Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Transmission Mechanism of Monetary Policy in Europe: Evidence from Banks&Apos; Balance Sheets

Available studies on asymmetries in the monetary transmission mechanism within Europe are invariably based on macro-economic evidence: such evidence is abundant but often contradictory. This paper takes a different route by using micro-economic data. We use the information contained in the balance sheets of individual banks (available from the BankScope database) to implement a case-study on the response of banks in France, Germany, Italy and Spain to a monetary tightening. The episode we study occurred during 1992, when monetary conditions were tightened throughout Europe. Evidence on such tightening is provided by the uniform squeeze in liquidity, which affected all banks in our sample. We study the first link in the transmission chain by analysing the response of bank loans to the monetary tightening. Our experiment provides evidence on the importance of the Europe and thus on one possibly important source of asymmetries in the monetary transmission mechanism. We do not find evidence of a significant response of bank loans to the monetary tightening, which occurred during 1992, in any of the four European countries we have considered. However we find significant differences both across countries and across banks of different dimensions in the factors that allow them to shield the supply of loans from the squeeze in liquidity.
Trace gas transport in the vicinity of frontal convective clouds

Airborne measurements of NOx, NOy, CO, and O3 were conducted in the vicinity of a line of towering cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds (approximate altitude, 9 km) in south-central Oklahoma, on the afternoon of June 17, 1985. NOx, NOy, and CO concentrations in the upper tropospheric outflow region of these clouds were near environmental levels. Meteorological analyses show that these clouds were located above a cold front, which prevented the entry of air from the boundary layer directly below and near the cloud. Examination of the [NOy]/[CO] and [NOx]/[CO] ratios, as well as determination of the lifting condensation level and other thermodynamic analyses, indicated that the most likely origin of the air in the cloud outflow region was the layer immediately above the top of the boundary layer, which was quite clean. It appears that very little NOy was available to be scavenged by the clouds. The results for this case suggest that the large amount of vertical trace gas transport that has been noted in previous observations and model results cannot simply be extrapolated to all convective cells. The results also show the usefulness of CO as a conserved tracer.
Movement of ideas not materials: locally manufactured pottery on Mabuyag Island, Western Torres Strait

We report a new site with locally made pottery on the Western Torres Strait island of Mabuyag (Mabuiag). The study uses petrographic and chronological results to reassess the antiquity of pottery in the region. It adds to knowledge which points to significant changes in the Torres Strait after 1700 BP.
Dynamic deformation characteristics of undisturbed riverbed gravels

The strength and deformation characteristics of undisturbed specimens measured by large-scale triaxial tests were compared with those of reconstituted specimens to evaluate the stiffness of natural ground. The undisturbed specimens were sampled from the riverbed gravel foundation of an embankment dam using the freezing sampling method with liquid nitrogen. The validity of the results from the undisturbed specimens was evaluated by comparing the stiffness of the natural ground using P- and S-wave logging (PS logging). The dynamic deformation characteristics (stiffness) of undisturbed specimens are larger than those of reconstitued specimens. Key words: shear modulus, damping ratio, gravel, laboratory test.
Recent Intensification of the Western Pacific Subtropical High Associated with the East Asian Summer Monsoon

AbstractThe summer western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) has intensified during the past three decades. However, the underlying mechanism is not yet well understood. Here, it is shown that baiu rainband activity in midsummer, which is part of the East Asian summer monsoon, plays an important role in recent intensification in the WPSH along the baiu rainband. In contrast with the WPSH, the summer Okhotsk high, which is located to the north of the baiu rainband, has weakened during the past three decades. The north–south contrasting changes between the two highs reflect a response to northward-moved and enhanced baiu heating, which intensifies the upper-tropospheric ridge, resulting in the baroclinic intensification of the WPSH. Regional climate model experiments also support the observational analysis. Therefore, baiu convective activity in midsummer can act as a major driver for the WPSH intensification. The results here suggest that the mechanism intensifying the summer North Pacific subtropical high c.
A Preliminary Examination of Beech Bark Disease and the Influence of Soil Moisture on Bark Thickness and Disease Status in the Northern Adirondack Uplands

In a preliminary study of beech bark disease in the ‘aftermath’ forests of northern Adirondack watersheds, we collected data on disease status in relation to tree diameter and the relationship between soil moisture and bark thickness in 11 plots across 6 northern Adirondack watersheds. Sixty-two percent of trees sampled were ≤ 13 cm in diameter and no trees over 29.4 cm were recorded, even though at least two watersheds sampled are considered old growth. As predicted, larger trees were more diseased than smaller trees and the percent dead also increased dramatically with size class. We noted that some number of trees ≤ 10 cm had unexpectedly high disease ratings suggesting the need in future studies to collect data on smaller diameter trees so as to be able to predict how the disease will impact the large number of trees coming up in these size classes. Trees grown in plots that had medium soil moisture (as opposed to low) had significantly thicker bark, regardless of diameter, but this had no effect on disease status of trees.
Determinants of Food Consumption During Pregnancy in Rural Bangladesh: Examination of Evaluative Data from the Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Project

The common practice of reducing food consumption during pregnancy is recognized as a primary cause of poor pregnancy outcomes and, in turn, malnutrition among young children in many developing countries including Bangladesh. This paper analyzes data from the 1998 Mid-Term Evaluation of the Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Project (BINP) to identify the determinants of pregnancy food consumption. The analysis found that information available to the mother (through project-based counseling) was the primary determinant of pregnancy food consumption, had a considerable effect on consumption regardless of the woman’s circumstance, and outweighed the effect of mothers’ education. Socio-economic status, by contrast, was negatively associated with increased pregnancy consumption. Among women from high socio-economic households, 39.8% ate more than usual while the figure for women from low SES households was 49.3%. Fully 40% of women indicating a belief that more food during pregnancy is optimal reported that they did not, in fact, put this knowledge into practice during their last pregnancy, implying that household pressures often prevailed over the woman’s own choice. Factors not significantly associated with food consumption during pregnancy included number of antenatal visits, household size, and family type.
Allocative Responses to Scarcity: Self-Reported Assessments of Hunger Compared with Conventional Measures of Poverty and Malnutrition in Bangladesh

This paper presents preliminary results from research aimed at assessing the validity of alternative measures of food insecurity. It focuses on: a) links between food security status as defined through self-reporting by households themselves, versus interviewer ratings, and comparator indicators of food access, poverty and nutritional status, b) changes in status over time (for a sub-sample of 125 households surveyed first in the Winter/Spring of 2001 and again in the Spring of 2002), and c) insights gained from more in-depth interaction with the sub-sample households that have influenced the module adaptation and validation process. The research finds that a viable set of around 11 questions from the 'self-reporting' hunger module appears to work well both in characterizing the problems experienced by households in Bangladesh and in identifying households along a continuum of food stresses. Those questions correlate well not only with interviewer ratings but also with a range of comparator indicators commonly used in the analysis of poverty, malnutrition and food insecurity. There is a high degree of concordance between male and female interviewer ratings, as well as between interviewer assessments of change in household conditions between the two rounds of data collection and households’ own assessments of change (versus stability). While many of the variables tested are strongly correlated with the conditions under consideration no single indicator serves well in defining all aspects of food insecurity, be it anthropometry, expenditure, food groups consumed, or caloric adequacy. This confirms the need for composite variables that distinguish between outcomes and processes often generically and simplistically characterized as 'food insecurity' or 'poverty' or 'malnutrition'. Further statistical analyses (parametric and non-parametric, including Rasch) are needed to gain an understanding of how the determinants of these related but different conditions overlap and where they do not.
Simulation of Interannual SST Variability in the Tropical Indian Ocean

Abstract A 2.5-layer thermodynamic ocean model is used to investigate interannual variability in sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical Indian Ocean. Simulated SST agrees well with the data. Model and observed SSTs exhibit large seasonal and interannual variability in the western and southeastern tropical Indian Ocean. Three processes, namely, latent heat flux, radiative flux, and entrainment, play major roles in the evolution of model SST anomalies. Interannual heat flux is found to have greater influence on the SST anomalies in most parts of the model domain. On the other hand, influence of interannual wind is only pronounced near the coasts in the Arabian Sea during the Asian summer monsoon season and a region in the central part of the southern tropical Indian Ocean (STIO) during boreal winter. Besides the El Nino–Southern Oscillation related basinwide warming, empirical orthogonal function analysis shows a dipole structure in both model and observed SST anomalies in the STIO. The eastern pole .
Scalable resources management using shaped weighted round-robin scheduling

A framework for resource management of MPLS label-switched routes (LSRs) over a diffserv Internet domain is described. A `traffic management' problem is formulated in which the LSRs are not statically allocated an amount of bandwidth and buffers per node. A very limited amount of information is passed on to the diffserv nodes about the traffic characteristics and QoS requirements using the LSR. The diffserv node can use this information and on-line queue measurements for dynamic resources (bandwidth and buffer) management. In this general context, a suitable `shaped' weighted round-robin (SWRR) bandwidth scheduling mechanism is specified. Performance and implementation issues are explored for SWRR. Finally, how SWRR can approximate weighted fair queueing is discussed.
Relationships between forest structure and the detection of flood inundation in forested wetlands using C-band SAR

An important practical application of orbital SAR data is the detection of flood inundation beneath forest canopies. C-band microwaves (especially C-VV) are generally considered inferior to longer wavelengths (especially L-band) for mapping flooded forests. Nevertheless C-band data have been shown to exhibit sensitivity to inundation beneath forest canopies. Because of this, the application and interpretation of C-band images requires identification of the forest conditions under which C-band microwaves detect inundation. Images from ERS-1 and RADARSAT representing nearly identical hydrological conditions were used to classify flooded and nonflooded forests for the Roanoke River floodplain, North Carolina, USA. Flooded forests were detected accurately using RADARSAT, and were distinguishable but not mapped accurately using ERS-1. This poses potential problems for the accurate interpretation of C-VV images (i.e. ERS-1/ERS-2) in such environments. To examine this issue, biophysical data from forest plots were used to assess the effect of forest structure on the ability of ERS-1 to detect flooded forests. Basal area (BA) and height to the bottom of the canopy exhibited statistically significant relationships to the detection of inundation using ERS-1, while leaf area index, canopy height, canopy depth, and crown closure were not statistically significant. The results suggest that forest structure and scattering processes at the trunk layer (due to higher BA and open understories with greater heights to the bottom of the canopy) most strongly influence double-bounce scattering of C-VV microwaves from flooded forests.
PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERAL VARIATIONS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN ATLANTIC SINCE THE LAST GLACIAL–INTERGLACIAL CYCLE

ABSTRACT Relative abundances of planktonic foraminiferal species from two cores from the subtropical, southwestern Atlantic indicate changes in oceanic conditions during the last glacial–interglacial cycle. During interglacial intervals (biozone X or Marine Isotopic Stage 5 (MIS-5) and biozone Z or MIS-1), the relative abundance of the intermediate water-dwelling species of menardiform plexus was high, whereas those of deep-dwelling species Globorotalia truncatulinoides and Globorotalia inflata were relatively low, suggesting high temperature conditions (≥22°C) and/or increased upper-water stratification during this period of time. In contrast, the absence of menardiform plexus and high abundances of cold-water species (G. truncatulinoides and G. inflata) during the glacial interval (biozone Y [MIS-4, MIS-3, and MIS-2]) suggest cold-water conditions (≤22°C) and/or a reduction of upper-water stratification. Two intervals of moderate temperature and/or low salinity during the last glaciation, however, are suggested by the increase in abundance of Pulleniatina plexus. Foraminiferal fauna have suggested a difference of 1 to 2°C between the last glacial interval and the late Holocene. Millennial-scale paleoceanographic events have been identified during the last interglacial interval (MIS-5), suggesting that warm conditions and/or a stratified water column were replaced by short intervals of cooler water and reduced upper-water stratification, as indicated by changes in abundances of menardiform plexus and G. truncatulinoides. The short interval during which menardiform plexus disappeared during the Holocene suggests a temperature decrease and can be related to the widespread stadial event in the Holocene at 8.2 ka.
Artificial plasma cusp generated by upper hybrid instabilities in HF heating experiments at HAARP

The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program digisonde was operated in a fast mode to record ionospheric modifications by the HF heating wave. With the O mode heater of 3.2 MHz turned on for 2 min, significant virtual height spread was observed in the heater off ionograms, acquired beginning the moment the heater turned off. Moreover, there is a noticeable bump in the virtual height spread of the ionogram trace that appears next to the plasma frequency (~ 2.88 MHz) of the upper hybrid resonance layer of the HF heating wave. The enhanced spread and the bump disappear in the subsequent heater off ionograms recorded 1 min later. The height distribution of the ionosphere in the spread situation indicates that both electron density and temperature increases exceed 10% over a large altitude region (> 30 km) from below to above the upper hybrid resonance layer. This “mini cusp” (bump) is similar to the cusp occurring in daytime ionograms at the F1–F2 layer transition, indicating that there is a small ledge in the density profile reminiscent of F1–F2 layer transitions. Two parametric processes exciting upper hybrid waves as the sidebands by the HF heating waves are studied. Field‐aligned purely growing mode and lower hybrid wave are the respective decay modes. The excited upper hybrid and lower hybrid waves introduce the anomalous electron heating which results in the ionization enhancement and localized density ledge. The large‐scale density irregularities formed in the heat flow, together with the density irregularities formed through the parametric instability, give rise to the enhanced virtual height spread. The results of upper hybrid instability analysis are also applied to explain the descending feature in the development of the artificial ionization layers observed in electron cyclotron harmonic resonance heating experiments.
Copper‐gold mineralisation in New Guinea: Numerical modelling of collision, fluid flow and intrusion‐related hydrothermal systems

Two‐ and three‐dimensional numerical modelling techniques, constrained by key geodynamic data, provide insights into the controls on development of porphyry‐related Cu–Au mineralisation in the Tertiary collision zone of New Guinea. Modelling shows that the creation of local dilation to facilitate magma emplacement can be caused by reactivation of arc‐normal transfer faults, where they cut the weakened fold belt. Additionally, dilation occurs where fluid overpressuring is caused by collision‐related, south‐directed fluid flow being localised into the more permeable units of the Mesozoic passive‐margin sedimentary succession. Rapid uplift and erosion, which may be a mechanism for magmatic fluid release in these systems, is shown to be greatest in the west of West Papua, where the stronger Australian crust acts as a buttress. Within the Papuan Fold Belt, uplift is greatest near the margins, where the weaker fold belt abuts the stronger crust and/or major faults have been reactivated. Increased orographically induced precipitation and erosion exposes the lower parts of the stratigraphy within or on the margins of these uplifted zones. On a smaller scale, 2–D coupled fluid‐flow ‐ thermal‐chemical modelling uses a scenario of fluid mixing to calculate metal precipitation distribution and magnitude around an individual intrusive complex. Modelling highlights the interdependence of the spatial permeability structure, the regional temperature gradient, and the geometry of the convection cells and how this impacts on the distribution of metal precipitation.
Yakataga Gap, Alaska: Seismic History and Earthquake Potential

Using neutral beam injectors developing a total power of as much as 2.4 MW, we reached central ion temperatures as high as 6.5 keV and central electron temperatures 4.0 keV, both the highest yet achieved in a tokamak device. During DO injection into a D+ plasma, the equivalent D-T energy gain factor Qp reached 0.02, the maximum reached in a controlled fusion experiment. At the highest temperatures and lowest densities, the ion collisionality parameter, v*, reached a minimum of 0.02 and was below 0.1 over much of the plasma, for the first time well into the collisionless regime relevant to reactors, yet the ion thermal conductivity appeared consistent with neoclassical theory within our uncertainties of a factor of 3 to 5. Indeed, the temperatures reached would not have been possible with the available injection power had the direst predictions of anomalous transport theories obtained. Agreeably, and somewhat surprisingly, the electron thermal conductivity appeared to be suppressed in the central plasma during high-power injection. Under some conditions, impurity radiation seriously degraded the electron energy confinement, but the severity of the impurity problem was substantially reduced by the use of graphite limiters. Unbalanced injection engendered rotation of the plasma core, and new density fluctuations were observed at the lower collisionalities (corresponding to higher values of Pb/ne), but neither phenomenon appeared to deleteriously affect stability or energy containment. Without exception, these findings are encouraging regarding the practicality of fusion as a power source. Rderences and Nots
Vegetation change within the wet tropics of north Queensland: mapping changes with Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery from 1988 and 1999

Changes in the vegetation cover of the total Wet Tropics bioregion and particularly the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA) of northern Queensland were mapped by comparing satellite image data from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper in 1988 and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper sensors in 1999. These image data sets had been geometrically, radiometrically and atmospherically corrected in a previous Rainforest CRC project by Bruce and Hilbert (2003). Each image data set was used to produce maps of vegetation indices that represent the amount of vegetation cover within each image pixel (Lucas et al. 2004). The 1988 vegetation index image was subtracted from the 1999 vegetation index image, resulting in a difference image. Each pixel in the difference image represents the changes in the amount of vegetation cover present at the sampling times. The resulting map displays the vegetation cover changes over the 1988 to 1999 period, thereby identifying some areas with no significant change in vegetation cover and other areas that have experienced significant gain or loss of vegetation cover. Of four classes of vegetation change that were identified and mapped for this study (cleared, thinned, partial regeneration and regeneration), partial regeneration was the greatest and most frequently occurring change identified within the Wet Tropics bioregion predominantly in agricultural areas around Innisfail and Tully. Within the WTWHA the main change class identified was partial regeneration of the vegetation located around drainage lines and along the boundaries between schlerophyll and wet tropical forests. Summaries are provided in this report of the vegetation index change analysis for both the entire Wet Tropics bioregion and the WTWHA. The accuracy of the vegetation cover change map was diminished by the spatial mis-registration between image data sets and insufficient topographic and radiometric correction. The results presented in this report demonstrate that a limited amount of clearing has occurred in the Wet Tropics since the World Heritage listing of the area in 1988, however the majority of changes observed were due to regeneration of vegetation. These changes could be further monitored in cooperation with the Queensland Government’s Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) program or the MODIS SVI monitoring project established by researchers of the Rainforest CRC’s Project 1.2 (Phinn et al. 2005).
Significant latitudinal gradient in the surface ozone spring maximum over East Asia

The climatology of surface ozone over East Asia was investigated at a wide range of latitudes by integrating continuous measurements from Japanese monitoring networks. Although a spring maximum and a summer minimum were observed at all seven remote stations, significant latitudinal differences in the seasonal cycles were found, particularly in spring. At low latitudes (20–30°N) the spring maximum appears in March, while it appears in April at high latitudes (40–50°N), and in May at middle latitudes (30–40°N). A regional‐scale chemical transport model was applied to examine factors contributing to the latitudinal dependence observed. The model reproduces the latitudinal gradient and the overall seasonal variations well, and suggests that transport patterns of Asian continental outflow coupled with photochemistry result in latitudinal inhomogeneity over East Asia. These results highlight the key role of dynamical processes in modulating the amplitude and phase of the spring maximum in surface ozone.