Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study on the Suitability of Carbon Disk Microelectrodes for Trace Analysis of Lead and Copper by ASV

The performance of carbon microdisk electrodes for the simultaneous trace analysis of lead and copper by anodic stripping voltammetry is investigated. The evaluation of the two metal ions in a single step, i.e., by employing a plating potential at which both cations are reduced simultaneously, gives unpredictable results due to the interaction between lead and copper deposited onto the electrode surface. In particular, the calibration plots of lead are not linear, while the copper stripping peak is quite broad and irreproducible. A two-steps deposition procedure, based on a preelectrolysis of copper performed at a potential at which lead ion is not reduced, followed by a simultaneous reduction of the two cations at large enough negative potentials, provides, instead, linear calibration graphs for lead. Copper can be determined without interference by plating the metal at a negative potential where lead ion is not reduced. The reliability of the two-steps procedure for the determination of lead and copper is verified in rain and wine samples.
The environmental roots of zoonotic diseases: From SARS-CoV-2 to cancer viruses. A review

The destruction of natural habitats and change in land use contribute to biodiversity loss by increasing species extinction and weakening the functions of ecosystems Ecosystems often are unsafe for humans because animals that host viruses or other pathogens become dominant within impoverished biological communities The risk of infection propagation from one animal species to other species depends on the size of the reservoir population and the “ability” of pathogen to spillover: an event that is more likely to occur in phylogenetically related hosts Zoonotic spillover is the transmission of pathogens to humans from vertebrate animals If human activities contributing to the alteration of ecosystems do not slow down, the critical state of biodiversity can turn into an important driver of emerging pathogens, including viruses involved in neoplastic diseases A radical reform of the current growth-based economic model is urgently needed to counter the unsustainable human pressure on the natural environment and the risk of new pandemics © 2020 Modonesi
RNA Interference Strategies for Future Management of Plant Pathogenic Fungi: Prospects and Challenges

Plant pathogenic fungi are the largest group of disease-causing agents on crop plants and represent a persistent and significant threat to agriculture worldwide. Conventional approaches based on the use of pesticides raise social concern for the impact on the environment and human health and alternative control methods are urgently needed. The rapid improvement and extensive implementation of RNA interference (RNAi) technology for various model and non-model organisms has provided the initial framework to adapt this post-transcriptional gene silencing technology for the management of fungal pathogens. Recent studies showed that the exogenous application of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules on plants targeting fungal growth and virulence-related genes provided disease attenuation of pathogens like Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Fusarium graminearum in different hosts. Such results highlight that the exogenous RNAi holds great potential for RNAi-mediated plant pathogenic fungal disease control. Production of dsRNA can be possible by using either in-vitro or in-vivo synthesis. In this review, we describe exogenous RNAi involved in plant pathogenic fungi and discuss dsRNA production, formulation, and RNAi delivery methods. Potential challenges that are faced while developing a RNAi strategy for fungal pathogens, such as off-target and epigenetic effects, with their possible solutions are also discussed.
Nonisothermal cold crystallization behavior and kinetics of polylactide/clay nanocomposites

The nonisothermal cold crystallization behavior of intercalated polylactide (PLA)/clay nanocomposites (PLACNs) was studied using differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscope, X-ray diffractometer, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The results show that both the cold crystallization temperature (Tcc) and melting point (Tm) of PLA matrix decreases monotonously with increasing of clay loadings, accompanied by the decreasing degree of crystallinity (Xc%) at the low heating rates (≤5 °C/min). However, the Xc% of PLACNs presents a remarkable increase at the high heating rate of 10 °C/min in contrast to that of neat PLA. The crystallization kinetics was then analyzed by the Avrami, Jezioney, Ozawa, Mo, Kissinger and Lauritzen–Hoffman kinetic models. It can be concluded that at the low heating rate, the cold crystallization of both the neat PLA and nanocomposites proceeds by regime III kinetics. The nucleation effect of clay promote the crystallization to some extent, while the impeding effect of clay results in the decrease of crystallization rate with increasing of clay loadings. At the high heating rate of 10 °C/min, crystallization proceeds mainly by regime II kinetics. Thus, the formation of much more incomplete crystals in the PLACNs with high clay loadings due to the dominant multiple nucleations mechanism in regime II, may have primary contribution to the lower crystallization kinetics, also as a result to the higher degree of crystallinity and lower melting point in contrast to that of neat PLA. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1100–1113, 2007
Data Linkages and Privacy Regulation∗

We assess the efficacy of existing privacy regulation with privacy-conscious consumers. We develop a model of data linkages where a consumer interacts sequentially with two firms: one firm collects data on consumer behavior, and the other firm leverages the data to set a quality level and a price. A data linkage benefits the consumer in equilibrium when the recipient firm is sufficiently similar to the collecting firm. We endogenize linkage formation under numerous instances of privacy regulation. Voluntary consent requirements are beneficial to consumers in equilibrium but blanket bans on discriminatory price and quality offers are harmful.
An Efficient Approach for Image Border Handling on GPUs via Iteration Space Partitioning

Border handling is a crucial step in many image processing applications. For stencil kernels such as the Gaussian filter where a window of pixels is required to compute an output pixel, the border of the image needs to be handled differently than the body of the image. To prevent out-of-bounds accesses, conditional statements need to be inserted into the pixel address calculation. This introduces significant overhead, especially on hardware accelerators such as GPUs. Existing research efforts mostly focus on image body computations, while neglecting the importance of border handling or treating it as a corner case. In this paper, we propose an efficient border handling approach for GPUs. Our approach is based on iteration space partitioning, which is a technique similar to index-set splitting, a well-known general-purpose compiler optimization. We present a detailed systematic analysis including an analytic model that quantitatively evaluates the benefits as well as the costs of the transformation. In addition, manually implementing the border handling technique is a tedious task and not portable at all. We integrate our approach into an image processing DSL and a source-to-source compiler called Hipacc to relieve the burden and increase programmers’ productivity. We evaluate over five commonly used image processing applications on two Nvidia GPUs. Results show our proposed approach achieves a geometric mean speedup of up to 87% over a naive implementation.
Tribological properties of powder metallurgical tool steels used in powder compaction pressing dies

The tribological properties of two powder metallurgical (PM) tool steels, high and low nitrogen containing, are investigated by means of three different wear tests: ball‐on‐disc, rubber wheel and scratch test. The ball‐on‐disc tests showed two distinct friction curves corresponding to each material. In order to simulate the tribosystem existing in metal powder compaction dies, the rubber wheel and the scratch test were modified. The rubber wheel test was performed using ferrous powder instead of sand, and scratch testing was carried out by sliding a powder compact over the tool steels. The scratch tests indicated a higher steady‐state coefficient of friction for the low nitrogen containing PM steel as compared with the high nitrogen containing alloy. Additionally, the results from the rubber wheel tests were in agreement with industrial experiences, showing the low nitrogen containing tool steel to suffer from severe galling. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Upgrading Promotions Using Business Analytics

Sales promotions are ubiquitous to the extent that customers are expecting retailers to offer promotions. When the American department store JCPenney changed from a pricing strategy based on promotions to one based on low prices, their sales dropped substantially mainly due to customers being conditioned to promotions. Given that customers may expect promotions, it is important for retailers to understand their customer’s purchasing behavior and to determine the right promotion policy for each context. Fortunately, large customer datasets in conjunction with increasing computational power create a unique opportunity for retailers to upgrade their decisionmaking process by using advanced analytics. In this article, we focus on how business analytics can improve promotion planning. Retailers are increasingly interested in planning promotions efficiently, as witnessed by the Oracle Retail Global Business Unit (RGBU). This work was initiated by the ask of several grocery retail clients for software tools supporting promotion planning. Promotions (i.e., temporary price reductions) are frequently used by retailers via several vehicles such as product displays, flyers, and commercials (Blattberg and Neslin 1990, Anderson and Fox 2019). Promotions are used with the goal of generating extra sales, increasing store traffic, introducing new products, creating and maintaining brand loyalty, aiding price discrimination, and retaliating competitor promotions. Due to their frequent use and their current management based on experience and intuition, the aforementioned grocery clients of Oracle Retail found the planning of promotions to be time-consuming and they were worried about leaving money on the table. Altogether, this presented us with a great opportunity to impact retailers’ bottom lines by developing efficient promotion planning software.
Benchmark Analysis of TRIGA Mark II Reactivity Experiment Using a Continuous Energy Monte Carlo Code MCNP

The benchmark analysis of reactivity experiments in the TRIGA-II core at the Musashi Institute of Technology Research Reactor (Musashi reactor, 100 kW) was performed by a three-dimensional continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MCNP4A. The reactivity worth and integral reactivity curves of the control rods as well as the reactivity worth distributions of fuel and graphite elements were used in the validation process of the physical model and neutron cross section data from the ENDF/B-V evaluation. The calculated values of integral reactivity curves of the control rods were in agreement with the experimental data obtained by the period method. The integral worth measured by the rod drop method was also consistent with the calculation. The calculated values of the fuel and the graphite element worth distributions were consistent with the measured ones within the statistical error estimates. These results showed that the exact core configuration including the control rod positions to reproduce the fission source distribution in the experiment must be introduced into the calculation core for obtaining the precise solution. It can be concluded that our simulation model of the TRIGA-II core is precise enough to reproduce the control rod worth, fuel and graphite elements reactivity worth distributions.
Low impedance design with example of kickers (including cables) and potential of metamaterials

Unmatched terminations of single elements were recently identified to be responsible for beam instabilities in the CERN PSB and LEIR machines. Impedance models are needed to estimate the impedance of similar devices and to assess potential intensity limitations. A circuital model that includes the effect of coupling to cables on the beam coupling impedance will be discussed. Moreover, examples of low impedance design with special emphasis on the mitigation of the impedance of ferrite kickers (e.g. longitudinal serigraphy) will be presented and guidelines for optimized impedance design will be provided. Finally, the potential of metamaterials for impedance mitigation will be discussed.
Modelling the cloud condensation nucleus activity of organic acids

In this study vapour pressure osmometry was used to determine water activity in solutions of organic acids. The surface tension of the solutions was also monitored in parallel and then Kohler curves were calculated for nine organic acids (oxalic, malonic, succinic, glutaric, adipic acid, maleic acid, malic acid, citric acid and pinonic acid). Surface tension depression is negligible for most of the organic acids in dilute (? 1 w/w%) solutions. Therefore, these compounds affect the supersaturation only in the beginning phase of droplet formation but not necessarily at the critical size. An exception is cis-pinonic acid which remarkably depress surface tension also in dilute (0.1 w/w%) solution and hence at the critical point. The surface tension of organic acid solutions is influenced by the solubility of the compound, the length of the carbon chain and also by the polar functional groups present in the molecule. Similarly to surface tension solubility plays an important role also in water activity: compounds with higher solubility (e.g. malonic, maleic, and glutaric acid) reduce water activity significantly in the early phase of droplet formation while less soluble acids (e.g. succinic and adipic acid) are saturated in small droplets and the solution starts diluting only in bigger droplets. As a consequence, compounds with lower solubility have a minor effect on water activity in the early phase of droplet formation. To deduce the total effect Kohler curves were calculated and critical supersaturations were determined for the organic acids using measured surface tension and water activity. It was found that critical supersaturation grew with growing carbon number. Oxalic acid had the lowest critical supersaturation in the size range studied and it was comparable to the activation of ammonium sulfate. The S c values obtained in this study were compared to data from CCNC measurements. In most cases good agreement was found.
Prevalence of Post-partum Depression among Sudanese Women Using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in Two Major Delivery Hospitals in Khartoum State

Background: Postpartum depression is a mood disorder that can affect women after childbirth; it can occur at any time during the first year after delivery. Mothers experience depressive symptoms that may make it difficult for them to complete daily care activities. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of postpartum depression among Sudanese women as well as determining the association between postpartum depression (PPD), socio-demographic, and obstetric characteristics. Method: In this cross-sectional study, 129 women selected through convenient sampling technique were interviewed; the participants were recruited from the postnatal and child welfare clinics at the Saad Abueleella and the Dream International Hospitals. To assess any possible depression, information was collected at six weeks postpartum using a structured questionnaire in addition to a screening tool. Results: At a cutoff score of ≥12, the prevalence of PPD was found to be 10.9% (Confidence Interval 6.5–17.3%); while 79.1% of mothers revealed no signs of PPD and scored <9 points, 10.1% scored 9–11, indicating a need for extra visits. Interestingly, 59.7% of the respondents were aged between 25 and 35 years, 76% were university graduates, 64.3% housewives, 20.9% had obstetric complications, 3.1% reported a history of PPD, and almost 97.7% breastfed their babies. Moreover, PPD was found to be associated with occupational status (p = 0.01) and a previous history of PPD (p = 0.01). Conclusion: The prevalence of postpartum depression was 10.9% among the studied sample. Interventions to address its risk factors should be implemented, physicians and health personnel should be qualified on screening and referring depressed mothers for further clinical assessment.
How and why party position estimates from manifestos, expert, and party elite surveys diverge: A comparative analysis of the ‘left–right’ and the ‘European integration’ dimensions

This paper examines the validity of three approaches to estimate party positions on the general left–right and EU dimensions. We newly introduce party elite data from the comprehensive IntUne survey and cross-validate it with existing expert survey and manifesto data. The general left–right estimates generated by elites and experts show a higher congruence than those derived from party manifestos; neither measure clearly materializes as more valid regarding EU positions. We identify which factors explain diverging estimates. For instance, disagreement among experts has greater impact than their mere number. The substantial centrist bias of the manifesto estimates persists even when alternative documents are used to substitute manifestos. Low response rates among elites have no systematic detrimental effect on the validity of party position estimates.
SocialHEISTing: Understanding Stolen Facebook Accounts

Online social network (OSN) accounts are often more user-centric than other types of online accounts (e.g., email accounts) because they present a number of demographic attributes such as age, gender, location, and occupation. While these attributes allow for more meaningful online interactions, they can also be used by malicious parties to craft various types of abuse. To understand the effects of demographic attributes on attacker behavior in stolen social accounts, we devised a method to instrument and monitor such accounts. We then created, instrumented, and deployed more than 1000 Facebook accounts, and exposed them to criminals. Our re-sults conﬁrm that victim demographic traits indeed inﬂuence the way cybercriminals abuse their accounts. For example, we ﬁnd that cybercriminals that access teen accounts write messages and posts more than the ones accessing adult accounts, and attackers that compromise male accounts perform disruptive activities such as changing some of their proﬁle information more than the ones that access female accounts. This knowledge could potentially help online services develop new models to characterize benign and malicious activity across various demographic attributes, and thus automatically classify future activity.
Is Mallampati scoring and PPNC an easier and better predictor for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)?

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea is a spectrum of sleep disturbances that cause short term and long-term effects including development of Type II diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and coronary artery disease.Mallampati score (MP) and percent predicted neck circumference (PPNC) together is considered to predict obstructive sleep apnea. The objective of the study is to assess the validity of PPNC and MP in the prediction of OSA. Material and methods: The study was a cross sectional study conducted among software professionals belong to Information Technology (IT) firms of Chennai. A total of 71 participants were included. All study participants were screened with berlin questionnaire and assessed with modified Mallampati scoring and overnight type IV polysomnography. PPNC was calculated. Predictive ability was assessed with ROC curve analysis, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value. Results: Among the study participants,86% were males and 14% were females. 21% belong to normal BMI. Mean(SD) of BMI,Neck circumference and PPNC was 26.2 (3.77), 37.97(3.48) and 94.23 (8.17) respectively.AUC for PPNC was 0.59(0.46-0.72); Sensitivity of PPNC was 70% and specificity 48.78%, positive predictive value of 50% and negative predictive value of 68.97%. AUC for Mallampati Score was 0.57(0.44-0.71). Sensitivity of MMS in prediction of OSA was 40% and specificity 75.61% with a positive predictive value of 54.55% and negative predictive value of 63.27%. AUC for MMS and PPNC together was 0.843 (0.738-0.949), which was good enough. (p value=0.000); sensitivity of MMS and PPNC in prediction of OSA was 90% and specificity 77.77% with a positive predictive value of 86.95% and negative predictive value of 84%. Conclusion:Though individually MMS and PPNC have fair predictive ability, their combined predictive ability is much higher.
Commercial Banking Stability Determinants in European Countries

-The purpose of this paper was to investigate the determinants of banking stability in European countries. This study used a sample of 280 commercial banks in 26 European Banks from 2002-2019. The bank stability most common measure is the insolvency risk (Z-Score). We used the GMM estimator technique described by Arellano and Bover (1995) to estimate the impact of bank specific and macroeconomic variables on European bank stability across different European regions by subdividing the original sample into five subsamples. We find significant differences in the determinants of stability between banks from East, South, North, South and Central European countries, respectively. We show that the impact of bank specific factors on bank stability differs across different European regions.
Advanced Landau damping with radio-frequency quadrupoles or nonlinear chromaticity

Landau damping is a powerful mechanism to suppress impedance-driven coherent instabilities in circular accelerators. In the transverse planes it is usually introduced by means of magnetic octupoles. We will discuss a method to generate the required incoherent betatron frequency spread through detuning with the longitudinal rather than the transverse amplitudes. The approach is motivated mainly by the high-brightness, low transverse emittance beams in future colliders where detuning with the transverse amplitudes from magnetic octupoles becomes significantly less effective. Two equivalent methods are under study: a radio-frequency quadrupole cavity and the nonlinear chromaticity. The underlying beam dynamics mechanisms are explained based on a recently extended Vlasov theory and relevant results are discussed for dierent longitudinal beam distributions under specific approximations. Finally, the analytical studies are benchmarked against numerical simulations employing a circulant matrix and a macroparticle tracking model.
From Digital Divide to Information Availability: A Wi-Fi-Based Novel Solution for Information Dissemination

Department of Computer Science, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir (U), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Arts at Belgarn, University of Bisha, P.O. Box 60, Sabt Al-Alaya 61985, Saudi Arabia Department of Computer Science and Technology, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China Beijing Key Lab of Petroleum Data Mining, China University of Petroleum-Beijing, Beijing 102249, China Department of Computer Science, University of Engineering & Technology, Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Department of Computer Science, CECOS University of IT & Emerging Sciences, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Southern Punjab Redeemers College, Taunsa Shareef, Punjab, Pakistan