Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carbon dioxide emissions under different soil tillage systems in mechanically harvested sugarcane

Soil tillage and other methods of soil management may influence CO2 emissions because they accelerate the mineralization of organic carbon in the soil. This study aimed to quantify the CO2 emissions under conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT) and reduced tillage (RT) during the renovation of sugarcane fields in southern Brazil. The experiment was performed on an Oxisol in the sugarcane-planting area with mechanical harvesting. An undisturbed or no-till (NT) plot was left as a control treatment. The CO2 emissions results indicated a significant interaction (p < 0.001) between tillage method and time after tillage. By quantifying the accumulated emissions over the 44 days after soil tillage, we observed that tillage-induced emissions were higher after the CT system than the RT and MT systems, reaching 350.09 g m−2 of CO2 in CT, and 51.7 and 5.5 g m−2 of CO2 in RT and MT respectively. The amount of C lost in the form of CO2 due to soil tillage practices was significant and comparable to the estimated value of potential annual C accumulation resulting from changes in the harvesting system in Brazil from burning of plant residues to the adoption of green cane harvesting. The CO2 emissions in the CT system could respond to a loss of 80% of the potential soil C accumulated over one year as result of the adoption of mechanized sugarcane harvesting. Meanwhile, soil tillage during the renewal of the sugar plantation using RT and MT methods would result in low impact, with losses of 12% and 2% of the C that could potentially be accumulated during a one year period.
England's time to change antistigma campaign: one-year outcomes of service user-rated experiences of discrimination.

OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the progress at one year of England's Time to Change (TTC) program, launched in 2009, toward meeting its target to reduce mental health-related stigma and discrimination by 5%. METHODS TTC comprises three national components: antistigma marketing campaign activities, mass physical exercise events (Time to Get Moving) to facilitate social contact between people with and without mental health problems, and an online resource on mental health and employment (Time to Challenge). Part of the TTC evaluation consists of an annual national phone survey of mental health service users. Participants (537 in 2008 and 1,047 in 2009) were current outpatient service users aged 18-65 registered with National Health Service community mental health teams that are selected annually to represent the range of socioeconomic deprivation. Telephone interviews were conducted with service users with the Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC) to document experienced discrimination and anticipated discrimination in the past 12 months. RESULTS One or more experiences of discrimination were reported by 9-1% of participants in 2008 and 87% of participants in 2009 (p = .03). In 2009 significantly less discrimination was reported from a number of common sources, including family (reported by 53% in 2008 and 46% in 2009), friends (53% and 39%), finding employment (24% and 16%), and keeping employment (from 17% to 13%). Experiences of discrimination from mental health professionals did not change significantly (reported by about one-third of participants in both years). CONCLUSIONS Results suggest positive progress toward meeting the program's targeted 5% reduction in discrimination.
Creating Value In The Oil Industry

In contrast with current thinking that conglomerates are inefficient, this article begins by presenting arguments in favor of the size and structure of the large integrated oil companies, also known as "the supermajors. " Among the advantages are tax efficiency, information flow, political and technological know-how, broad supplier and customer relationships, scale economies, cross-business economies of scope, brand power, and the ability to coordinate strategic initiatives across businesses. These advantages all translate into a lower cost of capital. 2004 Morgan Stanley.
Identity Politics and Economic Reform: Examining Industry-State Relations in the Czech and Slovak Republics

OVER THE PAST DECADE THE capitalist and democratic transformations in Eastern Europe have enabled certain countries to integrate successfully in Western institutions and organisations. In contrast to Slovakia, three Central European states, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic have already become members of NATO and expect to join the European Union before long. Curiously, a rapprochement between the West and Slovakia has been much slower. The diverging paths of Slovakia and the Czech Republic are quite surprising given their identical starting point in 1989. Analysing this divergence may offer insights into understanding the trajectories of other post-communist states vis-a-vis the West. An area of divergence of particular interest between the Czech Republic and Slovakia involves the process of transforming the command economy to a market economy, and specifically the politics that facilitated or obstructed liberalising economic reforms. In the transformation of former communist economies more generally, success in advancing liberal economic reforms can be seen to depend upon the ability of state actors to mediate, and even suppress, the demands of pivotal social and industrial actors. Most post-communist governments recognised the importance of the managers of medium and large enterprises as a key group that could facilitate or hinder the process of capitalist reform. While governments varied in their choice of whether to appease, co-opt, disempower or ally with managers, no government undertaking structural economic reforms could choose to ignore them-as the managerial elite (also known as the former industrial nomenklatura) constituted one of the most powerful interest groups at the end of the communist period. Indeed, after the collapse of the former regime, managers in many post-communist states continued to enjoy widespread powers and privileges. Through their links to technocrats in the branch ministries and through their paternalistic relationships with the labour force, managers were well poised to obstruct or redirect the government's approach to reforming the economy. In this article we explore the relationship between management and the state in economic transition in order to understand why certain economic actors are better able to shape policy making in some contexts than others. We consider two examples of post-communist economic reform-the Czech and Slovak cases-and analyse the extent to which managers shaped the privatisation process and altered the direction of
Forecasting the New York State Economy with 'Terraced' VARs and Coincident Indices

This paper introduces "Terraced" Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models, an innovative twist on traditional VAR modeling, which allows the econometrician to simultaneously forecast both exogenous and endogenous variables and the confidence intervals around those forecasts.In an application of our Terraced VAR framework, we have estimated coincident indices of economic activity for the United States, New York State and the six largest metropolitan areas of New York State and incorporated them into Terraced VARs, which forecast the unemployment rate, total non-farm employment, real wages and average hours worked in manufacturing in those regions.
ECONOMIC HARM IGNORED: BETAMAX REVISITED

This paper assesses the economic harm to copyright owners from selected uses of home videocassette recorders. Specifically, we examine the consequences of such household behavior as the copying of prerecorded videocassettes and taping television broadcasts for permanent collections (i.e., "librarying"). Such uses have an adverse effect on the efficiency of intellectual property creation, and on the equitable distribution of monetary rewards generated by commercial exploitation of those private properties. Economic harm is described in the context of existing property rights enforcement. We also present estimates of lost monetary rewards (royalties) to copyright owners from displaced sales of prerecorded videocassettes due to such librarying. Copyright 1986 Western Economic Association International.
Volunteer Tourists' Motivation Change and Intended Participation

Volunteer tourism has gained interests in academia and the industry due to its distinctive profiles such as personal and interpersonal values. While most research has focused on understanding tourist motivation using qualitative research methods such as interview, observation, and focus group, few empirical studies have examined how volunteer trips change volunteer tourists' motivation. Moreover, little research has investigated how and what motivation makes a significant impact on future participation in the context of volunteer tourism. Utilizing volunteer tourists from Korea, this study found that interactive volunteer tourism does change tourist motivation. This study also found that some motivation makes a significant influence on future volunteer tourism participation.
c‐Src‐dependent transactivation of EGFR mediates CORM‐2‐induced HO‐1 expression in human tracheal smooth muscle cells

Carbon monoxide (CO), a reaction product of the cytoprotective heme oxygenase (HO)‐1, displays an anti‐inflammatory effect in various cellular injuries, but the precise mechanisms of HO‐1 expression remain unknown. We used the transition metal carbonyl compound carbon monoxide‐releasing molecule‐2 (CORM‐2) that acts as carbon monoxide donor. The effects of CORM‐2 on expression of HO‐1 in human tracheal smooth muscle cells (HTSMCs) were determined by Western blot, real‐time PCR, and promoter activity assay. In HTSMCs, CORM‐2 activated Nrf2 through the activation of a c‐Src/EGFR/PI3K/Akt‐dependent pathway, resulting in HO‐1 expression. We showed that CORM‐2‐induced HO‐1 protein and mRNA levels were inhibited by the inhibitor of c‐Src (PP1 or SU6656), EGFR (AG1478), PI3K (LY294002), Akt (SH‐5), JNK1/2 (SP600125), or p38 MAPK (SB202190) and transfection with siRNA of c‐Src, EGFR, Akt, p38, JNK2, or Nrf2 in HTSMCs. We also showed that CORM‐2 stimulated c‐Src, EGFR, Akt, p38 MAPK, and JNK1/2 phosphorylation. CORM‐2 also enhanced Nrf2 translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus and antioxidant response element (ARE) promoter activity. Moreover, CORM‐2 mediated p38 MAPK and JNK1/2 activation via a c‐Src/EGFR/PI3K/Akt pathway, which further enhanced Nrf2 activation and translocation. Finally, we observed that CORM‐2 induced in vivo binding of Nrf2 to the HO‐1 promoter. CORM‐2 activates the c‐Src/EGFR/PI3K/Akt/JNK1/2 and p38 MAPK pathways, which in turn trigger Nrf2 activation and ultimately induces HO‐1 expression in HTSMCs. Thus, the HO‐1/CO system might be potential therapeutics in airway diseases. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 2351–2361, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Crescimento das Cidades Brasileiras na Década de Noventa

This paper is an empirical study on the determinants of economic growth and population growth in Brazilian cities in the nineties. For this objective, it is used variables that represent the initial characteristics of these cities as Glaeser et alii (1995) and Glaeser e Shapiro (2003) papers. The chosen variables follow the theoretical contributions from the new growth theories and the new economic geography. The results reinforce that human capital is an important promoter of positive externalities, Knowledge Spillovers, which generate economic growth. The paper also shows that negative externalities, such as congestion and poverty, reduce the economic growth. Another contribution of the paper is to study the effects of transport costs in economic growth. The results show a non-linearity in the relationship in that cities near state capitals grew more than cities far from capitals and capitals. Population growth results show that the Brazilian cities population growth is affected positively by measures of income and life quality and show that the urbanization process continues. There was a movement to urban areas where the wages and quality of life are greater.
Plasmonic Fabry-Perot cavity as platform to build nano-optical filters and sensors

This work deals with the nano-optical version of a Fabry-Perot cavity. By exciting plasmon modes on the metallic nanoparticles in the cavity, optical power can be squeezed into subwavelength scale without scattering effects stemmed from diffraction. As suggested by our results, it surges feasible to use such structure as a building block for optical resonators at nanometer dimensions. Furthermore, the enhanced near-field provided by the plasmon modes yields a high-sensitive ultra-compact area, which meets potential applications for biochemical sensing.
Low power design of H.264 CAVLC decoder

In this paper, a low power architecture for realizing the CAVLC decoder is proposed. In traditional VLC decoding algorithms, we could search a level in Huffman coding tree per operation. Therefore, the throughput rate is limited by the searching level. The CAVLC algorithm takes the advantage of the trend among AC coefficients in each block to predict the next codeword. The prediction mechanism can significantly improve the decoding efficiency. Hence, we suggested two efficient approaches, table partitioning and prefix predecoding, to reduce the power consumption in decoding the VLC codes. The proposed low-power CAVLD architecture achieves the real-time requirement for 720p HD (1280times720) format, while the clock is operated at 125 MHz. In simulations, the proposed architecture can reduce about 25% of power consumption in comparison to its counterpart without low power design
Venturing Down the TOM Path for SME's

TON VAN DER WIELE IS DIRECTOR OF THE Strategic Quality Management Institute at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Alan Brown is Director of the Small and Medium Enterprise Research Centre at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. SMEs face considerable pressure to gain ISO 9000 series quality system certification if they are suppliers to major organisations and governments; furthermore, if they seek to operate in certain markets they may also require certification. To what extent, however, do they adopt broader quality concepts such as total quality management and that as outlined in the quality award models? This paper explores these questions by examining factors which distinguish between those SMEs which focus on narrow concepts of quality such as ISO 9000 and those who move to more holistic approaches such as TQM. The analysis is based on two questionnaire surveys in Australia, one to all ISO 9000 certified organisations in Western Australia and the other to all members of the Australian Quality Council. A limited number of semi- structured interviews were also used to provide case study material of experiences of small companies. The research indicated that SMEs, albeit not large numbers, do use broader quality concepts other than ISO 9000. Findings suggest that two groups of SMEs can be differentiated on the basis of their approach to quality. There are the just ISO' group who generally focus on ISO 9000 because of market pressures while the 'quality progressive' or enlightened group view quality in a more holistic manner. The latter group tend to adopt broader notions of quality which includes TQM and quality award models as a framework for their quality activities. These two groups can be differentiated on issues such as: employee involvement, self-assessment, process improvement and capability and assessing process performance.
School effectiveness in Zambia: The origins of differences between rural and urban outcomes

Surveys have shown that Zambian urban residents have significantly higher schooling attainment rates than rural residents and are more likely to be literate. To address this inequality in education outcomes it is important to understand to what extent this is a result of a resource gap (for example, differences in teachers or textbooks) or different returns on resources (for example, an additional teacher makes more of a difference in urban areas). To explore this idea this study performed an Oaxaca decomposition on the SACMEQ II data set for Zambia. The results showed that the rural–urban gap was attributable both to differences in the presence of resources (55% of the gap) and differences in the returns on resources (45% of the gap). Since returns on resources are considerably lower in rural areas, additional resource investment alone is unlikely to close the gap between rural and urban schooling outcomes.
Leadership development inside‐out in Africa

Leadership development is a high priority for African nonprofit organizations, but we know very little about what causes leaders in Africa change their behavior and how. Most leadership development programs use imported Western models that at best pay only lip-service to the very different culture and context in Africa. This article outlines the research findings of a three-country study conducted in Malawi, Uganda, and Kenya. This study found that changes in leadership style, although individual and complex, followed an underlying pattern. External events catalyzed an inside-out change process. Effective leadership development requires in-depth understanding and application of local contextual and cultural issues. Ultimately, however, the process of leadership development is tied to deeper, universal principles of human behavior.
The Siskel and Ebert of Financial Markets: Two Thumbs Down for the Credit Rating Agencies

This paper critiques the role of credit ratings and credit rating agencies in providing information about bonds. The dominant "reputational capital" view of credit rating agencies is that the agencies have survived and prospered since the early 1900s based on their ability to accumulate and retain reputational capital (i.e., good reputations) by providing valuable information about the bonds they rate. The paper argues that this view fails to explain, and is inconsistent with, certain types of market behavior including: the estimation of credit spreads, the number of credit ratings-driven transactions, and the explosion in use of credit derivatives. In place of the reputational capital view, the paper offers a "regulatory license" view of rating agencies as generating value, not by providing valuable information, but by enabling issuers and investors to satisfy certain regulatory requirements. The paper concludes that regulators should eliminate regulatory dependence on credit ratings by substituting a regime based on market-determined bond credit spreads (i.e., the difference between the yield on a bond and the yield on a risk-free bond of comparable maturity). Such credit spreads reflect all available information, including credit ratings, and therefore are more accurate and reliable than credit ratings.
Dissolution of root canal sealer cements in volatile solvents.

AIM There are few published data on the solubility profiles of endodontic sealers in solvents commonly employed in root canal retreatment. This study tested the hypothesis that root canal sealer cements are insoluble in the volatile solvents chloroform and halothane. METHODOLOGY Standardized samples (n = 5) of glass ionomer (Ketac Endo), zinc oxide-eugenol (Tubli-Seal EWT), calcium hydroxide (Apexit) and epoxy resin (AH Plus) based sealers were immersed in chloroform or halothane for 30 s, 1 min, 5 min and 10 min. Mean loss of weight was plotted against time of exposure, and differences in behaviour assessed by multiple paired t-tests (P < 0.01). RESULTS Clear differences were shown in the solubility profiles of major classes of root canal sealer cements in two common volatile solvents. In comparison with other classes of material, Ketac Endo was the least soluble in chloroform and halothane (P < 0.01), with less than 1% weight loss after 10 min exposure to either solvent. Apexit had low solubility with 11.6% and 14.19% weight loss after 10 min exposure to chloroform and halothane, respectively. The difference between solvents was not significant (P > 0.01). Tubli-Seal EWT was significantly less soluble in halothane than chloroform (5.19% and 62.5% weight loss after 10 min exposure, respectively (P < 0.01)). Its solubility in halothane was not significantly different from that of Apexit. AH Plus was significantly more soluble than all other materials in both chloroform and halothane (96% and 68% weight loss after 10 min exposure, respectively (P < 0.01)). CONCLUSIONS There are significant differences in the solubility profiles of major classes of root canal sealer in common organic solvents. Efforts should continue to find a more universally effective solvent for use in root canal treatment.
Juros, câmbio e as imperfeições do canal do crédito

The objective of this paper is to analyze the role of credit as a monetary policy transmission mechanism. First we present a theoretical description of the credit channel of a stylized economy and then quantify the effects of the credit channel on the Brazilian economy by estimating a credit demand equation. We, then, focus on the credit channel as a transmitter of demand shocks via firms' balance sheets, functioning as "financial multiplier" of those shocks. Concluding, we analyze the empirical evidence of that "financial multiplier" through which movements in the exchange rate impact the Brazilian economy, a possible explanation for lasting effects of exchange rate crises on economic growth.
Fear, Shame and Guilt: Economic and Behavioral Motivations for Strategic Default

This study examines underwater primary resident homeowners to identify why some decide to strategically default while others do not. We find that realized shame and guilt are consistent with ex ante expectations. However, the financial backlash experienced by strategic defaulters is less than anticipated, causing strategic defaulters not to regret their actions. State‐specific bankruptcy exemption levels and real estate laws only marginally explain the decision to strategically default, partly because the decision to walk away from a mortgage is emotional, and partly because the implementation of these laws is uncertain and confusing to distressed borrowers. Rather, we find key strategic default drivers include the homeowner's expectation of future real estate price movements, frustration with the lender, moral evaluation of the decision to strategically default, loan knowledge, political ideology, gender, income and age.
Political Uncertainty and Stock Market Returns: Evidence from the 1995 Quebec Referendum

In this study, we investigate the short run effect of the 30 October 1995 Quebec referendum on the common stock returns of Quebec firms. Our results show that the uncertainty surrounding the referendum outcome had an impact on stock returns of Quebec firms. We also find that the effect of the referendum varied with the political risk exposure of Quebec firms, that is, the structure of assets and principally the degree of foreign involvement.
KORRIGAN - a comprehensive initiative for GaN HEMT technology in Europe

KORRIGAN is a large-scale joint multinational initiative of leading system houses and research laboratories in Europe aiming at the development of an independent and state-of-the-art capability in GaN HEMT technology. The main objective of KORRIGAN is to establish a stand alone European supply chain and foundry service. Several key research areas such as materials, processing, reliability evaluation, thermal management and packaging, are addressed and are involve in European industrial and university partners. The benefits of GaN technology are finally evaluated at system level for critical defence applications up to 20 GHz with the fabrication and test of circuit, MMIC and module demonstrators.