Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanical and Thermal Characterization of Melt-Filtered, Blended and Reprocessed Post-Consumer WEEE Thermoplastics

A melt-blended and melt-filtered real post-consumer and recyclable waste electrical and electronic equipment plastics blend (WEEEBR) was studied, where the WEEEBR contained mainly acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (~40 wt %), high impact polystyrene (~40 wt %) and polypropylene (~10 wt %). The main aim was to better understand the influence of different reprocessing conditions on the mechanical and thermal properties of WEEEBR and to compare these properties with the corresponding properties of model material blends of samples from single screw extrusion, twin screw extrusion and injection molding. For all the reprocessing alternatives studied, WEEEBR was found to be processable and an acceptable surface character could be obtained within narrow processing condition windows. It was found in particular that the reprocessing conditions influenced the elongation at break of WEEEBR, and to a lesser extent also the width of the polypropylene melting temperature region. The highest yield stress and elongation at break of WEEEBR was obtained after twin-screw extrusion at low barrel temperatures (180–200 °C) and a low screw rotation rate (60 rpm). Injection molding produced brittle materials with low impact strength, possibly due to molecular orientation effects.
The Shadow Economy in Portugal: An Analysis Using the MIMIC Model

The purpose of this working paper is to identify the main factors that are at the origin of the Shadow Economy in Portugal, and to analyze its evolution over the period between 1977 and 2011. For the econometric analysis we used the Structural Model of Multiple Indicators and Multiple Causes - MIMIC, which was developed by Joreskog, Karl G. and Arthur S. Goldberg (1975). The Structural Model of Multiple Indicators and Multiple Causes (MIMIC) is a special case of the models of structural equations (SEM – Structural Equation Models) allowing the specification of statistical relationships between causal variables (observed) and latent variables (non-observed), which in turn affect, in an indirect way, a set of observed indicators. The conclusion is that, among the selected causal variables in this working paper, the unemployment rate and the subsidies granted to enterprises are the ones that contribute the most to the evolution of the Shadow Economy. It is also concluded that the share of the Shadow Economy in Portugal, during the period under review, had a sharp decrease between 1997 and 2000, from about 52% to 13.4% of the GDP. Since 2001 the Shadow Economy has been rising again, accentuating its growth rate after 2007, and it reached a peak of 24.2% of the GDP in 2011.
Galactic Bulges from Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Observations: Global Scaling Relations

We investigate bulge and disk scaling relations using a volume-corrected sample of early- to intermediate-type disk galaxies in which, importantly, the biasing flux from additional nuclear components has been modeled and removed. Structural parameters are obtained from a seeing-convolved, bulge + disk + nuclear-component decomposition applied to near-infrared surface brightness profiles spanning ~10 pc to the outer disk. Bulge and disk parameters, and bulge-to-disk ratios, are analyzed as a function of bulge luminosity, disk luminosity, galaxy central velocity dispersion, and galaxy Hubble type. Mathematical expressions are given for the stronger relations, which can be used to test and constrain galaxy formation models. Photometric parameters of both bulges and disks are observed to correlate with bulge luminosity and with central velocity dispersion. In contrast, for the unbarred, early to intermediate types covered by the sample, Hubble type does not correlate with bulge and disk components, nor their various ratios. In this sense, the early-to-intermediate spiral Hubble sequence is scale free. However, galaxies themselves are not scale free, the critical scale being the luminosity of the bulge. Bulge luminosity is shown to affect the disk parameters, such that central surface brightness becomes fainter, and scale length bigger, with bulge luminosity. The lack of significant correlations between bulge parameters (size, luminosity, or density) on disk luminosity, remains a challenge for secular evolution models of bulge growth. The average near-infrared bulge-to-total flux ratio for our S0-S0a galaxies is 0.25 (±0.09).
Market Opportunities, Genetic Endowments, and Intrafamily Resource Distribution: Child Survival in Rural India

The authors "examine how intrafamily resource allocations respond to changes in economic conditions and to genetic differences in children by estimating the determinants of variations in the sex-specific survival differentials of rural Indian children based on standard census and household survey data. [They] explore in particular the hypothesis that such differences are related to the relative returns to survival with households selectively allocating resources to children in response to variation in sex differences in their expected earnings opportunities as adults. " Data are from the 1961 census and a 1971 household survey. (EXCERPT)
Advertising competitions in social networks

In the present work, we study the advertising competition of several marketing campaigns who need to determine how many resources to allocate to potential customers to advertise their products through direct marketing while taking into account that competing marketing campaigns are trying to do the same. Potential customers rank marketing campaigns according to the offers, promotions or discounts made to them. We consider the network value as a measure of their importance in the market (taking into account their intrinsic value as well as the peer influence that they exert over others) and we find an analytical expression for it. We analyze the marketing campaigns competition from a game theory point of view, finding a closed form expression of the symmetric equilibrium offer strategy for the marketing campaigns from which no campaign has any incentive to deviate.We also present several scenarios, such as Winner-takes-all and Borda, but not the only possible ones for which our results allow us to retrieve in a simple way the corresponding equilibrium strategy.
Camera Self-Calibration: Geometry and Algorithms

In this paper, a geometric theory of camera self-calibration is developed. The problem of camera self-calibration is shown to be equivalent to the problem of recovering an unknown (Riemannian) metric of an appropriate space. This observation leads to a new account of the necessary and sufficient condition for a unique calibration. Based on this understanding, we obtain a new and complete critical motion analysis without introducing a projective space. A complete list of geometric invariants associated to an uncalibrated camera is given. Due to a new characterization of fundamental matrices, the Kruppa equations are re-derived and directly associated to the basic (co)invariants of the uncalibrated camera. We study general questions about the solvability of the Kruppa equations and show that, in some special cases, the Kruppa equations can be renormalized so as to allow for linear self-calibration algorithms. A further study of these cases not only reveals generic difficulties in conventional self-calibration methods based on the nonlinear Kruppa equations, but also clarifies some incorrect results in the literature about the solutions of the Kruppa equations. Since Kruppa equations do not provide sufficient constraints on camera calibration, in this paper we give a complete account of exactly what is missing in Kruppa equations. Our results clearly resolve the discrepancy between the Kruppa equations and the necessary and sufficient condition for a unique calibration. Self-calibration for the differential case is also studied in the same geometric framework. It is shown that the intrinsic parameter space is reduced to the space of singular values of the intrinsic parameter matrix if only differential epipolar constraints are used. Simulation results are presented for evaluation of the performance of the proposed linear algorithms.
DISCOVERY OF THE EXTREMELY ENERGETIC SUPERNOVA 2008fz

We report on the discovery and initial observations of the energetic type IIn supernova 2008fz. This object was discovered at redshift z = 0.133 and reached an apparent magnitude of V ∼ 17. After correcting for Galactic extinction and redshift, we determine the peak absolute magnitude of the event to be MV = −22.3, placing it among the most luminous supernovae discovered. The optical energy emitted by SN 2008fz (based on the light curve over an 88 day period) is possibly the most ever observed for a supernova (>1.4 × 1051 erg). The event was more luminous than the type IIn SN 2006gy, but exhibited the same smooth, slowly evolving light curve. As is characteristic of type IIn supernova, the early spectra of SN 2008fz initially exhibited narrow Balmer lines which were replaced by a broader component at later times. The spectra also show a blue continuum with no signs of Ca or Na absorption, suggesting that there is little extinction due to dust in the host or circumstellar material. No host galaxy is identified in prior co-added images reaching R ∼ 22. From the supernova's redshift, we place an upper limit on the brightness of the host of MR ∼ −17 (similar to the brightness of the Small Magellanic Cloud). The presence of the supernova within such a faint galaxy follows the majority of recently discovered highly luminous supernovae. A possible reason for this is the combination of a high star formation rate in low-mass galaxies with a low-metallicity environment.
THE VMC SURVEY. XVIII. RADIAL DEPENDENCE OF THE LOW-MASS, 0.55–0.82 M⊙ STELLAR MASS FUNCTION IN THE GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTER 47 TUCANAE

We use near-infrared observations obtained as part of the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC), as well as two complementary Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data sets, to study the luminosity and mass functions (MFs) as a function of clustercentric radius of the main-sequence stars in the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae. The HST observations indicate a relative deficit in the numbers of faint stars in the central region of the cluster compared with its periphery, for 18.75 ≤ mF606W ≤ 20.9 mag (corresponding to a stellar mass range of 0.55 < m*/M⊙ < 0.73). The stellar number counts at 6. ′7 from the cluster core show a deficit for 17.62 ≤ mF606W ≤ 19.7 mag (i.e., 0.65 < m*/M⊙ < 0.82), which is consistent with expectations from mass segregation. The VMC-based stellar MFs exhibit power-law shapes for masses in the range 0.55 < m*/M⊙ < 0.82. These power laws are characterized by an almost constant slope, α. The radial distribution of the power-law slopes α thus shows evidence of the importance of both mass segregation and tidal stripping, for both the first- and second-generation stars in 47 Tuc.
Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cells Prevent Macrophage-Mediated Axonal Dieback and Promote Regrowth after Spinal Cord Injury

Macrophage-mediated axonal dieback presents an additional challenge to regenerating axons after spinal cord injury. Adult adherent stem cells are known to have immunomodulatory capabilities, but their potential to ameliorate this detrimental inflammation-related process has not been investigated. Using an in vitro model of axonal dieback as well as an adult rat dorsal column crush model of spinal cord injury, we found that multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs) can affect both macrophages and dystrophic neurons simultaneously. MAPCs significantly decrease MMP-9 (matrix metalloproteinase-9) release from macrophages, effectively preventing induction of axonal dieback. MAPCs also induce a shift in macrophages from an M1, or “classically activated” proinflammatory state, to an M2, or “alternatively activated” antiinflammatory state. In addition to these effects on macrophages, MAPCs promote sensory neurite outgrowth, induce sprouting, and further enable axons to overcome the negative effects of macrophages as well as inhibitory proteoglycans in their environment by increasing their intrinsic growth capacity. Our results demonstrate that MAPCs have therapeutic benefits after spinal cord injury and provide specific evidence that adult stem cells exert positive immunomodulatory and neurotrophic influences.
Developing Knowledge-Based Innovation Advantage through Organizational Learning Strategies

We investigate how organizational learning strategies drive knowledge-based innovation advantage (KBIA) in US high tech firms, where KBIA refers to the capability advantage of a firm, relative to its competitor, to develop knowledge-based innovations. We use the knowledgebased view to build our theoretical framework and use objective, longitudinal data over more than six years combined with survey data from over 200 high tech firms to test our hypotheses. Our empirical result show that (a) the greater the financial resource advantage for a focal firm (relative to competition), the more effective it is for that firm to use experimental learning strategies to enhance KBIA; (b) the greater the market share advantage for a focal firm (relative to competition), the more effective it is for that firm to use imitation learning strategies to increase KBIA; (c) KBIA rewards a firm with higher long-term abnormal stock returns more strongly when the focal firm has reduced a KBIA disadvantage than when it has enlarged a KBIA advantage; and (d) KBIA rewards a firm with higher long-term abnormal stock returns more strongly when there is a higher competitive intensity in the focal industry than in other industries. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.
Low Complexity Sequential Normal Basis Multipliers over �

For efficient hardware implementation of finite field arithmetic units, the use of a normal basis is advantageous. In this article, two architectures for multipliers over the finite field are proposed. Both of these multipliers are of sequential type – after receiving the coordinates of the two input field elements, they go through iterations (or clock cycles) to finally yield all the coordinates of the product in parallel. These multipliers are highly area efficient and require fewer number of logic gates even when compared with the most area efficient multiplier available in the open literature. This makes the proposed multipliers suitable for applications where the value of is large but space is of concern, e.g., resource constrained cryptographic systems. Additionally, the AND gate count for one of the multipliers is only. This implies that if the multiplication over is performed using a suitable subfield where ! #" and ! %$& (' then the corresponding multiplier architecture will yield a highly efficient digit or word serial multiplier.
Dynamics of Adolescent Friendships: The Interplay between Structure and Gender

This study investigates the network characteristics of adolescent friendship networks and the interaction between network characteristics and gender. Two competing hypotheses for closure and openness are derived and tested. Adolescents might strive for network closure, because this facilitates trust and trustworthiness among their friends. However, openness can also be beneficial because it facilitates establishing multi-layered identities and finding novel ideas for school tasks. The hypothesis for interaction between structure and gender is derived from the argument that gender influences the criteria for seeking and making friends during adolescence. SIENA is used to estimate the effects of network and individual characteristics on friendship formation. The data consists of longitudinal friendship nominations of 410 Taiwanese adolescents. We find that adolescents have a tendency to establish friendships that increase network closure. This tendency is stronger for male than for female adolescents in single-gender classes. On the contrary, the tendency towards network closure is stronger for female than for male adolescents in mixed-gender classes.
Antinociceptive effect of intrathecal sec-O-glucosylhamaudol on the formalin-induced pain in rats

Background The root of Peucedanum japonicum Thunb. , a perennial herb found in Japan, the Philippines, China, and Korea, is used as an analgesic. In a previous study, sec-O-glucosylhamaudol (SOG) showed an analgesic effect. This study was performed to examine the antinociceptive effect of intrathecal SOG in the formalin test. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with an intrathecal catheter. Rats were randomly treated with a vehicle and SOG (10 µg, 30 µg, 60 µg, and 100 µg) before formalin injection. Five percent formalin was injected into the hind-paw, and a biphasic reaction followed, consisting of flinching and licking behaviors (phase 1, 0–10 min; phase 2, 10–60 min). Naloxone was injected 10 min before administration of SOG 100 µg to evaluate the involvement of SOG with an opioid receptor. Dose-responsiveness and ED50 values were calculated. Results Intrathecal SOG showed a significant reduction of the flinching responses at both phases in a dose-dependent manner. Significant effects were showed from the dose of 30 µg and maximum effects were achieved at a dose of 100 µg in both phases. The ED50 value (95% confidence intervals) of intrathecal SOG was 30.3 (25.8–35.5) µg during phase 1, and 48.0 (41.4–55.7) during phase 2. The antinociceptive effects of SOG (100 µg) were significantly reverted at both phases of the formalin test by naloxone. Conclusions These results demonstrate that intrathecal SOG has a very strong antinociceptive effect in the formalin test and it seems the effect is related to an opioid receptor.
Effects of Reflective Thinking in the Process of Designing Software on Students' Learning Performances

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of reflective thinking effects in the process of designing software on students’ learning performances. The study contends that reflective thinking is a useful teaching strategy to improve learning performance among lower achieving students. Participants were students from two groups: Higher achieving students were the control group, and lower achieving students were the experimental group. The experimental group students wrote weekly diaries demonstrating reflective thinking in the processes of designing software. The study’s results show the evaluation scores of the two groups of students’ software designs were comparable. The abilities of the experimental group to comment on a design improved. This shows that a reflective thinking strategy did have positive effect on improving lower achieving students’ learning performances, especially in the process of software design. Discussion of the results and suggestions for future study appear at the end of this study.
Contrasting Effects of the Cytotoxic Anticancer Drug Gemcitabine and the EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Gefitinib on NK Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity via Regulation of NKG2D Ligand in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Cells

Introduction Several cytotoxic anticancer drugs inhibit DNA replication and/or mitosis, while EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors inactivate EGFR signalling in cancer cell. Both types of anticancer drugs improve the overall survival of the patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), although tumors often become refractory to this treatment. Despite several mechanisms by which the tumors become resistant having been described the effect of these compounds on anti-tumor immunity remains largely unknown. Methods This study examines the effect of the cytotoxic drug Gemcitabine and the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor Gefitinib on the expression of NK group 2 member D (NKG2D) ligands as well as the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to the NK-mediated lysis. Results We demonstrate that Gemcitabine treatment leads to an enhanced expression, while Gefitinib downregulated the expression of molecules that act as key ligands for the activating receptor NKG2D and promote NK cell-mediated recognition and cytolysis. Gemcitabine activated ATM and ATM- and Rad-3-related protein kinase (ATR) pathways. The Gemcitabine-induced phosphorylation of ATM as well as the upregulation of the NKG2D ligand expression could be blocked by an ATM-ATR inhibitor. In contrast, Gefitinib attenuated NKG2D ligand expression. Silencing EGFR using siRNA or addition of the PI3K inhibitor resulted in downregulation of NKG2D ligands. The observations suggest that the EGFR/PI3K pathway also regulates the expression of NKG2D ligands. Additionally, we showed that both ATM-ATR and EGFR regulate MICA/B via miR20a. Conclusion In keeping with the effect on NKG2D expression, Gemcitabine enhanced NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity while Gefitinib attenuated NK cell killing in NSCLC cells.
Device-to-device communications with Wi-Fi Direct: overview and experimentation

Wi-Fi Direct is a new technology defined by the Wi-Fi Alliance aimed at enhancing direct device to device communications in Wi-Fi. Thus, given the wide base of devices with Wi-Fi capabilities, and the fact that it can be entirely implemented in software over traditional Wi-Fi radios, this technology is expected to have a significant impact. In this article we provide a thorough overview of the novel functionalities defined in Wi-Fi Direct, and present an experimental evaluation that portrays the performance to be expected in real scenarios. In particular, our results quantify the delays to be expected in practice when Wi-Fi Direct devices discover each other and establish a connection, and the performance of its novel power saving protocols. To the best of the authors¿ knowledge this is the first article in the state of the art that provides a wide overview and experimental evaluation of Wi-Fi Direct.
Why does the Job Corps increase gender earnings inequality

Several studies considering the Job Corps find more positive earnings effects for males than for females. This effect heterogeneity in favor of males contrasts with the results of the majority of other training program evaluations. Applying the translated quantile approach of Bitler, Hoynes, and Domina (2014), I show that an important mechanism behind the surprising findings for the Job Corps operates through existing gender earnings inequality rather than Job Corps trainability differences by gender. A program assignment mechanism that balances the earnings structure could increase earnings opportunities without promoting gender inequality.