Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First Report of the WMO COVID-19 Task Team on Meteorological and Air Quality (MAQ) factors affecting the COVID-19 pandemic.

<div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div>The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Research Board has set up an interdisciplinary and international Task Team to respond to the challenge of providing timely decision support and relevant knowledge on Meteorological and Air Quality (MAQ) factors affecting the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic. The Task Team aims to provide decision makers and the public with a rapid summary of the state of knowledge regarding potential MAQ influences on SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19; to offer general technical guidance for researchers and service providers who wish to consider MAQ data in their analyses, estimates, predictions and projections of COVID-19 risks. The work of the task &#160;motivated both by the global relevance of the subject and by the staggering number of papers and pre-prints currently available, which emphasizes the need for careful review and communication of the state of the science. This first &#160;report presents a summary of key findings of the review to date, as informed by peer reviewed literature. </div> <p>&#160;</p> <div>A key finding is that the underlying mechanisms that drive seasonality of respiratory viral infections are not yet well understood. To date, COVID-19 transmission dynamics appear to have been controlled primarily by government interventions rather than meteorological factors. Respiratory viral infections frequently exhibit some form of seasonality, particularly in temperate climates and some evidence from laboratory studies of SARS-CoV-2, suggests that the virus survives longer under cold, dry, and low ultraviolet radiation conditions. There is also evidence that chronic and short-term exposure to air pollution exacerbates symptoms and increases mortality rates for some respiratory diseases and this is consistent with early studies of COVID-19 mortality rates. However, there is no direct, peer reviewed evidence of pollution impacts on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at this time. Process-based modeling studies anticipate that COVID-19 transmission may become seasonal over time, suggesting Meteorology and Air Quality (MAQ) factors may support monitoring and forecasting of COVID-19 in the coming months and years. </div> <p>&#160;</p> <div>Additional research quantifying links between MAQ factors and COVID-19 is needed. </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>
H∞ Control of Linear Networked and Quantized Control Systems With Communication Delays and Random Packet Losses

This article studies the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {H}_{\infty }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> control problem for linear networked and quantized control systems (NQCSs) with both communication delays and random packet losses. To deal with network-induced constraints and random packet dropouts, a novel discrete-time stochastic system model is developed for continuous-time networked control systems, and further overapproximated to a polytopic system with norm-bounded uncertainty. Based on the overapproximated system model, sufficient conditions are established for linear NQCSs in different cases to guarantee both input-to-state stability and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {H}_{\infty }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> performance with respect to the network-induced errors. Furthermore, we propose an algorithm to minimize the stability gain and the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {H}_{\infty }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> attenuation level simultaneously. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the developed results.
USING AUDIO VISUAL MATERİALS FOR CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS TO GAIN FIELD EXPERIENCE IN SCHOOLS: STONE WALL EXAMPLE

Civil engineers taking great responsibilities in many tasks they work, get educated in university before they have such an important profession. With this education, they are expected to fulfill the responsibilities they will face in their professional life. Therefore, the education received by civil engineers is as important as their work for society. Students from schools with more theoretical education have difficulties on understanding of practical applications in the field. To overcome these understanding challenges, students have been supplemented with audio-visual materials that contain practical knowledge based on theoretical background. For this purpose, the process of the construction work were visually recorded in original form from construction site and a specific scenario was prepared and performed. Prepared audio-visual material was then presented to a total of 261 students and the efficiency of the materials was determined. As a result of this st dy, it was seen that the use of audio-visual material contributed to the elimination of the deficiencies of the students in the construction work applications.
Empowerment of smallholder female livestock farmers and its potential impacts to their resilience to agricultural drought

Studies have determined the factors influencing agricultural drought resilience of smallholder farmers and implications for empowerment. Other than the Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI), studies do not provide an analysis of cultural or traditional beliefs and reflective dialogues on challenges of smallholder female livestock farmers. This study uses a mixed approach that includes a survey, A-WEAI, Pearson's chi-square coefficient, and reflective dialogue to analyze these challenges. The ability to adapt to agricultural drought is influenced by factors such as access to information, credit, productive resources, and available time, all of which are different for men and women. Our study found that 61.3% and 16.4% of the female and male farmers were disempowered. Domains that contributed the most to the disempowerment of the women and men were respectively time/workload (52.97% and 31.89%), access to and decisions on credit (17.7% and 21.4%), ownership of assets (11.3% and 8.5%), input into productive decisions (10% and 9.1%) and group membership (8% and 19.13%). No significant correlation for age, marital status, or level of education versus empowerment status of women was found. A significant correlation was observed between farming experience and the empowerment status of women. Reflective dialogue during interviews revealed that women struggled with access to finance, grazing, water, stock theft, lack of training and knowledge, and intimidation by male neighbors. Such findings help inform agricultural development strategies to develop or modify existing policies to enhance the resilience of farmers to agricultural drought and empowerment. Gender-specific agricultural projects should be encouraged to empower female farmers to improve their resilience to agricultural drought. The government should assist female livestock farmers in accessing credit and developing clear policies on land tenure issues. Mentorship programs should be encouraged to educate and support female smallholder farmers to enhance their agricultural drought resilience and empowerment.
An Overview of the Factors Influencing CK2 Ligands and the Impact of Crystal Waters: A Theoretical Study

The aim of the present study is to understand and analyze the factors that are influencing CK2 ligands and the role of crystal waters. The influence of the crystal waters on the stability of the ligand was deliberated based on the results of interaction energy and two body interaction energy analyses at M062X/def2-QZVP level of theory. The two body interaction energy analyses was carried out to assess whether important waters were contributing to favorable binding of the ligand through hinge region, where it acts as a bridge in linking protein with ligand or having interaction with ligand alone or merely specific polar interactions. Among the halogen ligands 1ZOH and 1ZOE are observed with the highest interaction energy of −13.96 and −13.75 kcal/mol. This is owing to the interaction of four crystal waters in the above ligands. Among the non-halogen ligands, 2ZJW is observed to be more stable with a huge interaction energy of −42.9 kcal/mol. Tetrabromobenzotriazole derivatives of halogen ligands 5CQU and 3.
Consequences of Student Part-Time Employment (Case Study of Sebelas Maret University Student)

The aim of the paper is to examine the consequences of students engaging in part-time employment during their studies. The research consisted of a Google form survey of all the student of Sebelas Maret University, on 2015 and 2016 who studies also doing part-time. The survey found that part-time employment, in common with many previous studies. It also found that some students were spending longer in their chosen employment than in time-tabled classes. A central finding was that unlike much previous research, it emerged here that students reported more positive than negative outcomes to improve the student skills, but effect to the learning achievement give the negative outcomes. The data shows that students continue to engage in part-time employment at a significant level and for some studying is almost a secondary activity. The paper is of value in seeking to clarify the nature of the consequences for students seeking to combine employment and studying. Furthermore the paper builds on our understanding of the effect of part-time to the student learning achievement that gives negative effects but give the positive effect about the student skill to understand about business, social relationship, etc.
Senioritis: College Student Perceptions on Causes, Outcomes, and Support

Senioritis is characterized by tendencies such as arriving late or skipping class, decreased motivation, or behaving irresponsibly by investing little effort in schoolwork. Research on senioritis primarily focuses on high school seniors, so the present study explored the phenomenon at the college level by investigating perceptions of senioritis in college students. Results indicated that students believe senioritis exists at the college level and that supportive relationships with faculty members and advisors play a significant role in how senioritis is perceived. This study confirms the relevance of studying college-level senioritis and suggests future research to define and further explore the phenomenon.
Effect of a joint policy statement by nine UK shooting and rural organisations on the use of lead shotgun ammunition for hunting common pheasants Phasianus colchicus in Britain

There are significant negative effects of exposure to spent lead ammunition on wildlife and human health. A joint statement was issued by nine UK shooting and rural organisations on 24th February 2020 intended to encourage a voluntary transition to non-lead shotgun ammunition within five years “in consideration of wildlife, the environment and to ensure a market for the healthiest game products”. We dissected carcasses of wild-shot common pheasants Phasianus colchicus sold or offered for human consumption in Britain in the shooting season between 1st October 2020 and 1st February 2021 to recover shotgun pellets. The principal metallic element composing one pellet from each bird was identified using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The results showed that 99% of the 180 pheasants from which shotgun pellets were recovered had been killed using lead shotgun ammunition, compared with 100% in a much smaller study conducted in the 2008/2009 shooting season. We conclude that the shooting and rural organisations’ joint statement, and their subsequent promotional actions, have not yet had a detectable effect on the ammunition types used by shooters supplying pheasants to the British game market.
The effect of various mineral fillers on thermal, mechanical, and rheological properties of polypropylene

Polypropylene is one of the commodity thermoplastics that is widely used in many different applications such as automotive, building, electric-electronics, textile, and packaging industries due to its properties and favorable cost-benefit ratio. The incorporation of mineral fillers such as mica, talc, wollastonite, and calcium carbonate into thermoplastics is a common practice in the plastics industry in order to reduce the production costs of molded products and enhance processibility, mechanical, and thermal properties. Mineral filled polypropylene composites provides high mechanical stiffness, thermal stability, and good dimensional stability over a wide temperature range. The filler weight ratio, type, size, and dimension have significant effect on mechanical, thermal, physical, and rheological properties of composites. Four different mineral fillers (talc, mica, calcite, and feldspar) at weight fractions of 40% were compounded with polypropylene by using a twin-screw extruder. Test specimens were obtained by injection molding process. The effect of various filler types on rheological and mechanical properties of polypropylene was investigated in this study. It was found that talc and mica loadings at 40 wt. % into polypropylene increased the flexural strength of polypropylene. The rheological properties of samples were more affected by the talc than calcium carbonate.
Biogenic production of zinc oxide nanoparticles from aqueous extracts of Duranta erecta L.

The present communication reports the biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using aqueous extracts of leaves, stem, root, flowers and fruits of Duranta erecta L. This plant gains horticultural and medicinal importance due to its various biological activities. Zinc Nitrate Hexahydrate [Zn (NO3)2·6H2O] solution was used as a precursor to synthesize Zinc oxide nanoparticles. The various plant (leaves, stem, roots, flowers, fruits) extracts played as reducing agents. The leaf extract showed strong absorbance peak at 302 nm, stem and flower peaks were located at 299 nm, roots at 293 nm and fruit extract solution peak observed at 317 nm.
The lag time from symptoms onset of rheumatoid arthritis to initiation of Methotrexate: data from the Moroccan register of biotherapies

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the time between the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms and the introduction of methotrexate, as well as the associated factors. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study that included data from the Moroccan register of biologic patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Sociodemographic, economic patient data and disease data were collected. A logistic regression was performed to determine the factors that are associated with the change in the delay between the onset of symptoms and the initiation of cDMARD. Results: A total of 225 RA patients were included. The mean age was 51 ± 11 years, with a female predominance of 88% (n=197). The diagnosis lag time was 12 months (12-48). Seventy-three percent of the cases were housewives. Seventy-nine percent of patients received Methotrexate as the first CDMARDS. Salazopyrine was the second prescribed CDMARDS with 7%. Hydroxychloroquine was the third prescribed cDMARDs which 2.2%. The median lag time from symptoms onset to initiation of Methotrexate was 24 months (0.16-71). The factors, associated with the change in the delay between the onset of symptoms and the introduction of methotrexate in univariate analysis, were delay in diagnosis and corticosteroids Taking (p<0.05), only the delay of diagnosis in multivariate analysis persists p=0.0001. Conclusions: Our study suggests that there is a significant delay between diagnosis and the introduction of methotrexate as a first line cDMARDs. In multivariate analysis only the time to diagnosis was associated with the time to start methotrexate.
Comparison of a Bat and Genetic Algorithm Generated Sequence Against Lead Through Programming When Assembling a PCB Using a Six-Axis Robot With Multiple Motions and Speeds

An optimal component feeder arrangement and robotic placement sequence are both important for improving assembly efficiency. Both problems are combinatorial in nature and known to be NP-hard. This article presents a novel discrete hybrid bat-inspired algorithm for solving the feeder slot assignment and placement sequence problem encountered when planning robotic assembly of electronic components. In our method, we use the concepts of swap operators and swap sequence to redefine position and velocity operators from the basic bat algorithm (BA). Furthermore, we propose an improved local search method based on genetic operators of crossover and mutation enhanced by the 2-opt search procedure. The algorithm is formulated with the objective of minimizing the total traveling distance of the pick-and-place device. Through numerical experiments, using a real printed circuit board (PCB) assembly scenario, we demonstrate the considerable effectiveness of the proposed discrete BA to improve the selection of feeder arrangement and placement sequence in PCB assembly operations and achieve high throughput production. The results also highlighted that even though the algorithms outperformed traditional lead through programming techniques, the programmer must consider the influence of different robot motions and speeds.
Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Cellular Immune Response in Broiler Chickens

immune organ weights as a general indicator, haemocytometric measurements, intestinal microbial count and hindgut acidosis, hindgut volatile fatty acids, and cellular immune response using PHA-test. The use of the different dietary treatments did not affect the general health status of the chickens and the mortality was minimal with no signs of illness or outbreaks. At 3-wk of age, there was no significant effect observed in the microbial counts of the intestine. However, at 5-wk of age, the highest microbial count was significantly observed for broilers fed EO (7.30%), closely followed by SFO (6.95%) and the least microbial counts were observed for CO (5.63%). No significance was observed for LAB and Salmonella. There was no significance observed for the effect of the dietary treatments on the hindgut volatile acid in the broilers. Wattle swelling changes were significant between dietary treatments. The results revealed that dietary FLO, FO, and DHA oils induced higher cellular response than the other treatments ( P =0.035), representing higher cellular response in these groups. In conclusion, supplemental oils rich in n-3 fatty acids may enhance the immune response in broiler chickens, represented by the intestinal microbial counts and the cellular immune response.
Examining the Non-linear Relationship between Corporate Governance and Firm Performance in Pakistan

1. Lecturer, Department of Management Sciences, University of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan 2. Lecturer, Department of Commerce, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan 3. Lecturer, Department of Management Sciences, University of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan PAPER INFO ABSTRACT Received: January 23, 2021 Accepted: March 01, 2021 Online: March 20, 2021 This study looks into the impact of board structure, reporting and disclosure and transparency on the success of family businesses in Pakistan. It also examine if the relationship between corporate indices is linear or non-linear in nature? BOD index, reporting index, and disclosure index are constructed based on governance practices. The dependent variable is return on assets (ROA), and the relationships are estimated using GMM. The findings reveal a strong relationship between each governance index and ROA. Further, the findings confirm the presence of non-linearity of the CG indices-performance relationships. Family firms are prone to extreme agency disputes, and both internal and external governance is needed to protect minority shareholders' interests from the family firm's entrenched ultimate controllers. The results show that good corporate governance practices have a significant positive monitoring impact on the success of family businesses in Pakistan.
Strategic management, the theory of the firm, and digitalization: Reintroducing a normative perspective

The theory of the firm, as we know it from the literature, focuses on the boundary question. Recently, the idea of ecosystems, an organizational arrangement that lies somewhere between the firm and the market poles, has been promoted as an adequate response to the ongoing trend of digitalization (Jacobides, Cennamo, & Gawer, 2018). What is missing in the extant literature is an answer to or reflection on the normative question of what role business firms should or could play in modern societies, where major (“grand”) challenges such as climate change, poverty, migration, and rising inequality are seen (George, Howard-Grenville, Joshi, & Tihanyi, 2016). Thus, a core element of the traditional theory of the firm has been neglected, with the consequence that its social relevance is no longer evident. We focus on the strategic management discipline, with an aim to reintroduce the lost normative perspective and to provide a guideline for future theorizing about business firms as well as guidelines for practice. The three cornerstones of our framework are (de-) growth, sustainability, and digitalization. We emphasize the digitalization angle and elaborate on what we call the “common good orientation” of digitalization, using the key terms “internet as a commons”, “open-source”, and “cooperative platforms”
Rate coefficients and kinetic isotope effects of the abstraction reaction of H atoms from methylsilane

ABSTRACT Thermal rate constants for chemical reactions using improved canonical variational transition state theory (ICVT) with small-curvature tunnelling (SCT) contributions in a temperature range 180–2000 K are reported. The general procedure is used with high-quality ab initio computations and semi-classical reaction probabilities along the minimum energy path (MEP). The approach is based on a vibrational adiabatic reaction path and is applied to the multiple-channel hydrogen abstraction reaction H + SiH3CH3 → products and its isotopically substituted variants. All the degrees of freedom are optimised and harmonic vibrational frequencies and zero-point energies are calculated at the MP2 level with the cc-pVTZ basis set. Single-point energies are calculated at a higher level of theory; CCSD(T)-F12a/VTZ-F12. ICVT/SCT rate constants show that the quantum tunnelling contributions at low temperatures are relatively important and the H-abstraction channel from SiH3 group of SiH3CH3 is the major pathway. The total rate constants are given by the following expression: ktot(ICVT/SCT) = 2.29 10−18 T2.42 exp(−350.9/T) cm3 molec−1 s−1. These calculated rates are in agreement with the available experiments. The ICVT/SCT method is further exploited to predict primary and secondary kinetic isotope effects, respectively).
Thermoresponsive Polypeptoid-Coated Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles by Surface-Initiated Polymerization

Thermoresponsive polypeptoids are promising candidates for medical applications due to their biomimetic properties. When such polymers are grafted on magnetic nanoparticles, materials can be obtained that combine a temperature-triggered solubility transition with magnetic extraction. The synthesis of monodisperse, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles is described with densely surface-grafted polypeptoid shells that have tunable thermoresponsive colloidal stability. The synthesis combines ligand exchange with controlled surface-initiated polymerization of N-substituted N-carboxyanhydrides for the preparation of well-defined core–shell nanoparticles.