Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Offshore Outsourcing: Implications for International Business and Strategic Management Theory and Practice

In this essay, I discuss the implications of the debate over offshoring for our collective understanding of international business and management theories. I review several core theories in international business expansion and management strategy to assess which elements of these theories may need to be re-specified in light of the offshoring phenomenon and which aspects remain relevant. I then present normative implications and recommendations for public policy and corporate strategy, drawing from emerging insights regarding the global responsibilities of corporations. I suggest that international labour and environmental standards and corporate codes of conduct could mitigate some of the most intense concerns raised about offshoring but conclude that offshoring is likely to present challenges to societies, corporations, and stakeholders for many decades. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2005.
Application of a magnesium correction to the sodium-potassium-calcium geothermometer for selected thermal waters in southeastern Idaho

Initial reservoir temperatures estimated by use of chemical geothermometers for thermal waters in southeastern Idaho generally result in poor agreement between the sodium-potassium-calcium and silica geothermometers. Concentrations of magnesium in these thermal waters ranged from 7.1 to 260 milligrams per liter. By applying a magnesium correction to the sodium-potassium-calcium geothermometer, estimated reservoir temperatures previously reported are reduced between 39/sup 0/ and 268/sup 0/C and result in much closer agreement between the sodium-potassium-calcium- and silica-estimated reservoir temperatures. Reservoir temperatures in southeastern Idaho probably do not exceed 128/sup 0/C.
Non-invasive deformation analysis of historical buildings through the advanced SBAS-DInSAR technique: the case of the city of Roma (Italy)

The monitoring of urban areas and man-made structures is of key importance for the preservation of artistic, archaeological and architectural heritage. In this context, the remote sensing techniques may allow non-invasive analysis of large areas by exploiting long time series of satellite data. Among these techniques, the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry (InSAR) has already demonstrated to be an effective tool for monitoring the displacements occurring in the historical and artistic heritage located in the historical city centers. As a matter of fact, the InSAR technique allows producing spatially dense deformation maps with centimeter to millimeter accuracy, by exploiting the phase difference (interferogram) of temporally separated SAR images relevant to the same analyzed area. In order to guarantee the monitoring of urban area displacements, it is strategic to provide very long term deformation time series by also exploiting SAR data acquired by different sensors. Accordingly, ERS/ENVISAT data archive, providing acquisitions spanning the 1992-2010 time period, might allow us generating very long term deformation time-series. However, an ERS/ENVISAT data combination is limited by the two sensors slightly different carrier frequencies: 5.331 GHz for the ENVISAT sensor and 5.3 GHz for the ERS one. Therefore, because the interferometric phase is dependent on the radiation wavelength, the generation of conventional ERS/ENVISAT cross-interferograms is strongly affected by the induced decorrelation effects. In this work we show the effectiveness of the Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) (Berardino et al., 2002; Lanari et al., 2004) approach for the conservation, monitoring and risk prevention of cultural heritage. Indeed, the SBAS technique allows us to produce deformation time series at the scale of the single building by processing very long sequences of ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT (IS2 swath) SAR data, acquired with the same illumination geometry. In particular, the SBAS approach exploits only conventional ERS/ERS and ENVISAT/ENVISAT differential interferograms, in order to limit the decorrelation effects and improve the number of the detected coherent points. Accordingly, this method may play a key role for supporting the study and conservation strategies of the historical built heritage, monuments and artistic artifacts, due to its capability of generating deformation time series spanning time interval of more than 15 years. The presented results, achieved by applying the full resolution SBAS approach to an ERS/ENVISAT dataset relevant to the city of Rome, demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique to detect and analyze the temporal evolution of possible deformation phenomena affecting historical buildings within the investigated 1992-2009 time period.
A New Central Station for a Unified City: Predicting Impact on Property Prices for Urban Railway Network Extensions in Berlin

This paper develops a framework for predicting impact of urban railway network extensions on property prices. Impact of market potential and access to employment is assessed within a hedonic model environment employing potentiality variables and highly disaggregated data. Based on empirical results, expected impact on property prices is assessed for proposed railway extensions connecting Berlin’s new central station to the existing metrorail and suburban railway network. Relying on simulated changes in population and employment potentialities, expected increase in aggregated land value is compared for residential and business properties. Application of highly disaggregated data allows detailed mapping of expected pattern of impacts.
Priming and binding in and across perception and action: A correlational analysis of the internal structure of event files

Individual performance was compared across three different tasks that tap into the binding of stimulus features in perception, the binding of action features in action planning, and the emergence of stimulus–response bindings (“event files”). Within a task correlations between the size of binding effects were found within visual perception (e.g., the strength of shape–location binding correlated positively with the strength of shape–colour binding) but not between perception and action planning, suggesting different, domain-specific binding mechanisms. To some degree, binding strength was predicted by priming effects of the respective features, especially if these features varied on a dimension that matched the current attentional set.
When Passion Does Not Change, but Emotions Do: Testing a Social Media Intervention Related to Exercise Activity Engagement

Grounded in self-determination theory and the dualistic model of passion, the present study tested whether a social media intervention could promote harmonious passion and positive emotions related to exercise activities. A 4-week intervention managed through an Instagram™ account was designed to promote more harmonious passion and less obsessive passion, as well as more positive emotions and less negative emotions related to participants’ favorite exercise activities. A web-based questionnaire was distributed to 518 young adults (mean age 26.5) before and after the intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (N = 226) or control group (N = 292). The intervention did not predict change in passion for the activity. However, the intervention predicted more positive emotional outcomes from the activity, statistically controlled for emotions reported at baseline and negative emotions reported at follow-up. Results indicate that digital platforms may be relevant in promoting more physical activity in the population, through the facilitation of more positive emotions related to exercise.
BIS Working Papers No 315 The determinants of cross-border bank flows to emerging markets : new empirical evidence on the spread of financial crises

This paper studies the nature of spillover effects in bank lending flows from advanced to the emerging market economies and identifies specific channels through which such effects occur. Based on a gravity model we examine a panel data set on cross-border bank flows from 17 advanced to 28 emerging market economies in Asia, Latin America and central and eastern Europe from 1993 to 2008. The empirical analysis suggests that global as well as country specific factors are significant determinants of cross-border bank flows. Greater global risk aversion and expected financial market volatility seem to have been the most important factors behind the decrease in cross-border bank flows during the crisis of 2007– 08. The decrease in cross-border loans to central and eastern Europe was more limited compared to Asia and Latin America, in large measure because of the higher degree of financial and monetary integration in Europe, and relatively sound banking systems in the region. These results are robust to various specification, sub-samples and econometric methodologies. JEL classification: F34, F36, G01, O57, C23
SMOOTHING SEQUENCES OF DATA BY EXTREME SELECTORS

Non-linear smoothers based on the extreme selectors have been developed as a class with very powerful properties and ideally suited for application to data having impulsive noise, the type of data that often occur in the engineering and financial fields. Some of their properties make them ideally suited as a basis for teaching students about the art and science of data smoothing. These include inter alia their treatment of blockpulses of particular lengths as either signal or noise, its idempotency properties, which powerfully and visually demonstrate the mathematical concept of idempotence (which is often difficult for students to grasp) and the way that they systematically, measurably and monotonically “peel off” variation until one has a sufficiently smooth result. In this paper we define and discuss members of this class of smoothers and illustrate how their properties make them attractive aids in teaching aspects of nonparametric smoothing as well as aspects of Extreme Value Theory. A Standard and Poor 500 financial data set will be used for illustration purposes.
Error quantification of particle position estimation on colour images for Particle Tracking Velocimetry

Particle Tracking Velocimetry relies on an accurate determination of particle image centroids in order to carry out reliable 3D photogrammetric reconstruction and trajectory linking. Centroid estimation on monochrome images is usually carried out with subpixel accuracy. When utilising differently coloured tracer particles to facilitate assignment procedures for PTV, colour cameras are required. They feature Bayer mosaic colour filters, which reduce the apparent pixel resolution of each colour channel. The present work is a first approach allowing to quantify centroid errors for different combinations of centroid estimators and demosaicing procedures using simulated colour particle images and varying parameter sets. The centroid of mass estimator turns out to be the most reliable method for most demosaicing techniques, with mean errors in subpixel range. A customised colour defiltering approach seems to be superior in certain defined ranges of wavelengths, but requires a colour classification of particles a priori.
Determining the Speed of Sound as a Function of Temperature Using Arduino

When sound waves are taught at the secondary level, the speed of propagation of sound is one of the most important characteristics to be analyzed. However, it is very common in textbooks that the value of sound speed in air is considered constant regardless of the experimental conditions. The great question is that since sound is a mechanical wave, its speed is influenced by the medium of propagation and also by the temperature. In most cases, the techniques reported for that goal usually make use of expensive equipment and techniques that may not be affordable and/or easy to implement in schools, which is an experimental limitation for the teachers to show this influence on their students. In this work, we present a low-cost experimental apparatus, controlled by the open source electronic platform Arduino®, with which it is possible to determine the speed of propagation of sound as a function of the temperature for a short measuring region, thus enabling the students to verify experimentally this important feature of sound waves.
Partial Differential Equation-Based Enhancement and Crack Detection

This paper presents an effective partial differential equation- (PDE-) based preprocessing algorithm for automated image-based crack detection. The proposed formulation combines various relevant and multiple processes such as contrast and selective edge enhancement in addition to edge-preserving smoothing to enhance the image prior to detection. The approach is adaptive and controlled by reliable image metrics to determine the stopping time of the PDE ensuring optimum results for various images. Additionally, a simplified thresholding algorithm based on local global maximum gradient matching is used to extract the crack features from the image. The proposed scheme does not require arbitrary or manually tuned parameters nor a large dataset for training to obtain good results. Experiments indicate that the proposed approach performs better when compared to several other algorithms in the literature.
Écologie throphique de l’huitrier noir africain (haematopus-moquini) sur les littoraux rocheux de l’Afrique Australe en relation avec la viabilité de son habitat

La distribution d'especes benthiques intertidales est contrainte par l'oceanographie cotiere. On connait moins les effets sur l'ecologie des predateurs. Les cotes sud de l'Afrique sont caracterisees par des contrastes de production primaire et d'assemblages intertidaux dus aux deux courants majeurs qui les longent. Le predateur apical de ces cotes est un oiseau limicole endemique, l'huitrier noir africain (Haematopus moquini), qui presente un polymorphisme favorable a la specialisation alimentaire. Ces travaux ont etudie l'effet des variations spatiales de structure de communautes benthiques sur l'ecologie alimentaire de l'huitrier a l'aide des isotopes stables. Les oiseaux repondent aux fluctuations qualitative et quantitative des communautes de proies a plusieurs echelles. A large echelle ils montrent de forts contrastes entre les cotes ouest et sud-ouest ou le regime alimentaire est domine par les moules, notamment l'espece invasive Mytilus galloprovincialis et le sud-est ou un melange de moules et patelles est consomme. Localement les individus montrent des differences faibles d'alimentation liees a l'abondance relative des moules et patelles. Cela s'explique par le caractere generaliste de l'espece et le relâchement de competition intra-specifique pour les ressources. La transition alimentaire d'H. moquini vers une consommation quasi-exclusive a l'ouest d'une moule introduite et la multitude de comportements alimentaires ailleurs indiquent un fort potentiel d'adaptation aux modifications de son habitat d'alimentation. En revanche la degradation des plages par l'Homme augmente la competition pour l'espace et affecterait aujourd'hui le succes reproducteur de l'espece.
In Channelrhodopsin-2 Glu-90 Is Crucial for Ion Selectivity and Is Deprotonated during the Photocycle*

Background: Channelrhodopsin-2 is a light-gated ion channel extensively used in optogenetics. Results: Glu-90 is deprotonated in the open state and is crucial for ion selectivity. Conclusion: Protonation change of Glu-90 is part of the opening/closing of the conductive pore, and the functional protein unit is assumed to be the monomer. Significance: Understanding the gating mechanism is necessary for optimizing this optogenetic tool. The light-activated microbial ion channel channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) is a powerful tool to study cellular processes with high spatiotemporal resolution in the emerging field of optogenetics. To customize the channel properties for optogenetic experiments, a detailed understanding of its molecular reaction mechanism is essential. Here, Glu-90, a key residue involved in the gating and selectivity mechanism of the ion channel is characterized in detail. The deprotonation of Glu-90 during the photocycle is elucidated by time-resolved FTIR spectroscopy, which seems to be part of the opening mechanism of the conductive pore. Furthermore, Glu-90 is crucial to ion selectivity as also revealed by mutation of this residue combined with voltage clamp experiments. By dynamic homology modeling, we further hypothesized that the conductive pore is flanked by Glu-90 and located between helices A, B, C, and G.
Estimating Lives Saved by Electronic Stability Control, 2008–2012

In 2012, electronic stability control (ESC) saved an estimated 446 lives among passenger car (PC) occupants, and 698 lives among light truck and van (LTV) occupants, for a total of 1,144 lives saved among passenger vehicle (PV) occupants. PVs consist of PCs and LTVs. This estimate of 1,144 lives saved in 2012 is a substantial increase over the estimated 859 lives saved in 2011, 736 lives saved in 2010, 598 lives saved in 2009, and 551 lives saved in 2008. Combining these annual counts shows that ESC has saved close to 4,000 lives during the 5-year period from 2008 to 2012. Note: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) effectiveness estimates for ESC have been updated in “Updated Estimates of Fatality Reduction by Electronic Stability Control” (Kahane, in review) and this update is discussed in the Background section of this research note.
High-Resolution Imaging of Rock Falls in Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Valley has experienced over 600 rock falls since 1850, but determining the exact source areas, volumes, and failure mechanisms for these rock falls has previously been difficult because of a lack of comprehensive imagery of the cliff faces. We obtained high-resolution imagery, acquired before and after large rock falls in Yosemite Valley, California, by combining of gigapixel panoramic photography and terrestrial laser scanning (LiDAR). Following comprehensive baseline image acquisition of Glacier Point in eastern Yosemite Valley, two large rock falls occurred from within the imaged area in October of 2008. We used repeat gigapixel photography acquired with GigaPans to characterize the rock-fall detachment surface and adjacent cliff area in high resolution. Coupled with LiDAR analyses, these photos reveal that the rock falls consisted of a near planar, vertically oriented rock slab with a detachment surface area of 2,409 m2 and a volume of 5,663 m3. These data inform hazard assessment for this and other rock-fall events in Yosemite. Our results demonstrate the utility of high-resolution imaging techniques for quantifying rock falls from the large vertical rock faces of Yosemite Valley.
THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF RIVERS AND REFUGIA GENERATE EXTREME CRYPTIC FRAGMENTATION WITHIN THE COMMON GROUND SKINK (SCINCELLA LATERALIS)

Rivers can act as both islands of mesic refugia for terrestrial organisms during times of aridification and barriers to gene flow, though evidence for long‐term isolation by rivers is mixed. Understanding the extent to which riverine barrier effects can be heightened for populations trapped in mesic refugia can help explain maintenance and generation of diversity in the face of Pleistocene climate change. Herein, we implement phylogenetic and population genetic approaches to investigate the phylogeographic structure and history of the ground skink, Scincella lateralis, using mtDNA and eight nuclear loci. We then test several predictions of a river–refugia model of diversification. We recover 14 well‐resolved mtDNA lineages distributed east–west along the Gulf Coast with a subset of lineages extending northward. In contrast, ncDNA exhibits limited phylogenetic structure or congruence among loci. However, multilocus population structure is broadly congruent with mtDNA patterns and suggests that deep coalescence rather than differential gene flow is responsible for mtDNA–ncDNA discordance. The observed patterns suggest that most lineages originated from population vicariance due to riverine barriers strengthened during the Plio–Pleistocene by a climate‐induced coastal distribution. Diversification due to rivers is likely a special case, contingent upon other environmental or biological factors that reinforce riverine barrier effects.
Market orientation and business performance

Market orientation is one of the major research streams in strategic marketing developed during the past ten years. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the major thrust of research in market orientation has been to study the relationship between market orientation and business performance. Although it is acknowledged that market orientation and performance are likely correlated, this paper directs attention to what may lie beneath the relationship. From both conceptual and empirical perspectives, it is argued that future research should focus on the mechanisms by which market orientation contributes to performance. To this end, we draw on the gap analysis literature and develop a framework to link market orientation and performance for service organizations. This simple framework will help shape future agendas for service research.
Estimation of Marine Environmental Parameters Using Microwave Radiometric Remote Sensing Systems.

Abstract : This is an interim report on an ongoing program to develop a passive microwave system for the remote all-weather measurement of sea surface temperature from a satellite platform. It presents a general method for obtaining optimal linear algorithms for the reduction of multifrequency radiometer data to determine marine environmental variables. The mean square errors in determining the environmental variables are also determined thereby enabling the evaluation of different passive microwave radiometric systems. This method, called the 'Environmental Transfer Function', includes in its analysis the error contributions from three sources: errors in measuring microwave brightness temperature, the statistical variances of the environmental parameters, and uncertainties in the equations used to relate the brightness temperatures to the environmental parameters. The mathematical formulation is first developed and then an example application is given to evaluate the remote sensing capability of selected radiometric systems. (Author)
Sensitivity of Numerical Simulations of Hurricane Joaquin (2015) to Cumulus Parameterization Schemes: Implications for Processes Controlling a Hairpin Turn in the Track

Hurricane Joaquin, a notable hurricane that occurred over the Atlantic Ocean in 2015, is studied with an emphasis on its unique hairpin turn that occurred between 2100 UTC 1 October and 0600 UTC 2 October 2015. A series of mesoscale high-resolution numerical simulations are performed with an advanced research version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The sensitivity of numerical simulations to different cumulus, boundary layer, and microphysical parameterization schemes is examined to investigate the most rele-vant processes influencing the track evolution of Hurricane Joaquin. It was found that the numerical simulation of Hurricane Joaquin’s track is highly sensitive to the choice of cumulus scheme. Large-scale environmental conditions and hurricane inner-core structures are diagnosed. The results indicated that middle- to upper-level steering flows are crucial in influencing Joaquin’s track. Further investigation of the large-scale environment (middle-and upper-level trough, blocking high, thermal distribution, etc.) shows that middle-level blocking high plays an important role in Joaquin’s movement. The structure of the hurricane core region, including the vertical extent of diabatic heating, vertical velocity, and relative humidity, could also play an important role. Specifically, the asymmetry and local absolute vorticity tendency over the inner-core region and its vicinity have a strong implica-tion for Joaquin’s hairpin turn.