Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mixed-frequency Drivers of Precious Metal Prices

Lack of intrinsic value, hybrid nature of commodities and recent financialization of commodity markets make of understanding precious metals price moves complicated. Predicting future development of precious metals market can be more feasible if we discover what drives these markets and describe nature of the drivers. The aim of the paper is to explain metal price movements by assessing an impact of multiple economic and financial factors. Based on the literature review we study 8 possible macroeconomic and financial drivers. The data are collected from Bloomberg. We use mixed-data-sampling methodology that enables me to study drivers of various frequencies (daily and monthly) simultaneously in a single model. Results show that the interest rate, the exchange rate, stock levels, stock index returns and crude oil returns are generally significant to drive precious metal markets. The stock index has the most significant impact on the metals returns that is negative. Furthermore, the results divide precious metals into two groups with gold and silver on the one hand and platinum and palladium on the other. The first group is worse explained by considered drivers. Moreover, the interest rate does not have any impact on the price development of gold and silver and crude oil returns influence the pair negatively, contrary to the second pair of platinum and palladium.
Speech Technologies for Advanced Applications in Service Robotics

The multimodal interface for controlling functions of the complex modular robotic system, which can be deployed in difficult conditions as are rescue works, natural disasters, fires, decontamination purposes was designed. Such interface involves several fundamental technologies such as speech recognition, speech synthesis and dialogue management. To enable human operator to cooperate with designed robotic system, the sophisticated architecture was designed and described technologies were implemented. The automatic speech recognition system is introduced, which is based on Hidden Markov models and enables to control functions of the system using a set of voice commands. The text-to-speech system was prepared for producing feedback to the operator and dialogue manager technology was adopted, which makes it possible to perform the information exchange between operator and robotic system. The system proposed is enriched with acoustic event detection system, which consists of a set of five microphones integrated on the robotic vehicle, the post-processing unit and detection unit.
Single and Vertical ly Stacked Semiconductor Quantum Dots S imulat

Abst rac t -We present in this paper a computational effective nonlinear iterative method for calculating the electron energy spectra in single and vertically stacked InAs/GaAs semiconductor quantum dots. The physical model problem is fornmlated with the effective one electronic band Hamiltonian, the energyand position-dependent electron effective ma~ss approximation, and the Ben Daniel-Duke boundary conditions. The multishift QR algorithm is implemented in the nonlinear iterative method for solving the corresponding nonlinear eigenvalue problem. This method converges monotonically when solving the nonlinear Schr6dinger equation for all quantum dot sinmlations. Numerical results show that the electron energy spectra are significantly dependent on the number of coupled layers. For the excited states, the layer dependence effect has been found to be weaker than that for the ground state. @ 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Measurement and Nature of Absolute Poverty in Least Developed Countries

This paper provides new national accounts consistent poverty estimates for low-income countries. The paper compares the properties of the new estimates that are based on household survey means to existing World Bank estimates. The new estimates are used to reflect on recent controversies regarding the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction. It is argued that the controversy is mainly due to the lack of a distinction between what one can refer to as 'generalized extreme poverty' in low-income countries and the more ? normal? poverty situations in higher income economies.
NUMERICAL COMPARISON OF THE TUBE BANK PRESSURE DROP USING A CONVENTIONAL NOZZLE POSITION AND AN INLINE NOZZLE POSITION OF A SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

Abstract— The main parameters describing the efficiency and acceptance of a particular shell and tube heat exchanger in any application is its pressure drop. More the pressure drop across the tube side less is the heat transfer and hence more is the pumping power required and more is the cost. The pressure drop on the tube side can be split into three parts namely pressure drop due to Inlet nozzle, pressure drop in the tube bank, and pressure drop in the outlet nozzle. A large number of analytical expressions are available for finding the tube bank pressure drop of a Conventional SHTX i.e. as per TEMA Standards. This research provides a Numerical approach for finding the pressure drop across the tube bank for a SHTX with a nozzle position other than the TEMA Standards and also its comparison of the tube bank pressure drop with a conventional BEM types of TEMA SHTX. Firstly the Conventional Nozzle position is used for an Elliptical Inlet and Outlet headers i.e. the nozzle length being perpendicular to the direction of flow in the inlet and outlet header and secondly the nozzle length being parallel to the direction of flow in the inlet and outlet header. Since the approach is numerical the use of Ansys 14.5 was used. ICEM was used for the geometry making and meshing. The meshed file was then exported to the Fluent for the solving process. After doing the solver setup and using appropriate boundary conditions the solution was found keeping in mind that the flow was steady and isothermal. The pressure zones computed at the Inlet header were compared between the two cases. Also the pressure drop across the tube bank were calculated for each case and compared. The results obtained from the Conventional Nozzle position were validated against the theoretical pressure drop and the same model and approach was used to find the Tube Bank pressure drop for an Inline Nozzle.
ESL: a Very Powerful SQL-Compliant Data Stream Language

Compliance with SQL standards is very desirable for a data stream query language because of practical considerations, and it is also very beneficial for applications that span both data streams and data bases. However, SQL suffers from expressive power impairments that, on streaming data, are even more serious than those it suffers on stored data. Our Expressive Stream Language (ESL) solves these problems, and achieves power, flexibility, and adherence to SQL:2003 standards by using: (i) table expressions and concrete views on data streams, (ii) non-blocking aggregates (UDAs), and (iii) efficient delta-based maintenance for UDAs on windows. ESL is fully supported in the UCLA Stream Mill DSMS and has proven very effective on a wide spectrum of applications that include approximate computations, data stream mining, time-series queries, and XML streams.
Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (uNGAL) in High Altitude: A Case Study

Introduction and Aims: Medical problems occur at high altitude. The classical physiological responses to high altitude include hyperventilation, polycythemia and hypoxiemia. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) can participate in extreme altitude mountaineering. The prevalence of acute kidney injury (AKI) at high altitude is not known. We studied the renal function, by urinary Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) in high altitude, as a promising biomarker for early detection of AKI. Methods: The 2012 ADIQ Expedition team included 4 male Caucasians participants (prt): two with T1D and two non-diabetics. Urine Glucose, Protein, Urobilinogen, pH, Specific Gravity, Blood, Ketones, Nitrite and Leucocytes were determinated on-site by Aution Sticks. The uCreatinine and uUrea were measured by F360 analyzer. uNGAL concentration was measured by the ARCHITECT urine NGAL assay. Microalbumin concentration was obtained by Beckman Image. Urine Total Protein measured by Dimension Vista analyser. The data has been normalized for urinary creatinine. Results: All expedition prt collected the urine samples (5000, 5600 m). The urinary qualitative results by dipstick evaluation showed normal values in all cases. The values of glycaemia in T1D prt were high after arrival at basecamp (without presence of ketones). The uNGAL concentrations and uNGAL/uCrea ratios were also lower than 132 ng/ml (cut-off of uNGAL) in all participants. Conclusions: All the prt had normal uNGAL during the time of expedition, suggesting normal renal activity also confirmed by the analysis of the other parameters. The renal function in T1D prt was preserved despite the abnormal metabolic state represented by hyperglycemia. In this type of activity, level of training is especially important.
ANTAGONISTIC ASSAY OF SECONDARY METABOLITES OF MANGROVE ASSOCIATED FUNGI AGAINST FISH AND HUMAN PATHOGENS

The mangrove endophytic fungi producing secondary metabolites were checked for the inhibitory effect against the marine fish and human pathogens. Two fungal strains were isolated in Sabouroud’s Dextrose Agar and mass culture was obtained in the broth. The secondary metabolites were extracted by ethyl acetate solvent. The fungal strains were identified as Hypocrea lixii and Meyerozyma guilliermondii based on the ITS region sequence. The ethyl acetate extract showed maximum antagonistic activity in all the seven fish and human bacterial pathogens. This first step assessment of the secondary metabolites from the endophytic fungi showed their antagonistic potential to investigate further for an effective drug for fish and human pathogens.
Hard, Soft, or Tough Love: What Kinds of Organizational Culture Promote Successful Performance in Cross-Organizational Collaborations?

One of the most-pervasive debates in literature on managing people is whether using â€œhardâ€ or â€œsoftâ€ approaches produces better organizational performance -- those seeking to influence behavior by pressuring or by nurturing. This paper examines this question in the context of a cross-organizational collaboration in English local government between police, probation, social work, and other organizations designed to reduce crime. Using a survey to gather data about cultural features of these collaborations and actual crime data, we find interaction effects between the joint presence of â€œhardâ€ and â€œsoftâ€ cultural features in explaining crime reduction. Taking a phrase from pop psychology, it appears that cultures characterized by â€œtough loveâ€ perform better than those with only â€œhardâ€ or â€œsoftâ€ features by themselves. We suggest that further research be conducted surrounding the relationship of the â€œtough loveâ€ construct to organizational performance.
Optimal dimensional synthesis of a symmetrical five-bar planar upper-extremity neuromotor device

Individuals with hemiplegia suffer from impaired arm movements that appear as a marked change in arm stiffness. A quantitative measure of arm stiffness would characterize rehabilitation therapy effectively, while little mechanism is designed to implement the function. A symmetrical five-bar linkage consisting of two revolute joints and three prismatic joints is presented. Inverse kinematics and forward kinematics are obtained first. Then inverse singularities and direct singularities of the mechanism are gained. The global stiffness index is defined based on the results of kinematics analysis. Finally, optimal dimensional synthesis of the mechanism in terms of maximum stiffness is conducted by genetic algorithms. The calculation results show that with the length of both the two linkage a=830 mm, the interacting angle of the two guides 2δ=4.48 radian, and the maximum range of displacement of the two carriers dmax=940 mm, the mechanism achieves highest rigidity and its workspace is singularity-free, which covers the human left and right arm range of motion. The proposed novel mechanism featuring high rigidity and a singularity-free workspace can provide rehabilitation training, also solve the problem of quantitative measure of arm stiffness.
A Study on the Modeling of Pt-Catalyzed Reaction and the Characteristics of Mass Transfer in a Micro-Scale Combustor

Abstract Numerical analysis is applied to model Pt-catalyzed reaction in a micro-scale combustor fueled by butane. The reaction constants of catalytic oxidation are determined from plug flow model with the experimental data. Orders of magnitude between the chemical reaction rate and the mass transfer rate are carefully compared to reveal which mechanism plays a dominant role in the total fuel conversion rate. For various conditions of fuel flow rate and surface temperature, the profiles of Sherwood number are investigated to study the characteristics of the mass transport phenomena in the micro-tube combustor. 기호설명 A : Pre-exponential factor A c : 연소기의 단면 면적 C B,b : 부탄의 혼합평균 몰 농도 C B,s : 촉매 표면에서의 부탄 몰 농도 c p : 비열 D B : 부탄의 2 성분 질량 확산 계수 d : 연소기의 수력 직경 E a : 활성화 에너지 Gz m : 물질 Graetz 수 h i : i 화학 종의 엔탈피 J i,r : i 화학 종의 반경 방향 질량 유속 성분 J i,z : i 화학 종의 축 방향 질량 유속 성분 k c : Specific reaction rate k m,b : 부탄의 물질 전달 계수 L : 연소기의 길이 p : 압력 Re : 레이놀즈 수 R u : 유니버설 가스 상수
Forecasting milk production in Tamilnadu

Tamilnadu, with a daily milk production of 145.88 lakh litres, is one of the leading states in milk production in India. And the Tamilnadu milk cooperatives play a major role in the development dairy within the state. This study aims at forecasting milk production in Tamilnadu, based on data on milk production during the years from 1978 to 2008. The study considered Autoregressive (AR), Moving Average (MA) and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) processes to select the appropriate stochastic model for forecasting milk production in Tamilnadu. Based on ARIMA (p, d, q) and its components ACF, PACF, Normalized BIC, Box-Ljung Q statistics and residuals estimated, ARIMA (1, 1, 0) was selected. Based on the chosen model, it could be predicted that the milk production would increase to 7.15 million tons in 2015 from 5.96 million tons in 2008 in Tamilnadu.
Herschel-HIFI observations of H2O, NH3, and N2H+ toward high-mass starless and protostellar clumps identified by the Hi-GAL survey

Context. Our present understanding of high-mass star formation still remains very schematic. In particular, it is not yet clear how much of the difference between low-mass and high-mass star formation occurs during the earliest star formation phases. Aims. The chemical characteristics of massive cold clumps, and the comparison with those of their low-mass counterparts, could provide crucial clues about the exact role that chemistry plays in differentiating the early phases of low-mass and high-mass star formation. Water, in particular, is a unique probe of physical and chemical conditions in star-forming regions. Methods. Using the HIFI instrument of Herschel, we have observed the ortho−NH3 (10 −00 ) (572 GHz), ortho−H2 O (110 −101 ) (557 GHz), and N2 H+ (6−5) (559 GHz) lines toward a sample of high-mass starless and protostellar clumps selected from the Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL). We compare our results to previous studies of low-mass and high-mass protostellar objects. Results. At least one of the three molecular lines was detected in 4 (out of 35) and 7 (out of 17) objects in the l = 59° and l = 30° galactic regions, respectively. All detected sources are protostellar. The water spectra are complex and consist of several kinematic components, identified through a Gaussian decomposition, and we detected inverse and regular P-Cygni profiles in a few sources. All water line profiles of the l = 59° region are dominated by a broad Gaussian emission feature, indicating that the bulk of the water emission arises in outflows. No such broad emission is detected toward the l = 30° objects. The ammonia line in some cases also shows line wings and an inverse P-Cygni profile, thus confirming that NH3 rotational transitions can be used to probe the dynamics of high-mass, star-forming regions. Both bolometric and water line luminosity increase with the continuum temperature. Conclusions. The higher water abundance toward the l = 59° sources, characterized by the presence of outflows and shocks, supports a scenario in which the abundance of this molecule is linked to the shocked gas. Various indicators suggest that the detected sources toward the l = 30° region are in a somewhat later evolutionary phase compared to the l = 59° field, although a firm conclusion is limited by the small number of observed sources. We find many similarities with studies carried out toward low-mass protostellar objects, but there are indications that the level of infall and turbulence in the high-mass protostars studied here could be significantly higher.
Optimised Design of a Printed Elliptical Spiral Antenna with a Dielectric Superstrate

Abstract − An elliptical spiral antenna embedded between a grounded dielectric substrate and superstrate is designed using a curved segment moment method employing complex images, which is driven by a marginal distribution optimisation algorithm. The spiral parameters together with substrate and superstrate permittivity and thickness values are optimised for low axial ratio and maximum gain and bandwidth. It is shown that the superstrate improves the bandwidth of the spiral.
Genetic diversity of insect trypanosomatids from subarctic and North West Russia revialed by up PCR typing

Summary A fast and reliable method of genotyping (UPPCR) was applied to trypanosomatids isolated from insects collected in North and NorthWest Russia. These isolates were earlier shown to be situated in the crown of the trypanosomatid 18S rDNA phylogenetic tree. Relationships between parasites of two Heteroptera families - Nabidae and Saldidae - were investigated with a particular focus on isolates from supralittoral bugs Salda and Saldula. Several trypanosomatid species can apparently infect one insect species, as it was demonstrated for Leptomonas sp. PL and Wallaceina sp. Wsd isolated at the same place and day from different individuals of Salda littoralis. Very similar trypanosomatids, probably belonging to one species (Leptomonas sp. PL and Sld), were found in different insect genera, which points to a broad host specificity of these parasites. To our knowledge, the present paper is the first one aimed at revealing the presence and biodiversity of insect trypanosomatids from hosts inhabiting high latitude areas. The investigation has demonstrated that trypanosomatid fauna in subarctic regions is diverse.
Attribution methods for deep convolutional networks

In recent years, Deep Learning has shown great success across several areas. However, even, though it might provide remarkable accuracy for many tasks, its application in some fields faces a fundamental problem: its predictions are not interpretable. Attribution Methods offer a possible solution in regards to this problem. To do so, they resource to results in Game Theory in order to explain individual decisions made by Deep Learning algorithms. In this work, we will be focusing, specifically, on the application of Attribution Techniques to a subset of Deep Learning algorithms: Convolutional Neural Networks. Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my advisor, Jordi, for all the valuable insights, discussion and general mentorship that he has provided me. I would also like to thank my parents for their general support through this journey.
Hole Transport Behaviour of Various Polymers and Their Application to Perovskite-Sensitized Solid-State Solar Cells

Inorganic-organic mesoscopic solar cells become a promising alternative for conventional solar cells. We describe a CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite-sensitized solid-state solar cells with the use of different polymer hole transport materials such as 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD), poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT), and poly[[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl][3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophenediyl]] (PTB7). The device with a spiro-OMeTAD-based hole transport layer showed the highest efficiency of 6.9%. Interestingly, the PTB7 polymer, which is considered an electron donor material, showed dominant hole transport behaviors in the perovskite solar cell. A 200 nm thin layer of PTB7 showed comparatively good efficiency (5.5%) value to the conventional spiro-OMeTAD-based device.
Thawing versus tracker behaviour: observational evidence

Currently there are a variety of scalar field models that attempt to explain the late time acceleration of the Universe. This includes the standard canonical and non-canonical scalar field models together with recently proposed Galileon scalar field models. One can divide all these scalar field models into two broad categories, namely the thawing and the tracker classes. In this work we investigate the evidence for these models with the presently available observational data using the Bayesian approach. We use the Generalized Chaplygin Gas (GCG) parametrization for dark energy equation of state (EoS) as it exhibits both the thawer and tracker like behaviours for different values of the parameters. Subsequently we use the SnIa ( SN) measurements, the recent measurements of the Hubble parameter at different redshifts (H(z)), measurements of the lookback time at different redshifts (Lookback), measurements of the linear growth factor in large scale structure (GR) from various redshift surveys and finally the measurement of the anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation by WMAP-7 observations. The analysis of data from SN+H(Z)+Lookback does not favour either the tracker or thawer classes. Inclusion of data from GR+WMAP-7 favours the thawer class of models if one assumes the dark energy to be a smooth component. But if we consider the dark energy perturbation, both tracker and thawer type of models are equally favoured by the data.
CASHLESS POLICY AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

The paper discussed the effects of cashless policy on the Nigerian economy, how it was kickstarted in Lagos, means of payments (both manual and electronic), positive and negative effects of cashless policy, benefits to the economy and stakeholders, suggestions were made to the Nigerian government on how to curb some of the negative effects and to improve on the implementation of the policy.
High Gain Array of Monopoles-Coupled Antennas for Wireless Applications

An array of monopole antennas over a ground plane that radiates a directive lobe in the end-fire direction are described in this paper. The design uses the rigorous method described by Drouet et al. 2008 in order to synthesize the radiation through the strong cumulative coupling between the monopoles. A gain higher than 20 dB was achieved in the end-fire direction over a 4.5% bandwidth. However, the antenna has been tilted in order to compensate the beam deviation caused by the edge diffraction. A prototype with 12 elements has been manufactured in order to validate the antenna principle and the whole antenna is successfully measured. The prototype was studied with the software CST-Microwave Studio and the feed network has been designed with Agilent ADS.