Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The historical origins of wealth taxation

ABSTRACT Which factors have driven wealth taxation over the long run of history? We look at a new dataset on the first permanent introduction of taxes on net wealth, i.e., recurrent taxes levied based on the absolute value of an individual’s financial assets, to answer this question. First, we place the introduction of wealth taxation in the historical genesis of the modern tax state. We find that recurrent taxes on net wealth are a more recent, yet less widely spread phenomenon than other progressive taxes. Second, we analyse the historical drivers of wealth taxation. In particular, we argue that the net wealth tax was mainly used as an ‘emergency tax’ when countries faced major shocks. Utilizing event history analyses, we compare the impact of two major types of shocks: wars and recessions. Our results show that wealth taxes were primarily introduced in the aftermath of major economic recessions, whilst wars do not speed up the uptake of wealth taxes. In contrast to other modern tax introductions, we do not find that countries are generally more likely to introduce wealth taxes as a result of broader societal change such as modernization or democratization.
Ultra-high-speed InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT ICs using pn-level-shift diodes

Forty-GHz operation of SCFL static binary frequency dividers is demonstrated by monolithically integrating 0.1-/spl mu/m-gate InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs and p-n diodes for the first time. The HEMT has an InP-recess-etch stopper in the InAlAs barrier and the standard deviation of the threshold voltage in a 2-inch wafer is reduced to 44 mV. The p-n diode is used as a level-shift diode because of its smaller size and lower resistance than those of conventional diodes using a Schottky gate of the HEMT. The reduced resistance and size result in shorter CR-time delays of the diodes and transmission delays of the interconnection. Thus, it is possible to make the most of high-speed performance of the HEMTs in the circuits by employing p-n diodes as level-shift diodes.
Intrinsic Diffusivities Ratio Analysis in Double Multiphase Systems

Our investigations show that electrochemical corrosion of copper is faster than electrochemical corrosion of aluminium at temperatures below 100°C. Literature data analysis shows that the Al atoms diffuse faster than the Cu atoms at temperatures higher than 475°C, Al rich intermetallic compounds (IMCs) are formed faster in the Cu-Al system, and the Kirkendall plane shifts toward the Al side. Electrochemical corrosion occurs due to electric current and due to diffusion. An electronic devise working time, for example, depends on initial copper cover thickness on aluminium wire, connected to the electronic devise, temperature, and volume and dislocation pipe diffusion coefficients, so copper, iron, and aluminium electrochemical corrosion rates are investigated experimentally at room temperature and at temperature 100°C. Intrinsic diffusivities ratios of copper and aluminium at different temperatures and diffusion activation energies in the Cu-Al system are calculated by proposed here methods using literature experimental data. Dislocation pipe and volume diffusion activation energies of pure iron are calculated separately by earlier proposed method using literature experimental data. Aluminium dissolved into NaCl solution as the Al3+ ions at room temperature and at temperature 100°C, iron dissolved into NaCl solution as the Fe2+ (not Fe3+) ions at room temperature and at temperature 100°C, copper dissolved into NaCl solution as the Cu+ ions at room temperature and as the Cu+ and the Cu2+ ions at temperature 100°C. It is found experimentally that copper corrosion is higher than aluminium corrosion, and ratio of electrochemical corrosion rates, kCu/kAl>1, decreases with temperature increasing, although iron electrochemical corrosion rate does not depend on temperature below 100°C. It is obvious, because the melting point of iron is more higher than the melting point of copper or aluminium. It is calculated that the copper electrochemical corrosion rate is approximately equal to aluminium electrochemical corrosion at temperature about 300°C, so copper can dissolve into NaCl solution mostly as the Cu2+ ions at temperature about 300°C. The ratio of intrinsic diffusivities, DCu/DAl<1, increases with temperature increasing, and the intrinsic diffusivity of aluminium could be approximately equal to the intrinsic diffusivity of copper at temperature about 460oC. Intrinsic diffusivities ratios in the Cu-Zn system at temperature 400°C and in the Cu-Sn system at temperatures from 190°C to 250°C are analyzed theoretically using literature experimental data. Diffusion activation energies and pre-exponential coefficients for the Cu-Sn system are calculated combining literature experimental results.
Geisinger Health System: Achieving the Potential of System Integration Through Innovation, Leadership, Measurement, and Incentives

Geisinger Health System is a physician-led, not-for-profit, integrated delivery system serving an area with approximately 2.6 million people in northeastern and central Pennsylvania with innovative products and services designed to drive higher performance. Geisinger's leaders believe that the organization can simultaneously improve quality, sat- isfaction, and efficiency only by redesigning and reengineering the delivery of care. This philosophy is epitomized by ProvenCare, a portfolio of products (many of which are package-priced) for which care processes have been redesigned to reliably administer a coordinated bundle of evidence-based best practices. Use of the ProvenCare model has improved clinical outcomes while decreasing resource utilization. Fundamental to Geisinger's success are its vision of becoming a national model for care delivery, the lead- ership to achieve that vision reinforced with a performance-based compensation system strategically aligned with specific goals every year, and timely feedback using an advanced electronic health record to measure progress toward those goals.
The ParB clamp docks onto Smc for DNA loading via a joint-ParB interface

Chromosomes readily unlink from one another and segregate to daughter cells during cell division highlighting a remarkable ability of cells to organize long DNA molecules. SMC complexes mediate chromosome folding by DNA loop extrusion. In most bacteria, SMC complexes start loop extrusion at the ParB/parS partition complex formed near the replication origin. Whether they are recruited by recognizing a specific DNA structure in the partition complex or a protein component is unknown. By replacing genes in Bacillus subtilis with orthologous sequences from Streptococcus pneumoniae, we show that the three subunits of the bacterial Smc complex together with the ParB protein form a functional module that can organize and segregate chromosomes when transplanted into another organism. Using chimeric proteins and chemical cross-linking, we find that ParB binds to the Smc subunit directly. We map a binding interface to the Smc joint and the ParB CTP-binding domain. Structure prediction indicates how the ParB clamp presents DNA to the Smc complex to initiate DNA loop extrusion.
Coronary arteries and aortic valve calcifications in COVID-19: Not only lungs at chest CT

Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases cause worse outcomes in patients affected by COVID-19. High coronary artery calcium score (CACS) and aortic valve calcifications (AC) increase cardiovascular risk. Our purpose is to evaluate CACS, measured by Weston Score (WS), and presence of AC in chest CT of COVID-19 patients and possibly to investigate their prognostic role. Material and methods: This retrospective case-control study includes 150 hospitalized COVID-19 patients who underwent a chest CT at admission. The case group (Group A) was formed by 50 in-patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) under invasive ventilation (IV), while the matching control group for sex, age and BMI (Group B) was formed by 100 in-patients in non-ICU units, not under IV. After, a second case-control selection was originated from these two Groups: the case group (Group A1) composed by 30 patients selected from Group A, and the matching control group for age, sex, BMI and CT lung severity score (LSS) (Group B1) composed by 60 patients selected from Group B. WS and the presence of AC were compared between Groups A and B, and between Groups A1 and B1. Moreover, LSS and WS were correlated. Parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. Material and methods: This retrospective case-control study includes 150 hospitalized COVID-19 patients who underwent a chest CT at admission. The case group (Group A) was formed by 50 in-patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) under invasive ventilation (IV), while the matching control group for sex, age and BMI (Group B) was formed by 100 in-patients in non-ICU units, not under IV. After, a second case-control selection was originated from these two Groups: the case group (Group A1) composed by 30 patients selected from Group A, and the matching control group for age, sex, BMI and CT lung severity score (LSS) (Group B1) composed by 60 patients selected from Group B. WS and the presence of AC were compared between Groups A and B, and between Groups A1 and B1. Moreover, LSS and WS were correlated. Parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: Among the 150 patients, 105 (70.0%) were male and 45 (30.0%) female. The age was 70.2 ± 13.3 years. LSS was 7.5 ± 3.9, WS was 6.4 ± 3.0; AC was present in 97/150 (64.7%). WS was significantly higher in Group A than in Group B, respectively, 7.4 ± 4.0 and 5.7 ± 2.6 (p=0.0146), and also the presence of AC, respectively, 41/50 (82.0%) vs 56/100 (56.0%) (p=0.0016). In Group B, LSS and WS had a linear positive correlation (r=0.2240, p=0.0405). Finally, WS and AC were significantly higher in Group A1 compared to Group B1. Conclusions: Both WS and AC were higher in ICU COVID-19 patients than in non-ICU COVID-19 patients: they could have a predictive role in the pejorative evolution of the disease.
DEPLOYING IPTV (MOBILE TV) OVER MOBILE WIMAX NETWORKS: A Comparative and Simulation Study

2 Abstract— Deployment IPTV (Mobile TV) by telecommunication companies around the world becomes a host of unique opera- tional challenges, and one's of the intense interest subjects in the research these days, is anticipated to be the main revenue generators in the near future and the efficiency of video streaming over next generation 4G. IEEE specifies different modulation techniques for WiMAX; namely, BPSK, QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM, and AMC. In this paper, a simulation performance study of Mo- bile TV over mobile WiMAX is conducted with different types of adaptive modulation and coding taking into account key system and environment parameters which include real time video coded by different video codecs (MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, and SVC), variation in the speed of the mobile, random mobility of mobile users, path-loss, scheduling service classes with the adaptive and fixed type of modulations. Simulation has been conducted using OPNET simulation. Simulation results show that higher modula- tion and coding, and dynamic adaptation of modulation and coding schemes based on channel conditions can offer considerably more enhanced QoS and at the same time reduce the overall bandwidth of the system.
A Territorial-Driven Approach to Capture the Transformative Momentum of the Social Economy Especially from the Agricultural Cooperatives

In the last few lustrums, the literature has searched for more precise methods to assess the socio-economic importance of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). On that basis, this article offers a new way of assessing the SSE impact, enhancing the understanding of the SSE potential for socio-economic transformation. An evolutionary micro–meso–macro and territorial theoretical framework is developed, utilizing, along with the assistance of a qualitative methodology, studies on the transformation promoted by the SSE on the sugar cane cluster of Veracruz (Mexico). The main results of the article are that the SSE boost beneficiaries, while the protagonists of the transformation cannot be defined a priori, but are rather conformed by transformation vectors promoted by the SSE: their values shared by a wide spectrum of actors, the SSE socio-economic and organizational specificities, and their rooting in the productive system. The fundamental conclusion of the article is the need for a “territorial-driven approach” of the SSE’s impact, compared to the dominant “stakeholder-driven approach”. The main limitations (and suggestions for future studies) are the empirical investigation of a single case, and the need to develop a qualitative and quantitative system of indicators of the transformative drive of SSE.
Assessment of Safety Measures on Building Sites (A Case Study of Minna, North Central Nigeria)

This paper studied the attitude of building industries within Minna metropolis towards safety provision for their workers on site. It evaluates whether the provision of safety measures reduces the workers claim due to accident on site and also increased their morale for better performance. The aim of the study is to examine the sustainability of safety measures employed by building industries in Minna. To achieve this aim, three hypotheses were formulated and to test these hypotheses, 64 copies of questionnaires were administered to workers on site and management staff in eight randomly selected building construction industries. 46 copies of questionnaire (72%) were returned and analyzed using descriptive method of statistics. From the analysis, it was observed that there exists a strong relationship among the variables tested. The study concluded that provision of adequate safety measures for workers on site will improve the performance and also enhance the building industry’s productivity.
The effect of periodic textures on the static characteristics of thrust bearings

Given a bearing of some specified macroscopic shape, what is the effect of texturing its surfaces uniformly? Experimental and numerical investigations on this question have recently been pursued, which we complement here with a mathematical analysis based on a seemingly novel combination of homogenization techniques and perturbation analysis. The flow is assumed governed by the Reynolds equation, with cavitation effects disregarded, and the texture length is assumed much smaller than the bearing's length. The results, which hold true for small-amplitude periodic textures and in the limit of vanishing period, can be summarized as follows: (a) The texture that maximizes the load for a given minimum clearance is no texture at all (i.e., the untextured shape); and (b) the texture that minimizes the friction coefficient is again the untextured shape.
AHP, a Reliable Method for Quality Decision Making: A Case Study in Business

Decision making is a significant responsibility for business managers, their decisions impacting business performance. Managers are therefore interested in acquiring and implementing reliable methods for making decisions both now and in the future. Currently, in the countries in the Albanian-speaking regions of the Western Balkans, intuitive decision-making methods predominate. In order to find appropriate methods for assessing and prioritizing goals, new approaches to decision making should be adopted. Various methods have been developed for multi-criteria decision making. One of these is the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method—a method which should receive more attention than it has up to now. We would like to show that the AHP method could be of great use in decision making. Through a case study, this paper explores the AHP, a method with three levels in which the identification of decision-making criteria is based on the perceptions of managers and consumers. The paper’s findings offer an important guide for managers to improve decision making and enhance performance in competitive markets.
Effects of Preparation Conditions on the Efficiency of Visible-Light-Driven Hydrogen Generation Based on Cd0.25Zn0.75S Photocatalysts

Photocatalytic H2 production utilizing H2S, an industrial side-product, is regarded as an environmentally friendly process to produce clean energy through direct solar energy conversion. For this purpose, sulfide-based materials, such as photocatalysts, have been widely used due to their good solar response and high photocatalytic activity. In this work, a ZnS–CdS composite was studied, and special attention was dedicated to the influence of the preparation parameters on its H2 production activity. The ZnS–CdS composite, with an enhanced photoactivity for H2 production, was synthesized both from ammine complexes and, in a conventional way, directly from acetates at various pH values. Deviating from the traditional method, the photoactivity of ZnS–CdS prepared from ammine complexes was not affected by the pH. Besides, the hydrothermal treatment and the ammonia content strongly influenced the rate of H2 production in this system. DRS, TEM, SEM, XRD, and quantum yield measurements prove the dependence of the photoactivity of these catalysts on the structural and morphological properties determined by the preparation conditions. The promising photocatalytic efficiency achieved with the application of these ZnS–CdS catalysts, prepared without any metal deposition, encourages further investigations to enhance the rate of hydrogen generation by optimization of the reaction conditions for practical utilization.
Cross protection studies after the use of live- attenuated IBV vaccines Nobilis fi IB 4-91 and Nobilis fi IB Ma5 (Massachusetts type).

Infectious Bronchitis (IB) continues to be recognised as a common cause of production losses in the poultry industry worldwide. The existence of a vast diversion in serotypes has been reported since the disease was first described in the United States in the early 1930s. The number of IB serotypes appears to have increased in recent years (1,2). Molecular studies have shown that a new IB serotype can emerge as a result of only a very few amino acid changes in the S1 part of the spike genome of the virus (3). The emergence of a new serotype may result in some cases in a lack of appropriate protection after the use of currently available vaccines. But there are cases in which the existing IB vaccines will be able to provide a good measure of cross protection against IB strains not belonging to the same serotype. The reason for this cross protection may lay in the fact that much of the virus genome has remained unchanged. From a practical point of view, it may, therefore, be more relevant to think in terms of protectotypes (12) rather than serotypes.
Influence of Metal Ions on Model Protoamphiphilic Vesicular Systems: Insights from Laboratory and Analogue Studies

Metal ions strongly affect the self-assembly and stability of membranes composed of prebiotically relevant amphiphiles (protoamphiphiles). Therefore, evaluating the behavior of such amphiphiles in the presence of ions is a crucial step towards assessing their potential as model protocell compartments. We have recently reported vesicle formation by N-acyl amino acids (NAAs), an interesting class of protoamphiphiles containing an amino acid linked to a fatty acid via an amide linkage. Herein, we explore the effect of ions on the self-assembly and stability of model N-oleoyl glycine (NOG)-based membranes. Microscopic analysis showed that the blended membranes of NOG and Glycerol 1-monooleate (GMO) were more stable than pure NOG vesicles, both in the presence of monovalent and divalent cations, with the overall vesicle stability being 100-fold higher in the presence of a monovalent cation. Furthermore, both pure NOG and NOG + GMO mixed systems were able to self-assemble into vesicles in natural water samples containing multiple ions that were collected from active hot spring sites. Our study reveals that several aspects of the metal ion stability of NAA-based membranes are comparable to those of fatty acid-based systems, while also confirming the robustness of compositionally heterogeneous membranes towards high metal ion concentrations. Pertinently, the vesicle formation by NAA-based systems in terrestrial hot spring samples indicates the conduciveness of these low ionic strength freshwater systems for facilitating prebiotic membrane-assembly processes. This further highlights their potential to serve as a plausible niche for the emergence of cellular life on the early Earth.
Mobile phone use by drivers in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

A cross-sectional study to determine the pattern of mobile phone use by drivers in Trinidad and Tobago. Data were obtained using a self-administered questionnaire that was completed by 1150 drivers. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Chi square test and multinomial logistic regression analysis. Overall, 91% of the drivers use a mobile phone while driving. Amongst these drivers, 86% use hand-held and 14% use hands-free mobile phones. The phone calls by the drivers were reported as routine (70%) and emergency (30%). The calls were of general nature (58%), family matters (23%) and work-related (19%). The drivers believe that using a mobile phone while driving is extremely dangerous (50%) and moderately dangerous (31%). But, 25% of the drivers make no change in their driving behaviour when using a mobile phone while driving, 53% reduce their speed, 10% drive on the road shoulder and only a mere 2% stop the vehicle. There is a high level of mobile phone use by drivers in Trinidad and Tobago with the attendant challenges for road safety. There is a need for public education in Trinidad and Tobago on the hazards of mobile phone use while driving, and a concurrent need for the enactment and enforcement of legislation to curb this practice.
Dramatic play as a means to explore and support preschool children’s thinking about thermal insulation

Research in young children’s ideas, representations, and pre-conceptions about the natural and technical world has a long history. Most of the studies in the field have used individual, semi-structured interviews as a methodological technique to generate and collect empirical data. However, less is known about how tracing procedures can come in line and be incorporated into everyday educational reality in early childhood settings in a way that reflects young children’s interests and needs. The present study uses dramatic play to trace young children’s thinking in science and advance their science learning experiences. The study focuses on a science concept young children are familiar with in everyday life though has not been thoroughly studied in the literature yet: thermal insulation. Empirical data from 6 preschoolers in Greece are presented. Qualitative data were collected through recordings of children’s dialogues, children’s drawings, field notes from the early childhood teachers, and photographs. The findings revealed that during their dramatic play children a) developed basic argumentation to express their thinking about the phenomenon; b) related the phenomenon with the thermal condition and changes in temperature; c) identified materials and objects with insulating properties and distinguish them from others with non-insulating properties, and d) came to the conclusion that the use of amplified insulation materials can lead to better insulation results. The outcomes of the study add to the research methodology in early childhood science education and inform practice providing a pedagogical framework that balances between play-based pedagogies and advanced learning outcomes in science for young learners.