Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tunable Holstein model with cold polar molecules

We show that an ensemble of polar molecules trapped in an optical lattice can be considered as a controllable open quantum system. The coupling between collective rotational excitations and the motion of the molecules in the lattice potential can be controlled by varying the strength and orientation of an external dc electricfield as well as the intensity of the trapping laser. The system can be described by a generalized Holstein Hamiltonian with tunable parameters and can be used as a quantum simulator of excitation energy transfer and polaron phenomena. We show that the character of excitation energy transfer can be modified by tuning experimental parameters.
A simple and rapid plate assay for screening of inulindegrading microorganisms using Lugol’s iodine solution

In this report, a simple and rapid agar plate assay was established for screening of halophilic, inulindegrading microorganisms. Two strains considered inulinolytic with this method were chosen and the inulinolytic activities in their culture supernatant were measured with the Somogyi-Nelson method, while their hydrolysis products of inulin were detected with TLC chromatogram. Key words: Screening, halophilic microorganism, inulinase, Lugol’s iodine solution.
Performance of DNA Sequences Compression on Multicores and GPUs Research Article

The DNA sequences are huge in size and the databases are growing at an exponential rate. For example, the human genome in raw format ranges from 2 to 30 Tera-bytes. The main reason for this is the invention of new species and increasing number of DNA profiles. The growth of the DNA affects the storage as well as bandwidth when these sequences need to be transferred. Applications such as DNA profiling, Real time DNA crime investigation require access to the DNA sequences in real time. The inherent property of DNA is that it contains many repeats which makes it highly compressible. However, the applications mentioned not only require good compression ratio but also needs faster compression. Multicores and GPUs can be used to perform the compression quickly. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm with a focus on the throughput along with the compression ratio. The algorithm scales well on GPUs and achieves a speedup of 11 on multi-cores and upto 23 on GPUs when run on M2070 Tesla card and upto 57 on K20 Kepler GPUs. We also extended this algorithm such that it adapts to the input sequence depending on the number of consecutive repeats and accordingly chooses the right algorithm which leads to a better compression.
Sex and Puffery in Advertising: An Absolutely Sensational and Sexually Provocative Experiment

A sample of 295 students participated in a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 between subjects full factorial design experiment which examined the effects of advertising puffery and sexuality on attitude toward the ad. Subjects viewed ads and were evaluated on the following factors: model nudity (nude/clothed), message puffery (puffed/non-puffed message), and sex of the model (male/female). Additionally, sex of the subject was used as a blocking variable to create the fourth factor. No main effects were found for nudity or puffery. A strong and consistent opposite-sex effect was found for men where they preferred the female model. In contrast, women were not consistent with the opposite-sex effect. Men preferred the non-puffed message while women preferred the puffed message. Managerial implications are offered for the findings. Key words: Puffery; Sex; Print advertising; Nudity; Attitude
On Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Operational Loss Distributions

This paper develops a likelihood-based methodology to estimate loss distributions and compute Capital at Risk in risk management applications. In particular, we deal with the problem of estimating severity distributions with censored and truncated operational losses, for which numerical maximization of the likelihood function by means of standard optimization tools may be difficult. We show that, under the standard hypothesis of lognormal severity, maximum likelihood estimation can be performed by means of the EM algorithm. We derive the relevant equations of the algorithm and apply it to operational loss data. Finally, a simulation study shows that, In this setup, the EM algorithm has more desirable properties than both the BFGS algorithm and the Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm.
"Streptomyces flavomacrosporus, A multi-metal tolerant potential bioremediation candidate isolated from paddy field irrigated with industrial effluents"

Prime drive of the research work carried out was to explore heavy metal-tolerant bacteria from rhizospheric soil samples collected from contaminated agricultural lands of southern India. Soil samples of Mysore agricultural lands of Karnataka state, India, irrigated with industrial effluents from several decades, were brought to the laboratory in sterile polythene bags and were screened by plating serially diluted samples on to Minimal Glucose Yeast extract agar media amended with 0.3mM mercury. Morphologically differing cultures were tested for their tolerance to mercury by growing them in the liquid minimal media amended with 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6mM concentrations of mercuric chloride and 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5mM of lead nitrate at optimal physiological conditions. Further the isolates were identified using 16s r-DNA PCR amplification. Blast analysis of the sequence results revealed for the first time the tolerance potential of Streptomyces flavomacrosporus, Bacillus methylotrophicus, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Bacillus tequilensis, Bacillus pumilus, and Bacillus subtilis and their chances of participation in bioremediation of mercury. Among these isolates the actinomycetes S. flavomacrosporus, showed tolerance to multi metals.
ENERGY AND ENTROPY ANALYSES OF AN EXPERIMENTAL TURBOJET ENGINE FOR TARGET DRONE APPLICATION

This study investigates energy and entropy analyses of an experimental turbojet engine build in Anadolu University Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics Test-Cell Laboratory. Law of motions and Brayton thermodynamic cycle model are used for this purpose. The processes (that is, compression, combustion, and expansion) are simulated in P-v, T-s and h-s diagrams. Furthermore, the second law of thermodynamics is applied to the cycle model to perform the entropy analysis. A distribution of the wasted and thrust power, the overall (energy-based the first law efficiency), and the specific fuel consumption and specific thrust of the engine were calculated during the analyses as well. The results of the study also show the entropy changing value in engine components due to irreversibilities and inefficiencies. As a conclusion, it is expected that this study is useful to study future design and research work similar aircraft turbojets, auxiliary power units and target drone power systems.
The Cost of Consent: Optimal Standardization in the Law of Contract

This article argues that informed consent to contract terms is not a good to be maximized, but is rather an information cost that courts should minimize. The goal of mass-market contract law ought to be to keep costs low by encouraging contract standardization. The article applies information cost theory to show that information-forcing rules are often inefficient at both the micro- and macroeconomic levels. Such rules also impose greater costs on third parties than the benefits they create for the contracting parties. When one consumer creates an idiosyncratic deal, the information-savings benefits of standardization are reduced for all other potential consumers. The article demonstrates that in some cases courts are already abandoning a rigid view of contractual consent where consent is too costly; but that under other doctrines courts insist on an inefficient level of informed contractual consent.
CUDARE Working Papers

We examine the size of stable coalitions in a participation game that has been used to model international environmental agreements, cartel formation, R&D spillovers, and monetary policy. The literature to date has relied on parametric examples; based on these examples, a consensus has emerged that in this kind of game, the equilibrium coalition size is small, except possibly when the potential benefits of cooperation are also small. In this paper, we develop a non-parametric approach to the problem, and demonstrate that the conventional wisdom is not robust. In a general setting, we identify conditions under which the equilibrium coalition size can be large even when potential gains are large. Contrary to previously examined leading special cases, we show that reductions in marginal abatement costs in an international environmental game can increase equilibrium membership, and we provide a measure of the smallest reduction in costs needed to support a coalition of arbitrary size.
A NOVEL PARTICLE SEPARATION METHOD USING MULTI-STAGE MULTI-ORIFICE FLOW FRACTIONATION (MS-MOFF)

This research presents an multi-stage multi-orifice flow fractionation (MS-MOFF) device designed for achieving high recovery and purity simultaneously. The structure and dimensions of the MS-MOFF were determined by the hydrodynamic principles to have consistent Reynolds numbers (Re) at each multi-orifice segment. From this device, we achieved improved recovery and maximize purity by collecting and re-separating the non-selected particles. The final recovery increased from 73.2 % to 88.7 % while the purity slightly decreased from 91.4 % to 89.1 %. The MS-MOFF device can be utilized to isolate rare cells from human blood solely by using inertial microfluidic forces.
Effect of Service Numbers on Resynchronization Responses in Lactating Dairy Cows during Warm Season

Our objective in this study was to consider the effect of service numbers on the percentage of lactating cows that responded to the resynchronization and fertility during warm season. Lactating dairy cows (n= 750) in five groups of 150 with different service numbers according to the last service (AI1= First service, AI2= 2nd, AI3= 3rd, AI4= 4th, AI≥ 5) were assigned to receive Ovsynch56 starting on day 28 after fixed time AI (TAI). Ultrasonography was done during Ovsynch56 injections and also for confirmation of pregnancy in all cows at 32 and 60±4 days after fixed timed AI. Results showed proportion of cows that ovulated in response to the first GnRH injection of Ovsynch was greatest (P= 0.01) in the first service cows compared with other services. In addition, cows that ovulated in response to the first GnRH of Ovsynch had greater response to PGF2α of Ovsynch (91.8 vs. 74.2%, respectively) and finally greater conception rate (CR) at 32 d after AI (32.1 vs. 24.6%, respectively) than those that did not ovulate. Conception rate at 32 and 60 days after AI was similar up to the third service (29.1 and 21.8% at days 32 and 60, respectively), but decreased after that (19.75 and 10.4% at days 32 and 60, respectively, P= 0.02). In conclusion, results of this study showed service numbersaffected the proportion of cows that responded to resynchronization protocol. Conception rate was reasonable up to the third service, but, after the third breeding, proportion of cows that responded to resynchronization decreased and CR dropped below 20%.
MARKET POWER MITIGATION PROPOSALS FOR THE SPANISH WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET

The Spanish Electric Power Act intends to establish an electricity market carried out in a coordinated way according to the principles of free competition. Its resulting market price is aimed at being passed-through to consumers, but unfortunately it has not yet played the central role characteristic of a well-functioning power market. There is a main reason behind the verified lack of trust the regulator (the administration) shows in the market: the horizontal concentration that characterizes the wholesale market. This distrust happens to be the reason behind some other negative regulatory design flaws, for instance, a mechanism of stranded costs recovery that has severely interfered with the market functioning and the fact that the tariff design does not fully pass-through this market price to consumers. The main purpose of the “White Paper for the reform of the regulatory scheme of the power generation in Spain”, Perez-Arriaga (2005), is to settle the regulatory conditions to revert this situation. This paper develops its main proposal, aimed at tackling the negative impact that the particular structure of the Spanish wholesale market has on the overall regulatory design.
Group Theoretical Approach to rf Coil Design

th order polynomials where N in the number of independent loops in the system. For coils with some degree of symmetry, it is possible to use group theory to block-diagonalize Kirchhoff’s laws. With sufficient symmetry, the blocks may be small enough to find closed-form solutions for all the frequencies. The ranks of the blocks are given by the ranks of the irreducible representations of the group, and in practice have been determined to be at most three or four for coils with a moderate degree of symmetry. The block-diagonalization process is writing down a unitary transformation that transforms the system from a basis in which it is easy and convenient to write Kirchhoff’s laws to a basis in which it is easy to solve for the normal mode frequencies of the system. Pedagogical Example For the system depicted in Fig. 1, it is easy to write down Kirchhoff’s law and verify that the unitary matrix, 11 0 22 11 0 22 0 01 U =−
Corrosion resistance of laser-cladded 304L stainless steel enriched with ruthenium additions exposed to sulphuric acid and sodium chloride media

Corrosion is responsible for significant economic loss in all types of industries due to equipment failures and additional maintenance requirements. It can be prevented or reduced by applying surface coatings to the metal. The evaluation of a more corrosion-resistant surface coating on 304L stainless steel is the subject of this investigation. It is well known that the corrosion resistance (electrochemical and pitting corrosion) of all types of stainless steels is significantly increased by alloying it with small amounts of platinum group metals (PGMs) (Sherif et al., 2009). Ru is by far the least expensive metal of the PGM family and therefore is most applicable in industry for the passivation of stainless steels. It has been observed that the addition of small amounts of Ru improves the corrosion resistance of stainless steel (Potgieter, Ellis, and van Bennekom, 1995). Bulk alloying is still considered expensive, and since corrosion is a surface phenomenon, recent research (Lekala, van der Merwe, and Pityana, 2012) indicates a tendency to add the alloy only to the surface, where corrosion protection is most required. It is now generally known (Potgieter, Ellis, and van Bennekom, 1995) that during active corrosion, ruthenium additions increase the resistance of stainless steel to anodic dissolution and lower the hydrogen overpotential. This implies that ruthenium inhibits the corrosion of the alloy by a combination of these two mechanisms. During active dissolution, ruthenium increases the corrosion potential and lowers the critical as well as the passivation current density. Potgieter, Ellis, and van Bennekom (1995) showed that stainless steel alloyed with minor ruthenium additions passivates spontaneously due to the formation of a stable passive surface layer with a significantly increased corrosion resistance. This shifts the corrosion potential of these alloys towards more noble (more positive) values. The mechanism of corrosion also depends on the medium of exposure.
Farmer variety exchange along Amazonian rivers influences the genetic structure of manioc maintained in a regional Brazilian GeneBank.

Knowledge of agro-morphological and genetic variability of germplasm diversity is a prerequisite for its use in breeding. The aim of this study was to characterize the genetic diversity of the manioc (Manihot esculenta) Active Germplasm Bank (AGB) at Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental using microsatellite markers. We evaluated 470 accessions collected along five of the main rivers of the Amazon basin: Solimoes, Purus, Madeira, Negro, and Amazon. The ten SSR loci used showed high levels of genetic diversity, the polymorphism information content ranged from 0.35 to 0.84, and the mean number of alleles per locus was 11.3. Accessions from the Madeira River had a higher Shannon index (1.52), as well as the largest number of private alleles (19). Bayesian inference of genetic structure implemented in the Structure software suggested the existence of two groups of accessions without clear association with river basins. The accumulated variation in the first two axes of the principal coordinate analysis revealed low genetic divergence between these groups, while AMOVA identified most of the molecular variance within the groups. Farmer exchange of varieties along and among rivers probably explains the lack of structure. Although the manioc AGB of Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental contains abundant genetic diversity, no differentiation was found between the groups studied.
Use of Low-Cost Aqua-Feed in Semi-Intensive Cage Culture of the GIFT Strain of Nile Tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus )

The objective of this trial was evaluating the growth performance of GIFT Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with 2 types of aqua-feeds(Feed-A and Feed-B) in cage culture and determine the suitability compared to the commercial fish feed (FeedC) as control. Nine cages (10 m each) were installed in a reservoir (80 ha) and stocked with fingerlings of GIFT Tilapia (mean weight= 18.7±12.07 g; mean total length 9.7±2.08 cm) at a density of 45 fingerlings m. Completely Randomized Design with 3 treatments, in triplicate, was utilized. Rice bran, Poonac and fishmeal (Fm) were used to formulate both aquafeeds. Part of the Fm (10-12%) in Feed-B was replaced by fresh ipil-ipil leaves. The protein percentage (%) in Feed-A and Feed-B was adjusted to 29%, but it ranged from 17.20-23.97 and from 19.6-25.5, respectively. During the experimental period, fish were fed twice daily at 5% of body weight at the beginning and then up to 3.6%, 3% and 2.5% onwards. The mean % survival, Condition Factor and Specific Growth Rate of the fish fed on Feed-A, Feed-B and Feed-C were not significantly different (P>0.05), but the Average Daily Growth was significantly different (P<0.05). Data were analyzed with One-way ANOVA. The total fish production in cages through Feed-A, Feed-B and Feed-C were 128, 77 and 160 kg, respectively. Considering the cost of feed Rs.18/-, 17/and 160/and net income received in Rs. 18,645/-, 8140/-, (20,800/-), Feed-A and Feed-B could be considered. Nevertheless, as the ipil ipil leaves were the ingredient and considering the availability of the highest carcass protein content (18.878±2.193), Feed-B is economically feasible.
High Thermal Conductivity of Flake Graphite Reinforced Polyethylene Composites Fabricated by the Powder Mixing Method and the Melt-Extruding Process

The thermal conductivity of flake graphite (FG) particulates reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites was systematically investigated under a special dispersion state of FG particles. The effects of particle size, weight filling ratio and proportion of various sizes were discussed in detail. A special composite (15 wt % 500 μm/10 wt % 200 μm/10 wt % 20 μm/5 wt % 2 μm FG + 60 wt % polyethylene (PE)) with a high thermal conductivity about 2.49 W/(m·K) was produced by combining the synergistic effect of several fillers. The component material size distribution was employed to analyze the effect of particle size. And scanning electron microscope (SEM) was adopted to observe the FG network in the composites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed the good thermal stability of composites. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that all composites own a similar melting temperature. Sample compression experiment indicated that all composites still exhibit high mechanical strength. Consequently, the easy-making flake graphite reinforced polyethylene composites with a high thermal conductivity would have a wide application in the new material field, such as a thermal interface material, a heat exchanger, voltage cable, etc.
Intuition versus formal theory: tactical voting in England 1987-1997

Intuition tells us that tactical (or strategic) voting is most likely when the voter is indifferent between their first and second preference parties, strongly prefers their second over their third choice, and lives in a marginal constituency where their preferred party is a long way behind the second placed party. But there are two competing rational choice theories. Cox predicts that in any constituency there will either be nearly no tactical voting, or the third and lower placed parties will be almost totally deserted. Myatt criticises the Cox model for failing to account for uncertainty and produces alternative predictions close to the standard intuition, but with important differences. This paper tests these three theories using data on English voters at the 1987, 1992 and 1997 British general elections. The Myatt theory fits the data while the standard intuition and the Cox theory do not. Thus formal theory can improve on intuition in predicting political behaviour.
The Role of Uroguanylin in the Regulation of Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System

Dysregulation of the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS) is implicated in diseases such as hypertension and congestive heart failure. cGMP regulating systems work as physiological antagonists to counter harmful RAAS hyperactivity. Uroguanylin (UGN) is one such cGMP regulating peptide, but its effect on RAAS has not been studied. On the basis of background information from other cGMP regulating factors like atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), as well as the phenotype of UGN knockout mice, we formulated the hypothesis that UGN negatively regulates renin expression and/or secretion. The microarray results were consistent with our hypothesis that UGN inhibits renin mRNA expression but we could not validate this by Real-Time PCR. A possible reason behind this discrepancy could be the remarkable effect of psychosocial stress on renin expression, a parameter not considered during our microarray experiment. Future studies could be designed to explore the possible negative role of UGN on renin secretion.