Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of direct water injection and injector configurations on performance and emission characteristics of a gasoline direct injection engine: A computational fluid dynamics analysis

In-cylinder water injection is a promising approach for reducing NOx and soot emissions from internal combustion engines. It allows one to use a higher compression ratio by reducing engine knock; hence, higher fuel economy and power output can be achieved. However, water injection can also affect engine combustion and emission characteristics if water injection and injector parameters are not properly set. Majority of the previous studies on the water injection are done through experiments. Therefore, subtle aspects of water injection such as in-cylinder interaction of water sprays, spatial distribution of water vapor, and effect on flame propagation are not clearly understood and rarely reported in literature due to experimental limitations. Thus, in the present article, a computational fluid dynamics investigation is carried out to analyze the effects of direct water injection under various injector configurations on water evaporation, combustion, performance, and emission characteristics of a gasoline direct injection engine. The emphasis is given to analyze in-cylinder water spray interactions, flame propagation, water spray droplet size distribution, and water vapor spatial distribution inside the engine cylinder. For the study, the water-to-fuel ratio is varied from 0 to 1. Various water injector configurations using nozzle hole diameters of 0.14, 0.179, and 0.205 mm, along with nozzle holes of 4, 5, 6, and 7, are considered for comparison in addition to the case of no_water. Computational fluid dynamics models used in this study are validated with the available data in literature. From the results, it is found that the emission and performance characteristics of the engine are highly dependent on water evaporation characteristics. Also, the water-to-fuel ratio of 0.6 with 6 number of nozzle holes and the nozzle diameter of 0.14 mm results in the highest indicated mean effective pressure and the lowest NOx, soot, and CO emissions compared to other cases considered.
Enhanced extended‐range predictability of the 2018 late‐winter Eurasian cold spell due to the stratosphere

A severe cold spell with surface temperatures reaching 10 K below its climatology hit Eurasia during late February/early March 2018. This cold spell was associated with a Scandinavian blocking pattern followed by an extreme negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) phase. Here we explore the predictability of this cold spell/NAO event using ensemble forecasts from the Subseasonal‐to‐Seasonal (S2S) archive of the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts. We find that this event was predicted with the observed strength roughly 10 days in advance. However, the probability of the cold spell occurring doubled up to 25 days in advance, when a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) occurred. Our results indicate that the amplitude of the cold spell was increased by a regime shift to the negative NAO phase at the end of February, which was likely favoured by the SSW. We quantify the contribution of the SSW to the enhanced extended‐range forecast skill for this particular event by running forecast ensembles in which the evolution of the stratosphere is nudged to (a) the observed evolution, and (b) a time‐invariant state. In the experiment with nudging to the observed stratospheric evolution, the probability of a strong cold spell occurring is enhanced to 45%, while it is at its climatological value of 5% when the stratosphere is nudged to a time‐invariant state. These results showing enhanced predictability of surface extremes following SSWs extend previous observational evidence, which is mostly based on composite analyses, to a single event. Our results suggest that it is the subsequent evolution throughout the lower stratosphere following the SSW, rather than the occurrence of the SSW itself, that is crucial in coupling to large‐scale tropospheric flow patterns. However, we caution that probabilistic gain in predictability alone is insufficient to conclude a causal link between the SSW and the cold spell event.
Effects on performance of active and passive hypoxia as a re-warm-up routine before a 100-metre swimming time trial: a randomized crossover study

Passive and active hypoxia could be used as a tool during a transitional phase to maintain the effects of warm-up and optimize athletic performance. Our purpose was to evaluate and compare the effects of four different re-warm-up strategies, i.e. rest in normoxia (RN) at FiO2 = 20.9%, rest in hypoxia (RH) at FiO2 = 15%, active (5 minutes dryland-based exercise circuit) in normoxia (AN) and active in hypoxia (AH), during the transitional phase, on subsequent 100 m maximal swimming performance. Thirteen competitive swimmers (n = 7 males; n = 6 females; age: 15.1±2.1 years; height: 164.7±8.8 cm; weight: 58.1±9.7 kg; 100 m season’s best time 72.0±11.8 s) completed a 20-minute standardized in-water warm-up followed by a 30-minute randomized transitional phase and 100 m freestyle time trial. Compared to AH (73.4±6.2 s), 100 m swim time trials were significantly (p = 0.002; η2 = 0.766) slower in RN (75.7±6.7 s; p = 0.01), AN (75.2±6.7 s; p = 0.038) and RH (75.0±6.4 s; p = 0.009). Moreover, compared to AH (36.3±0.4ºC), tympanic temperature was significantly lower (p<0.001; η2 = 0.828) at the end of the transitional phase in passive conditions (RN: 35.9±0.6; p = 0.032; RH: 36.0±0.4; p = 0.05). In addition, countermovement jump height at the end of the transitional phase was significantly higher in active than in passive conditions (p = 0.001; η2 = 0.728). A dryland-based circuit under hypoxia could be useful to swimmers, once it has attenuated the decline in tympanic temperature during a 30-minute transitional phase after warm-up, improving 100 m swimming performance in young amateur swimmers.
Persistence as an optimal hedging strategy

Bacteria invest in a slow-growing subpopulation, called persisters, to ensure survival in the face of uncertainty. This hedging strategy is remarkably similar to financial hedging, where diversifying an investment portfolio protects against economic uncertainty. We provide a new theoretical foundation for understanding cellular hedging by unifying the study of biological population dynamics and the mathematics of financial risk management through optimal control theory. Motivated by the widely accepted role of volatility in the emergence of persistence, we consider several novel models of environmental volatility described by continuous-time stochastic processes. This allows us to study an emergent cellular hedging strategy that maximizes the expected per-capita growth rate of the population. Analytical and simulation results probe the optimal persister strategy, revealing results that are consistent with experimental observations and suggest at new opportunities for experimental investigation and design. Overall, we provide a new way of conceptualising and modelling cellular decision-making in volatile environments by explicitly unifying theory from mathematical biology and finance.
Nature and Extent of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in India: A Study of Selected BSE Companies

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure is growing at an increasing trend in the corporate world. It is a relatively new concept and it has emerged as a crucial research domain over the last decade. Financial as well as social performances of the company are the strong basis of sustainable development. At present, corporations in India are confirming an authentic and legitimate concern about the upliftment of their stakeholders and community. Thus, the prime objective of this study is to analyse the nature and extent of CSR disclosure in Indian companies selected from the top 200 BSE companies for the period 2014–2016. Content analysis has been employed using CSR checklist to compute the disclosure score under four dimensions of CSR, such as employee relations; welfare and development of community; consumer issues and products and environment. The percentage of companies disclosing CSR has been observed to be enhancing over the period of study and regarding the dimensions of CSR. The most disclosed dimension is customer issues and products followed by community development and welfare, environment and employee relations. The analysis also reveals that the CSR disclosure in selected industries has been increased during the period of study. Oil and gas industry is on the top position in terms of CSR disclosure and chemical and leather industry stands at the bottom-most position.
Optimal input-device characteristics and multi-modal feedback for human control of teleoperation systems

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Clinical Audit of Quality of Intrapartum Care in a State University Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Southeast, Nigeria

Objectives: To assess the quality of intrapartum care in Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Methods: This retrospective clinical audit on intrapartum care quality indicators in the birth, newborn, intensive care unit and theatre registers was undertaken from January1, 2010 to December 31, 2014. Data was analyzed using excel 2007 software and has been presented using percentages. Results: A total of 5211 women delivered 5385 babies (including174 twins). Majority of the women were of ages between 20-35 years (3995/5211, 76.7%), parity 2-4 (3001/5211, 56.7%) and booked (3731/5211, 71.6%). Preterm delivery ( 1000 mls) in (45/5211, 0.9%) women. Eclampsia (40/5211, 0.8%) and obstetric intensive care unit admissions (30/5211, 0.6%) were documented. Fifteen maternal deaths (15/5211, 0.3%) occurred giving a maternal mortality ratio of 292/100000 live births. The commonest cause of maternal death was postpartum-eclampsia. Apgar score <7 at 5 minute occurred in (531/5385, 9.9%) while 319 babies (319/5385, 9.0%) were admitted to newborn intensive care unit. The stillbirth rate was (256/5385, 4.8%). The neonatal death and perinatal mortality rates for 2012 to 2014 were (25/3314, 0.8%) and (194/3314, 5.9%) respectively. Conclusion: Regular audits of intrapartum care quality indicators are essential for early detections of areas of poor-quality that demand immediate improvements to avoid further feto-maternal harms.
Investor Behavioral Bias Based on Demographic Characteristics

This study aims to examine the effect of demographic characteristics such as age, gender, income, and occupation on investor behavioral biases such as overconfidence bias, disposition effect, and herding bias. This research was conducted by distributing questionnaires to respondents who are 151 stock investors listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange with a minimum age of 17 years. The results of the study showed that each dependent variable was at least influenced by one of the demographic characteristics. From the hypothesis test, it can be seen that overconfidence bias was influenced by gender and income. While the disposition effect was influenced by age, and the herding behavior bias was influenced by occupation.
Comparative Study of Sound Transmission Losses of Sandwich Composite Double Panel Walls

The increasing motivation behind the recently wide industrial applications of sandwich and composite double panel structures stems from their ability to absorb sounds more effectively. Meticulous selection of the geometrical and material constituents of both the core and panels of these structures can produce highly desirable properties. A good understanding of their vibro-acoustic response and emission index such as the sound transmission loss (STL) is, therefore, a requisite to producing optimal design. In this study, an overview of recent advances in STL of sandwich and composites double panels is presented. At first, some salient explanation of the various frequency and controlled regions are given. It then critically examines a number of parameter effects on the STL of sandwich and composite structures. Literatures on the numerical, analytical and experimental solutions of STL are systematically presented. Efficient and more reliable optimization problems that maximize the STL and minimize the objective functions capable of degrading the effectiveness of the structure to absorb sounds are also provided.
Análisis genómico de características de crecimiento muscular y de calidad de la canal en poblaciones ovinas de pelo

Los ovinos de pelo colombiano son un recurso genetico de gran importancia, que se encuentran adaptados a las diferentes condiciones medio ambientales del pais; sin embargo, actualmente no se cuenta con la informacion suficiente acerca de sus parametros productivos y solidos estudios genomicos que permitan conocer a fondo las variedades raciales criollas existentes. Los estudios de asociacion genomica (GWASs) son una herramienta que permite detectar genes que influyen en las caracteristicas productivas. El objetivo de esta investigacion fue identificar SNPs asociados a caracteres de crecimiento muscular y calidad de la canal, en ovinos de pelo colombiano, Etiope (OPCE), Sudan (OPCS) y criollo abosorbido por Pelibuey (OPCP), en los departamentos de Cesar, Cordoba y Valle del Cauca. Se evaluaron 167 animales a traves de ocho caracteres para crecimiento y ocho para calidad de canal, con el fin de obtener informacion fenotipica contrarrestada con informacion genomica obtenida del microarreglo OvineSNP50 BeadChip de Illumina. El GWAS realizado para los caracteres de crecimiento y de calidad de canal, permitio inferir ocho genes candidatos (SLC44A3, PAM, CEP135, EMCN, PRDM13, BEND3, CHAMP1 y PIAS2), la funcionalidad de los genes involucrados se encontro relacionada con crecimiento celular, apoptosis y angiogenesis, principalmente. Ademas, la asociacion permitio encontrar diferencias entre las variedades raciales, a pesar de que en el pais los OPCE y los OPCS no se encuentran reconocidos como razas.
THE EFFECT OF PUNCH GEOMETRY ON PUNCHING PROCESS IN TITANIUM SHEET

Reducing punch force, increasing the sheared surface, and improving the work hardening have been real challenges in developing a punching process, and the right selection of punch geometry can resolve these challenges. Selecting the appropriate geometry, however, has been difficult to do since the effect of punch geometry on the punching process is rarely studied, and therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of punch force, sheared surface, and work hardening by using commercially pure titanium sheets. The punching process under the study employed three different punch geometries, namely flat (FLAT), single shear angle (SSA) and double shear angle (DSA) with a shear angle of 17°, while the Punch velocity used was 35mm/s and 70 mm/s. The results show that the punching process using SSA and DSA punch geometry with the punch velocity of 35 mm/s reduces the punch force by 18% and 13% consecutively compared to that of FLAT with the same velocity. However, the sheared surface quality seems to decline as the rollover height increases by about 48% and 32%. Moreover, the burnish height decreases by 34% and 7% and the resulted work hardening improves by 4.7% and 2.3% respectively. The study concludes that SSA and DSA punch geometry can be best used to reduce punch force and increase work hardening, but apparently fail in increasing the sheared surface quality.
Ecology and evolutionary history determine plastic responses to environmental variation in two closely 1 related species 2

Phenotypic plasticity can maintain population fitness in novel or changing environments if it allows the phenotype to track the new trait optimum. Understanding how adaptation to contrasting environments determines plastic responses can identify how plasticity evolves, and its potential to be adaptive in response 19 to environmental change. We sampled 79 genotypes from populations of two closely related but ecologically 20 divergent ragwort species ( Senecio, Asteraceae), and transplanted multiple clones of each genotype into four 21 field sites along an elevational gradient representing each species’ native range, the edge of their range, and 22 in conditions outside their native range. At each transplant site, we quantified differences in survival, growth, 23 leaf morphology, chlorophyll fluorescence and gene expression for both species. Overall, the two species 24 differed in their sensitivity to the elevational gradient. As evidence of plasticity, leaf morphology changed 25 across the elevational gradient, with changes occurring in orthogonal directions for the two species. 26 Differential gene expression across the four field sites also revealed that the genetic pathways underlying 27 plastic responses were highly distinct in the two species. Despite the two species having diverged recently, 28 adaptation to contrasting habitats has resulted in the evolution of distinct sensitivities to environmental 29 variation, underlain by distinct forms of plasticity. 30
The Relationship between Expatriate Adjustment and Expatriate Job Performance at Multinational Corporations in Malaysia

The growth of management research on expatriates over the years has enabled a strong understanding of the field. However, the issue of expatriate job performance remains crucial and certainly requires further investigation. There has been extensive research conducted in developed countries but the same has not been done in the developing nations including Malaysia. However, in developed countries like Malaysia, the issue of expatriate job performance, especially in MNCs still gets less attention from researchers. Generally, expatriate job performance depends primarily on their adaptability and adjustment to host countries during the international assignment. In other words, once expatriates can adjust themselves to new cultures, norms and values of the host country, their job performance per se could also be affected. However, there is a lack of evidence to support this claim. Consequently, the current study examined the relationship between expatriate adjustment and expatriate job performance in multinational corporations in Malaysia. Based on a sample of 139 foreign expatriates residing and working in Malaysia, general adjustment was found to be positively significant to task performance whilst interaction adjustment was found to be negatively significant to task performance. Besides these findings it needs to be noted that factors such as interaction adjustment and work adjustment were found to be positively significant to the contextual performance of expatriates. Therefore, the findings of this study will expand the body of knowledge in the area of expatriate research especially within the context of international human resource and cross-cultural management. The practical implications of this study will be beneficial to human resource professionals, multinational organizations and the expatriating firms in highlighting the crucial aspects of expatriate adjustment to their host environment which inadvertently enhances expatriate job performance during their international assignment.
Sex Differences in Perceptions of Asynchronous Audiotactile Cues

Multisensory cueing is increasingly used in technological systems to alert users to critical events. However, relatively little is known how environmental factors and individual differences affect the perception of asynchronous multisensory cues. In the present experiment, participants were required to provide “yes/no” discriminations related to perceived simultaneity on 288 pairings of auditory and tactile cues. Both the auditory and tactile cues were presented for either 200, 500, or 1000 milliseconds and incorporated one of twelve randomly-selected levels of onset asynchrony, ranging from 25 ms to 300 ms, at 25 ms intervals. For the analyses, participants were grouped by their biological sex. The results indicated that perceived onset asynchrony was affected by both the stimulus duration and participant sex. Stimuli that were 200 milliseconds in duration resulted in the lowest temporal tolerance for perceived asynchrony relative to 500 and 1000 millisecond audiotactile cues. Moreover, males were more sensitive to asynchronies than females.
Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of ZnO Nanoparticles against Foodborne Pathogens

Nanoparticles (Nps) are particles that range in size from 1 to 100 nm. The high surface area to volume ratio provides Nps with quirky properties compared to its bulk form (Buzea et al., 2007). Nanostructures are predominantly categorized into organic and inorganic Nps, the last have received extraordinary attentions due to its ability to tolerate destructive processing conditions, controlled safety and extended shelf life (Stoimenov et al., 2002; Sawai, 2003; Wang, 2004). Among the inorganic Nps, ZnO Nps are semiconductors with a direct wide band gap (3.3 eV) near UV spectrum (Wang, 2004; Schmidt-Mende et al., International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 11 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Immunological evidence of Zika virus in Thailand: Further implication for rate of possible infected cases in province with reported case

400 © 2016 Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health | Published by Wolters Kluwer Medknow Dear Sir, Zika virus infection becomes the world problem at present. [1,2] The recent report by Wikan et al. on immunological evidence of Zika virus transmission in Thailand is very interesting. [3] Wikan et al. reported finding in patients with acute undifferentiated fever patients and found that there were cases with immunological response to antigen of Zika virus and other arboviruses in Thailand. [3] An interesting concern is on immunological reaction to dengue virus, which is an important virus that caused many outbreaks in Thailand in the past few years. Based on the report by Wikan et al., there are some cases with immunological reactivity to both Zika virus and dengue and it accounts for 14 cases from overall 17 cases (8.2%) and 16 cases (87.5%) with immunoreactive to dengue virus and Zika virus, respectively. Wikan et al. mentioned for possibility of existence of Zika virus and its transmission in Thailand. [3] Indeed, there are already confirmed cases of Zika virus infections in Thailand and it can be seen in several provinces. [3] A province with confirmed case is Ratchaburi province. In this province, there is a recent report on seroepidemiology during dengue outbreak, and the immunoreactive rate is equal to 71%. [4] Based on the report by Wikan et al., the expected immunoreactive rate to Zika virus in this area can be 62. 1%. This rate is considerable high and might explain the already existence of the Zika virus in this area for a long time, but the practitioner did not know.