Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global Seismic Tomography : What we really can say and what we make up

At a recent meeting, someone said that it is necessary to know what are the strong constraints, weak constraints and myths. There are too many myths to discuss them in this brief presentation; it will focus on the “strong constraints”. Even though some of the classification may appear subjective, it is based on sound principles. It is also important to remember that tomography provides only a snapshot of the present velocity anomalies. Temporal extrapolations, which lead people to “see” “subducted slabs” in the lower mantle, are made at significant risk. The same is true, to a lesser extent, with respect to attributing the anomalies to thermal or compositional effects.
A Model to Explain Teacher Leadership: The Effects of Distributed Leadership Model, Organizational Learning and Teachers' Sense of Self- Efficacy on Teacher Leadership

Keywords This study aims to analyze a model to explain teacher leadership. In this conceptual model, distributed leadership, organizational learning and self-efficacy perceptions of teachers were treated as the variables accounting for the three sub-dimensions of teacher leadership; namely organizational development, professional development and collaboration among colleagues. The model was set on the foundation of Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) and administrative, organizational and personal attributes that account for teacher leadership were treated in unison. The study was conducted with the participation of 360 teachers posted in the elementary schools within seven districts of Ankara city. In the collection of data, Teacher Leadership Scale (Beycioglu & Aslan, 2010), Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (Marsick & Watkins, 2003), Scale for Leadership Capacity in Schools (Lambert, 2003) and Teacher's Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998) were utilized. The data collected within the scope of this research were tested via path analysis technique with the observed variables. The findings of the analysis manifested that the model proved to have good fitness values and thus validated. These findings prove that distributed leadership directly affects teacher leadership whereas it also has an indirect effect on organizational learning and selfefficacy perception of teacher. The results of the research evidence that to ensure the development of teacher leadership at schools administrative, organizational and personal components demand to be holistically treated and organizational and personal components are equally vital as the leadership itself. Teacher leadership Distributed leadership Learning organization Teacher's self-efficacy Education reform Social Cognitive Theory
More on the Energy/Non-Energy Commodity Price Link

This paper examines the energy/non-energy commodity price link, based on a reduced form econometric model and using annual data from 1960 to 2008. The transmission elasticity from energy to the non-energy index is estimated at 0.28. At a more disaggregated level, the fertilizer index exhibited the largest elasticity (0.55), followed by precious metals (0.46), food (0.27), metals and minerals (0.25), and raw materials (0.11). By contrast, only a few price indices responded strongly to inflation, although the trend parameter estimate (often viewed as a proxy for technological progress) is negative for agriculture and positive for metals. A key implication of the pass-through results is that for as long as energy prices remain elevated, most non-energy commodity prices are expected to be high.
Fermi 130 GeV gamma-ray excess and dark matter annihilation in sub-haloes and in the Galactic centre

We analyze publicly available Fermi-LAT high-energy gamma-ray data and confirm the existence of clear spectral feature peaked at Eγ = 130 GeV. Scanning over the Galaxy we identify several disconnected regions where the observed excess originates from. Our best optimized fit is obtained for the central region of Galaxy with a clear peak at 130 GeV with local statistical significance 4. 5σ. The observed excess is not correlated with Fermi bubbles. We compute the photon spectra induced by dark matter annihilations into two and four standard model particles, the latter via two light intermediate states, and fit the spectra with data. Since our fits indicate sharper and higher signal peak than in the previous works, data favors dark matter direct two-body annihilation channels into photons or other channels giving only line-like spectra. If Einasto halo profile correctly predicts the central cusp of Galaxy, dark matter annihilation cross-section to two photons is of order ten percent of the standard thermal freeze-out cross-section. The large dark matter two-body annihilation cross-section to photons may signal a new resonance that should be searched for at the CERN LHC experiments.
Temperature and the boreal-subarctic maximum in soil organic carbon

On the plains of central North America and western Siberia, soil carbon storage and cover by organic soils are highest in the region with mean annual soil temperatures near 0° C, and generally decrease to the north and south. The location of this large soil carbon sink in the boreal and subarctic is probably due in part to the low heat availability in the soil as compared to the air in these regions. The thermal advantage of the air environment gives green plants a metabolic advantage over decomposers in the soil, which favors soil carbon accumulation. The thermal advantage of the air environment relative to the soil is greatest where mean annual soil temperatures are near or a few degrees below the lower limit of biological activity for cold-adapted soil organisms and plants, i.e. near 0° C.
Not quite like a honeymoon: Charting the first 24 months of Sino-foreign educational programmes

One of the largest areas of Sino-foreign collaboration remains the area of education where over 10,000 alliances have been formed between Chinese and foreign universities since 1978. Research has tended to focus on issues of culture, organisation, management and even the funding of alliances – and the focus has tended to be on alliance behaviour over a three to five year period. What has not been researched in as much detail is how alliance partner managers (Chinese and foreign) behave over a shorter period of time, particularly during the crucial start up phase of an alliance. This study identifies a series of 16 stages alliances went through and it was not an easy process.
Investigation of Groundwater Pollution in a Protected Area in Turkey, The Göksu Delta

GOksu Delta is an important wetland where the GOksu River reaches the sea in the eastern part of the town of Tasucu-Ice1. The delta is classified as a Wetland of International Importance according to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. Pollutants affect the surface and groundwater quality negatively. The intensively used fertilizers and pesticides contain not only N and P compounds, but also some heavy metals. The content of all pollutants were determined during four different seasons between 2006 and 2008, and with these data a Geographic Information System (GIS) was constructed by using Map Info. The quarries and thematic maps show the polluted wells and aquifer places. From the photometric heavy metal analysis, it is inferred that the excess concentration of Fe, Ni, Mn, Mo and Cu at some locations is the cause of undesirable drinking water quality. The source of excess concentrations of various heavy metals is attributed to agricultural activities and fertilizers in the area. Keywords: GOksu Delta, heavy metal pollution, GIS
High-Integrity Software, Computation and the Scientific Method

Computation rightly occupies a central role in modern science. Datasets are enormous and the processing implications of some algorithms are equally staggering. With the continuing difficulties in quantifying the results of complex computations, it is of increasing importance to understand its role in the essentially Popperian scientific method. In this paper, some of the problems with computation, for example the long-term unquantifiable presence of undiscovered defect, problems with programming languages and process issues will be explored with numerous examples. One of the aims of the paper is to understand the implications of trying to produce high-integrity software and the limitations which still exist. Unfortunately Computer Science itself suffers from an inability to be suitably critical of its practices and has operated in a largely measurement-free vacuum since its earliest days. Within CS itself, this has not been so damaging in that it simply leads to unconstrained creativity and a rapid turnover of new technologies. In the applied sciences however which have to depend on computational results, such unquantifiability significantly undermines trust. It is time this particular demon was put to rest.
Design of Principal-agent Incentive Mechanism between Government and NPO

Based on principal-agent theory, this paper establishes an incentive contract mechanism between government and NPO under asymmetric information, and analyzes the impact of absolute risk aversion and output level on the expected utility of government, NPO and society. Research shows that risk aversion is negatively correlated with the expected utility of government, NPO and society. The output coefficient is positively correlated with the expected utility of government, NPO and society. Reducing absolute risk aversion, increasing output coefficient and increasing government incentives can effectively motivate NPO to actively participate in social rescue activities.
Index of Biotic Integrity based on fish assemblages for pampean streams and its implementation along the Del Azul stream (Buenos Aires province, Argentina)

Abstract: Aim Freshwater communities respond to abiotic and biotic changes in the environment, and are widely used as indicators of environmental integrity. Fish have been one of the most used biological groups for this purpose. The Del Azul stream located in the pampean region of Argentina has been monitored using a physicochemical approach with this monitoring being sporadic due to economic and operational constraints associated with the chemical analyses. In this paper we developed an Index of Biotic Integrity for the Del Azul stream (IBIA) based on Karr´s Index of Biotic Integrity as an alternative. Methods We computed two existent physicochemical indexes for comparison, one of them is the NSF-WQI and the other one is a local index referred to as Water Quality Index for Del Azul Stream and based on the former. Results The three indexes followed similar trends along the examined reaches, showing good conditions in the upper basin, poor conditions just downstream of the urban area and a recovery state further downstream in the basin. Conclusions Since the IBIA followed the same patterns as the physicochemical indexes, has a lower implementation cost and it is simpler to apply, we promote it as an alternative to the traditional physicochemical water quality monitoring for pampean streams.
The purpose and the motivation for future practice of physical activity and related factors in Japanese university students

Purpose: We investigated the purpose and the motivation for the future practice of physical activity and related factors in Japanese university students. Materials and Methods: The participants were 499 university students (407 men and 92 women). Participants were surveyed using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Questionnaire items were anthropometrics, current exercise habits, preference for exercise, existence of exercise partners, benefits of exercise, self-efficacy for exercise, and the purpose to be motivated to exercising in the future. Results: The exercise group had higher scores for preference for exercise, exercise partners, self-efficacy for exercise, and benefits of exercise than the non-exercise group. The exercise group also reported being more likely to be motivated to exercise in the future than the non-exercise group. In the exercise group, those who felt benefits of exercise were more likely to be motivated to exercise for enhancement of health, enjoyment, making friends, prevention of illness, and enhancement of competitiveness. In the non-exercise group, those who had a preference for exercise were more likely to be motivated to exercise in the future for enjoyment, prevention of illness, and enhancement of competitiveness. In both the exercise and non-exercise groups, women were markedly more likely to be motivated to exercise in the future for aesthetics. Conclusions: These results indicate that there is a difference in the purpose and the motivation for future practice of physical activity between the exercise group and the non-exercise group as well as between genders.
Ab initio study of electron-phonon interaction in phosphorene

The monolayer of black phosphorous, or phosphorene, has recently emerged as a new 2D semiconductor with intriguing highly anisotropic transport properties. Existing calculations of its intrinsic phonon-limited electronic transport properties so far rely on the deformation potential approximation, which is in general not directly applicable to anisotropic materials since the deformation along one specific direction can scatter electrons traveling in all directions. We perform a first-principles calculation of the electron-phonon interaction in phosphorene based on density functional perturbation theory and Wannier interpolation. Our calculation reveals that 1) the high anisotropy provides extra phase space for electron-phonon scattering, and 2) optical phonons have appreciable contributions. Both effects cannot be captured by the deformation potential calculations.
An Insight into the Cellular Mechanisms of Addiction to Psychostimulants

Natural rewards like food, sex etc are evaluated as pleasureable elements or essential for the survival of a mammal due to the interaction of dopamine (DA) released by ventral tegmental area (VTA) on nucleus accumbens (NAc) and other targets in an interconnected neuronal network in brain called ‘reward circuit. Psychostimulants induce prolonged and much greater interaction of DA with its targets and develop the drug related memory in lieu of the memories of natural rewards and induce motor activities required for drug acquisition. Long term potentiation (LTP), a major contributor of synaptic plasticity, occurs in many components of the reward circuit due to both acute and chronic drug exposures, resulting in the morphological changes of neurons that may underlie drug related memory acquisition. Potentiation may occur in VTA DA neurons, medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of NAc, prefrontal cortical (PFC) neurons etc. making the probability that glutamate release from PFC will be increased and VTA DA neurons and MSNs will more effectively interact with the released glutamate. The overall result is that ventral pallidum (VP), the main executor of motor behavior, will be disinhibited for initiating motor action via the inhibition of NAc. Finally a situation may arrive when merely a cue associated with the drug used can provoke a subject to seek drug possibly via gluamatergic action of potentiated PFC on NAc. Relapse of psychostimulant seeking behavior after a prolonged withdrawal is mediated by the potentiation of amygdala (Ag) and PFC also contributes to it.
The Small Satellites of the Solar System: Priorities for the Decadal Study

The small satellites are a diverse group of objects offering insights into the early formation of the Solar System and its collisional history. They can be subdivided into several groups: small inner moons, outer irregular moons, Martian moons, moons of asteroids, and moons of Centaurs/KBOs/TNOs. Many of these objects, especially the irregulars or their progenitors, are thought to be captured asteroids or Kuiper Belt Objects: a spacecraft mission that included them as targets would thus yield information on an object that came from elsewhere in the Solar System. Objects originating from the same reservoir as the irregular satellites may have brought both pre-biotic material and volatiles such as water to the inner Solar System. Flagship and New Frontiers class missions should plan trajectories and arrival times to capture spectroscopic and imaging observations of small satellites. It is also important to support ground-based and Earthorbiting observations of these objects, laboratory measurements of candidate surface materials, and curation facilities for organic materials and iceand gas-based materials. We place a high priority on a robust participating scientist program for JAXA’s MMX mission to Phobos and Deimos, as a similar mission was our highest priority New Frontiers class mission in the last Decadal Survey. A sample returned by this mission would include material from a primitive object and possibly the Martian surface. Scientific priorities for moons of asteroids and KBOs are covered in white papers for those objects
Lignin recovery from spent alkaline pulping liquors using acidification, membrane separation, and related processing steps: A review

The separation of lignin from the black liquor generated during alkaline pulping is reviewed in this article with an emphasis on chemistry. Based on published accounts, the precipitation of lignin from spent pulping liquor by addition of acids can be understood based on dissociation equilibria of weak acid groups, which affects the solubility behavior of lignin-related chemical species. Solubility issues also govern lignin separation technologies based on ultrafiltration membranes; reduction in membrane permeability is often affected by conditions leading to decreased solubility of lignin decomposition products and the presence of colloidal matter. Advances in understanding of such phenomena have potential to enable higher-value uses of black liquor components, including biorefinery options, alternative ways to recover the chemicals used to cook pulp, and debottlenecking of kraft recovery processes.
Reverse Causality between Oil Policy and Fiscal Policy?: The Venezuelan Experience

This paper uses a model of intergenerational accounting to simulate the intergenerational distribution of oil wealth in Venezuela. Venezuelan oil production does not seem to follow an optimal extraction path. Nevertheless, this is true if we do not consider what the government does with the resources received from the oil sector. In this paper we explored the interaction of oil policy and fiscal policy using an intergeneration accounting model. We found that these interactions could explain certain outcomes. In particular, the model could explain why the sector was open for investment in 1991 and then “re-nationalized” in 2001. Results suggest that when fiscal policy could leave an important burden to future generations, voters seem to favor a more tax oriented oil policy, leaving the oil in the subsoil.
Do cities encourage warm-season thunderstorm formation and intensification?

Anthropogenic land use/land cover (LULC) changes modulate meteorological and/or climate forcings at the local, regional, and global scales. The IPCC, NRC, and U.S. Climate Change Science Program have emphasized the importance of LULC changes on influencing human-environment systems. The most dramatic LULC modification of the natural environment is arguably urban development. Currently, over 50% (82%) of the world (U.S.) population lives in an urban area, and this proportion is predicted to grow beyond 70% (90%) by 2050 (UNFPA 2007).
Atacar, Anuir ou Defender? Respostas (Políticas) Estratégicas em Escândalos de Corrupção

Abstract This study aims to identify strategic responses in the official statements issued by the group of political agents mentioned on "Fachin's List". These statements in response to corruption accusations comprise a mediatized corpus of secondary data that was investigated using interpretive discourse analysis. This study uses an institutionalist approach to the political context considering the complexity and plurality of the institutional sphere, in which each voter is an interlocutor of political discourse. This study also included analyses on how the discursive constructions are formed using intertextual, rhetorical, ambiguous and semantic elements. The results outline five distinct strategies in the official notes, which apply both to individuals as well as organizations: (a) attack by expressing consternation; (b) empathy for supporting anti-corruption actions; (c) manipulation by projecting a political ethos ; (d) manipulation by revoking legitimacy; and (e) an adaptive posture in raising ambiguity – contributing to reflection and assessment of reactive behaviors of individuals and organizations in situations of crisis, scandals, guiltiness and corruption.
Virtual Challenges: A Social Interaction Approach to Increasing Physical Activity

Andre Fialho¹, Herjan van den Heuvel¹, Qonita Shahab¹, Qing Liu¹, Li Li¹,Privender Saini², Joyca Lacroix², Panos Markopoulos³¹User System Interaction, Stan Ackermans Institute, TU/e²Philips Research Eindhoven, ³Industrial Design, TU/e{a.t. s. ﬁ alho, h.a. c.v. d.heuvel, l.li, q.liu, q.shahab}@tue.nl,{privender.saini, joyca.lacroix}@philips.comp.markopoulos@tue.nl
Limitations of the point-count method for inferring stand-level species-resource relationships : a sampling simulation approach

In this thesis, I suggest that only under special, simplified circumstances is the point-count method appropriate for deducing stand-level species-resource relationships. As a field evaluation of the point-count method, I developed stand-level species-resource models for two woodpecker species, the red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) and the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus). Compounding sources of uncertainty severely compromised the usefulness of this exercise in elucidating species-resource relationships. In response to the difficulties with the field data, I developed Sample Sim'on, a program that simulates the repeated sampling of a population of mobile, territorial organisms in a landscape with one or more resources. I show that the spatial distribution of resources, species behaviour, and sampling design can greatly affect the success rate with which species-resource relationships can be determined correctly (i.e., the sampling success rate). Realistic values for parameters describing these elements result in a very low sampling success rate, even when sampling effort is impracticably high. In addition, other variables that are not explicitly defined in Sample Sim'on, including those acting over larger spatial scales, can only add variance to species-resource data, further weakening sampling success.