Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Critical Review of Studies on the Social and Economic Impacts of Vietnam’s International Economic Integration

The study by Rama and Sa (2005) focuses on identifying similarities between the findings of the CGE studies. The present study attempts, instead, to focus on differences. Do studies really differ that much? This overall question is addressed by providing a detailed review of assumptions, data, methodology, and results of the CGE models. This overview makes it possible to assess another issue. The results of all the CGE studies tend to be rather aggregate in nature and they treat on issues which no longer appear that essential in the policy making process; i.e. tariffs rather than legal reform and ‘services trade’.
Some Empirical Evidence on New Regional Taxes and Charges in Indonesia

Summary: This paper estimates that regional governments created just less than 1,000 new taxes and charges during the run up to and through fiscal year 2001.The available evidence indicates that about 40 percent of the newly formed revenue instruments were levied on goods or factors in the primary sector. An estimated 60 percent of the new taxes and charges were implemented directly by regional governments—that is, without central review and, therefore, in direct contradiction to law. Regional governments typically argue that they produce new taxes because of fiscal need. The empirical examination in this paper provides limited support for this claim, although weaknesses in the data prevent a firm conclusion on the matter. Revenue generated by new taxes and charges would appear to be negligible; even under the most optimistic of assumptions, any increase in regional own-source revenues that may have resulted from the creation of new taxes and charges would be very small relative to overall budgets. The instruments that regional governments have at their disposal—both traditional and new—are inadequate to the task of producing much tax revenue. Without access to more substantial tax bases, regional governments will remain unsuccessful in realizing significant own-source revenues and fiscal decentralization in Indonesia will continue to be an unbalanced affair.
Die kieferorthopädische Behandlung erwachsener Patienten – im Fokus der interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit

100 Die kieferorthopädische Behandlung erwachsener Patienten nimmt immer weiter zu [1]. Durch die erwachsene Patientengruppe entstehen neue Ansprüche und Herausforderungen an den Behandler, die häufig interdisziplinär gelöst werden müssen, um ein optimales Behandlungsergebnis zu erzielen. Die Therapiemöglichkeiten unterscheiden sich im Vergleich zu jugendlichen Patienten. Aufgrund des abgeschlossenen Wachstums sind kieferorthopädisch vorwiegend nur dentale Korrekturen möglich. Skelettal bedingte Fehlbildungen werden in kieferorthopädisch-kieferchirurgischer Kombinationstherapie behandelt. Es gibt viele weitere interdisziplinäre Ansätze der Zusammenarbeit im Rahmen der kieferorthopädischen Behandlung erwachsener Patienten. Eine Kooperation mit den Hauszahnärzten, Parodontologen, HNO-Ärzten, Radiologen, Internisten, Physiotherapeuten und weiteren Disziplinen ist empfehlenswert und in vielen Fällen unerlässlich. Besonders die gemeinsame Diagnostik und Behandlung mit der Parodontologie hat aufgrund des demografischen Wandels der Bevölkerung und der steigenden Anzahl älterer Patienten an Bedeutung gewonnen.
Photosynthesis of marine macroalgae and seagrasses in globally changing CO2 environments

Photosynthetic rates of many marine macroalgae are saturated by the present day inorganic carbon (Ci) composition of seawater, while those of seagrasses (or marine angiosperms) are CO1limited. In this study we attempted to simulate the Ci conditions of near-shore seawater during the time that seagrasses colonised the sea (in the Cretaceous), and compare the photosynthetic performance of representatives of the 2 plant groups under those versus present day conditions. The results show that the seagrasses have an affinity for Ci at least as high as the algae under the low pH and high C02/HC03' concentration ratios simulating near-shore areas of the Cretaceous seas, indicating that their photosynthetic capacity then matched that of macroalgae. However, in the high pH and high COz/HCO? ratlos of today, their a f f ~ n ~ t y for Ci is lower than that of the macroalgae, and i t is suggested that this deficiency renders them a lower ability for Ci utilisation. This situat~on may possibly be reversed again as global CO2 levels of the atmosphere and, consequently, of near-shore marine habitats increase in the future.
EFFECT OF GENOTYPE AND SELENIUM BIOFORTIFICATION ON CONTENT OF IMPORTANT BIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES IN TOMATO (LYCOPERSICON ESCULENTUM MILL.) FRUITS

The effect of genotype and selenium foliar biofortification in the form of an aqueous solution of sodium selenate on the content of total carotenoids, vitamin C and total polyphenols content in the tomato fruits was studied. Field experiment was held in the Botanical garden of the Slovak University of Agriculture in 2014. Two determinant varieties of tomato (Brixol F1 and Uno rosso F1) in the three variants were observed. Foliar application of selenium had a positive effect on the increase of total polyphenol content. The influence of Se biofortification on the content of vitamin C and carotenoids was not detected. Within the followed varieties significant effect of genotype on observed characteristic wasn’t found. Selenium foliar fertilization in dosage 150 g/ha is suitable way of tomato fruits enriching in polyphenols, without negative effect on other antioxidants content.
A large-scale sparse matrix multiplication method based on streaming matrix to GPUs

Sparse matrices are widely used to analyze a complex system which requires lots of linear algebraic operations such as computer graphics, recommender systems, machine learning, and information retrieval. As the size of real graphs are increasing rapidly, fast and scalable methods for handling such large-scale sparse matrices have become harder than before since the size of matrices increases as well. There have been various studies on implementing GPU-based methods for SpGEMM. However, most of those methods have faced two major challenges. First, the irregularity of matrices causes poor load balancing among threads. Second, many matrices do not fit in the GPU device memory. We propose a scalable and efficient GPU-based sparse-sparse matrices multiplication method called MStream which exploits streaming technology, which could hide memory latency of copy between main memory and device memory. To fully exploit GPU streams technology, we explore the design choice of an efficient data structure called slotted page format which divides a matrix into small fixed-size units instead of performing on Compressed Sparse Row (CSR) or Compressed Sparse Column (CSC) formats which are widely used to represent graphs with a sparse matrix in memory.
Dynamics and steady state properties of entanglement in periodically driven Ising spin-chain

We study the dynamics of microscopic quantum correlations, viz., bipartite entanglement and quantum discord, in Ising spin chain with periodically varying external magnetic field along the transverse direction. Depending upon system parameters, local quantum correlations in the evolved states of such systems may get saturated to non-zero values after sufficiently large number of driving cycles. Moreover, we investigate convergence of the local density matrices, from which the quantum correlations under study originate, towards the final steady-state density matrices as a function of driving cycles. We find that the geometric distance between the non-equilibrium and the steady-state reduced density matrices obey power-law scaling. The steady-state quantum correlations corresponding to various initial states in thermal equilibrium are studied as a function of drive time period of a square pulsed field. The steady-state quantum correlations are marked by presence of peaks in the frequency domain. The steady-state features can be further understood by probing band structures of Floquet Hamiltonian. Finally, we compare the steady state values of the local quantum correlations under study with that of the canonical Gibbs ensemble and infer about canonical ergodic properties. We find that depending upon the quantum phases of the initial state and the pathway of the driving Hamiltonian, quantum correlations may go through (canonical) ergodic to (canonical) non-ergodic transitions in the frequency domain.
Evaluation of legumes for development of leafroller-free orchard understoreys.

Legume plants in orchard understoreys can provide a useful endogenous source of nitrogen for growing tree fruits. However, many legumes support insect pests, including leafrollers. To identify nitrogen-fixing understorey plants which are not leafroller hosts, eleven legume varieties were screened for this role in trials where larval and adult Epiphyas postvittana (lightbrown apple moth) were caged onto plants. There were significant differences in the number of egg batches and total eggs laid between legume types, with the fewest batches laid also on white clover cv. ‘Huia’. Larval development was significantly different between cultivars, with one of the slowest development rates on white clover. None of the legumes tested offered better prospects than white clover for reducing leafroller populations in orchard understoreys.
MULTI-LEVEL SEQUENCE MINING BASED ON GSP

Mining sequential patterns is an important problem in the field of data mining and many algorithms and optimization techniques have been published to deal with that problem. The GSP algorithm, which is one of them, can be used for mining sequential patterns with some additional constraints. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for mining multi-level sequential patterns based on GSP. The idea is that if a more general item appears in a pattern, the pattern has higher or at least the same support as the one containing the corresponding specific item. However, too generalized sequence patterns are not important for user. In our algorithm generalization uses a selective method based on information content of patterns. This allows us to mine more patterns with the same minimal support threshold and to reveal new potentially useful patterns.
Game analysis on moral hazard of construction project managers in China

This paper aims to develop a quantitative game mode l for preventing construction project managers from moral hazard problem from the standpoint of construction enterpr ises in China. The authors analyze the sources of c onstruction managers’ moral hazard behaviors under China’s specific situa tions on the basis of the principal-agent theory, e stablish a game theoretic model to analyze the moral hazard problem between c onstruction enterprises and construction project ma nagers, and calculate the equilibrium solution through building up the payoff matrix. The quantitative characteriz ation of risk deposit system and performance appraisal system, which help to alleviate the moral hazard problem of construct ion project managers, are crucial contribution of this paper. The solutio ns results show that the probability of moral hazar d problem of construction project managers can be reduced after implementing risk deposit system and performance appraisal syste m, which prove that the two systems could be taken as the effective mea sures by construction enterprises to address moral hazard problem of construction project managers.
Hospitality Culture and Climate: Keys to Retaining Hospitality Employees and Creating Competitive Advantage

In order to gain competitive advantage, companies must determine the relationship between HR practices and firm performance. This conceptual paper proposes a model that highlights the importance of selecting people who “fit” within the organizational culture and climate of the firm. The authors propose combining established scales of hospitality culture and climate in order to assess a candidate’s fit to the organization. Ideally, these people would be more hospitality service oriented and could foster the “spirit of hospitality” through the organization and thus, on to the customer. Hiring the right people will also lead to increased organizational commitment, consequently, reducing turnover levels. This in turn will lead to higher service levels, increased customer satisfaction, and loyalty.
Understanding the Organization of Industrial Ecosystems

Industrial symbiosis (IS) has been used to describe the physical exchange and shared management of input and output materials by geographically proximate firms. Firms that engage in IS are said to belong to an industrial ecosystem. Symbiosis has been found to be motivated by economic considerations, such as lowering costs for waste disposal, as well as by environmental ones, such as accessing limited water supplies. Communication and trust among managers are thought to play important roles in exchanges; however, empirical studies have not been previously conducted. This study used social network analysis (SNA) to identify the prevalence of industrial symbiosis linkages in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. The study quantified patterns in various relationships among firms and managers, including formal relations through supply chains, and informal ones through interpersonal interactions. SNA and statistical methods were used to explore how these ties correlate with observed industrial symbiosis activities. IS linkages were found to be less prevalent than product sales among firms and were concentrated among pharmaceutical firms at the core of the regional network. Trust among managers and position in the social hierarchy were found to be correlated with IS but not supply chain links. SNA was useful for examining the organization of different relationships in the industrial ecosystem, but contextual information is still needed to add meaning to its findings.
Fabrication of an antireflective nanodome array with high packing density for photovoltaic applications

This paper describes a nanofabrication method for an antireflective nanodome array with high packing density. The master for the close packed nanodome array was fabricated by industrially well-established photolithography and physical vapor deposition processes to realize uniform and defect-free nanostructure in large area. The nanodome array was formed on the surface of a glass plate by a nanoimprinting process using the replicated mold from the master with the aim of reducing the Fresnel reflection of the glass surface. The replication fidelity was verified using scanning electron microscopy and the nanodome structured glass substrate showed ∼3% increase in optical transmittance.
Assessing the future global impacts of ozone on vegetation

Ozone is a major secondary air pollutant, the current concentrations of which have been shown to have significant adverse effects on crop yields, forest growth and species composition. In North America and Europe, emissions of ozone precursors are decreasing but in other regions of the world, especially Asia, where much less is known about its impacts, they are increasing rapidly. There is also evidence of an increase in global background ozone concentrations, which will lead to significant changes in global ozone exposure over this century, during which direct and indirect effects of other changes in the global atmosphere will also modify plant responses to ozone. This paper considers how far our current understanding of the mechanisms of ozone impacts, and the tools currently used for ozone risk assessment, are capable of evaluating the consequences of these changing global patterns of exposure to ozone. Risk assessment based on relationships between external concentration and plant response is inadequate for these new challenges. New models linking stomatal flux, and detoxification and repair processes, to carbon assimilation and allocation provide a more mechanistic basis for future risk assessments. However, there are a range of more complex secondary effects of ozone that are not considered in current risk assessment, and there is an urgent need to develop more holistic approaches linking the effects of ozone, climate, and nutrient and water availability, on individual plants, species interactions and ecosystem function.
Robustness tests of residual momentum strategies

Contrary to conventional momentum, the literature treating the subject of residual momentum is very narrow. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the literature, first by using pricing models that have been recently proposed and were not available at the time when previous researchers published their work. Secondly, by adopting the point of view of an investor who has limited access to the market and its instruments. Mainly, this investor would be unable to short sell stocks. This second choice is of particular interest for portfolio managers who sometimes have limited choices regarding the instruments they are allowed to use. Following the analysis, it appears that residual momentum outperforms its conventional counterpart in every aspect detailed in this research. It seems that there is no reason for an investor who is currently using a conventional momentum strategy not to switch, at least partially, to a residual momentum strategy.
Remote Sensing of Yields: Application of UAV Imagery-Derived NDVI for Estimating Maize Vigor and Yields in Complex Farming Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

The application of remote sensing methods to assess crop vigor and yields has had limited applications in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) due largely to limitations associated with satellite images. The increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles in recent times opens up new possibilities for remotely sensing crop status and yields even on complex smallholder farms. This study demonstrates the applicability of a vegetation index derived from UAV imagery to assess maize (Zea mays L.) crop vigor and yields at various stages of crop growth. The study employs a quadcopter flown at 100 m over farm plots and equipped with two consumer-grade cameras, one of which is modified to capture images in the near infrared. We find that UAV-derived GNDVI is a better indicator of crop vigor and a better estimator of yields—r = 0.372 and r = 0.393 for mean and maximum GNDVI respectively at about five weeks after planting compared to in-field methods like SPAD readings at the same stage (r = 0.259). Our study therefore demonstrates that GNDVI derived from UAV imagery is a reliable and timeous predictor of crop vigor and yields and that this is applicable even in complex smallholder farms in SSA.
Biomass allometry and carbon factors for a Mediterranean pine (Pinus pinea L.) in Portugal

Forests play an important role in the global carbon balance because they offset a large portion of the carbon dioxide emitted through human activities. Accurate estimates are necessary for national reporting of greenhouse gas inventories, carbon credit trading and forest carbon management but in Portugal reliable and accessible forest carbon measurement methodologies are still lacking for some species. The objective of this study was to provide forest managers with a comprehensive database of carbon factors and equations that allows estimating stand-level carbon stocks in Pinus pinea L. (P. pinea), regardless of the tree inventory information available. We produced aboveground biomass and stem volume equations, biomass expansion factors (BEF) by component as well as wood basic density (WBD) and component carbon fraction in biomass. A root-to-shoot ratio is also presented using data from trees in which the root system was completely excavated. We harvested 53 trees in centre and south Portugal covering different sizes (6.5 to 56.3 cm), ages (10 to 45 years) and stand densities (20 to 580 trees ha-1). The results indicate that aboveground allometry in P. pinea is not comparable with other pines and varies considerably with stand characteristics, highlighting the need to develop stand-dependent factors and equations for local or regional carbon calculations. BEFaboveground decreases from open (1.33±0.03 Mg m-3) to closed stands (1.07±0.01 Mg m-3) due to a change in biomass allocation pattern from stem to branches. Average WBD was 0.50±0.01 Mg m-3 but varies with tree dimensions and the root-to-shoot ratio found was 0.30±0.03. The carbon fraction was statistically different from the commonly used 0.5 factor for some biomass components. The equations and factors produced allow evaluating carbon stocks in P. pinea stands in Portugal, contributing to a more accurate estimation of carbon sequestered by this forest type.
The Marketing Stimuli Factors Influencing Consumers’ Attitudes to Purchase Organic Food

The demand for organic food products have increased rapidly in recent years. Among the main factors contributed to the increasing global consumers’ demand towards organic food products are food safety concern, health benefits, better quality, higher nutritional value and environmental concern. Therefore, there is a need to explore consumers’ behaviour towards organic food products. This study attempts to examine the effects of marketing stimuli factors on consumers’ attitudes to purchase organic food in Malaysia. Five key marketing stimuli variables were examined in this study, and they were product attributes, price, availability, sales promotion and marketing communications. This study is based on the results of a survey conducted on a sample of 430 organic food consumers in Malaysia. The structural equation modelling was used for data analysis and six hypotheses were tested. The results showed that three marketing stimuli variables of product attributes, availability and sales promotion have significantly influenced consumers’ attitudes of organic food. Subsequently, consumers’ attitudes is positively correlated to actual purchase of organic food. There was no significant effect of price and marketing communications on consumers’ attitudes of organic food. Based on the findings, marketing stimuli strategies should be focused on creating positive attitude of consumers by increasing consumers’ awareness, trust, satisfaction and loyalty towards organic food. In addition, price of organic food should be reduced and more effective communication strategies should be undertaken to enhance consumers’ purchase of organic food.