Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three-Dimensional Simulations of the Anisotropic Etching Profile Evolution for Producing Nanoscale Devices

Refined control of etched profiles is one of the most important tasks of micro (nano) electro mechanical systems manufacturing process. In spite of its wide use, the simulation of etching for micro (nano) electro mechanical systems applications has been so far a partial success only, although a great number of commercial and academic research tools dedicated to this problem are developed. In this paper we describe an application of the sparse field method for solving level set equations in 3D anisotropic wet etching of silicon with potassium hydroxide (KOH). Angular dependence of the silicon etching rate is determined on the basis of the silicon crystal symmetry properties. Some examples illustrating developed methodology are given.
Language and Variation: A Study of English and Persian Wh-questions

It was claimed by variationists that languages experience variation at all levels, which is supposed to be patterned. The present study aimed at exploring how variation occurred in English and Persian wh-questions. More specifically, it investigated whether such a variation was systematic and patterned. To this end, a modified version of the Edinburgh Map Task was used in data collection. The population of this study was 60 Canadian and Persian native speakers who performed the task through the construction of wh-question variants. The results indicated that both languages experienced variation in the construction of wh-questions. However, Persian proved to be more variable than English because it allowed more wh-question variants to be produced. Moreover, this variation was patterned in English and Persian individually, yet a systematic variation could not be observed between these two languages. It followed that the different mind-sets of the Canadian and Iranian participants which were affected by social and cultural factors might account for such a variation.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLONY STATE AND INDIVIDUAL FORAGING BEHAVIOUR IN THE HONEY BEE, Apis mellifera L.

This study investigated the relationship between colony state and foraging behaviour in honey bees, Apis mellifera L. , with an emphasis on the potential for individual foragers to adjust their foraging strategies according to colony needs. In the first study I manipulated colony population sizes and assigned eight honey bee colonies to either SMALL, adult population of 10,000, or LARGE, adult population of 35,000, treatments and observed the responses of individual foragers. Predictions based on a model by Houston and co-workers (1988) suggested that an increase in population size would decrease the relative value of nectar resources. Individual nectar foragers from SMALL colonies should therefore expend a greater work effort than nectar foragers from LARGE colonies. While results were contrary to the specific predictions, and indicated that individual nectar foragers from LARGE colonies exhibited a greater work effort, they did not refute the general model by Houston et. al. (1988). Rather, they indicate that an increase in population size is associated with increases in the relative value of nectar resources. Observations of individual pollen foragers indicated that the relative value of pollen resources increased in SMALL colonies. In a second experiment I investigated the relationship between colonial brood levels and the behaviour of individual pollen foragers. I manipulated brood levels in eight colonies to either LOW, 1600 cm2 of brood, or HIGH, 9600 cm2 of brood, and observed the responses of individual pollen foragers. Pollen provides the only protein source for honey bee colonies, and a positive relationship between colonial brood levels and the relative value of pollen resources to the colony was predicted. Results supported this prediction and indicated an increased pollen demand in HIGH brood colonies. Observations of individual pollen foragers were consistent with colonial pollen demand, as individuals from HIGH brood colonies carried significantly larger pollen loads than those from LOW brood colonies. These experiments provide evidence that individual workers can assess their colony's nutritional status and can vary their specific foraging strategies according to the relative value of resources.
Job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB): Does team commitment make a difference in self‐directed teams?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a model in which team commitment in self‐directed teams moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Design/methodology/approach – Survey questionnaires measuring team commitment, OCB, and job satisfaction were administered to 242 full‐time employees who were involved in self‐directed teams at three geographically diverse manufacturing facilities. After carefully testing the psychometric properties of the scales, hierarchical multiple regression was used to test hypotheses.Findings – The relationship between job satisfaction and OCB was shown to be significant, as was the relationship between team commitment and OCB. Most importantly, the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior was moderated by team commitment, such that the relationship was stronger when team commitment was high.Research limitations/implications – Due to heightened salience of self‐directed team fun.
Relative Humidity as an Indicator for Cloud Formation over Heterogeneous Land Surfaces

Abstract The influence of land surface heterogeneity on potential cloud formation is investigated using relative humidity as an indicator. This is done by performing numerical experiments using a large-eddy simulation model (LES). The land surface in the model was divided into two patches that had the same sum of latent and sensible heat flux but different Bowen ratios to simulate heterogeneous land surfaces. For heterogeneity in the meso-γ scale (2–20 km), sensitivity analyses were carried out on the heterogeneity amplitude (Bowen ratio difference between contrasting areas) and the inversion strength of potential temperature and specific humidity. The competition between absolute temperature decrease by ABL growth and dry air entrainment in heterogeneous conditions is analyzed using the LES results. First, it is shown that entrainment is located and enhanced over patches with higher Bowen ratios (warm patches) than their surroundings (cold patches). The heterogeneity-induced strong thermals can further p.
What Do We Understand by Land Use Planning: A state-of-the-art Report

There is a growing awareness that land use planning should not be a sectoral effort, executed unilaterally by government institutions. Instead, it should develop into an interdisciplinary, holistic approach that gives attention to all functions of the land and that actively involves all stakeholders through a participatory process of negotiation platforms, be it on national, province or village level. This new approach is outlined in Chapter 10 of agenda 21, the programme of action for sustainable development agreed by the Governments during the 1992 World Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
Is Team Harmony Necessary for Success? Cultural Beliefs About Conflict and Team Performance

Despite empirical evidence that relationship conflict hampers team performance, recent cultural psychology theories have posited that European Americans underestimate the negative influence of relationship conflict. Consistent with research on Protestant Relational Ideology, a crosscultural experiment showed that compared with Koreans, European Americans were less likely to believe that relationship conflict - but not task conflict - limits a team's ability to succeed. European Americans were also more likely to join a talented team despite its likelihood of experiencing relationship conflict. Furthermore, secondary analyses showed that the cultural effect observed in participants' decisions to join the potentially conflict-ridden team was related to participants' beliefs about whether relationship conflict is detrimental to team performance.
Variation in early life history traits among populations of grayling (Thymallus thymallus); different temperature reaction norms

2 Introduction . 4 Materials and Methods . 7 The study organism . 7 The study area . 7 Field sampling and experiment design . 8 Image analysis . 10 Statistical analysis . 12 Results . 13 Timing of eye development . 14 Timing of hatching . 15 Larvae growth rate and yolk sac consumption rate . 17 Discussion . 19 Timing of eye development and hatching . 19 Larvae growth rate and yolk sac consumption rates . 20 Conclusion . 21 References: . 22 Appendix . 25
Spatial distribution of the iron supply to phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean: a model study

Abstract. An upgraded version of the biogeochemical model SWAMCO is coupled to the ocean-sea-ice model NEMO-LIM to explore processes governing the spatial distribution of the iron supply to phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean. The 3-D NEMO-LIM-SWAMCO model is implemented in the ocean domain south of latitude 30° S and runs are performed over September 1989–December 2000. Model scenarios include potential iron sources (atmospheric deposition, iceberg calving/melting and continental sediments) as well as iron storage within sea ice, all formulated based on a literature review. When all these processes are included, the simulated iron profiles and phytoplankton bloom distributions show satisfactory agreement with observations. Analyses of simulations and sensitivity tests point to the key role played by continental sediments as a primary source for iron. Iceberg calving and melting contribute by up to 25% of Chl-a simulated in areas influenced by icebergs while atmospheric deposition has little effect at high latitudes. Activating sea ice-ocean iron exchanges redistribute iron geographically. Stored in the ice during winter formation, iron is then transported due to ice motion and is released and made available to phytoplankton during summer melt, in the vicinity of the marginal ice zones. Transient iron storage and transport associated with sea ice dynamics stimulate summer phytoplankton blooming (up to 3 mg Chl-a m-3 in the Weddell Sea and off East Antarctica but not in the Ross, Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas. This contrasted feature results from the simulated variable content of iron in sea ice and release of melting ice showing higher ice-ocean iron fluxes in the continental shelves of the Weddell and Ross Seas than in the Eastern Weddell Sea and the Bellingshausen-Amundsen Seas. This study confirms that iron sources and transport in the Southern Ocean likely provide important mechanisms in the geographical development of phytoplankton blooms and associated ecosystems.
Tratamiento de los trastornos de ansiedad: Diseño y evaluación de una intervención grupal basada en la Inteligencia Emocional

Els trastorns d'ansietat son amb diferencia els trastorns psiquiatrics mes frequents i el tractament cognitiu-conductual (TCC) s'ha mostrat eficac per aquests trastorns. Pero existeixen molt poques investigacions en les que es compari la seva eficacia amb tractaments desenvolupats sota altres perspectives teoriques. D'altre banda, s'ha demostrat que la intel·ligencia emocional es un factor relacionat amb la presencia dels trastorns mentals. L'objectiu d'aquest estudi ha estat dissenyar i avaluar l'eficacia d'un tractament humanista basat en el desenvolupament de la intel·ligencia emocional (TIE). Per aixo s'ha dut a terme un assaig clinic aleatoritzat en el que s'ha comparat la seva eficacia amb un grup control de tractament (TCC). Ambdos s'han aplicat durant 24 sessions, d'hora i mitja, amb una frequencia setmanal al llarg de uns 6 mesos aproximadament. La mostra ha estat formada per 132 pacients d'un centre public de salut mental, diagnosticats de trastorn d'ansietat (agorafobia o TAG) dels que el 81,8% eren dones. El 86,3% presentaven comorbilitat amb altres trastorns de l'Eix I i el 89,4% amb trastorns de personalitat. Els subjectes es van avaluar al pretractament, despres de tres mesos d'haver comencat el tractament, en el postractament i 3 mesos despres de haver-lo finalitzat, en el seguiment. Els questionaris administrats foren el STAI, el Inventario de Agorafobia, la SCL-90-R, el MCMI-II, QOL-SV, el MSCEIT V2.0 i el TMMS-24. Tambe es va utilitzar el questionari WATOCI a fi d'avaluar l'alianca terapeutica. Els resultats de l'estudi demostren que el tractament TIE es mes eficac que el TCC pels simptomes clinics, els trastorns de personalitat, la intel·ligencia emocional i la satisfaccio vital. S'obte una taxa de milloria del 92,3% en ansietat i del 85,7% en agorafobia, i el nivell de satisfaccio dels pacients amb el tractament es superior quan son tractats amb el TIE. Tambe s'han analitzat els factors que influeixen en el acompliment i l'abandonament del tractament.
Retailers' response to wholesale price changes: new evidence from scanner‐based quantity‐weighted beef prices

Retailers are often criticized for a slow response in retail prices to changes in wholesale beef prices. The unresponsiveness, especially when wholesale and farm prices are declining, is seen as a lack of competitiveness and as a reason for congressional action to regulate behavior of processors or retailers. The validity of the historical analyses of retailer price responsiveness is questionable, however. Traditional Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) retail beef prices biased upward and do not account for large volumes sold at discounted prices. This article uses newly available scanner-based quantity-weighted retail prices to suggest that retailers' response to changes in wholesale beef prices is significantly larger and possibly quicker than is shown by traditional BLS measures of retail prices. Recent efforts to prompt legislation to regulate how firms behave along the beef supply chain, which are based only on arguments that retailers are not responding to price changes at the wholesale level, may be inappropriate. lL110, L660, D400r © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Institutionalization in Philippine decentralization : rethinking the bureaucratic imperative in governance

Drawing from ongoing theoretical discourse on the NPM-bureaucracy nexus, this paper puts into perspective the extent of bureaucratic institutionalization achieved in Philippine political decentralization. The main thrust of this paper is to show whether and how the architecture of devolution in the country contributes to or constrains the strengthening of its government institutions. It provides empirical evidence on the actual intergovernmental distribution of authorities and resources achieved in the country in 15 years (1992-2007). It then analyzes how these are defined by the interaction of intergovernmental political structures and institutional mechanisms of the bureaucracy. At its core, the paper argues that amid a political system with deeply entrenched traditions of patrimonial rule, local bossism and intergovernmental contradictions of power, pursuing a reform strategy absent a comprehensive framework of power regulation would easily compromise bureaucratic institutionalization. Ignoring the bureaucratic imperative - to institutionalize structures of standardization, regulation, monitoring, coordination and capacity development, while maintaining coherence to the principles of subsidiarity and autonomy - constitutes the decisive drawback in the Philippine framework of devolution.
Directional Hearing in Fishes

Directional hearing and sound source localization by fishes has several related meanings that arise from our assumptions about localization by human beings and assumptions about the cognitive capacities of fishes. For human listeners, we assume that when we determine the position of a sound source in the space around us, we know in a cognitive sense where the source is located, we can point to it with some accuracy, and we can move directly toward it and remember where the source is. Furthermore, we have the capacity to segregate in perception and locate multiple, simultaneous sources that make up an auditory scene (Bregman, 1990). The quantitative measure of localization for human listeners is the minimum audible angle (MAA), usually defined as the minimum angular deviation (usually in azimuth) required for reliable discrimination between two source locations. In a MAA experiment, we simply assume that not only can we discriminate the difference between two source locations, but that we “know” the direction to both sources in an absolute sense. We also often make the reasonable assumption that most other animal species function the same way: that they too “know” where the sound sources are located. But how well founded is this assumption in the case of fishes? This question arises for several reasons, including that fishes are thought not to use the same binaural acoustic cues as terrestrial animals, that the underwater environment makes source localization an exceedingly difficult, and sometimes impossible task, and that fishes may have few or any of the cognitive capacities required to “know” anything at all. In addition to these considerations, the history of research on source localization by fishes is contradictory and confusing. This chapter summarizes the literature on sound source localization in fishes and concludes that the evidence for a localization ability is strong, but that the mechanisms of sound source localization remain a fascinating question and an essential mystery in need of further experimentation and theoretical analysis.
MULTIPLE TRAITS SELECTION IN A MAIZE POPULATION DERIVED FROM MAIZE VARIETY DEHQAN

This experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Farm, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar to study the effect of multiple traits selection in a population of maize derived from maize variety Dehqan. The experiment was completed in two growing seasons during the years 2001 and 2002, raising one crop per year. In Kharif 2001, variety Dehqan was sown and selection for superior attributes was made on phenotypic basis. The selected (C l) and original population (C o) were sown in the next Spring 2002 crop season along with two checks, a maize hybrid, Cargill 919 and an open pollinated maize variety, Sarhad Yellow. The genotypes were evaluated in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) using four replications, with 6 rows plot -l , each 5 m long and 0.75 m apart. Highest number of days to 50% silking were recorded for Cargil 919 (68). Maximum days to 50% tasseling were recorded for Sarhad yellow (61), which were 3.39% more than Dehqan selected population (59). Maximum days to physiological maturity were recorded for Sarhad yellow (116), which were 3.57% more than Dehqan selected population (112). Maximum lodging percentage was observed for Dehqan original population (1.48%) as compared to Dehqan selected population (1.13%). Tallest plants were those of Sarhad yellow (176.75 cm), which were 11.87% taller than those of Dehqan selected population (158 cm). Dehqan original gave maximum ear height (59.5 cm), which was 7.27% more than that of Dehqan selected population (55.5 cm). This study indicated that one cycle of selection considerably helped in accumulating favorable alleles in the selected version of maize variety Dehqan.
The significance of sensorimotor response components and EMG signals depending on stimuli type in fencing

The purpose of the present study was to examine reaction time, movement time (MT) and electromyography signals under conditions of tactile, acoustic and visual stimulation. Two groups of subjects took part in the study - one consisting of advanced fencers (n = 12, average age 22.3) having practiced fencing for an average of 8.3 years; and the other consisting of novice fencers (n = 15, average age 14.8) having practiced fencing for an average of 2.8 years. The research tool applied in the study was an innovative system of surface electromyography with peripheral equipment that enabled participants' reactions to tactile, audio and visual stimulation to be recorded. The system made it possible to record RT and MT separately. The subjects were exposed to forty five stimuli in a randomized manner for each type of stimulation. The tested fencers responded fastest to tactile stimuli, then to acoustic stimuli, and in a much slower way to visual stimuli (p < 0.01). The advanced fencers exhibited significantly lower values of RT, MT, and EMG in comparison with the novice fencers. Both groups exhibited a decrease in the EMG signal value during the tactile, acoustic and visual stimulation trials, supporting the hypothesis. A slight coincidence of EMG signal curves was also observed in the visual stimuli test. It can be concluded that visual perception lowers muscle tension in novice fencers (p < 0.050).
Evaluation of Stearylamine-Modified Liposomes for the Oral Vaccine Adjuvant

The usefulness of stearylamine (SA)-modified liposomes for the oral vaccine adjuvant in the induction of immune responses was evaluated. Mice were orally immunized withunmodified liposomes containing ovalbumin (OVA) (group I), OVA-containing monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL)-modified liposomes (group II), OVA-having SA-modified liposomes (group III) or OVA alone (group IV). After immunization, significant OVA-specific antibodies were detected in the serum and intestine from mice of groups I to III, but not in group IV. Especially, intestinal IgG and IgA antibody responses against OVA were significantly higher in mice of group III than in groups I and II. When sera were analyzed for isotype distribution,OVA-specific IgG1 antibody responses were noted in mice of groups I and II, whereas the induction of OVA-specific IgG1 and IgG3 antibody responses was observed in mice of group III. Moreover, substantial production of IFN-γ(Th1-type) and IL-4 (Th2 type) was demonstrated in spleen cells from mice of group III in vitro. These results suggest that the SA-modified liposomes would serve effectively as mucosal vaccine adjuvant for inducing humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.
MEASURING CORPORATE REPUTATION: A FRAMEWORK FOR ITALIAN BANKS

This paper proposes a reputational framework suitable for assessing the reputation of Italian banks. To achieve such purpose, the research follows two steps: 1) to explore the most prominent reputational models; 2) to discuss the main findings and identify which are the key-dimensions and features of a reputation measurement system for banks. The value added of this work can be identified in the effort to suggest a framework from which to begin an investigation into measurement of Italian banks reputation.
The Relationship between Cellular Phone Use, Performance, and Reaction Time among College Students: Implications for Cellular Phone Use While Driving

Abstract Two studies were performed to determine the relationship between cellular phone use and either reaction time or performance among college students. In the first study 60 undergraduates completed a computerized reaction time test. Mean reaction times were significantly higher when participants were talking on a cellular phone, either handheld or on a headset, than when they were not. In the second study 40 undergraduates steered a remote-controlled car through an obstacle course. Performance scores were significantly poorer for participants when they were talking on a cellular phone than when they were not. A majority of participants reported using cellular phones while driving, yet believed this was a dangerous practice. We recommend incorporation of education about cellular phone use and driving in health/safety curriculums for high school and college students.
A CMOS standard-cell library for the PC-based LASI layout system

A digital standard-cell library using the MOSIS scalable design rules, for use with the LASI layout system, is presented. Both the cell library and the layout system, running on a PC, are described. The cell library (the layouts of the cells) is a translated version of Mississippi State University's standard cell library for use with the Mentor Graphics set of design tools. Design verification using LASI is discussed.