Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved Delivery of Caffeic Acid through Liposomal Encapsulation

Photoageing resulting from long term exposure of the skin to UV light can be minimized by scavenging the reactive photochemical intermediates with antioxidants. For effective photoprotection, the antioxidant must overcome the barrier properties of the skin and reach the target site in significant amounts. The present study aims to improve the skin penetration of caffeic acid, a very effective free radical scavenger, by encapsulating in liposomes. Caffeic acid loaded liposomes prepared using the reverse phase evaporation technique showed 70% encapsulation efficiency and size around 100 nm with zeta potential of −55 mV. In vitro diffusion through a dialysis membrane enabled 70% release of encapsulated caffeic acid within 7 h, whereas 95% of free caffeic acid diffused within 4 h in PBS solution pH 7.4. Liposomal caffeic acid permeation through pig skin epidermis in a Franz cell apparatus was 45 % during 7 h. In contrast, free caffeic acid was almost nonpermeable <5% to pig skin during this time. The DPPH assay indicated that skin penetration did not destroy the antioxidant activity of liposomal caffeic acid or free caffeic acid. In conclusion, we confirm that liposomal caffeic acid may be successfully employed as an effective photoprotective agent against UV mediated skin damage.
Improvement of Patch Selection in Exemplar-based Image Inpainting

In the existing exemplar based image inpainting algorithms, the most similar match patches are used to inpaint the destroyed region, and they are searched in the whole source region in a fixed size. However, sometimes it would decrease the connectivity of structure and clearness of texture while increases the time complexity of this algorithm. To solve these problems, firstly we proposed an adaptive sample algorithm based on patch sparsity, it calculates the patch sparsity which divided the patches’ location into three types (smooth type, transition type and edge type). Then the size of the sample patch can be adaptively changed according to the type. Secondly it proposed a candidate patch system to improve the patch matching rate. From the result, we can see that the proposed method can match more significant patches than the traditional method, and it can give a better texture inpainting effect, especially when processing the complex and regular textures in the image which has a large destroyed region.
Analyzing Cost and Risk Interaction Effects in IT Project Portfolios

Financial Services Providers usually conduct multiple concurrent IT projects and have to constantly allocate their resources on the projects in an efficient way. Naturally, they may realize cost synergies among projects – e.g., due to infrastructure sharing – depending on the projects’ resource requirements. However, exploiting resource interactions leads not only to cost synergies but also to risk interaction effects. We propose a conceptual model based on the Modern Portfolio Theory to study these costs and risk interaction effects among IT projects. The main contribution of this research is the conceptualization of the effects of resource interactions on the risk of a Financial Services Provider’s project portfolio. Thereby, we illustrate that realizing cost synergies may not only lead to risk accumulation effects but, counterintuitively, also to risk reduction effects.
Banks' Liability Structure and Mortgage Lending During the Financial Crisis

We examine the impact of banks׳ exposure to market liquidity shocks through wholesale funding on their supply of credit during the financial crisis using loan level data that best allow us to isolate supply-side effects. We find that banks that were more reliant on wholesale funding curtailed their credit significantly more than retail-funded banks. We also exploit the discrete fall in the liquidity of loans above the jumbo cutoff and show that this effect is significantly more pronounced for less liquid loans in line with a liquidity channel. We show that this result cannot be attributed to uneven shifts in demand. The negative relation between wholesale funding and the supply of credit is unique to the crisis episode.
An Analysis of Performance in Simulation Games Compared to Performance on Structured Course Criteria: A Case Study

" Simulation games are used extensively today at many colleges of business administration. The widespread use of simulation games suggests that business faculty view the use of games as being valuable learning vehicles and that the use of simulation games stimulates student interest in course content. A study was performed in order to investigate the use of a typical simulation game by 104 undergraduate business students at a large university. The broad issues addressed by this study include: (1) What factors influence the performance of students participating in a simulation exercise? (2) Can these factors be used for prediction purposes? (3) How do the factors which influence student performance in simulation games compare to those factors which seem to influence performance in other types of course activities and course scenarios? "
Defining flood risk in a multivariate framework: Application on the Panaro watershed

Abstract. One of the most important tasks a hydrologist must face is to estimate the hydrological risk (i.e. probability) of a variable exceeding a certain threshold. This risk is often expressed in terms of a Return Period, T, and refers to the failure of the hydraulic structure which controls this variable. Sometimes the "structure" is simply the river embankmentsthe failure of which means their overtopping by the river. The widely adopted definition of T, in a problem regarding the maxima of hydrological variables, is "the average time elapsing between two successive occurrences of an event exceeding a given magnitude 5 of the natural variables". Conventional approaches for the estimation of T involve a single natural variable (i.e. flood peak, maximum rainfall intensity, etc.) and its frequency analysis. However, a univariate approach in complex problems ignores the effect of other significant variables leading to different risk levels for each quantity of interest and resulting in an inaccurate estimate of the riskoften wrongfully set equal to the risk of 10 the hydrological event. For example, if one considers the flood inflow in a lake around which establishments are positioned, the variable to be investigated relating to risk assessment is the lake water level. The same water level may occur from very different flood hydrographs, even when the same initial water level and specific spillway characteristics are taken into account. We considered this a result of the interaction of three joint factors: the hydrograph’s peak, volume and shape. Consequently, we apply a multivariate distribution framework (using copula functions) in order to find a region where all underlying events 15 are assigned to the same riskassociated here to the maximum water level.
Mapping of the Sweet Potato Value Chain Linkages between Actors, Processes and Activities in the Value Chain: A Case of "Michembe" and "Matobolwa" Products

The objective of the study was to map sweet potato value chain linkages between actors, processes and activities in Tanzania. The study is cross sectional in design.The study was conducted in Shinyanga rural and Mwanza urban districts. The study used individual interviews, focused group discussions; review of relevant practical documents and discussions with key informants. A total of 150 actors in the value chain participated. Data collected was summarized using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) and content analysis. Analysis of data shows that “Michembe” and “Matobolwa” were two main local made value added products derived from sweet potatoes preferred by producers. In general sweet potatoes production is marked with low production and productivity. Low productivity is a result of poor agronomic practices and low level of production technology application among others. Three main marketing channels exist in the study area: Producers selling directly to consumer; producers to retailers to consumer; and producers to hawkers/village vendors to consumer. Moreover data revealed that (50.7%) of sampled producers set prices after hearing from their fellow farmers. About (44%) of the sampled producers sell their produce direct to the market. The sub sector in general faces a number of structural and technological problems that need immediate attention to revamp agricultural sector development.
Nationwide site amplification zoning using GIS-based Japan Engineering Geomorphologic Classification Map

In this paper, a mapping of shear-wave velocity for all of Japan is performed using "Japan En- gineering Geomorphologic Classification Map (JEGM)" which has been developed as a GIS-based ground condition map. At first, we investigate relationships between the proposed geomorphologic classification unit of the JEGM and the average shear-wave velocity in the upper 30m (AVS30), which is a simple and useful predictor for estimating site amplification factors of peak ground velocity (PGV). The AVS30 is computed for approximately 2,000 sites where shear-wave velocity has been measured in all over Japan. Geomorphologic units for all boreholes logging data are interpreted using land-classification maps at a scale of 1: 50,000 that are the base paper maps for the JEGM. The average value and variance of AVS30 for each geomorphologic unit are then calculated. The mean AVS30s among geomorphologic units are found to correlate with the geomorphologic classification. Next, we examine the correlation between not only geomorphologic units but also geographic information derived from the JEGM and the AVS30 values. The AVS30s also show some dependency with elevations, slope gradients, and distances from mountains or hills. In order to develop the estimating model of the AVS30, multiple linear regression analysis is conducted using these geomorphologic indices. The standard error of the AVS30 estimation by using this model is 35%. Therefore, we can achieve to create an AVS30 map with relatively high accuracy for all of Japan using the JEGM. Thus, developed JEGM can be allowed detailed estimation of the site amplification factor of strong ground motion nationwide.
CUSTOMER PREFERENCE ANALYSIS TOWARDS VISUAL MERCHANDISING Ms

The study is aimed to find out impact of visual merchandising on customer preference analysis in malls. This study was based on primary data and which was done through the questioners. Data was collected from 200 customers who are purchasing from Indore Mall. Four hypotheses window display, design layouts, cleanliness of market premises & promotional signage were tested for Z test. We found that window display, design layouts, cleanliness of market premises & promotional signage (independent variables) were significantly associated to Customer preference analysis (dependent variable).
Improving the understanding of rainfall distribution and characterisation in the Cathedral Peak catchments using a geo-statistical technique

The characterisation of rainfall variability, spatially and temporally, is essential for hydrological and ecological analyses. Inherently, this variability is distinctly more obvious in mountainous areas compared to lowlands. The objective of this study was to ascertain if the use of the regression-Kriging technique would provide improved estimates and understanding of the rainfall distribution across the Cathedral Peak catchments in the Drakensberg escarpment region, South Africa. Findings showed longitude and altitude to be the overall best predictors of the distribution of rainfall for the annual period, wet season and dry season, with longitude explaining 72% and altitude explaining 26% of the rainfall variability for mean annual precipitation, 73% and 26% for the wet season and 50% and 22% for the dry season, respectively. The combination of both longitude and altitude showed a larger coefficient of determination, of 0.73, 0.74 and 0.51, for the annual, wet season and dry season, respectively. Long-term mean annual rainfall patterns showed an overall strong directional distribution from west to east with a distinct pattern observed during the dry season. It was concluded that regression-Kriging is a useful alternative method for characterising rainfall distribution as well as prediction errors for mountainous areas. Keywords: Cathedral Peak, rainfall variability, regression-Kriging, mountainous areas
Improved understanding of drought controls on seasonal variation in Mediterranean forest canopy CO2 and water fluxes through combined in situ measurements and ecosystem modelling.

Abstract. Water stress is a defining characteristic of Mediterranean ecosystems, and is likely to become more severe in the coming decades. Simulation models are key tools for making predictions, but our current understanding of how soil moisture controls ecosystem functioning is not sufficient to adequately constrain parameterisations. Canopy-scale flux data from four forest ecosystems with Mediterranean-type climates were used in order to analyse the physiological controls on carbon and water flues through the year. Significant non-stomatal limitations on photosynthesis were detected, along with lesser changes in the conductance-assimilation relationship. New model parameterisations were derived and implemented in two contrasting modelling approaches. The effectiveness of two models, one a dynamic global vegetation model ("ORCHIDEE"), and the other a forest growth model particularly developed for Mediterranean simulations ("GOTILWA+"), was assessed and modelled canopy responses to seasonal changes in soil moisture were analysed in comparison with in situ flux measurements. In contrast to commonly held assumptions, we find that changing the ratio of conductance to assimilation under natural, seasonally-developing, soil moisture stress is not sufficient to reproduce forest canopy CO2 and water fluxes. However, accurate predictions of both CO2 and water fluxes under all soil moisture levels encountered in the field are obtained if photosynthetic capacity is assumed to vary with soil moisture. This new parameterisation has important consequences for simulated responses of carbon and water fluxes to seasonal soil moisture stress, and should greatly improve our ability to anticipate future impacts of climate changes on the functioning of ecosystems in Mediterranean-type climates.
Efficient Kernel Integrity Monitor Design for Commodity Mobile Application Processors

In recent years, there are increasing threats of rootkits that undermine the integrity of a system by manipulating OS kernel. To cope with the rootkits, in Vigilare, the snoop-based monitoring which snoops the memory traffics of the host system was proposed. Although the previous work shows its detection capability and negligible performance loss, the problem is that the proposed design is not acceptable in recent commodity mobile application processors (APs) which have become de facto the standard computing platforms of smart devices. To mend this problem and adopt the idea of snoop-based monitoring in commercial products, in this paper, we propose a snoop-based monitor design called S-Mon, which is designed for the AP platforms. In designing S-Mon, we especially consider two design constraints in the APs which were not addressed in Vigilare; the unified memory model and the crossbar switch interconnect. Taking into account those, we derive a more realistic architecture for the snoop-based monitoring and a new hardware module, called the region controller, is also proposed. In our experiments on a simulation framework modeling a production-quality device, it is shown that our S-Mon can detect the rootkit attacks while the runtime overhead is also negligible.
Band parameters and strain effects in ZnO and group-III nitrides

We present consistent sets of band parameters (including band gaps, crystal-field splittings, effective masses, Luttinger and EP parameters) for AlN, GaN, InN and ZnO in the wurtzite phase. For band-energy differences we observe a pronounced nonlinear dependence on strain. Consistent and complete sets of deformation potentials are then derived for realistic strain conditions in the linear regime around the experimental equilibrium volume. To overcome the limitations of density-functional theory in the local-density and generalized-gradient approximations we employ the Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof hybrid functional as well as exact exchange (OEPx)-based quasi-particle energy calculations in the G0W0 approach.
Abundance and diversity of legume nodulating rhizobia in soils of Embu district, Kenya

A major strategy towards addressing soil fertility depletion is the conservation and sustainable use of rhizobia that are able to fix nitrogen in the soil in association with legumes. The study assessed abundance and diversity of legume nodulating rhizobia (LNB) in soils collected from six different land use systems in Embu District, Kenya. The populations were estimated by the most-probable-number (MPN) plant infection technique using Macroptilium atropurpureum (DC.) Urban (Siratro) as the trap host species. Symbiotic effectiveness was measured for the isolates in association with Siratro. Isolated rhizobia were characterized morphologically and genetically by PCR-RFLP and partial sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The LNB populations in soils collected from the different land uses in Embu ranged from 0 to 2.3 i‚´ 102 cells g-1 soil. There was apparent land use effect on abundance of LNB with fallow system giving high abundance. A total of 250 pure isolates were obtained from the root nodules of Siratro trap plants. The isolates were characterized on yeast extract mannitol mineral salts agar (YEMA) media containing bromothymol blue and grouped into fast growers (acid-producing) and slow growers (alkali-producing) (70% and 30 % of isolates respectively). PCR-RFLP analysis categorised the rhizobia into five species in the genera Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Mesorhizobium and Agrobacterium. Land use system under tea had four of the five species found in the area whereas natural forests had two species. Land use significantly impacted on the diversity of rhizobia (P<0.05) with soils under tea having the highest diversity with a mean Shannon diversity index of 1.304 compared to the lowest (0.297) recorded in natural forest. Isolated rhizobia strains formed effective nodules on Siratro. However, the level of nitrogen fixation varied among isolates while the symbiotic efficiency ranged from 27- 112%. The findings indicate that abundance and diversity of rhizobia does not necessarily decrease with agricultural intensification as hypothesized but recommends further studies to obtain a clearer understanding of the relationship between soil rhizobia diversity and land use and management.
Face milling and turning simulation with the finite element method

The paper describes a new simulation tool that gives the machined surface error in face milling and turning. The form error component due to the workpiece flexibility is computed using Samcef finite element code. The finite element analyses are very efficient on industrial applications thanks to the superelement method. Results are obtained in a short time which makes possible a wide range of simulations such as finding the best tool trajectory, testing several tools and cutting conditions and choosing the most suited fixture design.
Enzymatic mechanism during phytoextraction of heavy metals from fly ash amended soil

A pot culture experiment was carried out to study the phytoextraction potential of selected plant species, for remediation of fly ash contaminated soil. Plant species namely verbena speciosa, tagetes erecta, Cassia tora have been selected for the study. Fly ash samples were collected from coal based thermal power plants at gandhinagar from electrostatic precipitators. Soil samples were collected from Sabarmati river bed. Various physico-chemical parameters of fly ash and soil were conducted. Biomass and biochemical parameters of plants were studied for screening of plants for phytoextraction ability. Study of Photosynthetic pigment, protein content, antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), Ascorbate peroxidase (APX), Catalase (CAT), Guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) was carried out in potential plant. Fly ash heavy metals may lead to oxidative stress which is a condition in which ROS or free radicals are generated extra- or intra-cellularly, which can exert their toxic effects to the cells. However, in cells antioxidant defense mechanisms is present to detoxify the harmful effects of ROS. The plant species were found in order verbena speciosa< tagetes erecta<Cassia tora for phytoremediation of fly ash heavy metals. Tanslocation factor and bioaccumulation factor was also determined. Results showed that cassia tora survived well in fly ash amendments and can be used well for phytoremediation and revegetation of fly ash effected sites.
Modelling infection of Baltic herring ( Clupea harengus membras ) by larval Anisakis simplex

Anisakis simplex larvae were counted in the body cavities of Baltic herring collected in the southern Baltic in 1992–1993, 1995–1996 and 1997. Mean infection intensity in infected fish was generally <10 in fish <30 cm in length but increased sharply to 20–50 in larger fish. Intensities recorded in 1997 were 30–40% higher than those documented in 1992–1993 and 1995–1996. Models relating infection intensity to fish length and weight were developed and used to estimate the asymptotic size of herring. The L estimates ranged from 32.8–34.0 cm, and the W varied from 335.4 to 356.0 g. Estimates of asymptotic length and weight from models of infection intensity were more stable and generally were more precise than those determined from length and weight-at-age data. 2001 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
DUST EFFECT ON PV MODULES

This paper investigates the effect of dust on photovoltaic (PV) modules with respect to dust concentration, wavelength and spectral transmittance. Dust samples were collected from Kuwait in the form of raw dust and accumulated dust on sample glass at different tilt angles. The spectral transmittance was measured in the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) laboratory with a spectrophotometer. Spectral transmittance variation was identified for samples at different tilted positions, where the worst case was presented at a tilt angle of 30 o with a non uniformity of 4.4% in comparison to 0.2% for the 90 o tilt between the top, middle and bottom. The effect of this on PV is investigated by calculating a modified spectral response for different technologies using spectral response data measured by the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI). The measured data showed a faster rate of decrease in transmittance at wavelengths <570 nm. This affects wide band-gap technologies more than crystalline silicon technologies and especially amorphous silicon which showed a 33% reduction in the spectral photocurrent when a dust concentration of 8.5 mg/cm 2 was applied. In comparison, the crystalline silicon and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) technologies showed 28.6% and 28.5% reductions at the same dust density.