Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of accessing real-time bus arrival information via mobile phone on the travel time dispersion of transit passengers

This research considers public transit information systems in which the passengers receive real-time bus arrival information (RTBAI) through mobile phone. Such information may reduce the dispersion of travel time for passengers of the bus networks. It is well known that the punctuality of a transportation service strongly affects the mode/route choice of the passengers. An array of scenarios is proposed in the modelling framework of this paper and a model has been applied on a quantity of actual bus routes. The results suggest that accessing RTBAI through mobile phone is an exceptionally effective way of informing bus arrival without actually going to a bus stop. In addition, this paper will provide evidence that accessing RTBAI can reduce the travel time of transit passengers by as much as 19%, while reducing the average waiting time by up to 44%.
Towards Post-neoliberal Resource Politics? The International Political Economy (IPE) of Oil and Copper in Brazil and Chile

The contemporary commodity boom is unprecedented in two ways. On the one hand, it takes place against the backdrop of the failure of neoliberal policies to achieve stable economic growth in Latin America. On the other hand, Left-of-centre governments, which have now been in power for over a decade, are designing new strategies to manage the increase in export earnings accrued from sustained international demand for commodities. In particular, Brazil and Chile have undergone significant market opening reforms in their resource sectors, yet persistent state ownership and the dominant role of state enterprises in key extractive industries continue to characterise their growth models. This article explains this puzzle through the application of Mahoney and Thelen's (2010) historical institutionalist framework on incremental change. In so doing, it offers a process-oriented approach in exploring how resource wealth under certain economic and political conditions provides leverage for states to promote economic development. In sum, the article hopes to contribute to the literature on neoliberal and post-neoliberal political economies in Latin America.
Relationship between emotional intelligence and innovative work behaviors in Turkish banking sector

Nowadays, almost all sectors especially service ones are aware of the fact that the presence of employees who have high level of emotional intelligence and innovative work behaviors is crucial so as to perform efficiently and productively. Since customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are the main primacy for the banking sector, they need to keep up with all kinds of changes and developments to resist and gain advantages over their competitors subject to the highly increase of competition worldwide. The main reason of applying this study on the banking sector is its dynamic structure that has been changed both positively and negatively owing to the economic crisis. In connection with this, it is aimed to present the importance of emotional intelligence and innovative work behaviors on the success of banking sector through the analysis of two variables in terms of their relationship between each other. Additionally, it is intended for setting forth the differences of state-owned and private banks in terms of the level of emotional intelligence and innovative work behaviors. As a data collection tool, questionnaire technique has been used. It has been benefited from the emotional intelligence scale developed by Wong and Law to obtain the data related to emotional intelligence level; and the innovative work behaviors scale developed by Janssen to obtain the data related to innovative work behaviors. The findings obtained from the questionnaire were applied to 332 employees in Turkish banking sector.
Fair trade coffee supply chains in the highlands of Papua New Guinea: do they give higher returns to smallholders?

of the thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of M.Appl. Sc Fair Trade Coffee Supply Chains in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea: Do They Give Higher Returns to Smallholders? By Wayne Ismael Powae This research focussed on Fair Trade (FT) coffee supply chains in Papua New Guinea. Three research questions were asked. First, do smallholders in the FT chains receive higher returns than the smallholders in the conventional chains? Secondly, if smallholders in the FT coffee chains receive higher returns from their coffee than the smallholders in the conventional chains, what are the sources of these higher returns? Finally, if smallholders in the FT chains don’t receive higher returns than in the conventional chains, what are the constraints to smallholders receiving higher returns from the FT coffee chains than the conventional chains? A conceptual framework for agribusiness supply chain was developed that was used to guide the field work. A comparative case study methodology was selected as an appropriate method for eliciting the required information. Four case study chains were selected. A paired FT and conventional coffee chains from Okapa and another paired FT and conventional chains from Kainantu districts, Eastern Highlands Province were selected for the study. The research found that smallholders in the FT chains and conventional chains receive very similar prices for their coffee (parchment price equivalent). Hence, there was no evidence that smallholders in the FT chains received higher prices or returns from their coffee production than smallholders in conventional chains. This study also found that there was no evidence of FLO certification improving returns to smallholders in the FT chains over those returns received in the conventional chains, but the community that the FT smallholder producers come from did benefit. The sources of these community benefits lies in the shorter FT chains and the distributions of the margin that would have been otherwise made by
Guest Editorial, part of a Special Feature on Local, Social, and Environmental Impacts of Biofuels The Social and Environmental Impacts of Biofuel Feedstock Cultivation: Evidence from Multi-Site Research in the Forest Frontier

Preoccupation with global energy supplies and climate change in the global North, and a desire to improve the balance of trade and capture value in the emerging carbon market by developing countries, together place biofuels firmly on the map of global land use change. Much of this recent land use change is occurring in developing countries where large agro-ecologically suitable tracts of land may be accessed at lower economic and opportunity cost. This is leading to the gradual penetration of commercial crops that provide suitable biofuel feedstocks (e.g., sugarcane, soybean, oil palm, jatropha) into rural communities and forested landscapes throughout many areas of the global South. Expansion of biofuel feedstock cultivation in developing countries is widely embraced by producer country governments as a means to achieve energy security and stimulate rural economic development through employment and smallholder market integration. It is also expected that foreign and domestic investments in biofuel feedstock cultivation will lead to positive economic spillovers from knowledge transfer and investor contributions to social and physical infrastructure. While biofuel feedstocks are expanding through large industrial-scale plantations and smallholder production alike, the expansion of industrial-scale production systems has been countered by a critical response by civil society actors concerned about the implications for rural livelihoods, customary land rights, and the environmental effects of biofuel feedstock cultivation. To date, however, limited data exist to demonstrate the conditions under which widely anticipated economic and climate change mitigation benefits accrue in practice, and the implications of these developments for forests, local livelihoods, and the climate change mitigation potential of biofuels. In such a situation, debates are easily polarized into those for and against biofuels. This special issue seeks to nuance this debate by shedding light on the local social and environmental impacts accruing to date from the expansion of biofuel feedstock cultivation through in-depth case studies in 6 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Findings provide a more nuanced picture of costs and benefits, and point to a host of risks that need to be proactively managed to leverage the potential of the industry as an engine of national social and economic development.
The microfinance phenomenon

In the 1990s, microfinance has captured the imagination of opinion leaders, governments, and donor agencies. Suppor ters have argued that microfinance institutions (MFIs) can not only have a major impact in the fight against poverty, but can do so on a sustainable basis. At the same time, a number of critics have emerged. In this paper, Paul McGuire, consultant, and John Conroy, Executive Director of the Foundation for Development Cooperation, Brisbane, Australia, consider the achievements of microfinance to date. They find that most, but not all, of the evidence suggests that microfinance can play a role in reducing poverty. On the other hand, while it has become generally accepted that MFIs can and should become financially self-sufficient, few have actually done so. It may be appropriate for well-managed programs to receive some ongoing level of subsidization if they can be shown to be effective in reducing poverty. There is a continuing role for donors in the development of microfinance, but it is important that donors focus on quality rather than quantity.
Low-cost antenna array and phased array architectures — Design concepts and prototypes

Recent telecommunications standards are requiring antenna technologies to evolve towards low-cost, high-integration packages. Furthermore, higher gain and radiation pattern constraints result in the need of steerable, versatile antenna arrays. One of the key requirements is the overall cost, including non-recurring engineering or designs costs should be reasonably low for consumer market applications. Additionally, an increasing number of applications planned in the near- to mid-term require flexible and/or conformal antennas. Previously developed antenna array technologies have found usage primarily in military-based applications, where design and development time, as well as size are of secondary importance to the antenna performance. As such, bulky phased array antennas have been implemented in the past where the constraints have been primarily on the high-performance of the overall system rather than a certain packaging technology or end-user low-cost application. This paper will discuss a new approach towards more compact integration, discussing initial design of a Ku-band, metallic-waveguide fed active/passive array, and the lead-in to a more cost-effective technology for array feeds. Additional discussion will be on the development of the new printed circuit board waveguide (PCB-WG) and applications at Ku-band, as well 18 GHz and 60 GHz with a variety of antenna elements. Versatility of the new technology is illustrated through the comprehensive design of a 36 GHz dielectric resonator array (DRA). Future development of technology is examined towards the end of the paper. Furthermore, this paper will illustrate how additional research goals and motivations in the field of array antennas can be addressed by the new technology. Such issues as packaging of antenna arrays and front end circuitry to increase the overall gain and reduce the noise figure (NF), as well as novel methods for developing front-end active circuitry will become evident from the core technology development. This can lead to minimizing loss throughout the system, decrease cost, and reduce the overall size.
Imitation based human-robot interaction - roles of joint attention and motion prediction

Behavior imitation is crucial for the acquisition of intelligence as well as in communication. This paper describes two kinds of experiments of human-robot communication based on behavior imitation. One compared the results obtained when the robot did and did not predict the experimental subject's behaviors by using past datasets, and the other compared the results obtained with and without target objects in the simulator environment. The result of former experiment showed that the prediction of the subject's behaviors increase the subject's interest. The result of the latter experiment confirmed that the presence of objects facilitates joint attention and make human-robot communication possible even when the robot uses a simple imitation mechanism. This result shows that in human-robot communication, human not only recognizes the behaviors of the robot passively but also adapts to the situation actively. In conclusion, it is confirmed that the motion prediction and the presence of objects for joint attention are important for human-robot communication.
Acting globally, thinking locally? Prospects for a global environmental movement

Because understanding of global environmental problems is very limited except amongst the most highly educated populations of the most industrialised countries, it is not surprising that the latter should dominate environmental movement action on global issues, and that other, less highly educated people should be involved principally in local environmental campaigns. However, the success of local campaigns depends increasingly on the actions of non‐local actors, and solutions even to local environmental problems demand transnational organisation. Effective transnational environmental movement organisations, however, are neither democratically accountable nor simply universalist in their assumptions. The prospects of a genuinely global environmental movement may nevertheless be improved by education.
Mass production of law. routinization in the transposition of European directives: a sociological- institutionalist account

Abstract This paper assesses the claim that there is a problem with delayed transposition of directives within the EU, using a new dataset on the transposition of directives in the fields of utilities and food safety regulation in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Spain and Greece. This dataset overcomes most of the problems that have plagued previous data. In 65 per cent of the cases transposition was delayed, and the average delay was seven months. There is thus indeed a problem with delayed transposition. In order to explain this problem, a sociological institutionalist approach is used. The findings point to the importance of administrative routinization. Whether or not transposition is accomplished with little delay depends on whether there are administrative departments with the explicit task to specialize in transposition, and whether they have had the time and resources to develop routines or standard operating procedures for doing so.
Risk Assessment for Mobile Systems Through a Multilayered Hierarchical Bayesian Network

Mobile systems are facing a number of application vulnerabilities that can be combined together and utilized to penetrate systems with devastating impact. When assessing the overall security of a mobile system, it is important to assess the security risks posed by each mobile applications (apps), thus gaining a stronger understanding of any vulnerabilities present. This paper aims at developing a three-layer framework that assesses the potential risks which apps introduce within the Android mobile systems. A Bayesian risk graphical model is proposed to evaluate risk propagation in a layered risk architecture. By integrating static analysis, dynamic analysis, and behavior analysis in a hierarchical framework, the risks and their propagation through each layer are well modeled by the Bayesian risk graph, which can quantitatively analyze risks faced to both apps and mobile systems. The proposed hierarchical Bayesian risk graph model offers a novel way to investigate the security risks in mobile environment and enables users and administrators to evaluate the potential risks. This strategy allows to strengthen both app security as well as the security of the entire system.
Three new business models for “the open firm”

Purpose – The authors found that as more firms participate in open business ecosystems, the borders between an individual firm and its stakeholders – customers, suppliers, workers, partners and innovators – have become much more permeable and reconfigurable. This paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approach – The paper shows how new open business models enable firms to maximize the benefits of openness while limiting the risks.Findings – The authors propose three “open firm” models based on their research, experience and observation: the harbor and fleet; the demand forum; and multivalent sourcing.Research limitations/implications – Case studies are provided. For example, the supply chain tracing firm Historic Futures has developed an online application called String that enables participating companies to monitor products hour by hour and mile by mile along the supply chain.Practical implications – The ability to establish and maintain appropriate networks is central to the success of ope.
The multi-layer problem in implementation research

This article argues that many discussions of implementation deal inadequately with the fact that several layers of government are often involved in policy processes. It thus identifies a multi-layer problem in the literature on implementation, and explores its dimensions. It argues that a failure to deal adequately with the problem leads to two particular pitfalls. One is that the notion of ‘dashed’ expectations on the part of one layer suggests either that there has been a failure of control, or that there have been interventions in the policy process that are seen as illegitimate. The other is that the relationship between layers is a simple and uniform phenomenon that can be expected to have similar characteristics in dissimilar situations. It then offers some proposals to deal with these pitfalls, and looks at what this reframing of the problem means for implementation research.
Virtual reality - through the new looking glass

From the Publisher: The revised edition of a 22,000-copy bestseller, much-praised as an authoritative, easy-to-understand overview of virtual reality. VR allows people to experience computer-generated worlds. Since the publication of the first edition of this book, VR has gone more mainstream. This edition covers the latest in VR applications, developments at VR companies, and up-to-the-minute information on Pentium-based VR systems.
Preparing Teachers for the “Schools That Technology Built”

Abstract As a result of the growth of virtual schools across the United States, K–12 school courses and diplomas are increasingly offered, either completely or partly, at a distance. In light of this increase, it is apparent that there will be demand for teachers who are prepared to teach from a distance and a complementary need for local counselors. The U.S. Department of Education agreed that the creation of a model for incorporating virtual schooling in preservice teacher education programs accompanied by appropriate assessment of the effect for a range of competencies would be a significant innovation. This article describes the planned model led by Iowa State University and the evaluation designed to establish its effectiveness, including dissemination through a national community of practice. For example, evaluation of the competence of counselors, who will be prepared to mentor K–12 students learning from a distant teacher, moves from a formative approach into scientifically-based research with experimental and control groups. In addition, instruments to measure institutional adoption include a modified version of the CBAM instrument developed by Christensen and longitudinal surveys of preservice student teachers and graduates.
N- and E-cadherins in Xenopus are specifically required in the neural and non-neural ectoderm, respectively, for F-actin assembly and morphogenetic movements

Transmembrane cadherins are calcium-dependent intercellular adhesion molecules. Recently, they have also been shown to be sites of actin assembly during adhesive contact formation. However, the roles of actin assembly on transmembrane cadherins during development are not fully understood. We show here, using the developing ectoderm of the Xenopus embryo as a model, that F-actin assembly is a primary function of both N-cadherin in the neural ectoderm and E-cadherin in the non-neural (epidermal) ectoderm, and that each cadherin is essential for the characteristic morphogenetic movements of these two tissues. However, depletion of N-cadherin and E-cadherin did not cause dissociation in these tissues at the neurula stage, probably owing to the expression of C-cadherin in each tissue. Depletion of each of these cadherins is not rescued by the other, nor by the expression of C-cadherin, which is expressed in both tissues. One possible reason for this is that each cadherin is expressed in a different domain of the cell membrane. These data indicate the combinatorial nature of cadherin function, the fact that N- and E-cadherin play primary roles in F-actin assembly in addition to roles in cell adhesion, and that this function is specific to individual cadherins. They also show how cell adhesion and motility can be combined in morphogenetic tissue movements that generate the form and shape of the embryonic organs.
Actionable exomic incidental findings in 6503 participants: challenges of variant classification

Recommendations for laboratories to report incidental findings from genomic tests have stimulated interest in such results. In order to investigate the criteria and processes for assigning the pathogenicity of specific variants and to estimate the frequency of such incidental findings in patients of European and African ancestry, we classified potentially actionable pathogenic single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) in all 4300 European- and 2203 African-ancestry participants sequenced by the NHLBI Exome Sequencing Project (ESP). We considered 112 gene-disease pairs selected by an expert panel as associated with medically actionable genetic disorders that may be undiagnosed in adults. The resulting classifications were compared to classifications from other clinical and research genetic testing laboratories, as well as with in silico pathogenicity scores. Among European-ancestry participants, 30 of 4300 (0.7%) had a pathogenic SNV and six (0.1%) had a disruptive variant that was expected to be pathogenic, whereas 52 (1.2%) had likely pathogenic SNVs. For African-ancestry participants, six of 2203 (0.3%) had a pathogenic SNV and six (0.3%) had an expected pathogenic disruptive variant, whereas 13 (0.6%) had likely pathogenic SNVs. Genomic Evolutionary Rate Profiling mammalian conservation score and the Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion summary score of conservation, substitution, regulation, and other evidence were compared across pathogenicity assignments and appear to have utility in variant classification. This work provides a refined estimate of the burden of adult onset, medically actionable incidental findings expected from exome sequencing, highlights challenges in variant classification, and demonstrates the need for a better curated variant interpretation knowledge base.