Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analyzing the Impact of External Debt on Capital Formation in Nigeria: An Autoregressive Distributed Lag Approach

This study aimed at examining the impact of external debt to the growth and development of capital formation in Nigeria. Time series data was utilized for a period from 1980 to 2013, employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) modelling. The result of stationarity tests reported a mixed integration at both I(0) and I(1) hence warranting the use of the ARDL. The ARDL estimation also showed the presence of long run relationship amongst the variables. It was also proved that the variables were independently related in the long run. The impact of external debt on capital formation has been established to be negative and statistically significant while savings came out as the only variable with a bidirectional causal relationship amongst the variables. Interest rate was found to be statistically significant even though weak. The other variables were found to be of unidirectional casual effects. Short-run dynamics of the relationship between the variables have also been examined using ARDL error correction modelling. It was established that the disequilibrium in the previous period will be adjusted within the current period by 68 percent showing a speedy adjustment rate. The coefficient of ECM term has the expected sign and significant at one percent. Going by these findings therefore savings should be giving priority and encouraged internally in order to boost the speed of the growth of capital formation in the economy. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016. v7n1p173
DESEMPENHO REPRODUTIVO DE FÊMEAS DE JUNDIÁ ALIMENTADAS COM DIFERENTES FONTES PROTÉICAS

Two trials were carried out to evaluate the reproductive performance of jundia females fed during 71 days with different protein sources. In the first trial soybean meal was associated to meat and bone meal (CS), sugar cane yeast (LS) and fish meal (PS). In the second trial the effect of replacement of meat and bone meal by soybean meal was evaluated to the levels 0, 35 and 70% of the CS diet (CS0, CS35 e CS70, respectively). The spawning of females were induced with carp hypophysis extract. In the trial 1, embryonic development was higher in the eggs from females fed CS and PS. In the trial 2, embryonic, vitelinic and larval development were higher in CS0 treatment. This concluded that meat and bone meal and soybean meal used as protein sources showed good option in the feeding of reproductive jundia females.
A Real Options Approach to Nuclear Waste Disposal in Sweden

This report is concerned with an investigation of how the real options approach can be useful for managerial decisions regarding the phase-out of nuclear power generation in Sweden. The problem of interest is the optimal time-schedule for phase-out activities, where the optimal time-schedule is defined in purely economical terms. The approach taken is actual construction and application of three real options models, which capture different aspects of managerial decisions. The first model concerns when investments in deep disposal facilities should optimally be made. Although the model is a rough simplification of reality, the result is clear. It is economically advantageous to postpone deep disposal forever. The second model focuses on how the uncertainty of future costs relates to managerial investment decisions. Construction of this model required some creativity, as the nuclear phase-out turns out to be quite a special project. The result from the second model is that there can be a value associated with deferral of investments due to the uncertainty of future costs, but the result is less clear-cut compared to the first model. In the third model, we extend an approach suggested by Louberge, Villeneuve and Chesney (2001). The risk of a nuclear accident is introduced through this model and we develop its application to investigate the Swedish phase-out in particular, which implies that waste continuously disposed. In the third model, focus is shifted from investment timing to implementation timing. The results from the third model are merely qualitative, as it is considered beyond the scope of this work to quantitatively determine all relevant inputs. It is concluded that the phase-out of nuclear power generation in Sweden is not just another area of application for standard real options techniques. A main reason is that although there are a lot of uncertain issues regarding the phase-out, those uncertainties do not leave a lot of room for managerial flexibility if analyzed in compliance with the Swedish framework. Still, we argue that the real options approach can really be useful as a complement to other calculation techniques as indicated by our models. Hopefully, this work may inspire to future investigations of this interesting but highly unexplored area of application for real options.
Field Measurements of Hanging Flight Aerodynamics in the Kestrel Falco Tinnunculus

Summary Hunting kestrels were observed to hang, almost without wing-flapping, in fixed positions over a sea dike. The height and position with respect to the dike profile, the wind direction and velocity and the percentage of hunting time without wing beating were recorded in 429 cases. The vertical wind angle, 6, the wind speed and its horizontal direction were measured at 13 heights up to 8.8m above the windward slope, the top and the leeward slope of the dike under various wind conditions in 225 cases. These wind profile measurements were used to estimate 6 and wind speed near the hanging birds. Kestrels hanging more than 90% of the hunting time preferred a position 6.5±1.5m (S.D.) over the windward slope with sea winds blowing at 8.7±1.5ms~ 1 (S.D.) perpendicular (±30°) to the longitudinal dike axis. For these birds angle 6 was approximately 6-7°. These angles are larger than expected from aerodynamic models and windtunnel measurements. The minimum gliding angle for a kestrel under steady conditions is estimated to be 5°. Hanging kestrels save two-thirds of the energy used during normal windhovering but have to spend 1.6 times more time to catch the same number of voles.
Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering from Metallic Nanostructures: Bridging the Gap between the Near-Field and Far-Field Responses

We present here a detailed study of the complex relationship between the electromagnetic near-ﬁeld and far-ﬁeld responses of ‘‘real’’ nanostructured metallic surfaces. The near-ﬁeld and far-ﬁeld responses are speciﬁed in terms of (spectra of) the surface-enhanced Raman-scattering enhancement factor (SERS EF) and optical extinction, respectively. First, it is shown that gold nanorod- and nanotube-array substrates exhibit three distinct localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs): a longitudinal, a transverse, and a cavity mode. The cavity mode simultaneously has the largest impact on the near-ﬁeld behavior (as observed through the SERS EF) and the weakest optical interaction: It has a ‘‘near-ﬁeld-type’’ character. The transverse and longitudinal modes have a signiﬁcant impact on the far-ﬁeld behavior but very little impact onSERS:Theyhavea‘‘far-ﬁeld-type’’character. Weconﬁrmthepresence ofthecavitymodeusinga combination of SERS EF spectra, electron microscopy, and electromagnetic modeling and thus clearly illustrate andexplain the(lack of)correlation betweenthe SERSEFspectraandthe opticalresponsein terms of the contrasting character of the three LSPRs. In doing so, we experimentally demonstrate that, for a surface that supports multiple LSPRs, the near-ﬁeld and far-ﬁeld properties can in fact be tuned almost independently. It is further demonstrated that small changes in geometrical parameters that tune the spectral location of theLPSRs can also drastically inﬂuence the character of these modes,resulting in certain unusual behavior, such as the far-ﬁeld resonance redshift as the near-ﬁeld resonance blueshifts.
Shrub-Grassland Small Mammal and Vegetation Responses to Rest from Grazing

Between 1989-1991, I studied the effects of livestock grazing on vegetation and small mammals in semiarid shrub-grassland habitats of south-central Utah. Responses were measured at 2 spatial habitat scales; patches and macrohabitats. Patch-scale data were obtained from 4 small (<1 ha) livestock exclosures and nearby grazed areas. Macrohabitat-scale data were collected at 4 actively grazed sites and 4 comparable, excellent condition sites, ungrazed for 30+ years. Ungrazed patch and macrohabitat sites had more surface litter, greater perennial grass cover, and taller perennial grass plants, but treatment response varied among sites. Small mammal responses were apparent only at the macro-habitat scale, where ungrazed sites had 50% greater species richness and 80% higher abundance. Small mammal reproductive activity and biomass were not affected by rest from grazing at either scale. Small mammal community composition varied greatly among sites and within treatments. This variability has important implications for ecological monitoring efforts involving these species.
Power-law tails in probability density functions of molecular cloud column density

Power-law tails are often seen in probability density functions (PDFs) of molecular cloud column densities, and have been attributed to the effect of gravity. We show that extinction PDFs of a sample of five molecular clouds obtained at a few tenths of a parsec resolution, probing extinctions up to A$_{\mathrm{V}}$ $\sim$ 10 magnitudes, are very well described by lognormal functions provided that the field selection is tightly constrained to the cold, molecular zone and that noise and foreground contamination are appropriately accounted for. In general, field selections that incorporate warm, diffuse material in addition to the cold, molecular material will display apparent core+tail PDFs. The apparent tail, however, is best understood as the high extinction part of a lognormal PDF arising from the cold, molecular part of the cloud. We also describe the effects of noise and foreground/background contamination on the PDF structure, and show that these can, if not appropriately accounted for, induce spurious tails or amplify any that are truly present.
Treating Wastes with Microbial Fuel Cells ( MFCs ) and Microbial Electrolysis Cells ( MECs )

iv Chapter 1: Introduction. 1 Chapter 2: Materials and methods . 7 2.1 MFC and electrode materials. 7 2.2 Inoculation and SCMFC operation . 7 2.3 Analysis and calculations . 9 2.3.1 Power generation . 9 2.3.2 The anodic and cathodic open circuit potentials(OCPs) , pH, internal resistance(Rin) and coulombic efficiency . 10 2.3.3 Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) . 11 2.3.4 Cr(VI) and Fe(III) measurement . 12 2.3.5 RAPD test . 12 Chapter 3: Results and discussion . 14 3.1 Power generation of SCMFCs fed with Cr (VI) and Fe (III) . 14 3.2 Reduction of metals in SCMFCs . 15 3.3 Changes of electrodes surface properties during metal removal in SCMFCs . 17 3.4 Electrochemical characteristics of metal reduction in SCMFCs . 18 3.5 Metal reduction activities on cathodes measured by LSV. 22 3.6 RAPD test . 23 3.7 Significance of metal reduction in SCMFCs . 24 Chapter 4: Conclusion . 26 Chapter 5: Future research plan . 27 Reference . 44
ACCURACY ASSESSMENT OF THE GLOBELAND30 DATASET IN JIANGXI PROVINCE

Abstract. The Globeland30 dataset is the most highly spatial resolution global land cover mapping product, which developed by the National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC) in 2015. It plays a significant role in environmental monitoring, climate change, and ecosystem assessment, etc. In this study, Jiangxi province was selected as our study area, the 1 : 100000 land use data in 2010 was employed as the reference data. We aim to examine the accuracy of the Globeland30 from three methods, including area error analysis, shape consistency analysis and confusion matrix. The results show as follows: The land cover types in the study area are primarily occupied by the cultivated land and forest, and secondarily by grassland, water bodies and artificial surfaces. The area error of cultivated land, forest and water bodies are all less than 13 %; The general conformance of the shape consistency reaches to 67 %, but the shape consistency of every land type differs to a large degree, the best shape consistency of forests is up to 75 %; The confusion matrix is obtained in two cases of different class boundary with buffer and no buffer area. It is found that the overall accuracy and kappa coefficient of GlobeLand30 are improved with buffer area. The value of overall accuracy is higher than 78 %, the value of kappa coefficient is higher than 0.52.
History of Art in the Digital Age: Problems and Possibilities

This paper [1] aims to provide a broad overview on the impact of computers on the study of the history of art. It begins by considering the nature of the information technology revolution, exploring the often-made analogy between it and the 'Gutenberg' revolution brought about by the development of the printing press. Like Gutenberg, the IT development is technologically driven. However it is driven to a different end, one that emphasizes flexibility as well as dissemination. This flexibility can be a two edged sword. While it enables many new possibilities, it also seems to encourage a more fragmentary and iterative approach to study; to the preference of information over knowledge. It remains, however, something of an open question whether this new approach is a necessary consequence of the structure of the new technology being made available or whether it is more a product of that wider intellectual change that has grown with the emergence of Post-modernist discourses. I would argue that the latter is the case, and that the fragmentary tendencies that can be accommodated by the new technology can also be countered by those who wish to do so. The computer has developed in the way it has as a result of consumer demand. It is up to those who wish to make different demands to feed these into the technological processes as they are expanded and modified. The paper also looks more specifically at issues that particularly affect the study of images, considering both the potential provided by the digital image for new forms of exploration and analysis, and the new opportunities that are emerging via the World Wide Web.
Pro-Cyclical Unemployment Benefits? Optimal Policy in an Equilibrium Business Cycle Model

We study the optimal provision of unemployment insurance (UI) over the business cycle. We consider an equilibrium Mortensen-Pissarides search and matching model with risk-averse workers and aggregate shocks to labor productivity. Both the vacancy creation decisions of firms and the search effort decisions of workers respond endogenously to aggregate shocks as well as to changes in UI policy. We characterize the optimal history-dependent UI policy. We find that, all else equal, the optimal benefit is decreasing in current productivity and decreasing in current unemployment. Optimal benefits are therefore lowest when current productivity is high and current unemployment is high. The optimal path of benefits reacts non-monotonically to a productivity shock. Following a drop in productivity, benefits initially rise in order to provide short-run relief to the unemployed and stabilize wages, but then fall significantly below their pre-recession level, in order to speed up the subsequent recovery. Under the optimal policy, the path of benefits is pro-cyclical overall. As compared to the existing US UI system, the optimal history-dependent benefits smooth cyclical fluctuations in unemployment and deliver non-negligible welfare gains.
Dosimetry implications for correct ultrasound dose deposition: uncertainties in descriptors, planning and treatment delivery

A discursive review of the fundamental requirements for ultrasound (US) treatment delivery in the context of the required dose is presented. The key components discussed are the acoustic, thermal and dose equations and their numerical solutions, the preoperative imaging modalities used, tissue characterisation, motion compensation and treatment planning strategies and how each component affects the others.
Country Size and Determinants of Economic Growth: A Survey with Special Interest on Small States

This paper surveys the literature on country size and economic growth, focusing on research on small states. The paper first analyzes theoretical and empirical effects of country size on economic growth. Furthermore, the paper surveys some empirical studies on the determinants of economic growth, with special reference to small states. Theoretical studies consider small size a disadvantage, but there is no consensus in empirical studies on the effects of country size on economic growth. However, there´s a certain consensus in identifying the geographic distance from major markets as a principal determinant of economic growth in small states.
Learning support pedagogy for children who struggle to develop the concepts underlying the operations of addition and subtraction of numbers: the 'Calculia' programme

This paper argues for teaching pre-service teachers about remediation strategies for learners who encounter problems in mathematics in the early grades. The premise is that all teachers should be equipped with theory-based practical knowledge to support learning. A few teaching sessions to develop the concepts that underlie the mathematical operations of addition and subtraction are introduced in this paper. An empirically validated, comprehensive model of cumulative arithmetic competence development from the ages of four to eight years forms the basis for the construction of the suggested teaching unit. The model distinguishes five competence levels of arithmetical conceptual development, and proposes that concepts build on one another hierarchically. A ‘part plus part is equivalent to whole’ model was constructed based on this hierarchical structure and the understanding that the concept of addition is a dynamic process. The teaching examples include exercises for all children, not only ones who struggle. Possibilities for adapting the exercises to the individual development level of slower or faster learners are also included. All exercises are accompanied by a reflection on the procedure and strategies applied in order to support meaningful and sustainable learning and to give student teachers the opportunity to use knowledge of mathematical cognition theory during their pre-service years.
Fall Detection FPGA-Based Systems: A Survey

Falls can lead to serious injuries, hospitalization and sometimes death, and are considered the number one cause of disabilities among elderly people, making falls a key concern in the healthcare sector. Advances in medical technology and healthcare mechanisms have driven the development of new responses to the healthcare needs of a growing elderly population. Ambulatory accelerometer devices have been applied to develop reliable and robust fall detection systems. This paper assesses fall detection systems using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) as a CPU in addition to data transmission. In this paper, we give a survey of the different fall detection systems based on FPGAs in the literature, definition of the main theoretical points of fall detection accelerometers-based systems, existing techniques and algorithms and we give an overview of the main steps to design a fall detection system.
Mutual Fund Ratings and Efficiency: An Examination of the Relationship

Morning Star is a rating agency that rates mutual funds based on past performance. The best performing funds are rated 5* while the lowest performing ones are rated 1*. Investors rely heavily on these ratings for making their investment decision. Funds with high rating tend to attract millions of dollars more than those rated lower. The highly rated funds also charge higher management fees as compared to the lower rated funds. Very few studies have examined whether the higher ratings and fees are justified by better performance. In this paper we use a Data Envelopment Based measure of efficiency to examine whether the funds rated 5* are more efficient than funds that are rated 3* by Morning Star ratings. We use returns as the sole output and standard deviation and expense ratio as the two inputs. The results of the study indicate that by and large the Morning Star 5* funds are more efficient than the 3* funds. Another significant find is that small cap funds are generally more efficient than large caps. This implies that even within a particular rating category small funds may be a better investment. The findings of the paper are significant as they provide evidence that ratings are a useful tool for investors in the selection of funds.
Double Penalty in Returns to Education: Informality and Educational Mismatch in the Colombian Labour Market

Abstract This article examines the returns to education taking into consideration the existence of educational mismatches in the formal and informal employment of a developing country. Results show that the returns of surplus, required and deficit years of schooling are different in the two sectors. Moreover, they suggest that these returns vary along the wage distribution, and that the pattern of variation differs for formal and informal workers. In particular, informal workers face not only lower returns to their education, but suffer a second penalty associated with educational mismatches that puts them at a greater disadvantage compare to their formal counterparts.
Wegener Fiber Dynamics in Turbulent Flows Part I : General Modeling Framework Part II :

The paper at hand deals with the modeling of turbulence effects on the dynamics of a long slender elastic fiber. Independent of the choice of the drag model, a general aerodynamic force concept is derived on the basis of the velocity field for the randomly fluctuating component of the flow. Its construction as centered differentiable Gaussian field complies thereby with the requirements of the stochastic kturbulence model and Kolmogorov’s universal equilibrium theory on local isotropy.
Psychological Variables of Estimating Distance Learners' Motivation

The correlation between distance education motivation levels of students and their online experiences and satisfaction is studied in this paper; and the reasons of their satisfaction and dissatisfaction according to their motivation levels are described. In this study, 183 students, who were taking English and Turkish courses at Ankara University between 2013-2014 academic year through distance education participated. The study which was designed in the form of sequential mixed method research design, “Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory” and “Online Student Satisfaction Scale” were utilized to collect data and structured interview forms that were developed by the researchers and they were also used to determine students’ online learning experiences and their satisfaction levels about distance education. Three motivation levels as low- medium-level- high were identified by clustering analysis. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate motivation levels and satisfaction data and content analysis was applied to evaluate the reasons behind their satisfaction. A significant correlation was found between the students’ motivation levels and their online learning experiences and satisfaction. When it comes to the reasons of their satisfaction and dissatisfaction, the students who have low and medium-level motivation levels said that their dissatisfaction was due to lack of interaction and negative perceptions and their dependence on conventional education. On the other hand, the students who have high motivation stated that their satisfaction was because it is free from time and space, suitable for reviews, provides effective learning and meets the requirements of this age. The students who were not satisfied in three different motivation levels mentioned the problems of internet access and lack of synchronization between the picture and the sound in the videos.