Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
300 years of hydrological records and societal responses to droughts and floods on the Pacific coast of Central America

Abstract. The management of hydrological extremes and impacts on society is inadequately understood because of the combination of short-term hydrological records, an equally short-term assessment of societal responses and the complex multi-directional relationships between the two over longer timescales. Rainfall seasonality and inter-annual variability on the Pacific coast of Central America is high due to the passage of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Here we reconstruct hydrological variability and demonstrate the potential for assessing societal impacts by drawing on documentary sources from the cities of Santiago de Guatemala (now Antigua Guatemala) and Guatemala de la Asuncion (now Guatemala City) over the period from 1640 to 1945. City and municipal council meetings provide a rich source of information dating back to the beginning of Spanish colonisation in the 16th century. We use almost continuous sources from 1640 AD onwards, including > 190 volumes of Actas de Cabildo and Actas Municipales (minutes of meetings of the city and municipal councils) held by the Archivo Historico de la Municipalidad de Antigua Guatemala (AHMAG) and the Archivo General de Centro America (AGCA) in Guatemala City. For this 305-year period (with the exception of a total of 11 years during which the books were either missing or damaged), information relating to Catholic rogation ceremonies and reports of flooding events and crop shortages were used to classify the annual rainy season (May to October) on a five-point scale from very wet to very dry. In total, 12 years of very wet conditions, 25 years of wetter than usual conditions, 34 years of drier conditions and 21 years of very dry conditions were recorded. An extended drier period from the 1640s to the 1740s was identified and two shorter periods (the 1820s and the 1840s) were dominated by dry conditions. Wetter conditions dominated the 1760s–1810s and possibly record more persistent La Nina conditions that are typically associated with higher precipitation over the Pacific coast of Central America. The 1640s–1740s dry period coincides with the Little Ice Age and the associated southward displacement of the ITCZ.
Iron Deficiency Anemia among Women of Reproductive Age, an Important Public Health Problem: Situation Analysis

Background: Iron deficiency is a major cause of anemia and is more prevalent in developing countries, posing additional burden on health care systems, in the presence of scarcity of resources. The high-risk group consists of females and children but comparatively it is higher in females due to physiological reasons. Multiple factors can predict anemia, which in turn leads to various adverse outcomes. Objective: The purpose of this literature review was to review and synthesize the findings from literature about the burden, causes, outcomes and important interventions of iron deficiency anemia for developing countries. Methods: An extensive literature review was carried out by retrieving articles from various databases like Pub med, Google scholar, Science direct, World Bank and WHO databases. Relevant articles were retrieved from different databases by using following text words and phrases: ‘anemia’, ‘Iron deficiency’, ‘risk factors of anemia’, ‘outcomes of anemia’, ‘interventions’ and developing countries. Results: Multiple determinants of iron deficiency anemia have been identified in the literature including genetic and environmental factors. Some of these factors are lack of proper diet, poor socioeconomic status, high parity of women, access to poor health and genetic etc. Moreover, anemia can result in various poor outcomes like fatigue, poor mental health, lack of concentration, poor feto-neonatal outcomes like stillbirth, preterm birth and postpartum Hemorrhage. Conclusion: Iron deficiency anemia is one of the important public health problems in developing countries among the women of reproductive age group. Multiple factors like age, parity, socioeconomic status and diet can determine the stores of iron in the women of reproductive age group. Anemia can lead to multiple adverse outcomes, which can be prevented by doing appropriate cost-effective interventions on time.
A SUGGESTED INTERPRETATION OF THE QUANTUM THEORY IN TERMS OF "HIDDEN" VARIABLES. II

In this paper, we shall show how the theory of measurements is to be understood from the point of view of a physical interpretation of the quantum theory in terms of hidden variables developed in a previous paper. We find that in principle, these "hidden" variables determine the precise results of each individual measurement process. In practice, however, in measurements that we now know how to carry out, the observing apparatus disturbs the observed system in an unpredictable and uncontrollable way, so that the uncertainty principle is obtained as a practical limitation on the possible precision of measurements. This limitation is not, however, inherent in the conceptual structure of our interpretation. We shall see, for example, that simultaneous measurements of position and momentum having unlimited precision would in principle be possible if, as suggested in the previous paper, the mathematical formulation of the quantum theory needs to be modined at very short distances in certain ways that are consistent with our interpretation but not with the usual interpretation. We give a simple explanation of the origin of quantum-mechanical correlations of distant objects in the hypothetical experiment of Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen, which was suggested by these authors as a criticism of the usual interpretation. Finally, we show that von Neumann's proof that quantum theory is not consistent with hidden variables does not apply to our interpretation, because the hidden variables contemplated here depend both on the state of the measuring apparatus and the observed system and therefore go beyond certain of von 1umann's assumptions. In two appendixes, we treat the problem oi the electromagnetic field in our interpretation and answer certain additional objections which have arisen in the attempt to give a precise description for an individual system at the quantum level.
The DSR Three Cycle Model and Proposed Extensions

We propose to extend the well-known three-cycle view for design science research (DSR) with a fourth cycle (change and impact cycle) that captures the dynamic nature of IS artifact design for volatile environments. The appropriation of innovative designs results in organizational changes that happen outside the new artifacts’ immediate application contexts. The intention behind introducing the fourth cycle is to integrate recent advances in the DSR discourse conceptually within the DSR cycle model. We critically review such recent advances and integrate them into an extended model. We show how this change and impact (CI) cycle adds an important facet to DSR to cope with dynamic application contexts as well as artifact-induced organizational change and the resulting need for follow-up design efforts. Iterations of the CI cycle represent the continuous design evolution required to keep up with changing organizational environments.
An Analytical Survey of Population and Development in Bangladesh

In this analytical survey of population and development in Bangladesh the attempt is made to analyze the forces and realities behind the data in order to make some sense of the economic and demographic processes that lie beneath the countrys development problems. Discussion begins with a view of Bangladesh at the aggregate level examining where the country stands and how it came to that position. In the following 2 sections focus shifts to the local level an investigation of how social organization affects and is affected by the local economy and how these in turn influence individual incentives and demographic behavior. Finally an assessment of prospects and possibilities for future development in Bangladesh is made. A major theme is that the interest of rural people in an uncertain and unhealthy environment are best served by behavior that assures some access to local product and that lowers risks. Attachment to patrons exploitation of scarce local resources adoption of roles of dependency maintenance of family position through such means as purdah and use of high fertility to insure against loss of land children or husband may yield access to the local distributive system but above all they provide security. In aggregate however these modes of behavior act against collective interests and lend power and stability to the forces behind the present predicament. Much could be done to provide security at the local level - economically through more certain access to employment credit agricultural inputs and irrigation and demographically through measures that prolong the lives of husband and children and reduce the age gap between husband and wife. Most important if a new local system is to help break down the uncertainties that preserve high fertility and stifle individual initiative is provision of a setting in which the individual turns to the community and his or her position within it for support and security must be provided. The type of "intermediate level" strategy directed at a level between the national government and the individual is more a matter of structural change than of programmatic policy. What is missing at present in Bangladesh that would greatly ease such a task is an overall strategy that works toward a single purpose that aligns interests in the same direction and that cuts through conflicting objectives.
Nonanalytic pulse discontinuities as carriers of information

In this paper, we consider optical pulses encoded with two nonanalytic points, and we evaluate the detectable information of these pulses in media supporting slowand fast-light propagation. It is shown that, in some configurations of slow(subluminal) light propagation, the signal is not readily detectable, albeit the arrival of the encoded nonanalytic points at the receiver. It is thus argued that, from a practical point of view, information should not be entirely associated with the pulse discontinuities. On the other hand, it is confirmed that for propagation in vacuum or a fast-light medium, detectable information is bounded by the nonanalytic points, which create a space-time window within which detectable information cannot escape. As such, the distinction between the nonanalytic points of a signal, its energy transport, and detectable information is demonstrated.
MODVOLC: 14 years of autonomous observations of effusive volcanism from space

Abstract During the period 28 February 2000–31 December 2013, the MODVOLC system (http://modis.higp.hawaii.edu) autonomously analysed almost 9 trillion (i.e. 9×1012) pixels contained within almost 3 million MODIS images, searching for evidence of high-temperature thermal signatures associated with volcanic eruptions. Thermal unrest, mainly associated with active lava, be it in the form of flows, domes, lakes or confined to vents, was detected at 93 volcanoes during this period of time. The first part of this paper describes the physical basis and operational implementation of the MODVOLC algorithm. The second part presents data to detail the nature of the thermal emission from these 93 volcanoes over the past 14 years.
The impact of gender on attainment in learning English as a foreign language

This study examined the impact of gender on students’ achievement in learning English as a for-eign language in secondary and higher vocational schools in Poland, as well as teachers’ and stu-dents’ opinions concerning the importance of this influence. The collected data provided ample evidence that girls achieved significantly better results than boys. Such results support the socio-linguistic finding that female students outperform males as they are more open to new linguistic forms in the target language and eradicate interlanguage forms that deviate from target lan-guage norms more readily than their male counterparts (Ellis, 2012). However, these findings were not reflected in the opinions of the student and teacher participants. Both parties held a strong conviction that gender played no major role in learning English. The article concludes by outlining some implications for educational policy makers and foreign language teachers.
Trade policy formation when geography matters for specialisation

In this paper, trade policy formation is incorporated into an economic geography model. The political setup used is a modified version of that introduced by Grossman and Helpman (1994) in which policy makers may be influenced by lobbying contributions. On the basis of the underlying trade framework, lobbying activity is performed in benefit of capital interests. Optimal policy outcomes indicate that the largest countries and countries that are disadvantaged by trade regulation favour trade liberalisation. Moreover, the optimal domestic policy is more open to trade when the local and global competition facing domestic firms is less fierce, the welfare dependency on manufacturing imports is larger and when there is a more intense preference for variety in consumption. It is shown that lobbying influence on policy is increasing in the concentration of capital ownership in the population. It is also revealed that, in the cases when domestic special and general interests do not coincide, lobbying activity is performed to liberalise trade. In addition, this actually implies that the presence of lobbying influence on policy raises the long-run national welfare.
Hadoop and Its Role in Modern Image Processing

This paper introduces MapReduce as a distributed data processing model using open source Hadoop framework for manipulating large volume of data. The huge volume of data in the modern world, particularly multimedia data, creates new requirements for processing and storage. As an open source distributed computational framework, Hadoop allows for processing large amounts of images on an infinite set of computing nodes by providing necessary infrastructures. This paper introduces this framework, current works and its advantages and disadvantages.
A Model of Consumption Behaviour using Cellular Automata

This paper is a study of the structure and dynamics of consumption behaviour using cellular automata to model interaction among individual consumption units. Special attention is given to the relation between the micro and the macro behaviour of the system; how is the macro performance of our system related to the degree of step in the behaviour of microunits? The approach has two sources of inspiration; the artificial life approach to modelling developed within computer science, and the consumption theory of J.S. Duesenberry, which deserves a reconsideration after the appearance of computers and cellular automata. Artificial life is a bottom-up approach characterized by parallel processing and local determination of behaviour and the idea of using synthesis rather than analysis. The approach has been developed to study emergence of life and dynamics of complex systems which are very hard to handle analytically. The key concepts for Duesenberry’s approach are irreversibility of time and interrelatedness of preferences. Common features for the two sources of inspiration are rule-based behaviour rather than rational optimization and a behaviour that depends on local circumstances for the agent in question rather than the state of the entire system. To study consumption, given these features, a cellular automaton model is developed. A Model of Consumption Behaviour Using Cellular Automata
Detrital production in Nova Scotian kelp beds: patterns and processes

Connectivity via the transport of detrital material from areas of high to low productivity may be an important determinant of secondary productivity and biodiversity in receiving communi- ties. On the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, detritus exported from subtidal kelp beds contributes to food webs in communities inhabiting deeper waters offshore. To estimate the amount of energy available via this pathway, we measured rates of detrital production via erosion of kelp blades in kelp beds at 5 sites varying in wave exposure. Specifically, we measured productivity and erosion of the 2 dominant species of kelp, Laminaria digitata and Saccharina longicruris, over 16 mo. We also examined the effect of environmental and biological factors on erosion rates, including temperature, wave exposure, grazing by snails and cover by the invasive bryozoan Membranipora membranacea. We observed clear seasonal and spatial patterns in productivity, with the highest production in spring. Erosion rate was highly variable across sites and seasons, and was strongly related to the cover of M. membranacea and the intensity of snail grazing at the distal end of kelp blades. Both factors cause tissue degradation, abrasions and perforations that weaken blades. Erosion rate was also positively related to water temperature and site exposure. Annual detrital production from the erosion of kelp blades increased linearly with kelp bed biomass, and ranged from 0.5 to 1.71 kg dry weight m -2 (150-513 g C m -2 ) across sites. These rates equal or exceed annual phytoplankton production off the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia and estimates of detrital production in seagrass beds in North America.
Atmospheric processing of iron in mineral and combustion aerosols: development of an intermediate-complexity mechanism suitable for Earth system models

Abstract. Atmospheric processing of iron in dust and combustion aerosols is simulated using an intermediate-complexity soluble iron mechanism designed for Earth system models. The solubilization mechanism includes both a dependence on aerosol water pH and in-cloud oxalic acid. The simulations of size-resolved total, soluble and fractional iron solubility indicate that this mechanism captures many but not all of the features seen from cruise observations of labile iron. The primary objective was to determine the extent to which our solubility scheme could adequately match observations of fractional iron solubility. We define a semi-quantitative metric as the model mean at points with observations divided by the observational mean (MMO). The model is in reasonable agreement with observations of fractional iron solubility with an MMO of 0.86. Several sensitivity studies are performed to ascertain the degree of complexity needed to match observations; including the oxalic acid enhancement is necessary, while different parameterizations for calculating model oxalate concentrations are less important. The percent change in soluble iron deposition between the reference case (REF) and the simulation with acidic processing alone is 63.8 %, which is consistent with previous studies. Upon deposition to global oceans, global mean combustion iron solubility to total fractional iron solubility is 8.2 %; however, the contribution of fractional iron solubility from combustion sources to ocean basins below 15∘ S is approximately 50 %. We conclude that, in many remote ocean regions, sources of iron from combustion and dust aerosols are equally important. Our estimates of changes in deposition of soluble iron to the ocean since preindustrial climate conditions suggest roughly a doubling due to a combination of higher dust and combustion iron emissions along with more efficient atmospheric processing.
An Active Ring Slot with RF MEMS Switchable Radial Stubs for Reconfigurable Frequency Selective Surface Applications

An active ring slot resonator loaded by switchable radial stubs is investigated. It is shown that this element can be used as the unit cell of a switchable reconflgurable frequency selective surface (RFSS). Equivalent circuit and full-wave mathematical models are obtained to evaluate the re∞ection characteristics of the RFSS based on this element. The possibility to obtain difierent resonant transmission frequencies is discussed. The mathematical model developed is used to design an X band RFSS capable of obtaining resonant frequencies at 9.65, 10.28, 10.83 and 12.05GHz. Commercially available RF MEMS switches are used to evaluate the efiect of the ofi-state capacitances over the response of the periodic structure. To validate the numerical simulation results, difierent active and passive diaphragms were designed, fabricated, and tested using the waveguide simulator. A good agreement between numerical and measured results was found.
Evolution Cum Agency: Toward a Model of Strategic Foresight

This study examines the origin of the strategic innovation that changed the face of financial services—Charles Merrill’s financial supermarket business model—through three well-known and largely juxtaposed conceptual models of strategic foresight. Our study, whose purpose, business historical focus, and structure mirrors Graham Allison’s famous “Conceptual Models of the Cuban Missile Crisis,” allows us to make three contributions. First, it sharpens our understanding of the models we used in the study. Second, it provides the foundations of an integrated view and model of strategic foresight that suggests disciplined strategic foresight is possible, understandable, and replicable within some precise boundaries. Finally, it suggests directions for future behavioral strategy work.
The Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial

Ross L. Prentice, PhD; Bette Caan, DrPH; Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD; Ruth Patterson, PhD; Lewis H. Kuller, MD; Judith K. Ockene, PhD; Karen L. Margolis, MD; Marian C. Limacher, MD; JoAnn E. Manson, MD; Linda M. Parker, DSc; Electra Paskett, PhD; Lawrence Phillips, MD; John Robbins, MD; Jacques E. Rossouw, MD; Gloria E. Sarto, MD; James M. Shikany, DrPH; Marcia L. Stefanick, PhD; Cynthia A. Thomson, PhD; Linda Van Horn, PhD; Mara Z. Vitolins, DrPH; Jean Wactawski-Wende, PhD; Robert B. Wallace, MD; Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, PhD; Evelyn Whitlock, MD; Katsuhiko Yano, MD; Lucile Adams-Campbell, PhD; Garnet L. Anderson, PhD; Annlouise R. Assaf, PhD; Shirley A. A. Beresford, PhD; Henry R. Black, MD; Robert L. Brunner, PhD; Robert G. Brzyski, MD; Leslie Ford, MD; Margery Gass, MD; Jennifer Hays, PhD; David Heber, MD; Gerardo Heiss, MD; Susan L. Hendrix, DO; Judith Hsia, MD; F. Allan Hubbell, MD; Rebecca D. Jackson, MD; Karen C. Johnson, MD; Jane Morley Kotchen, MD; Andrea Z. LaCroix, PhD; Dorothy S. Lane, MD; Robert D. Langer, MD; Norman L. Lasser, MD; Maureen M. Henderson, MD
Antioxidant Characterístics of Red Wines from Calchaquíes Valleys in Salta

Objectives: We analyzed polyphenol and antioxidant capacity in red wines Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat and Syrah varieties from wineries Calchaquíes Valleys, in Salta, Argentine. Methods: The total polyphenols was determined by UV absorption at 280 nm evaluating the D280 index. The antioxidant capacity was analyzed by absorbance measured at 520 nm and 420 nm and the color intensity and the hue was calculated by its summation by its relation. Key findings: The results presented indexes D280 (phenolic content) that ranged from 43.3 to 55.7. The antioxidant capacity is evaluate by the color intensity of red wines measuring absorbance values at 420 and 520 nm that ranged from 0.60 to 1.09. There is correlation between phenolic content and antioxidant capacity with a correlation coefficient of 0.974. Conclusions: The total polyphenol content in red wines is correlated with their antioxidant capacity. It is beneficial to health if the wine is consumed in low quantities. The Cabernet Sauvignon variety has more phenolic content than Malbec, Tannat and Syrah varieties.