Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From Chatter to Action: An Index of Sustainability Sentiment

Investments in sustainable assets have grown at a rapid pace over the last decade. Theory partially attributes this increase to changes in investor taste for sustainability. We develop a novel and direct measure of market-wide aggregate investor sentiment for sustainability and present evidence that it has a signi cant impact on asset prices. Using microblogging data from a social media investing platform, we construct a daily index capturing investor taste for environmental-, social-, and governance issues. We nd that (i) sustainability sentiment temporarily increases during market downturns; (ii) positive sentiment shocks drive prices of sustainable stocks above their fundamental value, which is corrected in the long run, whereas negative shocks predict long-term asset price decreases for sustainable stocks; and (iii) sentiment forecasts ows into sustainable mutual funds.
Validated simulation for thermal regulation of photovoltaic wall structures

A simulation model for PV wall structures is developed so that its thermal and electrical behaviour can be analysed and predicted. The air flow in the air duct behind the PV modules, and the heat transfer through the backing structure can also be calculated. The numerical solution of the governing equations for the air flow in the air duct yield the air velocity and temperature distributions along the air duct. An air duct with lower height and deeper depth can achieve a better performance of ventilation effect for PV modules. An indoor PV wall test rig was built for validation of the simulation model. With a well designed ventilated PV wall structure, the PV cell temperature can be reduced by 15/spl deg/C and the PV module power output can be increased by 8.0% compared with nonventilation PV wall structures. The simulation model predicts well the air flow behaviour inside the air duct.
Laboratory Performance Testing of Open-Graded Friction Course Mixtures

Several lab tests were used in this study to evaluate mixture properties. A draindown test, Cantabro stone loss test, a permeability test, and a modified version of AASHTO T-283 were used to evaluate laboratory performance of open-graded friction course (OGFC) mixes. Some of the more pertinent conclusions were as follows. The CoreLok procedure appears to be a more accurate method of determining bulk specific gravity of compacted specimens than the dimensional method. The minimum air voids content for new-generation OGFC mixtures should be 18% on the basis of the dimensional method and 16% on the basis of the CoreLok method. The addition of fiber stabilizers significantly reduced the potential for draindown. Superpaver; gyratory compactor (SGC)-compacted samples can be used for the Cantabro stone loss procedure. Unconditioned SGC samples should have stone loss of no more than 20%. If an aging process is used, the maximum amount of stone loss should be limited to 24%. Because there is not a significant difference between unaged and aged sample results, the aging procedure is not necessary. Results from this study show no significant difference in tensile strength when one, three, and five freeze-thaw cycles are used in the moisture-conditioning procedure. Therefore, only one freeze-thaw cycle is needed.
Supporting New Insight in Pipeline Hydrodynamics Using Stochastic Approaches on External Corrosion Damage

Several recent discoveries in the fluid-structure i nteractions between the external flows and circular cylinders p laced close to the wall have added new values to the hydrodynamics of unburied marine pipelines on a seabed. The hydrod ynamics of waves and/or currents introduced vortex flows surro unding the pipeline. External corrosions formed in marine pip elines were assumed to be partly contributed by such fluid-stru cture interactions. The spatial consequences of such int eractions were of interest of this study. This paper summari zed some experimental and numerical works carried out by previous researchers on these new discoveries. Actual field data were utilized in this study to support this hypothesis. The characteristics of corrosion orientations in the pi pelines were studied comprehensively using stochastic approaches and results were discussed. Results adopted from the f ield data acknowledged well to the hypothesis from the report ed literature. The updated knowledge from this fluid- structure interaction is hoped to be given more attention by the industry and perhaps to be incorporated into the current sub sea pipeline designs.
Analog Solutions of Discrete Markov Chains via Memristor Crossbars

Problems involving discrete Markov Chains are solved mathematically using matrix methods. Recently, several research groups have demonstrated that matrix-vector multiplication can be performed analytically in a single time step with an electronic circuit that incorporates an open-loop memristor crossbar that is effectively a resistive random-access memory. Ielmini and co-workers have taken this a step further by demonstrating that linear algebraic systems can also be solved in a single time step using similar hardware with feedback. These two approaches can both be applied to Markov chains, in the first case using matrix-vector multiplication to compute successive updates to a discrete Markov process and in the second directly calculating the stationary distribution by solving a constrained eigenvector problem. We present circuit models for open-loop and feedback configurations, and perform detailed analyses that include memristor programming errors, thermal noise sources and element nonidealities in realistic circuit simulations to determine both the precision and accuracy of the analog solutions. We provide mathematical tools to formally describe the trade-offs in the circuit model between power consumption and the magnitude of errors. We compare the two approaches by analyzing Markov chains that lead to two different types of matrices, essentially random and ill-conditioned, and observe that ill-conditioned matrices suffer from significantly larger errors. We compare our analog results to those from digital computations and find a significant power efficiency advantage for the crossbar approach for similar precision results.
Promoting disaster awareness in multicultural societies: the DAG approach

Purpose – The Disaster Awareness Game (DAG) was designed to evaluate and promote disaster awareness among children in multicultural societies. This study seeks to discuss this.Design/methodology/approach – The validation methodology was undertaken in four stages: Pre‐Test Stage – this stage is intended to evaluate the existing levels of disaster awareness among the target population using a questionnaire survey. DAG Exposure 1 – This represents the second stage of the pre‐test through exposure of the target population to the DAG. Provision of disaster information – In this stage, participants are provided with disaster management information on hazards that are pertinent to their environment. Post‐test stage – this stage was intended to evaluate the impact of the DAG and the provision of disaster information on the level of awareness among participants.Findings – Preliminary results suggest that the tool is effective in educating children about hazards, and measuring levels of disaster awareness and is in.
The Second Generation Electromobility in Polish Urban Public Transport: The Factors and Mechanisms of Spatial Development

One of the key challenges on the road to sustainable mobility is the development of low/zero emission urban public transport (UPT). This is crucial in order to meet environmental requirements aiming at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. In some countries (e.g., Poland) reduction of air pollution is also an important reason behind the implementation of low/zero emission UPT. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors and mechanisms influencing the development of modern electromobility in Polish UPT. We have examined all 242 UPT systems in the country in terms of the characteristics of the relevant urban municipalities, such as size, economic prosperity, level of human and social capital, development paths of urban public transport in the long term as well as the institutional context and proximity and connections to other cities with experience in electromobility. Classification and statistical methods are used based on a variety of approaches, as assigning a score to various preliminarily identified indicators or applying correlation between quantities to verify the formulated hypotheses. Our analysis demonstrates that electromobility adoption is the result of a combination of favourable economic, urban, social and technological characteristic features of a given city. Zero or low emission buses are more common in large cities which are highly positioned in urban hierarchy, economically sound and which are characterized by a well-developed tertiary economy as well as by high human capital. An additional factor that positively influences the implementation of electromobility—in particular at the very first stage—is proximity to the location of low emission bus producers. The leadership in modern electromobility can be understood as part of a broader, proactive development policy of the cities aimed at improving the quality of life of their residents. This is especially important in medium-sized towns where utilizing electric vehicles can be an instrument to maintain or even develop their role and status. The results of the article may provide a basis for creating sustainable urban policies, especially sustainable mobility and improving environmental quality.
Diminishing Heavy Metal Hazards of Contaminated Soil via Biochar Supplementation

Depending on the geochemical forms, heavy metal (HM) accumulation is one of the most serious environmental problems in the world and poses negative impacts on soil, plants, animals, and humans. Although the use of biochar to remediate contaminated soils is well known, the huge quantities of waste used and its recycling technique to sustain soil in addition to its use conditions are determinant factors for its characteristics and uses. A pot experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design to evaluate metal forms and their availability under the application of garden waste biochar (GB) pyrolyzed at different temperatures, and a sequential extraction procedure was designed to fractionate Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu of the contaminated soil. The results show that the TCLP-extractable Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu were significantly decreased depending on the biochar addition rate, pyrolysis temperature, and tested metal. The acid extractable fraction was significantly decreased by 51.54, 26.42, 16.01, and 74.13% for Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu, respectively, at the highest application level of GB400 compared to untreated pots. On the other hand, the organic matter bound fraction increased by 76.10, 54.69, 23.72, and 43.87% for the corresponding metals. The Fe/Mn oxide bound fraction was the predominant portion of lead (57.25–62.84%), whereas the acid fraction was major in the case of Cd (58.06–77.05%). The availability of these metals varied according to the application rate, pyrolysis temperature, and examined metals. Therefore, the GB is a nominee as a promising practice to reduce HM risks, especially pyrolyzed at 400 °C by converting the available fraction into unavailable ones.
A Review of the Hand Gesture Recognition System: Current Progress and Future Directions

This paper reviewed the sign language research in the vision-based hand gesture recognition system for the period from 2014 to 2020. Its objective is to identify what had been done in this field of research, and what needs more attention. Using selected keywords, a total of 96 articles were extracted from well-known online databases. The outcome of the review suggests that the vision-based hand gesture recognition research is an active field of research, where many studies had been conducted, resulting in dozens of articles being published annually in journals and conference proceedings. Most of these articles had focused on three critical aspects of the vision-based hand gesture recognition system, namely: data acquisition, data environment, and hand gesture representation. Through the analysis of these aspects, we have evaluated the performance of the vision-based hand gesture recognition system in terms of recognition accuracy. For the signer dependent, the recognition accuracy ranges from 69% to 98%, with an average of 88.8% among the selected studies. On the other hand, the signer independent’s recognition accuracy reported in the selected studies ranges from 48% to 97%, with an average recognition accuracy of 78.2%. The lack in the progress of looking at continuous gesture recognition could indicate that a lot more work is needed towards a practical vision-based gesture recognition system.
Downregulation of Lipid Phosphate Phosphatase 3 Correlates With Tumor-Infiltrating Immune Cells in Oral Cancer

Background Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a potent oncogenic lipid. Intracellular levels of S1P are tightly regulated by eight S1P-metabolizing enzymes. S1P synthesis is catalyzed by two sphingosine kinases, i.e., sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) and sphingosine kinase 2 (SphK2). Five lipid phosphatases (two S1P phosphatases and lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPPs) 1, 2, and 3) reversibly convert S1P back to sphingosine. Previously, we have determined the mRNA expression profile of eight S1P-metabolizing enzymes in tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues from oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. Except for SphK1, the role of S1P-metabolizing enzymes in OSCC has been poorly studied. Methods We have determined the protein expression of four S1P-metabolizing enzymes (SphK1, SphK2, sphingosine-1-phosphate phosphatase 1 (SGPP1), and lipid phosphate phosphatase 3 (LPP3)) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in tumor tissues of 46 OSCC patients. Six subjects with non-dysplastic oral mucosa were also included in the study. The immunoreactivity score (IRS) was calculated for each protein in every subject. Further, we determined the associations of expression of S1P-metabolizing enzymes with clinicopathological features of OSCC patients. Results We demonstrate the low IRS for SphK2 and LPP3 in OSCC tumors. Importantly, expression of SphK2 and LPP3 was downregulated in malignant epithelial cells compared to non-malignant mucosa. Further, LPP3 expression negatively correlated with tumor‑node‑metastasis (TNM) staging of patients (r = −0.307, p = 0.043). Importantly, expression of LPP3 in tumors was found to be an independent predictor of perinodal extension (b = −0.440, p = 0.009), lymphovascular invasion (b = −0.614, p < 0.001), lymph node ratio (b = 0.336, p = 0.039), and TNM staging (b = −0.364, p = 0.030). Conclusion Taken together, our data show that expression of SphK2 and LPP3 is decreased compared to normal mucosa. Thus, the S1P signaling pathway could represent a potential therapeutic target.
Evaluation of inversion approaches for guided wave thickness mapping

Accurate inversion is vital for quantitative imaging, including ultrasonic guided wave tomography, where thickness maps of plate-like structures are reconstructed to quantify corrosion damage. The dispersive properties of guided waves are often exploited to enable thickness maps to be produced from wave speed reconstructions. Ray tomography, diffraction tomography and a hybrid algorithm combining their features were investigated to reconstruct wave speed. Test data produced from simple defects of different sizes using a realistic full elastic guided wave model and the equivalent idealized acoustic model were passed to the imaging algorithms, generating wave speed maps, and, from these, thickness maps. For both datasets, ray tomography exhibited poor resolution. Diffraction tomography performed better, but was limited to shallow, small defects. The hybrid algorithm achieved the best results, giving a resolution around 1.5–2 wavelengths from the realistic test data compared to half wavelength from the idealized case. These results were validated with experimental data, and also extended to a realistic corrosion patch confirming the trends demonstrated with simple defects. The resolution loss with realistic data compared with idealized data indicates the acoustic model cannot accurately capture guided wave scattering and an alternative approach is necessary for better resolution reconstructions.
STRENGTHENING OF SLENDER HOLLOW STEEL COLUMNS BY FILLING WITH CONCRETE

The long hollow steel columns that support the roof of the oil storage tanks at Lennox generating station required strengthening to resist bending moments in addition to axial load. The results of a theoretical analysis indicated that pumping these columns full of concrete would provide the necessary increased capacity. However, present standards ignore the stiffening effect of concrete for columns where the slenderness ratio is high. Also, there are no test data available to confirm the theoretical analysis. Therefore, tests were conducted on two 47 ft (14 m) long, 13 in. (33 cm) diameter pipe columns, one empty and the other filled with concrete. The results of these tests confirmed that the concrete significantly increased the load and moment capacity of the columns.
Effects of Composts Made from Broiler Chicken Residues and Blended with Biochar on the Minerals and Phenolic Compounds in Parsley (Petroselinum crispum Mill.)

Soil amendments, such as composts and biochar, are currently widely used as substrates in container gardening. Although different types of wastes have been used in composting, formulating growing mediums for specific plants using different materials is necessary. In the present study, organic substrates comprising mixtures of (a) broiler chicken wastes composted with sugar bagasse, sawdust, urban tree, napier grass, or cotton residues, and (b) five different proportions of biochar (0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, and 60%) were used to produce mineral and flavonoid-rich parsley plants. The sawdust-based substrate led to the highest yields (27.86 g pot−1 on average), regardless of the amount of biochar added; however, this substrate resulted in plants with no appreciable antioxidant activities. Plants grown using the tree-based substrate had moderate yields (16.95 g pot−1), and the highest phenolic levels (e.g., 7.93 mg GAE g−1) and antioxidant activities (DPPH scavenging activity over 11.17 g TE g−1). Such activities were better described by the presence of apigenin-7-apiosylglucoside and diosmetin-apiosylglucoside. Moderate yields were also obtained with the cotton-based substrate; however, such yields were only obtained at biochar proportions greater than 30%; this substrate led to the highest K contents (47.19 g kg−1). The lowest yields (3.20 g pot−1) and N (20.96 g kg−1), P (1.33 g kg−1), K (33.26 g kg−1), and flavonoid (13.63 mg CE g−1) contents were obtained with the napier-based substrate. However, this substrate led to the production of parsley plants with the highest levels of anthocyanins (0.40 mg CGE g−1), which may have accumulated as stress sensors and defense components. The bagasse-based substrate also led to high yields and appreciable flavonoid contents with 60% biochar. In most cases, no linear relationship was found between the biochar amount and the chemical parameters evaluated. Overall, the substrates formulated using urban tree residues had higher suitability for parsley development than those formulated using sugar bagasse, sawdust, napier grass, or cotton residues.
Parents’ Involvement in High-Stakes Language Assessment A Review of Test Impact on Parent Behavior

This paper reviews a total of 20 empirical research studies concerning parents’ behavior under the context of high-stakes language assessment, aiming to reveal the impact of the assessment on parents’ behavior. The results show that (1) parents are typically involved in high-stakes language assessment process; (2) their involvement practice includes general (such as hiring tutors for children) and extreme involvement behavior (such as participating in movement against high-stakes testing); (3) no unanimous conclusion is reached concerning the effectiveness of parents’ involvement in high-stakes language assessment; (4) multiple factors that affect parents’ involvement in high-stakes language assessment are identified, including parents’ perceptions of tests, their educational background, and the time they spend with their children. This study concludes that tests might influence the ways parents are involved in children’s education. However, not all parents might be influenced by testing, and testing might have a positive impact on some parents but a negative impact on others. This synthesis has several practical implications. Firstly, it indicates that parents’ involvement behavior in the context of high-stakes language assessment deserves to be further investigated. Secondly, it points that various intervention programs should be provided for parents to help them better support their children’s learning and test preparation. The paper also offers several suggestions for future research.
Evaluation of Effects of Centerline Rumble Strips on Lateral Vehicle Placement and Speed

Transportation agencies are using a variety of rumble strip patterns to improve highway safety. Previous studies have documented the efficacy of rumble strips in reducing certain crash types. However, no research has been published on the operational effects of these low-cost safety treatments. An evaluation of the effect a treatment has on operational characteristics can be conducted and reported in much less time than an evaluation based on crash data. The effect of centerline rumble strips on lateral vehicle placement and vehicle speeds on two-lane highways was investigated with a before-and-after observational study. Data were collected using tape switches at two treatment sites and two comparison sites. The lane widths were 11 and 12 ft. Data analysis and statistical testing indicated the centerline rumble strips had a significant effect on the mean and variance of lateral vehicle placement at both treatment sites. The observed change in the mean lateral vehicle location was away from the centerline rumble strips at both treatment sites; the variance of lateral vehicle location decreased at both sites. Data collected at the corresponding comparison sites during the before-and-after periods indicated no change in the mean and variance of lateral vehicle placement. Additionally, the study found that lateral vehicle placement in travel lanes may not be normally distributed as was previously assumed. Further evaluation of lateral vehicle placement distribution should be conducted with larger sample sizes and different roadway cross sections. No relationship could be drawn between speed and the presence of rumble strips for 11- or 12-ft lanes.