Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Numerical simulations of deformable systems in flowing media

Over the last 15 years, microfluidics has gained an increasing importance. In several microfluidic systems, as cytometric, sorting and diagnostic devices, suspensions of particles flow in miniaturized channels. In such a situation, a wide range of phenomena can arise due to the deformability and the elasticity of the suspended objects, the geometry of the channels, the interactions between the objects and the walls of the flow cells, and the complexity of the suspending media. Aim of the present thesis is of developing and applying a finite element method-based code to study the dynamics of soft systems suspended in New- tonian and viscoelastic fluids under flow. The code is developed by adapting and extending an arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian finite element method based numerical code for viscoelastic fluids us- ing well-known stabilization techniques (SUPG, DEVSS, log-conformation), and it is validated for drops and elastic particles in unbounded shear flow by comparison with available theoretical, experimental and numerical results. Then, a single-body problem is considered: the behavior of an initially spherical elastic particle suspended in confined shear flow of a Newtonian and a Giesekus viscoelastic liquid is studied. Finally, a multi-body system is investigated: the bulk linear viscoelastic properties of monodisperse emulsions of Newtonian drops in a Newtonian matrix are computed.
Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Control-flow carrying code Control-flow carrying code

Control-Flow Integrity (CFI) is an effective approach in mitigating control-flow hijacking attacks including code-reuse attacks. Most conventional CFI techniques use memory page protection mechanism, Data Execution Prevention (DEP), as an underlying basis. For instance, CFI defenses use read-only address tables to avoid metadata corruption. However, this assumption has shown to be invalid with advanced attacking techniques, such as Data-Oriented Programming, data race, and Rowhammer attacks. In addition, there are scenarios in which DEP is unavailable, e.g., bare-metal systems and applications with dynamically generated code. We present the design and implementation of Control-Flow Carrying Code (C 3 ), a new CFI enforcement without depend-ing on DEP, which makes the CFI policies embedded safe from being overwritten by attackers. C 3 embeds the Control-Flow Graph (CFG) and its enforcement into instructions of the program by encrypting each basic block with a key derived from the CFG. The “proof-carrying” code ensures that only valid control flow transfers can decrypt the corresponding instruction sequences, and that any unintended control flow transfers or overwritten code segment would cause program crash with high probability due to the wrong decryption key and the corresponding random code bytes obtained. We implement C 3 on top of an instrumentation platform and apply it to many popular programs. Our security evaluation shows that C 3 is capable of enforcing strong CFI policies and is able to defend against most control-flow hijacking attacks while suffering from moderate runtime overhead.
Self-fulfilling crises in the Eurozone and the institutional preconditions of republican sovereignty

The normative vocabulary of republican political theory can be fruitfully applied to evaluate the phases of market turbulence in sovereign debt markets witnessed during the Eurozone crisis. A view of justice that requires the minimisation of dominating relationships between agents highlights how the institutional preconditions of undominated sovereignty were lacking in the Eurozone. The agreed-upon structure within which countries operated fuelled self-fulfilling market movements in sovereign bond markets, which bear the hallmark of unjust domination as weaker Member States formed a social relationship with investors over which they did not have meaningful control. In motivating the thesis, the paper touches upon the recent debates on the sources and site of domination and on the stance, republican scholars should take toward competitive markets. Given this diagnosis, Eurozone countries have an obligation to establish supranational institutions that increase private and public channels of risk-sharing.
Mental health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures among young adults in Bogotá, Colombia

We sought to explore mental health and psychosocial impact among young people (18 to 24 years old) in Bogotá during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We carried a cross sectional study using a web-based survey to assess mental health and personal impact among 18 to 24 years old living in Bogotá during the first 4 months of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The depressive symptoms were measured with PHQ-8 and anxiety symptoms with (GAD-7). We also designed a questionnaire exploring changes in personal, family and social life. Results Overall, 23% of the sample (n = 834) reported mild depressive symptoms (males 24% and females 23%); 29% reported moderate depressive symptoms (males 28%, females 30%); 22% moderate-severe symptoms (males 20%, females 23%) and 17% severe symptoms (males 15%, females 17%). Mild anxiety symptoms were reported by 29% of the sample (males 30%, females 29%); moderate anxiety symptoms by 29% (males 26%, females 30%); moderate-severe 18% (males 15%, females 20%) and severe anxiety by 6.0% (males 6.0% and females 6.0%). High symptoms of depression (PHQ-8 ≥ 10) were associated with being female, considering that the quarantine was stressful, having one member of the family losing their job, worsening of family relationships, decrease of physical activity and having a less nutritious diet. Having high anxiety symptoms (GAD-7 ≥ 10) were associated with sometimes not having enough money to buy food. Conclusions The first months of the pandemic lockdown were associated with high depressive and anxiety symptoms among young persons living in Bogotá, Colombia. Increasing public health measures to provide support for young people is needed during lockdowns and it is necessary to further explore the long-term mental health impact due to personal, family and social changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Use of social media as a marketing and information provision tool by the City of Cape Town Libraries

Internet-integrated applications built on the ideological and technological foundation of Web 2.0 (a platform), allowing the creation and exchange of user-generated content (the ways in which people make use of social media). The ‘Web 2.0’ term was developed in 2005 by Tim O’Reilly and refers to the changes in the World Wide Web (WWW) where users are now enabled to use digital tools to create content, make changes, publish and share this content in collaborative and open participatory environments (O’Reilly 2007). The development of Web 2.0 led to libraries developing a new term relating to the adoption of Web 2.0 applications in the library environment and thus the development of the ‘Library 2.0’ Background: Social media use by libraries has facilitated communication and marketing of services to user communities. The City of Cape Town Libraries adopted social media usage in the 2015–2016 financial year. This study is set out to assess librarians’ perception and response to the implementation and adoption of social media for library services. Objectives: The research sought to appraise the City of Cape Town public librarians’ experiences of social media use in the provision of information services, evaluate librarians’ perceptions of social media use for information provision services and recommend ways in which social media information services provision can be improved upon. Method: A quantitative research method and a descriptive survey research design approach was adopted for the study, and a web-based questionnaire was used for data collection. The study was anchored on the technological acceptance model, and employed total enumeration sampling to collect data from the 102 City of Cape Town librarians-in-charge. Results: City of Cape Town librarians have positive perception and acceptance towards the use of social media to perform library-related duties. Librarians utilised social media in engaging with library users, including marketing of library services, and promotion of library events. Experiences including lack of guidance in dealing with copyright issues and organisational policy favouring a single social media platform were reported. Conclusion: Library services through is vastly positive but expansion across multiple social media platforms is necessary to encourage further engagement with users. A third construct: preference of choice is proposed for the TAM model.
Perspectives on parity violation in chiral molecules: theory, spectroscopic experiment and biomolecular homochirality

The reflection (or ‘mirror’) symmetry of space is among the fundamental symmetries of physics. It is connected to the conservation law for the quantum number parity and a fundamental ‘non-observable’ property of space (as defined by an absolute ‘left-handed’ or ‘right-handed’ coordinate system). The discovery of the violation of this symmetry – the non-conservation of parity or ‘parity violation’ – in 1956/1957 had an important influence on the further development of physics. In chemistry the mirror symmetry of space is connected to the existence of enantiomers as isomers of chiral (‘handed’) molecules. These isomers would relate to each other as idealized left or right hand or as image and mirror image and would be energetically exactly equivalent with perfect space inversion symmetry. Parity violation results in an extremely small ‘parity violating’ energy difference between the ground states of the enantiomers which can be theoretically calculated to be about 100 aeV to 1 feV (equivalent to 10−11 to 10−10 J mol−1), depending on the molecule, but which has not yet been detected experimentally. Its detection remains one of the great challenges of current physical–chemical stereochemistry, with implications also for fundamental problems in physics. In biochemistry and molecular biology one finds a related fundamental question unanswered for more than 100 years: the evolution of ‘homochirality’, which is the practically exclusive preference of one chiral, enantiomeric form as building blocks in the biopolymers of all known forms of life (the l-amino acids in proteins and d-sugars in DNA, not the reverse d-amino acids or l-sugars). In astrobiology the spectroscopic detection of homochirality could be used as strong evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial life, if any. After a brief conceptual and historical introduction we review the development, current status, and progress along these three lines of research: theory, spectroscopic experiment and the outlook towards an understanding of the evolution of biomolecular homochirality.
A METHOD TO OBTAIN LOWER BOUNDS FOR CIRCULAR CHROMATIC NUMBER

The circular chromatic number $\chi_c(G)$ of a graph $G$ is a very natural generalization of the concept of chromatic number $\chi(G)$, and has been studied extensively in the past decade. In this paper we present a new method for bounding the circular chromatic number from below. Let $\omega$ be an acyclic orientation of a graph $G$. A sequence of acyclic orientations $\omega_1$, $\omega_2$, $\omega_3,\ldots$ is obtained from $\omega$ in such a way that $\omega_1=\omega$, and $\omega_i$ ($i\geq 2$) is obtained from $\omega_{i-1}$ by reversing the orientations of the edges incident to the sinks of $w_{i-1}$. This sequence is completely determined by $\omega$, and it can be proved that there are positive integers $p$ and $M$ such that $\omega_i=\omega_{i+p}$ for every integer $i\geq M$. The value $p$ at its minimum is denoted by $p_\omega$. To bound $\chi_c(G)$ from below, the methodology we develop in this paper is based on the acyclic orientations $\omega_M, \omega_{M+1},\cdots,\omega_{M+p_\omega-1}$ of $G$. Our method demonstrates for the first time the possibility of extracting some information about $\chi_c(G)$ from the period $\omega_M, \omega_{M+1},\cdots,\omega_{M+p_\omega-1}$ to derive lower bounds for $\chi_c(G)$.
Investigation of bulk and interfacial properties of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin film capacitors

In this letter, we report the results for capacitance versus frequency measurements on a set of Ba0.5Sr0. 5TiO3 (BST) capacitors with platinum electrodes (Pt) and varying BST film thicknesses. The study shows that Pt/BST interfacial capacitance is independent of frequency whereas the bulk dielectric constant has a power law dependence on frequency. Also, the bulk dielectric constant is observed to decrease whereas the interfacial capacitance increases with increasing temperature. In addition, we report the dependence of dielectric dispersion on BST film thickness and temperature. Calculations are performed which provide insights into the observed dispersion effects.
Remarkable Variation in the Process of Hg Accumulation in Timberline Forests Indicates an Aggravated Hg Burden in Alpine Forests Under Climate Warming

Significant knowledge gaps in mercury (Hg) cycling challenge our ability to assess the effectiveness of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in reducing human and wildlife Hg exposure due to the complicated impacts of climate change. In this study, we comprehensively quantified the Hg spatial distribution and determined the Hg stable isotopes to understand the Hg sources and accumulation pathways in forests along the timberline ecotone, an ecosystem that provides an early bellwether of global warming effects. Our results show that although there were subtle variations in meteorological and environmental conditions among the <50 m elevation variation, a spruce to shrub vegetation structure shift led to a distinct decrease in vegetation and soil Hg pool sizes by 36%–56% along the timberline ecotone. Further Hg isotopic evidence verified that vegetation‐induced atmospheric Hg0 deposition was the main source for Hg accumulation in soils, and the source contribution of such input decreases from 73% to 45% along the timberline ecotone. Our results indicate that if global warming induced a spruce tree line upward shift, it would significantly promote the atmospheric Hg burden, thus resulting in a conspicuous “Hg hotspot”. We recommend further studies to assess the Hg ecological risk promoted by global warming in alpine ecosystems.
Post-University Training for Jobless Market: The Experiences of Graduates in a Work Experience Programme

South Africa reportedly has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the world. Graduate unemployment parallels the country’s overall unemployment rate, with the youth being the most vulnerable group. Hence, work experience programmes are offered to prepare fresh graduates for the labour market. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of graduates in a work experience programme. This paper adopted a qualitative approach to elicit the experiences of graduates regarding the graduate work experience programme. A total of 30 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with graduates sampled from the eThekwini municipality’s work experience programme. The results indicate that while graduates participate in a work experience programme to gain skills and work experience needed to secure jobs and for professional registration purposes, they experience numerous challenges in the programme. These challenges include ill-treatment from senior staff members, lack of work resources, and unreasonable workload. It was also evident that graduates were unsatisfied about the work experience programme owing to the poor or lack of mentorship and the irrelevancy of the programme itself. This paper offers important evidence which suggests the need to develop work experience programme policy and monitoring and evaluation systems in order to improve the experiences of graduates in the programme. Received: 21 April 2022 / Accepted: 20 August 2022 / Published: 2 September 2022
A numerical study of cool and green roof strategies on indoor energy saving and outdoor cooling impact at pedestrian level in a hot arid climate

Green and cool roofs retrofit technologies, aim to mitigate the urban heat island effect and cooling energy demands from buildings. This study reports on parametric energy modelling of energy saving loads and indoor air temperature, as well as microclimate modelling of outdoor air temperature. The work adds new knowledge by evaluating roof retrofit technologies at the building and neighbourhood scale, and the results should guide strategic decisions for building envelope retrofitting. The simulations respectively predicted a 10% and 7.5% reduction in the cooling load for cool and green roofs versus a conventional roof. In summer, the indoor air temperature was similar for these roofs, but in winter the cool roof's indoor air temperature was 0.5°C lower than the green. In the microclimate simulation, average roof surface temperatures were 31.5°C (cool) and 31.3°C (green), versus 40.2°C (conventional); the air temperature difference was −0.8°C (cool) and −0.6°C (green) against the conventional roof.
Specification Choices in Quantile Regression for Empirical Macroeconomics

Quantile regression has become widely used in empirical macroeconomics, in particular for estimating and forecasting tail risks to macroeconomic indicators. In this paper we examine various choices in the speciﬁcation of quantile regressions for macro applications, for example, choices related to how and to what extent to include shrinkage, and whether to apply shrinkage in a classical or Bayesian framework. We focus on forecasting accuracy, using for evaluation both quantile scores and quantile-weighted continuous ranked probability scores at a range of quantiles spanning from the left to right tail. We ﬁnd that shrinkage is generally helpful to tail forecast accuracy, with gains that are particularly large for GDP applications featuring large sets of predictors and unemployment and inﬂation applications, and with gains that increase with the forecast horizon
Reappraisal of VEGF in the Pathogenesis of Kawasaki Disease

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important factor in mediating the inflammation of Kawasaki disease (KD). The literature regarding the relationship between VEGF and KD is sparse. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of VEGF and KD. In a prospective study of 42 Taiwanese KD patients (18.9 ± 12.2 months, M/F 22/20) treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), a series of VEGF levels was measured from the acute to convalescent phases. KD patients were classified into two subgroups with (n =20) and without (n = 22) acute coronary artery lesions (CALs). Control samples were obtained from 30 febrile controls (19.1 ± 13.7 months, M/F 13/17). In KD patients, VEGF levels in the pre-IVIG acute phase were significantly higher than those in the subacute and convalescent phases (both p < 0.001). In KD patients with CALs, VEGF levels significantly increased immediately in the post-IVIG phase (p = 0.039), and then significantly decreased in the subacute phase (p = 0.002). KD patients with acute CALs had higher median VEGF levels than those without acute CALs from acute to convalescent phases. In the subacute phase, KD patients with acute CALs had significantly higher VEGF levels (p = 0.022) than those without acute CALs. Our data show that VEGF did not decrease after IVIG treatment, and increased significantly after IVIG treatment in KD patients with acute CALs in acute phase. VEGF might be related to the complications of CALs in KD patients.
Quality Use of Medicines Indicators and Associated Factors in Residential Aged Care Facilities: Baseline Findings from the Pharmacists in RACF Study in Australia

Prescribing potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), including antipsychotics and benzodiazepines, has been used as an indicator of the quality use of medicines in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). PIMs are associated with an increased risk of falls and hospitalisations in the elderly. The purpose of this study is to assess the extent of prescribing of PIMs in RACFs at baseline in the Pharmacists in residential aged care facilities (PiRACF) study and examine the association of resident and system factors with the number of PIMs. A cross-sectional analysis of 1368 participants from 15 Australian RACFs was performed to detect PIMs using the American Geriatrics Society 2019 Beers® criteria. Most residents (68.1%) were taking at least one regular PIM; 16.9% were taking regular antipsychotics and 11.1% were taking regular benzodiazepines. Long-term proton pump inhibitors were the most frequent class of PIMs. History of falls and higher Charlson Comorbidity Index were associated with an increased number of prescribed PIMs, while dementia diagnosis and older age (85 years or more) were associated with decreased number of PIMs (p-value <0.05). Residents in facilities with lower nurse-to-resident ratios were more likely to have an increased number of PIMs (p value = 0.001). This study indicates that potentially inappropriate prescribing is common in RACFs and interventions to target residents at highest risk are needed.
Social Preferences and the Variability of Conditional Cooperation

IZA. on policy, IZA takes no institutional policy positions. IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. answers the of our time. Our key to between academic research, policymakers ABSTRACT We experimentally examine how the incentive to defect in a social dilemma affects conditional cooperation. In our first study we conduct online experiments in which subjects play eight Sequential Prisoner’s Dilemma games with payoffs systematically varied across games. We find that few second movers are conditionally cooperative (i.e., cooperate if and only if the first mover cooperates) in all eight games. Instead, most second-movers change strategies between games. The rate of conditional cooperation is higher when the own gain from defecting is lower and when the loss imposed on the first mover from defecting is higher. This pattern is consistent with both social preference models and stochastic choice models. To explore which model explains our findings we employ a second study to jointly estimate noise and social preference parameters at the individual level. The majority of our subjects place significantly positive weight on others’ payoffs, supporting the underlying role of social preferences in conditional cooperation.