Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Nafamostat as Chemoprophylaxis for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Hamsters

The successful development of a chemoprophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 could provide a tool for infection prevention that is implementable alongside vaccination programmes. Nafamostat is a serine protease inhibitor that inhibits SARS-CoV-2 entry in vitro, but it has not been characterised for chemoprophylaxis in animal models. Clinically, nafamostat is limited to intravenous delivery and has an extremely short plasma half-life. This study sought to determine whether intranasal dosing of nafamostat at 5 mg/kg twice daily was able to prevent the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from infected to uninfected Syrian Golden hamsters. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detectable in the throat swabs of the water-treated control group 4 days after cohabitation with a SARS-CoV-2 inoculated hamster. However, throat swabs from the intranasal nafamostat-treated hamsters remained SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative for the full 4 days of cohabitation. Significantly lower SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations were seen in the nasal turbinates of the nafamostat-treated group compared to the control (p = 0.001). A plaque assay quantified a significantly lower concentration of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs of the nafamostat-treated group compared to the control (p = 0.035). When taken collectively with the pathological changes observed in the lungs and nasal mucosa, these data are strongly supportive of the utility of intranasally delivered nafamostat for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Acquaintance immunization with limited knowledge of network structure

Optimal and efficient immunization of large networks remains a challenging task. Many theories and approaches have been suggested, however most of them require complete knowledge of the underlying network structure. Here, we study a targeted immunization strategy that incorporates the fact that there is often limited knowledge on the network structure. Previous work has suggested ‘acquaintance’ immunization, where rather than selecting a random individual to immunize, an individual is selected and then one of their acquaintances is immunized. Here, we generalize acquaintance immunization to the case where rather than selecting a random acquaintance, we examine the degrees of n acquaintances and immunize the one with the highest degree. We develop and solve an analytic framework for this model and verify our model with extensive numerical simulations. We determine the critical percolation threshold pc and the size of the giant component, P∞ , for arbitrary degree distributions. We also consider our immunization strategy on real-world networks and determine the variation of pc with increasing n. We find that our new approach improves on both acquaintance immunization and random immunization using limited knowledge.
Impact of Scattering on Secrecy Outage Probability of Underwater Optical Wireless Links

The analysis of physical layer security aspects in underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) systems has attracted considerable attention in recent years due to the increasing need to transmit large and secure amounts of data. This article, therefore, performs a careful investigation of the secrecy outage probability (SOP) of UOWC systems over Weibull oceanic turbulence channels with angular misalignment errors that are affected by absorption and scattering. The SOP performance is then evaluated under the intercepting attempt of underwater eavesdroppers or unauthorized drones that search for an opportunity to capture radiated power with the goal of decreasing the channel capacity of the main channel or increasing the probability of an unsecured communication. In this way, novel approximate closed-form solutions are derived for the SOP, which are corroborated by Monte Carlo simulations in different real scenarios such as clear ocean and coastal waters that are modeled by a determined chlorophyll-a concentration. The results show that the effect of scattering plays a crucial role in determining which kind of water is more secure in terms of SOP performance for different severity of pointing errors.
Working Papers / Documents de travail

While the reference framework for international portfolio choice emphasizes a mean-variance framework, uncovered parity conditions only involve mean stock or bond returns. We propose to augment the empirical specification by using the relative stock market uncertainty of two countries as an extra determinant of their bilateral exchange rate returns. A rise in the relative uncertainty of one stock market will lead capital to flow to the other stock market and generate an appreciation in the currency of the latter. By focusing on the JPY/USD exchange rate returns during the most recent decade (2009-2019) and relying on a nonlinear framework, we provide evidence that the Japanese-US differential stock market uncertainty affects the JPY/USD returns both contemporaneously and with weekly lags. This finding is robust when we control for the stock returns differential and the differential changes in Japanese and US unconventional monetary policy measures.
The Context of Murals as Youth Media in the Aesthetic Perspective of Marxism

Murals are often found as a medium to express what lies in the imagination of their artists. Talks and murals are often discussed, primarily related to social issues, which are often the central theme when young people are the artists. This research explores murals from another point of view, namely from youth-media activism through the aesthetic perspective of Marxism. The aim is to find the contextual relations of social issues with the phenomenon of youth media in the aesthetics of Marxism. The research method is grounded in theory by exploring how the aesthetics of Marxism sees the mural phenomenon, which has played an essential role in the social movement of young people. In this study, it is known that apart from choosing the place, the material to be depicted, and the message to be conveyed, this activist mural artist also illustrates how interrelated the current protests are with the phenomena that emerged during the time of Marx. This shows the existence of a hermeneutic role in framing phenomena that are contextualized to the present. Keywords: mural, activism, hermeneutic, youth media, Marxist aesthetics
ULTRAHIGH PRESSURE ECLOGITES OF THE NORTH QAIDAM AND ALTUN MOUNTAINS,NW CHINA AND THEIR PROTOLITHS

An Early Paleozoic ultrahigh pressure metamorphic belt exists in the Qilian-Altun Mountains and is offset about 400 km westward by the Altyn Tagh strike-slip fault. Eclogites in the belt consist of major basaltic and minor picritic rock types and can be subdivided into three groups: high w(TiO_2)(2%～5%), medium w(TiO_2)(1%～2%) and low w(TiO_2)(1%). Geochemical evidence shows that the protoliths of the eclogite were basaltic rocks from different tectonic environments, including mid-ocean ridge basalt, island arc basalt and ocean island basalt. The Nd isotopes of these rocks are similar to those of MORB, characterized by mainly positive and minor negative e(Nd,0) values, providing further evidence that the eclogite protoliths were ocean floor basalts, to which minor crustal components were added during subduction to form UHP metamorphic rocks. Geochronological data indicate that the UHPM occurred about 500～440 Ma, and that there were two eclogite protoliths with ages of 800～750 Ma and ～1 000 Ma. Geochemically and isotopically, the eclogites are similar to basaltic rocks in Luliangshan, North Daqaidam Mountains, which have Sr and Nd ages of (768 ± 39) Ma and (780±22) Ma. The age and composition of these volcanic rocks suggest that they were one of the protoliths for the eclogites. A later series of calc-alkaline island arc volcanic rocks were formed at about 500 Ma, essentially contemporaneously with the UHP metamorphism. Based on the available geochronological and geochemical data, we suggest the following tectonic model for the evolution of the UHP belt in the North Qaidam Mountains. At about 1 000 Ma the area was amalgamated to form the Rodinian continent, which contained some oceanic volcanic rocks, possibly as ophiolitic fragments. This part of Rodinia was then rifted at about 800～750 Ma to form an oceanic basin with a variety of MORB and ocean island basalts. Closure of this ocean basin produced the Neoproterozoic ophiolites and granitic gneisses in the North Qaidam Mountains. In the Early Paleozoic, a new Qilian ocean basin formed and subduction of this oceanic lithosphere formed the island arc volcanic rocks at about 500 Ma and the subduction-related granites. Once the oceanic lithosphere was consumed, continent-continent collision led to deep subduction of continental crust, which was tectonically mixed with the eclogites.
A TRAFFIC FLOW MODEL WITH TIME DEPENDENT O-D PATTERNS

A myriad of trips, each with its own origin, destination, and departure time, interact on a network to produce an intricate pattern of traffic flows. The task of traffic flow theory is to weave a web of cause and effect which - given the triad of origin, destination, and departure time - can replicate the major features of what one would observe in reality. Traditionally, this theory has dealt with exceedingly simple origin-destination structures, a fact which may have limited its applicability. The aim of this paper is to remove this limitation. The building blocks of the broader theory are: a road which traffic may enter and leave at any point, a speed-flow relationship which may vary along the road and depends on the local capacity, and a description of the pattern of trip making by origin, destination, and departure time. We show that the reconstitution of the traffic flow pattern from these building blocks requires two equations: a 'local equation' which governs what happens in a small space-time neighbourhood just as in the traditional theories, and a 'history equation' which supplies all the pertinent information about the evolution of the flow pattern which is needed to specify its future course. The use of these two equations is illustrated by a numerical example. (Author/TRRL)
Financial Literacy, Saving Behaviour and Entrepreneurial Intention: The Moderating Effect of Family Financial Socialization

Today entrepreneurial intention is considered one of the most eminent drivers for the overall escalation of the nation's economic growth. This study examines the relationship between financial literacy, saving behaviour, family financial socialization and entrepreneurial intention among individuals. Further, this paper also investigates how family financial socialization moderate the relationship between these factors and entrepreneurial intention. The study followed the positivist research philosophy. The deductive approach, quantitative research method, and explanatory research design have been applied. Data were collected from 415 university-level business students of Karnali Province using a purposive sampling technique. The hypotheses were tested through the structural equation modelling technique. The study found the significant positive relationship between financial literacy, saving behaviour and family financial socialization with entrepreneurial intentions. Family financial socialization moderates the relationship between financial literacy, saving behaviour and entrepreneurial intention. The findings of this study can be implemented by policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders to promote financial literacy and saving behaviour to develop effective strategies for enhancing entrepreneurial intention among individuals.
The Influence of Emotional Regulation and Cognitive Flexibility on Sleep Habits in Spanish Children and Adolescents through the Lens of Parents

Background: Previous research studies have suggested the importance of studying the relationship between emotional regulation and sleep habits. Some investigations have especially focused on how emotional regulation could impact sleep habits in children and adolescents. Therefore, these researchers have stated there exists a two-way direction in this relationship. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the influence of emotional regulation on sleep habits in Spanish children and adolescents and the mediating role of anxiety in this relationship. Method: Participants were 953 Spanish parents who completed the assessment protocol according to their children and adolescents’ information. Results: The results revealed moderate–strong correlations between emotional regulation problems and sleep habit disturbances (r = 0.375, p < 0.001), trait (r = 0.488, p < 0.001) anxiety, and state (r = 0.589, p < 0.001) anxiety. Additionally, emotional regulation showed a direct impact on sleep habits (β = 0.011, p = 0.005). Trait and state anxiety demonstrated a significant mediating role in the relationship between emotional regulation and sleep habits. Conclusions: Emotional regulation may have an impact on sleep habits during childhood and adolescence, suggesting the importance of early intervention focused on the emotions management and the prevention of sleep habit disturbances.
A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies

As scientific and observational evidence on global warming piles up every day, questions of economic policy in this central environmental topic have taken centre stage. But as author and prominent Yale economist William Nordhaus observes, the issues involved in understanding global warming and slowing its harmful effects are complex and cross disciplinary boundaries. Ecologists see global warming as a threat to ecosystems, utilities as a debit to their balance sheets, and farmers as a hazard to their livelihoods. In this important work, William Nordhaus integrates the entire spectrum of economic and scientific research to weigh the costs of reducing emissions against the benefits of reducing long-term damage from global warming. The book offers one of the most extensive analyses of the economic and environmental dynamics of greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change and provides the tools to evaluate alternative approaches to slowing global warming. The author emphasizes the need to establish effective mechanisms, such as carbon taxes, to harness markets and harmonize the efforts of different countries.
Caught in a net: Opportunities and Challenges of a Netnographic Study

This paper reports on the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of the qualitative methodology of netnography, an interpretative method which represents a written description of fieldwork emerging from on-line or computer mediated data. Specifically, a humanist netnography which focussed on answering research questions connected with deep social values with the aim to influence social change within the context of business and management research was applied. Over the course of 26 months, a total of 2033 comments from a bespoke, in-house social media monitoring tool were analysed and ratified through triangulation with 107 posts from an engagement survey. The data was captured within an automation and engineering organisation in the private sector in England. The context of the study was to use netnographic research to explore the impact on employees subjected to the implementation of multiple, consecutive redundancy programmes. The aim was to understand areas of concern for employee wellbeing and identify opportunities to improve the redundancy implementation strategy. Humanist netnography was applied to allow a specific focus on the culture of the community within the organisational setting, and the emotions experienced amongst employees within this community. The findings highlight that netnograhic research can offer rich and meaningful data when used in a controlled, digital environment for organisations as well as for academic research. This study discusses the opportunities associated with netnography and how the use of in-house bespoke social media monitoring tools can help drive and improve organisational effectiveness. In addition, this paper identifies challenges associated with the use of netnography such as the little perceived value of emoticons defined as symbolic netnography, as real meaning were found in the expressed words. Concerns with respect to ethical considerations and protecting individual participants when using netnographic data are discussed.
Food Labeling Regulation: A Historical and Comparative Survey

By tracing the history of food labeling laws, we can see that labeling regulation has come a long way from the branding of bread during the reign of King John in the thirteenth century. The food label has gone from a mere enforcement devise to a marketing tool to an instrument for fulfillment of nutrition policy. Labeling regulation has transformed from simple rules to avoid fraud and mispresentation to complex affirmative requirements to help the consumer understand the labeled food in the context of their overall diet.
Effect of Plastic Mulch and Trellises on Cucumber Production in High Tunnels

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) are high yielding summer vegetables but are extremely frost-sensitive. Most vegetable growers in Iowa grow cucumbers and constantly explore ways to start the crop early in the spring. One method to extend the production season and start early production of cucumbers is using a high tunnel. A high tunnel helps protect plants from early season frost, warms the soil, increases ambient temperature, and enhances crop growth. High tunnel production is gaining popularity in the Midwest. Common vegetables grown in high tunnels include tomato, pepper, leafy greens, and cucumber.
Working Papers / Documents de travail

We formulate a hydro-economic model of the North-Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS) to assess the effects of intensive pumping on the groundwater stock and examine the subsequent consequences of aquifer depletion. This large system comprises multi-layer reservoirs with vertical exchanges, all exploited under open access properties. We first develop a theoretical model to account for relevant features of the NWSAS by introducing, in the standard Gisser-Sanchez model, a non-stationary demand and quadratic stock-dependent cost functions. In the second step, we calibrate parameters values using data from the NWSAS over 1955-2000. We finally simulate the time evolution of the aquifer system with exploitation under an open-access regime. We specifically examine time trajectories of the piezometric levels in the two reservoirs, the natural outlets, and the modification of water balances. We find that natural outlets of the two reservoirs might be totally dried before 2050.
Are Applying for and Receiving Subsidy Worth for Small Enterprises? Evidence from the Government Support Program in Japan

This paper examines the effects of the Business Sustainable Subsidy (BSS) on small enterprises’ productivity. The BSS aims productivity improvement and sustainable development of small enterprises by aiding a part of expenses for their business activities. We use rich firm data which contains the attributes and the accounting information of both applied and non-applied firms and examine the effects of receiving and applying for the subsidies. We employ sharp regression discontinuity design for the effects of reception and difference in differences design for that of application. Our empirical results show that significant differences in small enterprises’ performance improvement were not evident between receiving the subsidies and not. On the other hand, we found that applicant small enterprises perform higher productivity and sales growth than not-applicant firms. We also robustly obtain the positive results of application impacts by difference in differences model with propensity score matching, controlling for preintervention levels and trends in the outcome. Our findings imply that application in itself promotes firms’ voluntarily activities to their own business issues through external support, and leads to improve their productivity.
Optimization of Planting Stage and Pinching Level in Carnation

The experiment on the optimization of planting stage and pinching level in carnation was carried out with the different stages of day's old rooted cuttings and pinching level. The experimental combinations of the study with different days of rooted cuttings and single pinching at three different nodal point resulted in the optimizing the days and pinching level in carnation. This will directly have an impact on the ultimate productivity of the crop. The treatment T8 with 30 day old rooted cuttings + single pinch at the 5th node proved to be the best in terms of number of flowers per plant (6.00, 8.30 and 5.40) and flower yield per sq.m. area (216.00, 298.80 and 194.40). The vegetative characters plant height, number of leaves per plant and laterals per plant, internodal length, quality characters viz., length and girth of flower stalk, flower yield parameters and physiological characters all of which tends to increase in the overall production and quality of flower.
BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION ON TAX EVASION IN SCIENCEDIRECT, YEARS 2010 TO 2019

Tax evasion is an illegal activity that consists of non-payment of taxpayers' obligations towards the state, through fraudulent maneuvers that alter the amount of taxes to be paid. This research analyzes the scientific production related to tax evasion in the ScienceDirect database during the years 2010-2019. With that purpose, a descriptive and relationship analysis was carried out between variables such as, author, continent, determinant of tax evasion, scope, focus, among others. The place of application of this research was established as the scope while the type of tax was the focus. We found that the efficiency of the tax authorities is the most analyzed determining factor regarding tax evasion. 82% of articles are published in European journals, of which 54% belong to case studies carried out on this continent. 51% of authors are economists and 54% of the articles were approached from the perspective of economics. This research shows that tax evasion is a topic of global interest which might be approached from different perspectives and in several areas.
Receptor Specificity Engineering of TNF Superfamily Ligands

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand family has nine ligands that show promiscuity in binding multiple receptors. As different receptors transduce into diverse pathways, the study on the functional role of natural ligands is very complex. In this review, we discuss the TNF ligands engineering for receptor specificity and summarize the performance of the ligand variants in vivo and in vitro. Those variants have an increased binding affinity to specific receptors to enhance the cell signal conduction and have reduced side effects due to a lowered binding to untargeted receptors. Refining receptor specificity is a promising research strategy for improving the application of multi-receptor ligands. Further, the settled variants also provide experimental guidance for engineering receptor specificity on other proteins with multiple receptors.