Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dependent Samples in Empirical Estimation of Stochastic Programming Problems

Stochastic optimization models are built with the assumption that the underlying probability measure is entirely known. This is not true in practice, however: empirical approximation or estimates are used instead. The question then arises if such inaccuracy does not perturb resulting solutions and optimal values. We measure the ”distance” between the probability distributions by suitable metrics on the space of probability measures. It is known that, under certain assumptions, the stability of the stochastic optimization model is assured with respect to the selected metric, and, moreover, the empirical estimate of the unknown distribution has suitable convergence properties, including a sufficient rate of convergence. In the case of Kolmogorov metric, the convergence rate is known if the random sample is independent and the probability measure is ”continuous”. In the case of Wasserstein (Mallows) metric, uniform distribution and independent random sample, the rate of convergence is the same in the case of the traditional uniform process and its limiting distribution is known; for other distributions, metrics, and the multidimensional case, the convergence properties and the rate of convergence have to be estimated e.g. by simulations. In our contribution, we show some numerical results for independent and dependent samples and make some backward interpretation of the results applied to stochastic programming.
Lockup Agreements and Survival of UK IPOs

This paper examines the role of lockup agreements on the survival of 580 UK Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) during the period of 1990–2011. Our accelerated failure time (AFT) survival model shows a statistically and economically significant effect of lockup length on the post-IPO survival. A 12 month increase in median lockup period increases the (median) survival time by 27%. Furthermore, the failure rates for IPOs with longer lockups are consistently lower than the failure rates for IPOs with shorter lockups regardless of delisting reasons. The results are robust to choice of different survival estimation models, heterogeneity, clustering, and alternative specification of variables. Our results highlight the importance of lockup characteristics on the subsequent survival of newly listed firms and inform recent debate regarding alleged short-termism in the UK equity market.
Financial Performance of Islamic and Conventional Banks: Evidence from Jordan

This article investigates the performance of Islamic banks versus conventional counterparts in Jordan over the period (2009-2013) using financial ratio analysis. A total of 16 banks (13 conventional and 3 Islamic) were considered. A comparative study is undertaken based on performance indicators, 13 financial ratios were estimated to measure performances in terms of profitability, liquidity, risk and solvency, and efficiency. T-test is used in determining their significance. The results show that there are differences in performance between Islamic and conventional banks in Jordan during study period in terms Islamic banks are less profitable, more liquid, less risky, and less efficient comparing to conventional banks. However, there was no significant difference in profitability ratios, but there was a significant difference in liquidity ratios and risk and solvency ratios between conventional and Islamic banks
Mate Familiarity Affects Pairing Behaviour in a Long-Term Monogamous Lizard: Evidence from Detailed Bio-Logging and a 31-Year Field Study

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Leu ST, Burzacott D, Whiting MJ, Bull CM (2015) Mate familiarity drives long-term monogamy in a lizard: evidence from detailed biologging and a thirty one year field study. Ethology 121(8) pp. 760-768], which has been published in final form at DOI:10.1111/eth.12390. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving (http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-820227.html#terms). This article is under embargo for a period of 12 months from the date of publication
Market Orientation, Product Innovation on Marketing Performance Rattan Industry in Cirebon Indonesia

Companies build strategy through market orientation and product innovation through the development or creation of new products, to provide optimum service, so that companies are able to create competitive advantage and improve marketing performance better.The research problem there are gaps between market orientation and product innovation to organizational performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of market orientation, product innovation and competitive advantage to marketing performance. Respondents study of 170managers rattan industry in Cirebon, West Java through questionnaires. Methods of data analysis in this study using Structural Equation Modeling. The results showed that market orientation has a positive influence on competitive advantage. Product innovation together with increasing market orientation and the competitive advantage of research findings show there is a positive influence on the performance of competitive advantage of marketing and competitive advantage to mediate the effect of market orientation and product innovation on the performance of marketing
Evaluation of Accuracy, Precision and Agreement of Five Hba1c Measurement Methods with HPLC Reference Method

Background and Objective: The current challenge of diabetes mellitus is to prevent its complications. These complications are directly associated with hyperglycemia in diabetics. The HbA1c measurement is essential for long-term glycemic control. Synchronization of HbA1c measurement is important in order to avoid discrepancies between results reported by laboratories. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy, precision and agreement of five HbA1c measurement methods with HPLC reference method. Methods: HbA1c levels of 55 samples were measured using six methods of microcapillary electrophoresis (Sepia), enzymatic method (Pishtaz Teb), immunoturbidometry (Pars Azmoon), boronate affinity (Nycocard), immunofluorescence (ichroma) and Tosoh G8 HPLC. Results: The five tested methods showed a good agreement with the HPLC method with correlation coefficient of less than 95%. Regression testing of HPLC method and other methods showed slope of 0.99 (P<0.05) for Sebia, 1.02 (P<0.05) for Pishtaz Teb, 0.79 (P<0.05) for Pars Azmoon, 0.82 (P<0.05) for Nycocard and 0.89 (P<0.05) for ichroma. Average inaccuracy for the Sebia, Pishtaz Teb, Pars Azmoon, Nycocard and ichroma in comparison with the HPLC reference method were -0.09, -0.004, -0.75, -0.79 and -0.78, respectively. Conclusion: The Sebia microcapillary method and Pishtaz teb enzymatic method have appropriate accuracy and precision. Therefore, these methods can be used as alternatives to the HPLC method for HbA1c measurement. Other methods such as Pars Azmoon, Nycocard and ichroma have significant shortcomings in terms of accuracy.
The Effect of Oxidized Fat Added to Feed Mixture on Selected Quality Attributes of Turkey Meat

The effects of the oxidation degree of fat added to feed mixtures for turkey females as well as the addition of an antioxidant on the quality of raw meat and meat after heat treatment were investigated. The manner of feeding had no significant effect on the contents of major compounds in the analyzed breast muscles. The addition of fat with a higher peroxide value to diets was found to decrease the contents of polyenic and saturated acids and to increase the concentration of monoenoic acids. The muscle fat of turkey females receiving oxidized fat and the Hadox-dry preparation simultaneously was characterized by a slightly higher concentration of unsaturated acids and a lower content of saturated acids. A lower intensity of lipid oxidation was observed in the muscles of the birds fed on mixtures supplemented with compounds of antioxidant activity. The muscles of the birds fed on a diet supplemented with the Hadox-dry preparation had the highest scores for sensory evaluation.
Distress Anomaly and Shareholder Risk: International Evidence

Financially distressed stocks in the U.S. earn puzzlingly low returns giving rise to the distress risk anomaly. In this paper we provide evidence on the performance of distressed stocks in 34 different countries. We find that the distress anomaly appears to exist in developed countries but not in emerging ones. Using cross-country analyses we explore several alternative potential drivers of returns to distressed stocks. We find that the distress anomaly is stronger in countries with stronger takeover legislation, lower barriers to arbitrage, higher information transparency, and easier access to new loans. We find a weak relation between the distress anomaly and debt enforcement risk, and a measure of country-level return skewness. We find no relation between the anomaly and the legal origin of a country. These findings suggest that various aspects of shareholders’ risk play an important role in shaping distressed stocks returns.
Generación in vitro de células dendríticas humanas de origen mieloide

Dendritic cell activity is an important step to elicit cellular immunity. These cells are the most potent antigen presenting cells and the main activating factor for naive T cells. There are several phenotypes of dendritic cells originated from different cell precursors. The aim of this study was to assess a model to obtain human myeloid dendritic cells from peripheral blood CD14+ monocytes. Cells were cultured in the presence of granulocyte-monocyte colonies stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and IL-4 to obtain immature dendritic cells, wich were further cultured with PGE2 plus TNFa to induce their maturation. We obtained immature dendritic cells at day 5 and mature dendritic cells at day 7, according to microscopic cellularphenotype and positivity of membrane markers for CD14, CD86, HLA-DR and CD83,
Comparison of Riemann and Lebesgue sampling for first order stochastic systems

The normal approach to digital control is to sample periodically in time. Using an analog of integration theory we can call this Riemann sampling. Lebesgue sampling or event based sampling is an alternative to Riemann sampling. It means that signals are sampled only when measurements pass certain limits. In this paper it is shown that Lebesgue sampling gives better performance for some simple systems.
Utilization of Mungbean's Green House Fodder and Silage in the Ration for Lactating Dairy Cows

Green house fodder (GHF) is high quality forage that is produced by hydroponic vertical farming system in green house in short time. Silage is also high quality feed that is available all year rounds. The research aimed to evaluate productivity and nutritive value of mungbean’s GHF and its supplementation effect with and without silages based ration on dairy cow performances. The research was divided into two experiments. The first experiment studied the seed density (A1= 1.5 kg/m 2 ; A2= 2.5 kg/m 2 ; A3= 3.5 kg/m 2 ) in bioslurry:ABmix 25:75 media as nutrient solution and used randomized block design. The second experiment studied mungbean’s GHF supplementation that used twelve lactating dairy cows with 2 x 2 randomized factorial block design 2 x 2. Factor 1 compared silages utilization (S0= without silages; S1= silages) and factor 2 tested mungbean’s GHF supplementation level (G0= 0% DM; G1= 5% DM). The results showed that A1 produced the highest biomass conversion (5.27). GHF had high digestibility and fermentability indicated that GHF had potential as dairy feed. Supplementation of GHF increased nutrient intake. Silage is a high quality feed, so that GHF supplementation did not give significant effects on nutrient digestibility and milk production. It can be concluded that the low seed density (1.5 kg/m 2 ) had high productivity and nutrition quality, and its supplementation increased nutrient intake, but did not affect nutrient digestibility and milk production. Key words: green house fodder, mungbean, bioslurry, dairy cow, silages
Determining The Impact of Photovoltaic Generation on Power Systems

approved: Ted K.A. Brekken The National Conference of State Legislatures NCSL declares that 29 states have been active in adopting and increasing renewable portfolio standards. Present renewable portfolio standards require utilities to increase integration of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV). The increased penetration of PV systems is expected to destabilize the power system. Therefore, this thesis studies the steady state voltage of Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC) as the penetration level of the PV system increases to find the point where the penetration level makes the system unstable. In addition, this study serves to pinpoint the violated transmission lines as the penetration level increases, while also identifying why this violation occurs. The study is divided into two scenarios: integration of a rooftop only PV system at unity power factor and integration of both rooftop and utility scale PV systems. The study uses MATpower simulation program to solve the system power flow for each scenario. The results show that when we integrate a rooftop only PV system, the steady state voltage in the light loaded buses becomes unstable as the penetration level increases. However, integrating both rooftop and utility scale PV systems enhance the system stability. Also, the transmission line violations are observed while PV system penetration level increases. c ©Copyright by Falah AL-Anazi June 10, 2016 All Rights Reserved Determining The Impact of Photovoltaic Generation on Power Systems by Falah AL-Anazi A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Presented June 10, 2016 Commencement June 2017 Master of Science thesis of Falah AL-Anazi presented on June 10, 2016.
Optimierung von Geschäftsprozessen mithilfe mobiler Endgeräte und unter Berücksichtigung der zur Verfügung stehenden Sensoren

Ziel der Arbeit ist es, einen weitreichenden Uberblick uber einige auf mobilen Endgeraten verfugbare physische Sensoren zu geben und ihre Verwendung zur Bestimmung des Kontexts eines Benutzers aufzuzeigen. Der Schwerpunkt vorgestellter physischer Sensoren wird auf denen liegen, die zur Positionsbestimmung des Benutzers herangezogen werden konnen. Darauf aufbauend werden Szenarien und Geschaftsprozessen erlautert, die durch den Einsatz mobiler Sensorik optimiert und automatisiert werden. Das Ziel, einen tiefen Einblick in die Kombination von Geschaftsprozessen mit Geschaftsanwendungen und mobiler Sensorik zu geben, wird durch die Implementierung eines Krankenhaus-Prozesses erreicht. Anhand des Prozesses und seiner Implementierung soll dargestellt werden, wie unter Verwendung von Bluetooth LE, Apples iOS, einer Serverarchitektur und zusatzlichen Komponenten eine Context Aware Application Geschaftsprozesse optimieren und automatisieren kann. Das resultierende Softwaresystem soll beispielsweise das Auffinden und Einsehen von Patientenakten und Aufgabenubersichten anhand von Kontexten optimieren, die durch die momentane Position eines Benutzers und seiner Zugehorigkeit zu einer Organisationseinheit bestimmt werden. Auch fehlerhafte Patientenverlegungen sollen durch die Anwendung verhindert und Medikamentenbestande einzelner Medikamente automatisiert dokumentiert und aktualisiert werden. Fur die Umsetzung einer solchen Geschaftsanwendung wird das Ziel gesetzt, eine geeignete Systemarchitektur zu erarbeiten, Sensoren und ihre Daten zu untersuchen, Schnittstellen bereitzuhalten und einen geeigneten Einsatz mobiler Sensorik zu finden.
Il Genio vagante. Babilonia, Ctesifonte, Persepoli in racconti di viaggio e testimonianze dei secoli XII-XVIII. Alessandria, Dell’Orso, 2005, 608 p., 294 fig. (« Mnème, 5 » Documenti, culture, storia del Mediterraneo e dell’Oriente Antico)

Belle et tres utile edition d’extraits de relations de voyages – pres de 200 ! Les textes vont de un ou deux paragraphes a pres de vingt pages. L’editeur a voulu montrer le regard de ces voyageurs ou « antiquaires » sur des sites antiques celebres, mais dont il ne restait que des lieux deserts, sans traces de monuments, construits en briques crues pour la plupart, ou bien qui ne conservaient que peu de choses, a l’exception notable de Persepolis et de quelques autres sites dont les ruines eta.
A Spatial Euler-Bernoulli Beam Element for Rigid-Flexible Coupling Dynamic Analysis of Flexible Structures

A two-node spatial beam element with the Euler-Bernoulli assumption is developed for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of slender beams undergoing arbitrary rigid motions and large deformations. During the analysis, the global displacement and rotation vectors with six degrees of freedom are selected as the nodal coordinates. In addition, the “shear locking” problem is avoided successfully since the beam cross-sections are always perpendicular to the current neutral axes by employing a special coupled interpolation of the centroid position and the cross-section orientation. Then a scheme is presented where the original transient strains representing the nodal forces are replaced by proposed average strains over a small time interval. Thus all the high frequencies can be filtered out and a corresponding equivalent internal damping will be produced in this new formulation, which can improve the computation performance of the proposed element for solving the stiff problem and evaluate the governing equations even by using the nonstiff ordinary differential equation solver. Finally, several numerical examples are carried out to verify the validation and efficiency of this proposed formulation by comparison with the analytical solutions and other research works.
Semilinear wave equation on manifolds

Dans ce travail nous etudions un probleme pour les equations des ondes non lineaire definies dans une variete. Ce probleme a ete motive par J.L. Lions [8], p. 134. Pour l'existence de solutions nous avons applique la methode de Galerkin. Le comportement asymptotique des solutions a ete examine aussi.
Speed Behaviour of PI and SMC BasedDTC of BLDC Motor

This paper presents a new direct torque control (DTC) strategy for BLDC motor based on speed behaviour of PI and SMC based DTC of BLDC motor. In conventional direct torque controlled BLDC motor drive, there is usually undesired torque and flux ripple. So tuning PI parameters(Kp, Ki) are essential to DTC system to improve the performance of the system. PI controller is widely used in motor control system due to the simple control structure. In conventional PI controller, the performance of the motor may cause unexpected torque disturbances. To overcome the problems with PI controllers, in this paper, sliding mode controller is proposed to resolve the speed tracking problem for DTC of BLDC motor drive. The simulation results of DTC of BLDC motor drive with PI & SMC controllers are compared in the MATLAB/simulink environment.
Formation and export of water masses produced in Arctic shelf polynyas — process studies of oceanic convection

The contribution of brine-enriched bottom water from Arctic shelves to intermediate and deep water masses of the adjacent Arctic Ocean or the Nordic Seas is a widely discussed topic in Arctic Oceanography. This paper presents an overview of process-oriented modelling which was conducted to deepen our understanding of oceanic convection and its role in water mass formation. It arrives at a conceptual picture of the convective formation of bottom water masses in Arctic shelf seas as a consequence of ice-ocean interactions and considers the role of sediments in slope convection. To investigate and discuss the processes which take part in transformation, production and export of dense shelf water masses a hierarchy of numerical models of different type and spatial resolution was applied. The models cover spatial scales from well below the internal Rossby radius of deformation up to the mesoscale.
TREE/SHRUBS SPECIES DIVERSITY OF EHOR FOREST RESERVE IN UHUNMWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EDO STATE, NIGERIA

Tropical forests are the richest and the most diverse ecosystem on earth but are unsustainably over exploited despite legislation to control their exploitation. This study was therefore undertaken to assess the effects of such uncontrolled exploitation on the tree/shrub diversity of Ehor Forest Reserve. Five sample plots of 30 m x 30 m were laid out in each of compartments 81, 95 and 112 of 160 hectres each. Ninety-eight species of trees/shrub distributed in 87 genera and 36 families were identified. Fifteen of these families were monospecific while the others had two or more species. Fabaceae was the most diverse with 18 species. Ninety-one percent of all the species encountered were trees while the remaining nine percent were shrubs. Compartment 81 had the highest number of species (61) while compartment 95 had the least (54 species). Twenty-four species were common to the three compartments. Celtis zenkeri was the most abundant with 157 tree stands out of the 2064 stands encountered. The inverse of Simpson's diversity indices calculated for compartments 81, 95 and 112 were 25.0, 31.3 and 21.7 indicating some measure of heterogeneity within the compartments. The Sorensen's similarity indices were 45.3%, 41.4% and 43.6% for paired compartments of 81 and 95, 95 and 112 and 81 and 112 respectively. These values indicated that there is no much variability between the compartments of study. The presence of monospecific families and the low density of the species also showed that a number of these species are under threat of extinction. So exploitation should be drastically reduced to allow the Ehor Forest Reserve to regenerate itself. (Researcher 2010:2(2):37-49) (ISSN: 1553- 9865).
Sustainable Tourism: A Case of Destination Competitiveness in South Asia

Sustainability is a multidimensional concept that encompasses not just environmental protection but also extends to economic development and social equity (Gladwin, et al., 1995). The tourism system is a complex social system and considered as a smokeless industry which operates within the micro and macro environments considering all factors of competitiveness and sustainability. "Tourism Industry Forecast" indicates that the tourism industry is growing at a faster rate with large number of tourist flow over the world. In case of South Asian countries the experience and opportunities can be elaborated in various areas of travel and tourism. Inspite, of having massive infrastructure, support facilities and travel and tour destination with great value chain has not yet received great attention from the global tourist community and have not yet in the global ranking of highest tourist destination arrivals. This paper tries to find various components of sustainable tourism in case of destination competitiveness with special reference to South Asia. The paper will also suggest the strategies and competitiveness development method recognizing pattern of development, need to incorporate input, recognizing destination competitiveness as an intermediate goal towards growth.
Analyzing the Impact of Financial Managers' Perception of Macroeconomic Variables on Capital Structure of Firms Listed in Tehran Stock Exchange

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of Perceived macroeconomic variables by financial managers on capital structure decisions of firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange. A detailed questionnaire was employed to collect data about perception of macroeconomic variables, namely GDP, interest rate, inflation rate and exchange rate. A total of 100 questionnaire forms were filled by financial managers of selected firms among ten major industries. Result of regression analysis shows that there is no significant relationship between perceived macroeconomic variables and the way Iranian corporate arrange their capital structure, however, majority of financial managers express the significant effect of exchange rate, inflation rate and interest rate, in order of importance, on capital structure of firms.