Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Causes of long-term drought in the U

The United States Great Plains (USGP) experienced a number of multi-year droughts during the last century, most notably the droughts of the 1930s and 1950s. This study examines the causes of such droughts using ensembles of long term (1930-1999) simulations carried out with the NASA Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP-1) atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs). The results show that the model produces long-term (multi-year) variations in the USGP precipitation that are similar to those observed. A correlative analysis suggests that the ensemble mean low frequency (time scales longer than about 6 years) rainfall variations in the USGP are linked to a pan-Pacific pattern of SST variability that is the leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) in the low frequency SST data. The link between the SST and the Great Plains precipitation is confirmed in idealized AGCM simulations, in which the model is forced by the 2 polarities of the pan-Pacific SST pattern. The idealized simulations further show that it is primarily the tropical part of the SST anomalies that influence the USGP. As such, the USGP tend to have above normal precipitation when the tropical Pacific SSTs are above normal, while there is a tendency for drought when the tropical SSTs are cold. The upper tropospheric response to the pan-Pacific SST EOF shows a global-scale pattern with a strong wave response in the Pacific and a substantial zonally-symmetric component in which USGP pluvial (drought) conditions are associated with reduced (enhanced) heights throughout the extra-tropics. The potential predictability of rainfall in the USGP associated with SSTs is rather modest, with on average about 1/3 of the total low frequency rainfall variance forced by SST anomalies. Further idealized experiments with climatological SST, suggest that the remaining low frequency variance in the USGP precipitation is the result of interactions with soil moisture. In particular, simulations with soil moisture feedback show a six-fold increase in the variance in annual USGP precipitation compared with simulations in which the soil feedback is excluded. In addition to increasing variance, the interactions with the soil introduce year-to-year memory in the hydrological cycle that is consistent with a red noise process, in which the low frequencies in the deep soil are the result of integrating a net forcing (precipitation-evaporation-runoff) that is white noise on interannual time scales. As such, the role of low frequency SST variability is to introduce a bias to the net forcing on the soil moisture that drives the random process preferentially to either wet or dry conditions.
Student perceptions of staff in the Information Commons: a survey at the University of Sheffield

Purpose: Technology has transformed teaching and learning environments in tertiary education, introducing new collaborative library spaces and developing the roles and skills of library staff. Academic libraries need continually to re-examine their services to ensure they meet student needs. The current survey aimed to discover how students perceived staff in the Information Commons (IC) and whether their perceptions of staff attitudes and skills influenced their use of library resources. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire containing closed and open questions was distributed electronically to undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Sheffield, obtaining 250 responses (around 1 per cent of the student population). Findings: The results showed that most students were unable to distinguish different groups of staff, were unaware of their departmental librarian and did not recognise the academic role of librarians. However, those who had sought assistance in the IC or attended classes delivered by librarians had positive views of their experiences. Research limitations/implications: The timing and fixed duration of the study limited the size and nature of the sample, the generalisability of the findings and depth of the investigation, but sufficient data were collected to establish patterns of behaviour and identify important factors. Practical implications: Low awareness among students of the expertise of librarians and their capacity to provide academic support indicates a need for more promotion to ensure library resources are properly utilised. Originality/value: The study is thought to be the first of its kind conducted in the UK and the only such survey carried out in an IC setting. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
The Effective Use Of Excess Capacity For Low Carbon Urban Transport Futures

A reduction in emissions from transport is essential and requires a system wide approach, inclusive of technological and behavioural changes. Defining capacity in urban transport as the space through which transport demand can be met, the research explores where there is excess capacity in the system and how this could be used to reduce emissions. Capacity may be physical capacity in the roadspace or seats within vehicles, or temporal capacity, where there are fluctuations in the use of the system, such as peak and off-peak flows. This is complementary to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s definition of urban transport energy efficiency as maximising travel activity whilst minimising energy consumption through a range of approaches and techniques. This paper proposes that interventions designed to enable behavioural change could reduce emissions by changing the way that the urban transport system is used. Drawing on the literature, this work demonstrates how effective use of excess capacity might be facilitated through measures such as smarter choices programmes and the application of intelligent transport systems (ITS). Case studies are provided as examples of ways that urban transport infrastructure can be adapted for more efficient use, including shared space projects and the ‘complete streets’ policy in New York City. The paper concludes by presenting the potential impacts of effective use of excess capacity for reducing urban transport emissions as demonstrated through the case studies.
The Square Kilometre Array Science Data Processor. Preliminary compute platform design

The Square Kilometre Array is a next-generation radio-telescope, to be built in South Africa and Western Australia. It is currently in its detailed design phase, with procurement and construction scheduled to start in 2017. The SKA Science Data Processor is the high-performance computing element of the instrument, responsible for producing science-ready data. This is a major IT project, with the Science Data Processor expected to challenge the computing state-of-the art even in 2020. In this paper we introduce the preliminary Science Data Processor design and the principles that guide the design process, as well as the constraints to the design. We introduce a highly scalable and flexible system architecture capable of handling the SDP workload.
Do Banks Overstate Their Value-at-Risk?

This paper is the first empirical study of banks' risk management systems based on non-anonymous daily Value-at-Risk (VaR) and profit-and-loss data. Using actual data from the six largest Canadian commercial banks, we uncover evidence that banks exhibit a systematic excess of conservatism in their VaR estimates. The data used in this paper have been extracted from the banks' annual reports using an innovative Matlab-based data extraction method. Out of the 7354 trading days analyzed in this study, there are only two exceptions, i.e. days when the actual loss exceeds the disclosed VaR, whereas the expected number of exceptions with a 99% VaR is 74. For each sample bank, we extract from historical VaRs a risk-overstatement coefficient, ranging between 19 and 79%. We attribute VaR overstatement to several factors, including extreme cautiousness and underestimation of diversification effects when aggregating VaRs across business lines and/or risk categories. We also discuss the economic and social cost of reporting inflated VaRs.
A Spectral Theoretic Proof of Perron-Frobenius

An elementary proof of the famous Perron–Frobenius Theorem for non-negative matrices is given via classical spectral theory. The key to the proof lies in the inherited characteristics of certain spectral projections. 1. Preliminaries In this paper T will be a linear operator on a complex finite-dimensional vector space. We shall formally denote its matrix relative to a fixed basis by [T ] and the actual element in row i, column j by [T ]ij. Where there is no danger of confusion the square brackets are omitted. The main diagonal vector of [T ] is denoted by diag(T ). The spectrum or set of eigenvalues of T is denoted by σ(T ) and the largest modulus amongst its eigenvalues, the spectral radius of T , is denoted by r(T ). We use P (λ; T ) to denote the spectral projection associated with the eigenvalue λ relative to the operator T . The peripheral spectrum π(T ) is the set of eigenvalues of T with modulus r(T ), and the number of elements in π(T ) is called the index of imprimitivity
Comparison of dinner with bedtime administration of insulin glargine in type 1 diabetic patients treated with basal-bolus regimen

Objective. – To establish the equivalence in efficacy (HbA1c) of insulin glargine injected at dinner versus bedtime in a large number of patients with type 1 diabetes using a fast-acting analogue (FAA) or regular human insulin (RHI) as prandial insulin in an insulin glarginebolus regimen. Research design and methods. – In a 26-week trial, 1178 patients with type 1 diabetes and treated with different basal-bolus regimens were randomized to receive insulin glargine once daily at dinner (n = 589) or at bedtime (n = 589) while continuing their previous prandial insulin (FAA: 75%; RHI: 25% of patients). The primary objective was to demonstrate equivalence in terms of HbA1c levels at endpoint. Results. – Baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups. At endpoint, HbA1c (mean ± standard deviation [S.D.]) had decreased by 0.25 ± 0.66% to 7.77 ± 0.96% in the dinnertime group (P < 0.0001), and by 0.24 ± 0.76% to 7.83 ± 1.07% in the bedtime group (P < 0.0001). The HbA1c difference between dinner and bedtime was –0.022% (two-sided 90% confidence interval [CI] –0.09; 0.05), demonstrating statistical equivalence of HbA1c at endpoint between the two groups. Equivalence was also demonstrated within prandial groups: HbA1c difference between dinner and bedtime was –0.03% (two-sided 90% CI: –0.11; 0.06) for FAAs and –0.04% (two-sided 90% CI: –0.19; 0.11) for RHIs. The incidence of severe hypoglycaemia did not differ between the treatment groups. Conclusion. – These data confirm that insulin glargine in combination with either FAA or RHI is equally effective and safe, whether it is administered at dinner or bedtime. © 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Isolation and characterization of heavy metal resistant bacteria and its effect on shoot growth of Oryza sativa inoculated in industrial soil

A total of twenty heavy metal resistant bacteria were isolated from industrial effluents, sewages, garages and petrol pumps of Barak valley region of Assam, India, against copper, zinc, and lead. Decrease in total count and microbial population diversity with increasing metal concentrations were observed. The predominant isolates obtained were Pseudomonas sp. , Klebsellia sp. and Bacillus sp. with minimum inhibitory concentration for heavy metals as 60μg/ml (for copper), 180μg/ml (for lead) and 1800μg/ml (for zinc). The present study demonstrated that the isolates having higher tolerance to heavy metals have high resistance pattern towards a group of antibiotics. Pot experimental studies suggest that the isolated bacterial communities live in association with rhizosphere soil and able to withstand high heavy metal concentrations in contaminated soil. Further, it has been observed that a significant increase in shoot length of Oryza sativa in contaminated soil when inoculated with heavy metal resistant bacterial strains.
Semi-decidable equivalence relations obtained by composition and lattice join of decidable equivalence relations

Composition and lattice join (transitive closure of a union) of equivalence relations are operations taking pairs of decidable equivalence relations to relations that are semi-decidable, but not necessarily decidable. This article addresses the question, is every semi-decidable equivalence relation obtainable in those ways from a pair of decidable equivalence relations? It is shown that every semi-decidable equivalence relation, of which every equivalence class is infinite, is obtainable as both a composition and a lattice join of decidable equivalence relations having infinite equivalence classes. An example is constructed of a semi-decidable, but not decidable, equivalence relation having finite equivalence classes that can be obtained from decidable equivalence relations, both by composition and also by lattice join. Another example is constructed, in which such a relation cannot be obtained from decidable equivalence relations in either of the two ways.
PILOT-INDUCED OSCILLATION ANALYSIS WITH ACTUATOR RATE LIMITING AND FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP

Fully-developed pilot-induced oscillation (PIO) is an important issue to be solved in the development of modern fly-by-wire flight control systems. In this paper, the fully-developed PIO is analyzed as a worst case for the safety of piloted airplanes, including actuator rate limiting, feedback control loop, and pilot delay by using describing function method. It is shown that the predictions obtained with this method closely match results of the simulation in the frequency and the amplitude of the PIO limit cycle. And it demonstrates that the feedback control loop has a positive effect on PIO and decreases amplitude of the oscillation.
Gravity from a Probabilistic Point of View

Intended as an introduction of the author's research questions, this paper is a further exploration of “probability as a physical motive”, an attempt to entertain an alternative to causal, deterministic explanation in science. According to this approach, explanation need not be an account of what forces dynamics; explanation may be found in the correlations of dynamics to possibilities.Uniform distribution of mass (near‐zero Weyl tensor of space‐time curvature) has been suggested by Penrose as that initial condition which accounts for the second law of thermodynamics, as the physical expression of the “MaxEnt” principle. A distribution of mass with respect to gravity is taken as a certain space‐time topography, and inquiry is made into how there might be more ways for space‐time topography to be irregular than for it to be flat. The attempt to understand the counter‐intuitive circumstance of uniform distribution representing dis‐equilibrium, in the case of gravity, leads to discussion of the Machian quest.
Synthesis and Catalytic Activity of Palladium Mediated Metallodendrimer for the Sonogashira and Heck Coupling Reactions

A palladium mediated metallodendrimer was synthesized via the reaction of 2,4,6-Triaminopyrimidine with 4-methyl benzoyl chloride using (Ph3P)2PdCl2 in DMF at 70°C used as an active homogeneous catalyst for the Sonogashira and Heck cross-coupling reactions. The catalyst was characterized by IR, NMR, Mass, and Elemental analysis. This palladium encapsulated metallodendrimer catalyst was also found to be a white crystalline solid air-stable state and highly effective in the phosphine ligand-free conditions for the coupling reactions. The fibril surface morphology and the presence of Palladium chloride of the compound were confirmed by SEM and EDX respectively whereas the good thermal stability of the catalyst was exhibited by TG and DSC techniques.
Floral Biology and Breeding System of Angadenia berteroi (Apocynaceae): Why Do Flowers of the Pineland Golden Trumpet Produce Few Fruits?

Angadenia berteroi is a tropical perennial subshrub with large yellow flowers that sets very few fruits in its native pine rockland habitat. To learn more about the breeding system of this rare species, we collected seeds from two populations and grew plants for greenhouse study. The flowers open before sunrise. They have a complex floral arrangement (the anthers form a conical structure surrounding the stigma, which has a secondary pollen presentation) that promotes outcrossing from visits by long-tongued pollinators. Hand-pollinations show that A. berteroi is mostly self-incompatible, with greatest fruit set, fruit length, and seedling emergence resulting from crosses between unrelated individuals. The low fruit set observed in natural populations may be due to low visitation by pollinators, matings between closely related individuals, or both.
DOMESTIC DISTORTIONS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

In this paper, we investigate techniques for measuring the trade policy equivalent of domestic distortions, using a distance function approach. Our measure, the Trade Restrictiveness Index, is shown to equal the uniform tariff which is welfare-equivalent to a given pattern of domestic taxes and subsidies. We extend the Index to incorporate taxes in markets for non-traded goods and factors of production and illustrates its operationality with an application to liberalisation in Mexican agriculture. We conclude that our Index has considerable potential in empirical work and as an aid to trade negotiations.
Credit Spreads and Real Activity ∗ Preliminary

This paper explores the transmission of credit conditions into the real economy. Specifically, I examine the forecasting power of the term structure of credit spreads for future GDP growth. I find that the whole term structure of credit spreads has predictive power, even though the term structure of Treasury yields has none. Using a parsimonious macro-finance term structure model that captures the joint dynamics of GDP, inflation, Treasury yields and credit spreads, I decompose the spreads and identify what drives the relationship between credit spreads and the real economy. I show that there is a pure credit component orthogonal to macroeconomic information that accounts for a large part of the forecasting power of credit spreads. The macro factors themselves also contribute to the predictive power, especially for long maturity spreads. Taken together, credit and macro factors capture virtually all predictability inherent in the actual spreads, while additional factors affecting Treasury yields and credit spreads are irrelevant. The credit factor is highly correlated with the index of tighter loan standards, thus lending support to the existence of a transmission channel from borrowing conditions to the economy. JEL Classification: E43; E44; E47; G12.
“ It ’ s Not a Life or Death Thing ” : A Grounded Theory Study of Smoking Decisions among Chinese Americans

Smoking results in a high mortality rate for Chinese Americans. Little is known, however, about the decisions members of this group make that lead to these unhealthy behaviors. Examining smoking decisions could help us understand these choices as well as develop effective prevention strategies. This grounded theory study was conducted to understand Chinese Americans’ smoking decisions. Fifty-four individual interviews and three focus groups were conducted with Chinese Americans of different smoking statuses. The findings describe five smoking decisions including the trajectory of these behaviors. Optimistic bias is identified as one of the main reasons that regular smokers decide not to quit. Some Chinese Americans decide to smoke in order to protect themselves from secondhand smoke because of the perception that secondhand smoke is more dangerous than active smoking. Finally, many Chinese Americans change their smoking behaviors after immigration, with their social environment after immigration playing a key role.
Effect of Marolo (Annona crassiflora Mart.) Pulp Flour Addition in Food Bars

Due to increasing consumer demand for healthy foods, attempts are being made to improve their nutritional value. Thus, there is a necessity to develop food bars enriched with dietary fiber and palatable nutritional components. The aim of this study was to evaluate the shelf life of food bars, prepared with different proportions of marolo pulp flour (20, 30, 40, and 50% replacement of oatmeal) for six-month storage, through nutritional and physical analysis, as well as sensory acceptance. The total dietary fiber content showed an average of 7.1 g·100 g−1. There was a significant increase in antioxidant activity, vitamin C, and total carotenoids content according to increasing concentration of marolo pulp flour in the food bars. In sensory evaluation, the food bar with addition of 50% marolo pulp flour showed higher averages for all evaluated attributes and was the favorite by the evaluators.
Adsorption Kinetics and Mechanisms of Cypermethrin and Dichlorovos on Heterogeneous Activated Carbon Porous Media

Adsorption kinetics and mechanism of Cypermethrin (CY) and Dichlorovos (DI) on activated carbons of oil bean seed shell (OBSS), unripe plantain peel (UPP) and castor bean seed shell (CBSS) systems have been studied. The equilibrium adsorption isotherms were modelled by Freunlich, Langmuir and Langmuir-Freunlich (LF) models. Adsorption isotherms of various systems were best described by Langmuir-Freunlich (LF). Mixed 1,2 order equation (MOE), integrated kinetic Langmuir (IKL), pseudo second order equation (PSOE), fractal-like mixed 1,2 order equation (F-MOE), and Boyd and Webbers models were compared and adopted in the analysis of the kinetic data. The models represented different uptake reduction rate of CY and DI by various adsorption systems. F-MOE, IKL and MOE models were in agreement with CY/OBSS, CY/UPP and CY/CBSS system data respectively, hence the conforming models, whereas IKL, MOE and PSOE were the conforming models for DI/OBSS, DI/UPP and DI/CBSS adsorption data systems, respectively. The two diffusion models (Boyd and Webbers) applied confirmed film diffusion pattern as prevailing transportation pathway for CY and DI onto the adsorbents.
On the Growth Effects of Equity Market Liberalization

While equity market liberalization has been found to be associated with faster economic growth, such a correlation alone cannot identify the direction of causation. Using instrumental variables (IV) methodology, this paper presents empirical evidence of strong growth effects of equity market liberalization. Systematic differences exist in the growth effects across countries at different income levels, and with different size of equity markets. Equity market liberalization benefits high-income and middle-income countries through productivity improvements, while growth instead increases in low-income countries as a result of increased physical capital accumulation. Additional growth effects are found for countries having larger equity markets.
Loop-weighted walk

Loop-weighted walk with parameter $\lambda\geq 0$ is a non-Markovian model of random walks that is related to the loop $O(N)$ model of statistical mechanics. A walk receives weight $\lambda^{k}$ if it contains $k$ loops; whether this is a reward or punishment for containing loops depends on the value of $\lambda$. A challenging feature of loop-weighted walk is that it is not purely repulsive, meaning the weight of the future of a walk may either increase or decrease if the past is forgotten. Repulsion is typically an essential property for lace expansion arguments. This article circumvents the lack of repulsion and proves, via the lace expansion, that for any $\lambda\geq 0$ loop-weighted walk is diffusive in high dimensions.