Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First-principles spectra of Au nanoparticles: from quantum to classical absorption

ABSTRACT Absorption cross-section spectra for gold nanoparticles were calculated using fully quantum Stochastic Density Functional Theory and a classical Finite-Difference Time Domain Maxwell solver. Spectral shifts were monitored as a function of size (1.3–) and shape (octahedron, cubeoctahedron and truncated cube). Even though the classical approach is forced to fit the quantum time-dependent density functional theory at , at smaller sizes there is a significant deviation as the classical theory is unable to account for peak splitting and spectral blueshifts even after quantum spectral corrections. We attribute the failure of classical methods at predicting these features to quantum effects and low density of states in small nanoparticles. Classically, plasmon resonances are modelled as collective conduction electron excitations, but at small nanoparticle size these excitations transition to few or even individual conductive electron excitations, as indicated by our results. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
On human capital and individual capabilities

Starting out from a simple conceptual framework running from initial individual abilities to skills produced in school to the utilization of these skills in the labor market, this paper surveys empirical studies in labor economics, economics of education and occupational psychology to assess the empirical strength of the links between these sets of variables. Cognitive and non-cognitive abilities are relevant for economic success, but make a modest contribution. Occupational psychology is complementary to economics and supports the notion of interlocking heterogeneity of individuals and jobs. Copyright 2001 by The International Association for Research in Income and Wealth.
Differences between Male and Female Adolescents in the Smile Aesthetics Perceptions Regarding Smile Arc , Gingival Display , and Buccal Corridor

Smile aesthetics are one of the important criteria for evaluating the efficacy of orthodontic treatment. The purpose of this study was to assess the differences in the smile aesthetics perceptions of male and female adolescents regarding smile arc, gingival display, and buccal corridor. A selected photograph was modified digitally to obtain three different pictures for each variable. Smile aesthetic perceptions of 35 male and 35 female adolescents regarding the circum oral view were assessed using the Likert scale. There were no significant differences between the perceptions of the male and female adolescents regarding smi le arc, gingival display, and buccal corridor. Consonant smile arc, low gingival display, and medium buccal corridor are believed to contribute to the most aesthetically pleasing smile. Clinical article (J Int Dent Med Res 2017; 10(Special Issue): pp. 481-485)
Carbon flow through energycane agroecosystems established post‐intensive agriculture

As part of an integrated energy and climate system, biomass production for bioenergy based on the tropical perennial C4 grass energycane can both offset fossil fuels and store soil carbon (C). We measured energycane yields, root biomass, soil C pools, and soil C stocks in a 4 year field trial and modeled C flow from plants to soils in the surface layer of no‐till energycane planted after more than a century of intensive sugarcane agriculture. Aboveground yields ranged from 16.7 to 19.0 Mg C/ha over the 4 year trial. Although total C stocks did not significantly differ in the surface layer (approx. 0–20 cm) during the study, C in free and occluded light fractions decreased, whereas C in the mineral‐rich dense fraction increased over 4 years. Belowground system inputs, estimated from measurements and informed by convergence in the final soil fraction model, were set to 2.5 Mg C ha−1 year−1. With this input value, we estimated that surface soils retained photosynthetically fixed C predominantly within the mineral‐associated organic matter pool for a mean and median transit time of 177 and 110 years, respectively. Although we did not model C flow to deep soil layers (approx. 0–100 cm), observed C accumulation (11.4 Mg C ha−1 year−1) and root growth down to 120 cm suggest that soil processes and resulting C sequestration at the surface are likely to persist deeper into the soil profile. Energycane, as a strong candidate for climate change mitigation and land degradation remediation, showed high biomass yields and allocation of resources to roots, with sequestered soil C expected to persist for over a century.
PyECLOUD and build-up simulations at CERN

PyECLOUD is a newly developed code for the simulation of the electron cloud (EC) build-up in particle accelerators. Almost entirely written in Python, it is mostly based on the physical models already used in the ECLOUD code but, thanks to the implementation of new optimized algorithms, it exhibits a significantly improved performance in accuracy, speed, reliability and flexibility. Such new features of PyECLOUD have been already broadly exploited to study EC observations in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and its injector chain as well as for the extrapolation to high luminosity upgrade scenarios.
Abelian surfaces and jacobian varieties over finite fields

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A Study of the Factors Affecting Earnings Management: Iranian Overview

The present study examines the factors affecting earnings management of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. So, the effects of the debt-equity ratio, firm size, managers’ bonus and effective tax rate on earnings management are examined. Totally, 114 listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange during 20062010 are studied. Statistical method used was cross-sectional ordinary least square regression, correlation analysis. The results indicate that there is a significant as well inverse relationship between debt-equality ratio and earnings management. Also, there is a significant and positive relationship between firm size and earnings management. However, there did not found any significant relationship between changes in managers’ bonus and effective tax rate with earnings management.
Effects of Feed Intake and Force-Feeding on Liver Lipid Accumulation in Laying Japanese Quails

Effects of feed intake and force-feeding on liver lipid accumulation were investigated with 77 days old laying Japanese quails. They were raised under free feeding or restricted feeding conditions (75% of the control), or force-fed the diet at the level of 100 or 130% of the amount of the control for 20 days. Body weight gain, abdominal fat weight, liver weight and liver lipid accumulation were increased by the increase of feed intake and high significant positive correlations were demonstrated between the feed intake and those parameters. Force-feeding increased carcass fat deposition and liver lipid accumulation. Marked accumulation of liver lipid and hemorrhages in the liver were observed by force-feeding of excess feed (130% of the control).
An Aquatic to Land-based Therapy Transition Approach for Persons with Lower Extremity OA: A Case Report

Background: The benefits of physical therapy in the management of lower body osteoarthritis is widely discussed in the literature. However, recommendations in the usage of aquatic therapy, land-based therapy, and transitioning from aquatic therapy to land-based therapy in managing osteoarthritis is limited. Case Description: The patient was a 60-year-old male with primary complaints of low back pain, right hip pain, and right knee pain resulting from confirmed osteoarthritis in these regions. Interventions included utilizing the principles of aquatic therapy and adapting his plan of care to complete land-based therapy following his episode of aquatic therapy. Outcomes: The patient was treated for a total of 17 visits in aquatic therapy with an improvement in the patient’s Physical Functional Status Primary Measure score within the Focus On Therapeutic Outcomes measure from 35 to 36 for the lumbar spine and from 24 to 28 for the knee, a decrease in pain from 10/10 to 5/10, and an improvement in 5 Times Sit to Stand time from 28 seconds to 21 seconds. Discussion: The purpose of this case report is to describe the initial use of aquatic therapy in a patient with lower body osteoarthritis prior to continuing his therapy on land. The meaningful, yet limited improvement in reported pain and function in 11 weeks of aquatic therapy may suggest that aquatic therapy for individuals with lower extremity osteoarthritis is beneficial in the initial plan of care, but may also suggest that a transition from aquatic therapy to land-based therapy may be indicated to further enhance function. Transition Approach for OA
Structural analysis of protein-DNA and protein-RNA interactions by FTIR, UV-visible and CD spectroscopic methods

In this chapter the fundamental question of how does protein-DNA or protein-RNA interaction affect the structures and dynamics of DNA, RNA and protein is addressed. Models for calf-thymus DNA and transfer RNA interactions with human serum albumin (HSA), ribonuclease A (RNase A) and deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) are presented here, using Fourier Trans- form Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in conjunction with UV-visible and CD spectroscopic methods. In the models considered, the binding sites, stability and structural aspects of protein-DNA and protein-RNA are discussed and the effects of protein interaction on the secondary structures of DNA, RNA and protein were determined.
HLA-B 274 " Acute Anterior Uveitis and Other Antigens of the Major Histocompotibility Complex

Acute anterior uveitis (AAU) is associated with HLA-B27 in 50% of the patients. Although the association between HLA-B27 and AAU is evident, other genetic factors probably also play a pathogenic role. To investigate whether HLA-B27 only serves as a marker gene for genes next to the B-locus, class I and II HLA antigens of 62 HLA-B27 AAU patients were determined. Increased frequencies were found for HLA-Cwl, Cw2, DR4, DRwl2 and DQw3 if the AAU patients were compared with normal controls. However, when the data were compared to a group of HLA-B27 controls, no differences were observed. The supposed associations were therefore probably due to linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B27. Homozygosity for HLA-B27 seemed not to increase the chance to acquire AAU. HLA-DR4 was present less frequently in AAU patients with ankylosing spondylitis than in AAU patients without this disease. Haplotype analysis of 21 families revealed that not all relatives suffering from AAU shared the HLA-B27* haplotype with the proband. Of seven relatives suffering from AAU, five carried the same HLA-B27 haplotype as the proband, one had inherited another HLA-B27* haplotype and the last one was HLA-B27~. In conclusion, we could not bring forward any reason to suggest that genes on the short arm of chromosome 6—other than HLA-B27—play a role in the pathogenesis of HLA-B27 AAU. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 30:21602164,1989
Impact of Conversion to Organic Tea Cultivation on Household Income in the Mountainous Areas of Northern Vietnam

This study aims at determining if organic tea farming results in higher net income than conventional tea farming in the mountainous areas of Northern Vietnam. Our sample includes 226 traditional and 319 organic tea-producing households in the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, Ha Giang, and Lai Chau. Using a propensity score matching approach, the study finds that the adoption of organic tea production had a positive impact on households’ farm income in the study area. Using different matching algorithms, organic tea adopters earned higher income than did non-adopters, from 1038.8 to 1059.0 thousand Vietnamese Dong (VND) per hectare of cultivation plot. To increase conversion to organic tea farming amongst smallholder farmers, the government and other stakeholders should aim to provide better extension services, which incorporate relevant training to farmers and better access to information on organic tea production, as well as encouraging the commercialization of organic fertilizers. Simultaneously, the Vietnamese government should introduce mechanisms to coordinate production activities and deliver tea products to processing and/or marketing facilities.
Mapping urban villages using fully convolutional neural networks

ABSTRACT Urban villages are a characteristic settlement type characterized by preserving their morphological characteristics embedded in sharp contrast in modern, high-rise developments found especially in fast growing urban agglomerations of China. They serve very important socioeconomic functions in terms of the provision of cheap housing for rural-urban migrants, but they are also considered controversial for local governments. Due to the unprecedented pace of urban growth, especially in the Pearl River Delta region (PRD), up-to-date information on the size and location of urban villages are mostly missing. Large-area but highly detailed data from earth observation platforms can provide crucial information for mapping urban villages based on their characteristic morphologies. This study deploys fully convolutional neural networks for mapping urban villages in the city of Shenzhen. Results of the underlying experiments show that very high mapping accuracies of 84% can be achieved.
Where does Islamophobia take place and who is involved? Reflections from Paris and London

ABSTRACT This paper explores and compares the socio-spatial effects of Islamophobia in Paris and London. Our research focuses on different spaces and types of discrimination against Muslims or people who are perceived to be Muslim in Paris and London using primarily quantitative data. A quantitative analysis of the geographical spaces of Islamophobia is presented, while highlighting the ways in which anti-Muslim discrimination is gendered, racialized, classed and aged. We identify the different contexts in which Islamophobia takes place in each city. This spatial analysis highlights not only particular places such as public areas, transport networks or public institutions, but it also describes specific logics of spatial organisation showing the importance of the centre and the suburbs, transport axes and pockets of segregation. Using an intersectional approach, we also demonstrate that Islamophobic discrimination is often shaped simultaneously by other types of exclusions associated with gender, race, class and age. We found that victims were more likely to be young women who wear a headscarf with the perpetrators more likely to be men in the UK and both men and women in France.
The Impact of Commodity Prices, Interest Rate and Exchange Rate on Stock Market Performance: Evidence from Zambia

In 2016, the performance of Capital markets in Africa experienced a downward trend. Notable among them were Zambia, Ghana and Nigeria (http://www.african-markets.com/). The Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) share price index was the worst performer year-to-date, down 26.83% in local currency. Among the contributing factors cited were commodity prices as the country relies on copper for more than 70% of its export revenue and had therefore suffered from commodity prices plunged which led to weakened currencies and widened budget shortfalls (http://www.african-markets.com/). Although the contributing factors are known, their impact on the Zambian stock market is not known. This study was an attempt to establish the impact of commodity prices and macroeconomic factors on the stock market returns. Like in similar studies, Nordin et al. (2014) and Alam & Uddin (2009), we used Auto regression Distribution Lag and Cointegration analysis and the Vector Error Correction model on the variables (stock price index, copper price, oil price, interest rates, and exchange rates) for the period 2004-2016. The findings of the study revealed Interest rates, exchange rates, copper and Oil price jointly have the long and short Run impact on the Lusaka Stock Market, but individually, only interest rates and copper prices had a significant long term impact on the stock market, but in the short run only Copper and Exchange rates had an immediate impact on the stock market. One important policy implication of this study is that it will alert the authorities and the investors on the impact of commodity prices, interest rate, and the exchange rate on the Lusaka Securities Exchange stock market performance.
Antioxidant Compounds, Mineral Content and Antioxidant Activity of Several Tomato Cultivars Grown in Southwestern Romania

Ten indeterminate tomato cultivars differing in fruit shape and typology, grown simultaneously in a greenhouse from Oltenia (Southwestern Romania) and harvested at red ripe stage, were investigated for the contents in ascorbic acid, lycopene, I²-carotene, total phenolics, minerals (K, Na, Ca and Mg) and trace elements (Fe, Cu, Mn, Cr, Zn and B). In addition, their antioxidant activities were determined. Significant differences were found among tomato cultivars in all studied antioxidant compounds, as well as in the antioxidant activity. Ascorbic acid ranged from 91.9 to 329.7 mg kg-1 fw, lycopene ranged from 19.7 to 49.0 mg kg-1 fw, while total phenolic compounds varied between 300.2 and 557.8 mg kg-1 fw. Antioxidant activity ranged from 0.81 mmol Trolox kg-1 fw to 1.74 mmol Trolox kg-1 fw and it was significantly correlated to total phenolics content (r = 0.91; p< 0.05). The cocktail type cultivar â€˜Tigerâ€™ and the cherry type cultivar â€˜Belleâ€™ proved to be the most powerful in antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds while the rectangular plum shaped cultivar â€˜Portoâ€™ recorded the highest average lycopene content. A valuable cultivar proved to be the brownish red â€˜Sacherâ€™ which registered among the highest contents of phenolics, lycopene and ascorbic acid. Mineral and trace elements contents were also significantly affected by cultivars. Values recorded for K, Ca and Mg ranged from 2139.6 to 3056.9 mg kg-1, 137.7 to 325.8 mg kg-1 and 27.3 to 168.7 mg kg-1 respectively.
A CFD Study Of A Partial Combustion Lance

This paper presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of a partial combustion lance (PCL) aiming to evaluate the effect of oxygen flowrate on its performance. At first, the modelling strategy was developed by evaluating the effect of discretization, pressure interpolation scheme and turbulence models on the prediction accuracy. Three turbulence models namely standard ke (SKE), realizable k-e (RKE) and renormalized (RNG) k-e were used. Combustion was modelled using the species transport model, whereas the heat transfer was calculated by considering a combined convection-radiation boundary condition. The best CFD prediction was obtained using the thirdorder MUSCL, PRESTO pressure interpolation scheme and SKE, yielding an error of 4.79% from the experimentally measured temperature. It was found that 40% increase in oxygen flowrate increased the peak combustion temperature of the PCL by about 12%. Dual lance was found to be more effective than the single lance operating at a similar flowrate. The finding obtained from this work may be useful for design retrofits of a PCL.
Effectiveness of Arsenic Co-Precipitation with Fe-Al Hydroxides for Treatment of Contaminated Water

Wastewater treatment is a challenging problem faced by the mining industry, especially when mine effluents include acid mine drainage with elevated arsenic levels. Iron (hydr)oxides are known to be effective in removal of As from wastewater, and although the resulting compounds are relatively unstable, the presence of structural Al enhances their stability, particularly under reducing conditions. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Al-Fe (hydr)oxide co-precipitates for the removal of As from wastewater and to assess the chemical stability of the products. Different Al-Fe (hydr) oxides were synthesized at room temperature from ferrous and aluminum salts using three different Fe: Al molar ratios (1: 0.0, 1: 0.3, and 1: 0.7) and aged for 90 days (sulfate experiments) or 120 days (chloride experiments) in the presence of arsenic. At the end of the aging periods, the precipitated sludges were dried and characterized in order to evaluate their stability and therefore potential As mobility. All treatments were effective in reducing As levels in the water to below 10 mu g L-1, but the presence of Al impaired the effectiveness of the treatment. Aluminum decreased the chemical stability of the precipitated sludge and hence its ability to retain As under natural environmental conditions.
Effects of Twenty Years of Ungulate Browsing on Forest Regeneration at Paneveggio Reserve, Italy

Forest ecosystems are threatened by different natural disturbances. Among them, the irruption of large herbivores represents one of the most alarming issues. Several local-scale studies have been carried out to clarify the mechanisms governing ungulate–forest interactions, to understand the effect of wild ungulates overabundance, and to apply conservation plans. However, information at large scales, over long periods of observation and from unmanipulated conditions is still scarce. This study aims to improve our knowledge in this field by using repeated inventories to investigate: the types of damage produced by ungulate populations on young trees, the drivers that stimulate browsing activity and its consequences on the specific composition of seedlings and saplings. To reach these goals, we used data collected during a twenty-year monitoring program (1994–2014) in the forests of Paneveggio-Pale di San Martino Nature Park (Italy). We applied descriptive statistics to summarize the data, GLMs to identify the drivers of browsing activity and Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling (nMDS) ordinations to investigate the changes in specific composition of young trees across 20 years. We detected increasing browsing activity from 1994 to 2008 and a decline in 2014. Ungulates browsed preferentially in mature stands, and fed mostly on seedlings and saplings under 150 cm of height. The analysis of the environmental drivers of browsing pressure on the smallest size classes of plants suggests that foraging behavior is influenced by snowpack conditions, ungulate density and seasonality. Moreover, results underline the fact that ungulates feed mostly on palatable species, especially European rowan, but can also use unpalatable plants as emergency food under high competition levels. nMDS results suggest that rowan seed dispersion might be promoted by deer movements, however, saplings of this species were not able to exceed 30 cm of height because of heavy browsing. This bottleneck effect led to the dominance of unpalatable species, mostly Norway spruce, reducing diversity during forest regeneration. If prolonged, this effect could lead to a reduction of tree species richness, with cascading effects on many parts of the ecosystem, and threatening the resilience of the forest to future disturbances.