Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of national culture in Europe on cash dividend payout

In this paper we investigate the relationship between culture and cash dividend payout. We utilize two dimension of national culture from Hofstede’s framework as proxies for culture to be able to perform a regression analysis. We propose that culture provides additional explanatory power in determining variations in cash dividend payout. Our results indicate a negative relationship between the cultural dimension uncertainty avoidance and dividend payout. However, this result was not robust to the use of another measure for cash dividend payout. Additionally, we find a positive relationship between the cultural dimension of collectivism vs. individualism and cash dividend payout. To clarify, a higher score for individuality resulted in higher expected cash dividend payout. Interestingly, previous literature and empirical evidence pointed to the inverse direction for this relationship. Finally, our results support our proposition that culture can help explain variations in cash dividend payout. Although, its additional explanatory power is rather low, it is statistically significant.
RNA duplex anions in two X-ray structures of the ( GUGGUCUGAUGAGGCC ) Noncanonical G ( syn )-G ( anti ) base pairs stabilized by sulphate data

The structures of two crystal forms of the RNA 16-mer with the sequence GUGGUCUGAUGAGGCC, grown in the presence of a high concentration of sulphate ions, have been determined using synchrotron radiation at 1.4and 2.0-Å resolution. RNA with this sequence is known as one of the two strands of the noncleavable form of the hammerhead ribozyme. In both crystal structures, two G(syn)–G(anti) noncanonical base pairs are observed in the middle of a 14 base-pair (bp) duplex having 59dangling GU residues. Both structures contain sulphate anions interacting with the G–G bp stabilizing G in its syn conformation and bridging the two RNA strands. In both cases the interactions take place in the major groove, although the anions are accommodated within different helix geometries, most pronounced in the changing width of the major groove. In one structure, where a single sulphate spans both G–G pairs, the major groove is closed around the anion, while in the other structure, where each of the two G–G pairs is associated with a separate sulphate, the groove is open. This work provides the first examples of a G–G pair in syn-anti conformation, which minimizes the purine–purine clash in the center of the duplex, while utilizing its residual hydrogen bonding potential in specific interactions with sulphate anions.
PRIVACY PRESERVING DATA MINING USING THRESHOLD BASED FUZZY C- MEANS CLUSTERING

Privacy preserving is critical in the field of where data mining is transformed into cooperative task among individuals. In data mining, clustering algorithms are most skilled and frequently used frameworks. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving threshold clustering that uses code based technique with threshold estimation for sharing of secret data in privacy-preserving mechanism. The process includes code based methodology which enables the information to be partitioned into numerous shares and handled independently at various servers. The proposed method takes less number of iterations in comparison with existing methods that does not require any trust among the clients or servers. The paper additionally provides experimental results on security and computational efficiency of proposed method.
Foreign Direct Investment and the Degree of Southern Penetration∗

I develop a dynamic general equilibrium model of North-South trade to investigate to what extent the South is able to enter international markets through foreign direct investment (FDI) that serves as a channel for technology transfer. In lowand mediumtech industries, the South catches up and competes with the North on the strength of its cost advantage. In response, the North abandons the low-tech industries and instead strengthens its technological lead to escape the South’s competition in medium-tech industries where the North and the South take turns to be the dominant producer in the market. In high-tech industries, the substantial technological gaps deter the South from entering. The measures of the three types of industries are endogenously determined. Countries’ sizes, developmental levels, and openness are linked to the proposed measures of penetration. The effectiveness of FDI and R&D policies is further assessed. JEL No: F11, F12, F21, F23
Working Papers on International Economics and Finance DEFI 1503 February 2015 Volatility spillovers in EMU sovereign bond markets

We analyse volatility spillovers in EMU sovereign bond markets. First, we examine the unconditional patterns during the full sample (April 1999-January 2014) using a measure recently proposed by Diebold and Yılmaz (2012). Second, we make use of a dynamic analysis to evaluate net directional volatility spillovers for each of the eleven countries under study, and to determine whether core and peripheral markets present differences. Finally, we apply a panel analysis to empirically investigate the determinants of net directional spillovers of this kind.
Effects of UV-B radiation on the Patagonian Jaborosa

Treatment of Jaborosa magellanica with artificial UV-B radiation caused changes in plant growth, plant chemistry and increase DNA polymorphisms. Spectrophotometric analysis showed that UV-B radiation decreases the chlorophylls content, and increases the amount of UV-B absorbing compounds (e.g., phenylpropanoids). Other UV-induced alterations include reduction in leaf area, alterations in plant architecture, and DNA damage. Using random primers and PCR amplification procedure, a high degree of polymorphism was detected when treated plants were compared to non-irradiated plants. These biochemical changes may be interpreted as plant response to UV-B radiation stress and as an indicator of DNA damage. 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Simulations of lattice animals and trees

The scaling behaviour of randomly branched polymers in a good solvent is studied in two to nine dimensions, using as microscopic models lattice animals and lattice trees on simple hypercubic lattices. As a stochastic sampling method we use a biased sequential sampling algorithm with re-sampling, similar to the pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM) used extensively for linear polymers. Essentially we start simulating percolation clusters (either site or bond), re-weigh them according to the animal (tree) ensemble, and prune or branch the further growth according to a heuristic fitness function. In contrast to previous applications of PERM, this fitness function is not the weight with which the actual configuration would contribute to the partition sum, but is closely related to it. We obtain high statistics of animals with up to several thousand sites in all dimension 2 ? d ? 9. In addition to the partition sum (number of different animals) we estimate gyration radii and numbers of perimeter sites. In all dimensions we verify the Parisi? Sourlas prediction, and we verify all exactly known critical exponents in dimensions 2, 3, 4 and ? 8. In addition, we present the hitherto most precise estimates for growth constants in d ? 3. For clusters with one site attached to an attractive surface, we verify for d ? 3 the superuniversality of the cross-over exponent at the adsorption transition predicted by Janssen and Lyssy, but not for d = 2. There, we find = 0.480(4) instead of the conjectured = 1/2. Finally, we discuss the collapse of animals and trees, arguing that our present version of the algorithm is also efficient for some of the models studied in this context, but showing that it is not very efficient for the 'classical' model for collapsing animals.
Multifunctionality and Policy Learning in the Finnish Agri-Environmental Policy Subsystem: A Multilevel Governance Perspective

During the past fifteen years Finnish agricultural, agri-environmental and rural policies have undergone signifi cant changes. Structural changes of agriculture, emphasis on the joint production of food and public goods, as well as the recognition of general multifunctional nature of agriculture and rural activities have all contributed to the policy change. The term multifunctionality has been used in various ways in the agricultural and rural policy debate, depending on the political agenda and on the context in which it has arisen. From the theoretical point of view, it is of particular interest due to its various dimensions. This paper addresses the role of the notion of multifunctionality in the development of the Finnish agri-environmental policy. The main finding is that the concept of multifunctionality is closely related to the formation of a new advocacy coalition in the agri-environmental policy subsystem. However, it is not seen that the concept has much to contribute to agricultural, agri-environmental or rural policy. It seemingly acts for consensus in the policy field but it has hardly been used as a conceptual tool for creating any new space for integrative policy framing.
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS AND GROUP PROCESSES A Theoretical Analysis of Crossed Categorization Effects: A Meta-Analysis

The authors meta-analytically compared evaluations of persons exhibiting crossed or convergent cues of in-group-out-group membership to assess the theoretically predicted moderating roles of personalized interaction, mood valence, and cognitive factors. Within an overall Additivity pattern across the four targets of the crossed categorization paradigm (viz. in-group-in-group, the crossed targets, and the double out-group), evidence for Category Dominance emerged. In moderator analyses based on judges' ratings of contextual levels of each moderator within each study, personalization and positivity of affect reduced differential bias toward targets. Evaluations of crossed targets became more similar to double out-group targets than double in-group targets as cognitive overload increased. Greater discrepancy in the importance of the category dimensions was associated with greater dominance of one category over another in evaluations of the crossed targets.
Hyperspectral Band Selection via Adaptive Subspace Partition Strategy

Band selection is considered as a direct and effective method to reduce redundancy, which is to select some informative and distinctive bands from the original hyperspectral image cube. Recently, many clustering-based band selection methods have been proposed, but most of them only take into account redundancy between bands, neglecting the amount of information in the subset of selected bands. Furthermore, these algorithms never consider the hyperspectral bands as ordered. Based on these two facts, we propose a novel approach for hyperspectral band selection via an adaptive subspace partition strategy (ASPS). The main contributions are as follows: 1) the ASPS is adopted to partition the hyperspectral image cube into multiple subcubes by maximizing the ratio of interclass distance to intraclass distance; 2) unlike previous methods, we estimate the band noise and select the band containing minimum noise (high-quality band) in each subcube to represent the whole subcube; and 3) adaptive subspace partition is viewed as a general framework and thus forms the variant version. Experimental results on three public datasets show that the proposed method achieves satisfactory results in both accuracy and efficiency than some state-of-the-art algorithms.
Wavefront correction enables vibrational imaging of bacteria with multimode fibre probes

Raman spectroscopy is a valuable tool for non-invasive and label-free identification of sample chemical composition. Recently a few miniaturized optical probes emerged driven by the need to address areas of difficult access, such as in endoscopy. However, imaging modality is still out of reach for most of them. Separately, recent advances in wavefront shaping enabled different microscopies to be applied in various complex media including multimode fibers. Here we present the first and thinnest to date Raman fiber imaging probe based on wavefront shaping through a single multimode fiber without use of any additional optics. We image agglomerates of bacteria and pharmaceuticals to demonstrate the capability of our method. This work paves the way towards compact and flexible Raman endoscopy.
An Efficient and Robust Image Quality Assessment Method for On Line Weld Pool Monitoring

Image quality characterizes the perceived image degradation and is of great importance in many industrial applications which use image quality assessment as their first step to select images. The accuracy and efficiency of the image quality assessment method is critical in many real time applications, e.g. on-line monitoring. In this paper, an efficient and effective image quality assessment method is proposed for on line weld pool monitoring. The proposed method assesses the image quality with a better stability compared to other evaluated state of art methods. In addition, the computation speed of the proposed method is also fast and suitable for on line applications.
The Effect of Mental Processing on Upper limb Muscle during Repetitive Task Activity

The impact of various levels of mental processing and muscles activity on shoulder was monitored under five experimental tasks. Four female subjects between the ages of 20 to 25 were involved in the experiment. The aim of this study is to determine the relation between mental processing level and muscle activity during repetitive task. In this study, mental arithmetic task was designed to evaluate operator’s mental effort in two conditions: low load condition (adding two-digit number) and high load condition (adding three-digit number). Biceps muscle was chosen for the experiment because of its direct relation to the upper limb muscle activity. The results showed that concurrent mental processing and repetitive physical task demands may increase the biomechanical loading of the musculoskeletal system. It also showed that mental stress appeared when a time pressure coupled with mental workload that might affect task performance of worker.
Heterogeneous Vision Data Fusion for Independently Moving Cameras

Abstract : Image fusion problems can be classified into two categories. In Category-I, images obtained by sensors operating at different wavelengths and "viewing a common scene" simultaneously are fused. In Category-II, images collected by multiple homogenous and/or heterogeneous sensors mounted at different locations, "viewing different scenes with partial overlapping", are fused. Category-II image fusion is of high importance for real-time target detection, tracking, and identification over a large terrain. The goal of the project is to investigate and evaluate the existing image fusion algorithms, develop new real-time algorithms for Category-II image fusion, and apply these algorithms in moving target detection and tracking. The research objectives are three-fold: image fusion algorithm investigation, new algorithm development, and application of the proposed algorithms to moving target detection and classification.
RECURSIVE SELF-SIMILARITY FOR RANDOM TREES, RANDOM TRIANGULATIONS AND BROWNIAN EXCURSION

Recursive self-similarity for a random object is the property of being de-composable into independent rescaled copies of the original object. Certain random combinatorial objects-trees and triangulations-possess approximate versions of recursive self-similarity, and then their continuous limits possess exact recursive self-similarity. In particular, since the limit continuum random tree can be identified with Brownian excursion, we get a nonobvious recursive self-similarity property for Brownian excursion.
Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy Dovepress

php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy 2018:11 381–387 Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy Dovepress
Non-linear unsteady aerodynamic model for insect-like flapping wings in the hover. Part 2: Implementation and validation

Abstract The essence of this two-part paper is the analytical, aerodynamic modelling of insect-like flapping wings in the hover for micro-air-vehicle applications. A key feature of such flapping-wing flows is their unsteadiness and the formation of a leading-edge vortex in addition to the conventional wake shed from the trailing edge. What ensues is a complex interaction between the shed wakes, which, in part, determines the forces and moments on the wing. In an attempt to describe such a flow, two novel coupled, non-linear, wake integral equations were developed in the first part of the paper. The governing equations derived were exact, but did not have a closed analytical form. Solutions were, therefore, to be found by numerical methods and implemented in Fortran. This is the theme of the second part of the paper. The problem is implemented by means of vortex methods, whereby discrete point vortices are used to represent the wing and its wake. A number of numerical experiments are run to determine the best values for numerical parameters. The calculation is performed using a time-marching algorithm and the evolution of the wakes is tracked. In this way, both flow field and force data are generated. The model is then validated against existing experimental data and very good agreement is found both in terms of flow field representation and force prediction. The temporal accuracy of the simulations is also noteworthy, implying that the underlying flow features are well captured, especially the unsteadiness. The model also shows the similarity between two-dimensional and three-dimensional flows for insect-like flapping wings at low Reynolds numbers of the order of Re ε 200.
Gossip Consensus Algorithm Based on Time-Varying Influence Factors and Weakly Connected Graph for Opinion Evolution in Social Networks

We provide a new gossip algorithm to investigate the problem of opinion consensus with the time-varying influence factors and weakly connected graph among multiple agents. What is more, we discuss not only the effect of the time-varying factors and the randomized topological structure but also the spread of misinformation and communication constrains described by probabilistic quantized communication in the social network. Under the underlying weakly connected graph, we first denote that all opinion states converge to a stochastic consensus almost surely; that is, our algorithm indeed achieves the consensus with probability one. Furthermore, our results show that the mean of all the opinion states converges to the average of the initial states when time-varying influence factors satisfy some conditions. Finally, we give a result about the square mean error between the dynamic opinion states and the benchmark without quantized communication.
Interaction of Capacitor Bank Inrush Current Limiting Reactor and Medium Voltage Vacuum Circuit Breakers

This paper presents an investigation of a flashover incident in 33 kV GIS switchgear used for back-to-back capacitor bank switching duty. The contribution of this paper is to highlight a rare case of real-life non sustained disruptive discharge (NSDD) and its effects. In one failure incident, the capacitor cells in one of the capacitor bank got damaged. Subsequently a flashover occurred in the GIS panel for the vacuum breaker used for switching the other bank. The possibility of occurrence of NSDD in a laboratory environment is now widely recognized. However, NSDD is generally considered benign, and very little is known about its harmful effects, if any, in real operating conditions. We show that the failure event discussed here is caused due to voltage escalations due to NSDD and subsequent restrikes in the vacuum circuit breaker. The role of the capacitor bank inrush current limiting reactor in causing the failure is analysed. EMTPATP simulations and analytic study are presented to support the conclusion. Keywords—NSDD, restrike, vacuum circuit breakers, back-toback, capacitor bank.
Enhanced Classification Framework

: With the rise of social networking era, Micro blogging sites have millions of people sharing their thoughts daily because of its characteristic short and simple manner of expression. We propose and investigate a model to mine the sentiment from a popular real-time micro blogging service, Social networking sites, where users post real time reactions to and opinions about “everything”. In this paper, we expound a hybrid approach using both quantity based and dictionary based methods to determine the semantic alignment of the opinion words in tweets. A case study is presented to illustrate the use and effectiveness of the proposed system.
Understanding the hyperlocal business ecosystem

Hyperlocal media are increasingly prominent in local media ecologies. However, economic pressures are their biggest challenge and are therefore our main thematic. The study is based on empirical data from 35 hyperlocals in Sweden, the UK, France, the Netherlands and Belgium. We present a conceptual framework of viable, sustainable and resilient models and find that hyperlocals are diversifying their revenues. Drawing on business ecosystems as a theoretical approach, we find these hyperlocals are surviving by forging symbiotic relationships with media, businesses, advertisers and communities in their environment. With its focus on imbalanced and evolving relations, the approach offers a broad framework to explain how hyperlocal business models are developing through a dynamic system of proximal interdependencies. The results contribute to new knowledge by explaining the revenue diversification of hyperlocals in the digital ecosystemic space.
WST 49.10-T03 CORR

Policies on sludge (or biosolids) management vary widely, particularly when decisions must be made on what to do with the final product. This paper examines the two principal rationales with which such decisions are made, and through which scientific knowledge is included in the process. These rationales are risk analysis (risk assessment and management), and the criterion of sustainability. Both are found to be potentially arbitrary due to the difficulty in defining the individual constituents necessary to relate environmental phenomena to environmental policy. To place the difficulties in a practical context, this paper presents research results from three recent projects concerned with contaminants in sludge (phosphorus, flocculant polymers, and polymer-surfactant aggregates), and uses the findings to exemplify the dilemma encountered in policy making. A path forward is proposed.
Organisational Culture as the Mechanism for Internationalising Innovation Platforms

Aalto University Design Factory (ADF) is a passion-based co-creation platform, which aims to change the paradigm of industry collaboration in universities. Simultaneously the ability to respond to innovation challenges of globalized industries creates a demand to develop an international network on innovation platforms. Therefore, in the light of the theory that supports culture as means of achieving change objectives, this study explores the key factors for creating a global network and to establish the parameters to help it succeed. This case study of ADF indicates that its culture is focused on platform thinking providing a conceptual and physical operational environment for a diverse range of stakeholders. Based on the findings Design Factory culture can be characterized as one to embrace diversity. This suggests the culture could lend itself to be used as a governing mechanism as it can act as an umbrella culture for the global network, in which local factories develop their own identities.