASE) technique as compared with the fast spin-echo and conventional spin-echo techniques in MR imaging of the brain. METHODS: Sixty-six patients with ischemic and neoplastic brain lesions were examined with T2-weighted spin-echo, fast spin-echo, and GRASE sequences. Three independent observers evaluated the contrast characteristics of anatomic and pathologic structures and of artifacts. Quantitative image analysis included region-of-interest measurements of anatomic structures and lesions. RESULTS: The contrast of anatomic structures was superior in images obtained with conventional and fast spin-echo techniques as compared with those obtained with the GRASE technique. Extended lesions, such as tumors and territorial infarcts, were identified equally with all techniques. For delineation of small ischemic lesions, GRASE was slightly inferior to fast and conventional spin-echo sequences. Flow artifacts were considerably reduced with fast spin-echo and GRASE sequences. Chemical-shift artifacts were significantly reduced, but ringing artifacts were more pronounced with GRASE. CONCLUSION: Fast spin-echo remains the standard technique in MR imaging of the brain. However, GRASE might be useful in special cases, such as with uncooperative patients whose conventional or fast spin-echo images show severe motion artifacts.
Triple-Negative Primary Myelo�brosis: a Bone Marrow Pathology Group (BMPG) study

Primary myelo�brosis (PMF) is a clonal myeloproliferative neoplasm driven by canonical gene mutations in JAK2, CALR or MPL in more than 80% of the cases. PMF cases that lack these canonical alterations are termed triple-negative PMF (TN-PMF). The pathologic and genetic characteristics of TN-PMF compared to conventional PMF with canonical driver mutations (DM-PMF) have not been well studied. We aim to identify clinicopathologic and molecular genetic differences between TN-PMF (n = 56) and DM-PMF (n = 89), all of which ful�lled the 2016 WHO diagnostic criteria for PMF. Compared to the control group, TN-PMF patients were more likely to have thrombocytopenia and less likely to have organomegaly. The bone marrow with TN-PMF showed fewer granulocytic elements and more frequent dyserythropoiesis. Cytogenetic analysis showed a higher incidence of trisomy 8. Targeted NGS revealed a lower frequency of ASXL1 mutations but an enrichment of ASXL1/SRSF2 co-mutations. Our �ndings demonstrated several clinicopathologic and molecular differences between TN-PMF and DM-PMF. These �ndings, particularly the observed mutation pro�le characterized by a higher frequency of ASXL1 and SRSF2 co-mutation, suggest that at least a subset of TN-PMF may be pathogenetically different from DM-PMF, with potential prognostic implications.
Using the value of information to determine optimal well order in a sequential drilling program

Offshore drilling programs on complex reservoirs carry inherent risks. Subsurface uncertainty can lead to costly mistakes being made, and, therefore, being able to gain information during the course of a sequential drilling program, and use it effectively, can have sizeable capital importance. Based only on predicted drilling costs and production rates, wells closest to the platform would commonly be drilled before longer offset wells by virtue of their cheaper drilling costs. However, there is potential during the drilling program for learning to occur between the drilling of two wells that would either provide encouragement to go ahead and drill the second well, change it in some way, or, indeed, remove it from the program altogether. Analyzing the predicted value of this learning, before drilling commences, can reveal the conditions under which the longer offset well could be drilled first because of its potential to impact decisions regarding the second well. The various scenarios and their sensitivities are analyzed using a value of information (VoI) approach, providing an example of how VoI can be used proactively in the construction of learning drilling strategies. The same approach can be extended to most other data acquisition situations.
Tuning the Emulsion Properties Influences the Size of Poly(Caprolactone) Particles for Drug Delivery Applications

Advances in drug delivery have been accelerated with the addition of polymeric drug carriers. Direct delivery to a target site is a promising step in developing effective drug and gene therapies to treat disease. The efficacy of these drug carriers heavily relies on cell uptake without compromising critical cellular processes that promote cell viability. Drug release from biodegradable polymers is mediated largely by polymer degradation, and therefore the rate of polymer degradation dictates the feasibility of drug delivery applications. Traditionally, poly(caprolactone) (PCL) has only been used in long-term biomedical applications because the degradation time is much slower than other polymers. However, the biocompatibility of this polymer and the potential for longer delivery windows renders it a promising polymer candidate for drug delivery. In this work, we outline sixteen emulsion solvent evaporation preparation methods for PCL nanoparticles and microparticles to develop particles between 300 nm and 1.7 μm and with zeta potentials of -1.8 mV. We further investigated particles in a size range suitable for systemic tumor delivery and inhaled aerosol delivery to determine cell biocompatibility with the polymer in lung adenocarcinoma, endometrial adenocarcinoma, and human embryonic kidney cells. We determined these particles aren’t detrimental to cell viability below particle monolayer coverage atop cells and therefore these formulations hold promise for the next stage of development as sustained-release drug delivery carriers.
A contribution to the knowledge of Upper Devonian ammonoids from the Holy Cross•Mts

The paper comprises a short review of previous paleontological studies on the Upper Devonian ammonoids from the Holy Cross Mts and so)me remarks concerning their occurrence and state of preservation. Two species, hitherto unknown in Poland, found in Frasnian deposits in the vicinity of Łagow, Manticoceras bickense (Wedekind) and M. inversum Wedekind, are described. In the species Manticoceras bickense (Wedekind)sexual dimorphism has been recognized.
Stick‐slip and creep behavior in lubricated granular material: Insights into the brittle‐ductile transition

Crustal deformation can occur via stick‐slip events, viscous creep, or strain transients at variable rates. Here we explore such strain transients with physical experiments comprising a quasi‐two‐dimensional shear zone with elastic, acrylic discs and interstitial viscous silicone. Experiments of solely elastic discs produce stick‐slip events and an overall (constant volume) strengthening. The addition of the viscous silicone enhances localization but does not greatly change the overall pattern of strengthening. It does, however, damp the stick‐slip events, leading to transient, creep‐like behavior that approaches the behavior of a Maxwell body. There is no gradual transition from frictional to viscous deformation with increasing amounts of silicone, suggesting that the mixed rheology is in effect as soon as an interstitial fluid is present. Our experiments support the hypothesis that a possible cause for strain transients in nature is an interstitial viscous phase in shear zones.