Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Macroeconomic policy and pro-poor growth in Bolivia

In this paper, we analyze the potential and limitations of macroeconomic policy to affect propoor growth in Bolivia. After discussing the possibility to use macro policy to affect pro-poor growth in general, I then turn to the case of Bolivia, a highly dualistic small open economy that undertook significant macroeconomic and structural reforms in the 1990s. We show that the growth these reforms generated was generally pro-poor in the 1990s but was not enough to achieve significant poverty reduction due to high levels of initial inequality. It also made the country more vulnerable to external shocks which forced the economy into an anti-poor contraction after 1998. Using a dynamic CGE model we demonstrate that there are only limited options for pro-poor macro policy which is particularly due to the low domestic savings rate and the high rate of dollarization of the economy. Consequently, in order to increase the options for pro-poor macro policy, the large inequality, the high dualism, the low savings rate, and high dollarization of the economy need to be addressed.
Do companies’ characteristics play key roles in the level of their environmental disclosures?

After reviewing the literature, we noticed that the vast majority of studies in the field of environmental accounting and disclosure have focused on developed countries such as Western Europe, America and Australia, while neglected developing countries. This study investigates the relationship between the level of environmental disclosure and company’s characteristics. The researchers identified a number of characteristics that associate with companies’ environmental disclosure, these are: Company’s size, company’s privatization, company’s age and company’s nationality. In the light of empirical results it is noticed that almost 100% of companies disclose some environmental information and they provide three types of environmental information good, neutral and bad news. In addition a significant positive association found between level of environmental disclosure and company’s size, company’s privatization and company’s nationality. Therefore it provide further evidence which emphasize that these characteristics are important elements and have an impact on the level and value of environmental disclosure. On the other hand it was found that age of company is insignificant and negatively related to the level of environmental disclosure.
SIMULTANEOUS STABILIZATION OF PERIODIC ORBITS AND FIXED POINTS IN DELAY-COUPLED LORENZ SYSTEMS

We study two delay-coupled Lorenz systems and demonstrate unified chaos control by noninvasive timedelayed coupling. Both an unstable periodic orbit and an unstable fixed point of the system can be stabilized close to a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. Using a multiple scales method, the systems are reduced to Hopf normal forms, and an analytical approach for stabilizing a periodic orbit as well as afixed point of the system is developed. As a result, the equations for the characteristic exponents are derived in an analytical form, revealing the range of coupling parameters for successful stabilization. Finally, we illustrate the results with numerical simulations, which show good agreement with the theory.
The Effect of Long Term Smoking as an Independent Coronary Risk Factor on Myocardial Perfusion Detected by Thallium 201 or Tc99m Sestamibi Spect Study

Objective: The aim of this work was to assess the effect of smoking as an independent coronary risk factor on Myocardial Perfusion detected by Thallium 201 or Tc99m Sesta MIBI SPECT study.Methods: This study included 200 patients, 100 who are smokers only (group A) without any cardiac risks and the other 100 (group B) were nonsmokers, but with single cardiac risk factor as hypertension or diabetes. Each was subjected to Dipyridamole (smokers 53, 47) or exercise (nonsmokers 51, 49) Thallium-201 or Tc99m SestaMIBI SPECT protocol.Results: Comparing smokers versus nonsmokers who have another one risk factor, smokers had : Lower age with ischemic heart disease 55 years versus 60 years; Higher heart rate during peak stress; higher blood pressure during peak stress; More incidence of chest pain during stress test; had the same degree of ischemic perfusion defect, but higher incidence of persistent LV dilatation (43% versus 28%), higher incidence of severe perfusion defects (68% versus 53%) and statistically significant higher incidence of scar tissue (52% versus 30%). Conclusion: Smoking is an independent risk factor equal to hypertension and diabetes but smokers has higher incidence of severe perfusion defects and scar.
Aalborg Universitet Droop-Control-Based State-of-Charge Balancing Method for Charging and Discharging Process in Autonomous DC Microgrids Lu,

In this paper, a droop control based state-of-charge (SoC) balancing method in autonomous DC microgrids is proposed. Both charging and discharging process have been considered. In particular, in the charging process, the droop coefficient is set to be proportional to SoC, and in the discharging process, the droop coefficient is set to be inversely proportional to SoC. Since the injected/output power is in inverse-proportion to the droop coefficient, with the proposed method, the energy storage unit (ESU) with higher SoC absorbs less power in the charging process and delivers more power in the discharging process. Meanwhile, the ESU with lower SoC absorbs more power in the charging process and delivers less power in the discharging process. Eventually, the SoC and injected/output power in each ESU are equalized. The exponent n for SoC is employed to regulate the balancing speed of the SoC and injected/output power. It is demonstrated that with higher exponent n, the balancing speed is higher. Simulation model comprised of three ESUs is implemented by using MATLAB/Simulink. The proposed method is verified by the simulation results.
The Association between functional-emotional development and creative thinking in preschool children

Introduction: Considering that creativity is essential to adapt to today's complex world, identification of the affecting factors on the development of this way of thinking is one of the necessities of research area. Hence, the aim of present research is to investigate the relationship between emotional-functional development as a potential effective factor and the formation of creative thinking. Methods: 80 children and their mothers were selected from preschools of Mashhad City based on cluster sampling method. The level of creativity among children was measured through Torrance Test of Critical Thinking (TTCT: visual B-form). The mothers of children in sample group answered the Greenspan Social- Emotional Growth Chart. Results: Data analysis showed a significantly positive association between functional-emotional development and aspects of fluidity, expansion and innovation in two groups of male and female preschool children as verified in creativity test. The results of simple linear regression analysis also showed that functional-emotional development can predict 0.05 percent of variance in creativity. Based on the results of t-test for independent groups, there was no significant difference in the level of functional-emotional development and creative thinking among male and female preschool students. Conclusion: The findings of present study supports the theory of Greenspan (1997) regarding the significance of functional-emotional development in integrated development of human kind and emergence of higher levels of thinking. Declaration of Interest: None.
CHAPTER 1 Theoretical and Definitional Issues in Violence Against Women

In the first edition of this book, we stated what was obvious to experts in the field: The number of studies on violence against women has increased dramatically in recent years (DeKeseredy & Schwartz, 2001). Nearly 10 years later, we can easily repeat this observation. Certainly, it is a major challenge to keep up with the empirical and theoretical work on one of the world’s most compelling social problems. That the field’s leading periodical, Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal, is able to publish monthly is an important statement on the amount of time, money, and effort devoted around the world to enhancing a social scientific understanding of the myriad ways in which women are harmed by intimate partners and strangers in private and public places. Although new studies are being conducted daily and new theories are being constructed and tested, one thing we do not have is an agreedupon firm definition of violence against women. As Kilpatrick (2004) correctly points out, the debate about whether to define violence against women narrowly or broadly is “old, fierce, and unlikely to be resolved in the near future” (p. 1218). Similarly, what the authors of this chapter observed more than 15 years ago still holds true: “Right now, there is an important battle being waged over the nature of women’s behavior and its role in woman abuse” (Schwartz & DeKeseredy, 1993, p. 249). One location for this battle is that many people use language that specifically names women as the objects of abuse or names men as the abusers: They use terms such as “woman abuse,”“violence against women,” and “male-to-female violence. ” Others fervently oppose these specific labels and instead use gender-neutral terms such as “family violence” or “intimate partner violence” (IPV),
IMPROVING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPTS OF WEIGHT AND MASS WITH A COMPUTER SIMULATION

Although weight and mass are considered fundamental concepts in physics, they are still not well understood by students. A computer simulation was designed to improve students’ learning of these concepts and compared it with other teaching strategies. The research was carried out with 142 students (7th grade; 12-13 years old), from three schools. There is a significant change in conceptual understanding of the concepts weight and mass for all groups. Nevertheless, total gains were higher for students who used the computer simulation. The implication is that using a computer simulation, carefully designed to address specific conceptual difficulties, may help the students understand the concepts of weight and mass. We also interviewed teachers to understand their role in the classroom. It was found that the features most likely to contribute to improve students’ learning are related to the balance between support and autonomy given to students during the use of the computer simulation. Key words: computer simulation, teaching and learning, physics education, mass and weight.
Assessment of land surface temperature variation over Rusafa side of Baghdad city, Iraq

The current study is concerned with Rusafa side of Baghdad city, which extends on 362 square kilometres and is inhabited by 3738371 people. It suffers from population growth, which led to decline in municipal services and rising of land surface temperature (LST) during the summer season. The current study aims to assess the spatial and temporal variation of LST using different dated satellite images of Landsat 4, 7 and 8 at path 168 and raw 037 during July 16, 1989, April 25, 2000, April 26, 2006, and May 31, 2016. Eight analysis models which were built using ERDAS 2014 software are used to calculate the LST parameters; while the land use/land cover (LULC) types are classified using ENVI v.5. 3 software. The maximum surface temperature recorded at barren lands are between 26 and 41°C, while at vegetation cover ranging from 25 to 34°C and an inverse correlation are recorded between LST and NDVI ranging from -0.5 to -0.81. The built-up area was increased by 23%, whereas open spaces and vegetation cover are decreased by 16% and 6% respectively all that consequently will make the environment of the study area prone to be warmer.
Inhibitory Effect of Echinophora platyloba Essential Oil on Aspergillus flavus in Culture Media and Cheese

Background: In order to avoid potential harm of synthetic additives food, development of novel functional foods containing natural ingredients is considered in current years. In this study, inhibitory effect of Echinophora platyloba Essential Oil (EO) on growth of Aspergillus flavus was evaluated in culture media and cheese. Methods: E. platyloba EO was extracted by hydrodistillation method using a Clevengertype system. Growth of A. flavus on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) culture media was assayed using an agar dilution method. The lowest concentration which inhibited the growth of A. flavus was considered as Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and the lowest concentration of EO which eliminated the mold was taken as Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC). Mold spore suspension was inoculated on Iranian ultra-filtered white cheese and the means of two perpendicular diameters of the fungal colony was calculated. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS, Inc, Chicago, IL software (v.16.0). Results: All concentrations of EO exhibited significant inhibition (p<0.05) of fungal growth in an agar medium. The concentration of 500 ppm of EO reduced the radial growth of A. flavus by 73.9% while higher concentration inhibited completely mold growth. MIC and MFC of the EO was 750 and 1500 ppm, respectively. All the levels of EO had an inhibitory effect (p<0.05) against radial fungal growth in cheese. However, the highest inhibitory effect was seen in cheese group treated with 2000 ppm of EO in which radial growth was reduced by 75.53%. Conclusion: This study suggested that the E. platyloba as a natural inhibitor was able to control the growth of molds in foods such as cheese.
TO EMPLOY SOA-BASED OPTICAL SSB MODULATION TECHNIQUE IN FULL-DUPLEX ROF TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

A full-duplex radio-over-fiber (ROF) transport system employing semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based optical single sideband (SSB) modulation technique is proposed and demonstrated. For our proposed approach, it is relatively simple to implement as it requires only one SOA to generate optical SSB signal. Over an80 km single-mode fiber (SMF) transmission, low bit error rate (BER), clear eye diagram, and low third-order intermodulation distortion to carrier ratio (IMD3/C) were achieved. Our proposed full-duplex ROF transport systems are suitable for the long-haul microwave optical links. Corresponding author: H. -H. Lu (hhlu@ntut.edu.tw).
A New Look at the Role of Disciplines in Citation Analysis

The increasing number of scientific journals, even in a subfield, necessitates a reliable and authoritative measure for researchers and libraries to identify core journals in a given subfield. The impact factor value is affected by different factors such as subject area, type of documents or length of the citation measurement window. In order to prioritize the choice of quality journals for scientists and libraries two new measures (Indices) have been developed. The DSI is an aid to decision-making with regards to the level of journal specialism within a particular discipline and serves to inform researchers in the field who wish to make individual subscription decisions. DPI has been proposed as a decision-making tool for libraries as it indicates the proportion of all citations within a particular discipline that have been received by a particular journal.
THE ADOPTION OF RBST ON WISCONSIN DAIRY FARMS

Adoption of rBST on Wisconsin dairy farms has been modest, and is limited by farm operations: (1) finding rBST disadvantageous given their moderate scale and lack of use of technologies and practices that improve its efficacy; (2) using alternative production systems that make rBST use less likely; and (3) working with handlers that market dairy products to consumers from cows not treated with rBST.
Prognostic Value of Pulmonary Dead-Space Fraction and other Physiological Parameters in Patients with the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Background: Physiologic dead-space fraction (DSF) (ratio of dead space to tidal volume [VD/VT]) is the portion of tidal volume that does not participate in gas exchange. Newer evidence indicates that VD/VT is markedly elevated within 24 h of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) onset and is significantly elevated in non-survivors. Moreover, sustained elevation of VD/VT in ARDS has been associated with higher mortality. Objectives: to study the physiological dead space fraction and various physiological parameters in mortality prediction for patients with ARDS. Methods: The study included 30 patients admitted to the ICU with ARDS. All patients were subjected to Full medical history, general examination, arterial blood gases, laboratory investigations, chest imaging, echocardiography and assessment by Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE II) and Lung injury scoring. Patients were followed up until ICU discharge or demise. Various physiological parameters including dead space fraction, airway resistance, static and dynamic pulmonary compliance, peak inspiratory pressure and positive end-expiratory pressure were measured. Results: The overall mortality was 60%. The mean dead-space fraction was significantly higher in patients who died than in those who survived (0.67±0.08 vs. 0.57±0.09, P<0.001) (table 3). The risk of death increased as the dead-space fraction increased. The dead-space fraction was also independently associated with an increased risk of death in the multiple-regression analysis. For every increase of 0.05 in the dead-space fraction, the odds of death increased by 65 percent (odds ratio, 1.65; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.25 - 1.79; P=0.001) (table 4). Decreased both static and dynamic compliance as well as PaO2/FiO2 were independently associated with unfavorable outcome. The odds of death increased as the APACHE II and Lung injury scores increased and as compliance and PaO2/FiO2 decreased. The positive end expiratory pressure was not associated with an increased mortality (odds ratio, 1.05; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.95 to 1.19; P=0.23). There was significant negative correlation between DSF on admission and static compliance (r= -0.43, P value 0.01), dynamic compliance (r= -0.47, P value 0.01)and PaO2/FiO2 (r=0.73, P value 0.001). Conclusion: Measurement of the dead-space fraction at an early time of the diagnosis of the acute respiratory distress syndrome is a feasible , reliable in providing clinicians with more useful diagnostic and prognostic information early in the course of illness than the other physiological parameters. Measurement of the dead-space fraction could help clinical investigators to identify the patients who may benefit most from a particular tailoring of therapeutic intervention.
Personality Traits and Drug Usage among Addicts

This research has been performed to investigate the relationships between the personality traits and drug usage among the addicted society members. 200 people took part in the present investigation. They were selected in clusters at random from among addicted communities who referred to the centers for stopping addiction and answered Neo personality traits questionnaires and the questionnaire for drug usage withdrawal. Resulted data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and simultaneous regression. The results of the research indicate that conscientiousness has the highest correlation (P<0.01, r= -063), of course personality traits of extroversion (P<0.01, r=-0.51), neurosis orientation (P<0.01, r=0.43), and compatibility (P<0.01, r=-0.43) with the use of drugs, But openness to experience has no correlations with the drug usage. Also, the results of analyzing regression indicates that the differentials of extroversion, conscientiousness explain (P<o.001)0.56 of variance of drug usage. According to the increase in the number of addicts, dangerous drugs and frequent returns among the addicts, identifying dangerous factors and critical prerequisites of identifying addiction decreases the range of its dangers.
Analysis on the Impacts of Field Bunds on Crop Yields in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia

In the Tigray region of the northern Ethiopia, adoption of field bunds has been promoted by the Ethiopian government and international organizations to cope with land degradation. However, it is not always clear to what extent field bunds have impact on crop yields. Using cross-sectional data from the IFPRI, we investigate factors affecting field bunds adoption, the impact of field bunds on crop yields, and the effect of interacting field bunds with fertilizers or seeds. We combine fixed effect and instrumental variable approaches to measure the impact of field bunds. We find that field bunds alone do not have impact on crop yields, but the interaction of field bunds with chemical fertilizers or improved seeds seems to increase the effectiveness of these inputs. Therefore, the promotion of field bunds should be accompanied by the pro-motion of these modern inputs to benefit farmers with improved crop yields. -- Relevance to Development Studies -- Farmers are more likely to adopt land conservation measures on their plots if their action is rewarded with improved crop yields. Thus, understanding the impact of field bunds has important implications to sustainable development; and addressing this information needs is relevant to development studies.
Performing MapReduce on Data Centers with Hierarchical Structures

Data centers are created as distributed information systems for massive data storage and processing. The structure of a data center determines the way that its inner servers, links and switches are interconnected. Several hierarchical structures have been proposed to improve the topological performance of data centers. By using recursively defined topologies, these novel structures can well support general applications and services with high scalability and reliability. However, these structures ignore the details of some specific applications running on data centers, such as MapReduce, a well-known distributed data processing application. The communication and control mechanisms for performing MapReduce on the traditional structure cannot be employed on the hierarchical structures. In this paper, we propose a methodology for performing MapReduce on data centers with hierarchical structures. Our methodology is based on the distributed hash table (DHT), an efficient data retrieval approach on distributed systems. We utilize the advantages of DHT, including decentralization, fault tolerance and scalability, to address the main problems that face hierarchical data centers in supporting MapReduce. Comprehensive evaluation demonstrates the feasibility and excellent performance of our methodology.
Influences of the biophysical environment on blister rust and mountain pine beetle, and their interactions, in whitebark pine forests

Aim To understand how the biophysical environment influences patterns of infection by non‐native blister rust (caused by Cronartium ribicola) and mortality caused by native mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) communities, to determine how these disturbances interact, and to gain insight into how climate change may influence these patterns in the future.