Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ties That Last : Tie Formation and Persistence in Research Collaborations over Time

Using a longitudinal dataset of research collaborations over 15 years at Stanford University, we build a theory of intraorganizational task relationships that distinguishes the different factors associated with the formation and persistence of network ties. We highlight six factors: shared organizational foci, shared traits and interests, tie advantages from popularity, tie reinforcement from third parties, tie strength and multiplexity, and the instrumental returns from the products of ties. Findings suggest that ties form when unfamiliar people identify desirable and matching traits in potential partners. By contrast, ties persist when familiar people reflect on the quality of their relationship and shared experiences. The former calls for shallow, short-term strategies for assessing a broad array of potential ties; the latter calls for long-term strategies and substantive assessments of a relationship’s worth so as to draw extended rewards from the association. This suggests that organizational activities geared toward sustaining persistent intraorganizational task relationships need to be different from activities aimed at forging new ones.
O ct 2 01 5 Equilibrium partition function for nonrelativistic fluids

We construct an equilibrium partition function for a non-relativistic fluid and use it to constrain the dynamics of the system. The construction is based on light cone reduction, which is known to reduce the Poincaré symmetry to Galilean in one lower dimension. We modify the constitutive relations of a relativistic fluid, and find that its symmetry broken phase – ‘null fluid’ is equivalent to the non-relativistic fluid. In particular, their symmetries, thermodynamics, constitutive relations, and equilibrium partition function match exactly to all orders in derivative expansion.
"Over-expression of AHSP in Bone Marrow - derived CD34+ cells is not effective in ameliorating the thalassemic phenotype"

Gruppo di lavoro: Laboratorio Prof.ssa Giuliana Ferrari in collaborazione con prof.ssa Ronchi(UNIMIB)e dott. Claudio Cantu (UNIMIB). Cantu, C. , Ierardi, R. , Alborelli, I. , Fugazza, C. , Cassinelli, L. , Piconese, S. , et al. (2011). Sox6 enhances erythroid differentiation in human erythroid progenitors. Blood, 117(13), 3669-3679.
Fractured-Land and Political Fragmentation

Patterns of political unification and fragmentation have crucial implications for comparative economic development. Diamond (1997) famously argued that “fractured-land” was responsible for China’s tendency towards political unification and Europe’s protracted political fragmentation. We build a model with granular geographical information to quantitatively gauge the effects of “fractured-land” on state formation in Eurasia. We find that a broad version of the “fractured-land” hypothesis that takes into account both topographical features and the location of productive agricultural land is necessary and sufficient, within our model, to account for China’s recurring political unification and Europe’s persistent political fragmentation. In particular, the existence of a core region of high land productivity in Northern China plays a central role in our simulations. We discuss how our results map into observed historical outcomes and assess how robust our findings are.
Age, Sexual Dimorphism, and Growth Rates in the Black Salamander, Aneides flavipunctatus (Plethodontidae)

To understand how rates of growth interact to result in sexual dimorphism in the Black salamander, Aneides flavipunctatus, I conducted a mark–recapture study in Mendocino County, California. Five hundred captures (420 unique animals plus 80 recaptures over four occasions) were measured (body length, head width, head length) and released. Adult males and females are not sexually dimorphic in body length, but are dimorphic in head width; males have wider heads compared to females. From 80 recaptures, growth rates were determined for body length and head size. As expected, juveniles grow faster relative to adults; growth rates decrease as body size increases. Adult males and females have similar growth rates of body length. Males and juveniles have greater head-width growth rates compared to adult females. Head size dimorphism in A. flavipunctatus is a result of a higher head growth rate in males at sexual maturity relative to females. Because body growth rates are not significantly different between adult males and females, adult salamanders of similar size are of similar age. The Von Bertalanffy growth model fit to the mark–recapture growth data conservatively predicts that salamanders of 79 mm snout–vent length are 18 years old. Because of certain assumptions of the model, the oldest salamanders in the population are more likely to be up to 25–30 years old.
Financial Crises and Adaptive Market Hypothesis: An Evidence from International Commodities traded at New York Stock Exchange

a PhD (Finance), Assistant Professor, Chinot Sub Campus, Government College University, Faisalabad b PhD (Finance) Assistant Professor, College of Commerce, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan c PhD (Finance), Assistant Professor, University of Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. d PhD (Economics) Director/Additional Secretary, Punjab Economic Research Institute (PERI), Planning and Development Board, Government of the Punjab, Lahore
Comparing Methods to Constrain Future European Climate Projections Using a Consistent Framework

Political decisions, adaptation planning, and impact assessments need reliable estimates of future climate change and related uncertainties. To provide these estimates, different approaches to constrain, filter, or weight climate model projections into probabilistic distributions have been proposed. However, an assessment of multiple such methods to, for example, expose cases of agreement or disagreement, is often hindered by a lack of coordination, with methods focusing on a variety of variables, time periods, regions, or model pools. Here, a consistent framework is developed to allow a quantitative comparison of eight different methods; focus is given to summer temperature and precipitation change in three spatial regimes in Europe in 2041–60 relative to 1995–2014. The analysis draws on projections from several large ensembles, the CMIP5 multimodel ensemble, and perturbed physics ensembles, all using the high-emission scenario RCP8.5. The methods’ key features are summarized, assumptions are discussed, and resulting constrained distributions are presented. Method agreement is found to be dependent on the investigated region but is generally higher for median changes than for the uncertainty ranges. This study, therefore, highlights the importance of providing clear context about how different methods affect the assessed uncertainty—in particular, the upper and lower percentiles that are of interest to risk-averse stakeholders. The comparison also exposes cases in which diverse lines of evidence lead to diverging constraints; additional work is needed to understand how the underlying differences between methods lead to such disagreements and to provide clear guidance to users.
24-Epibrassinolide and salicylic acid alleviate the photosynthesis and yield inhibition under water stress in chick Pea

This study was aimed to find the effects of 28-epibrassinolide (28-EBL) and salicylic acid on chickpea seedlings subjected to water stress, either alone and supplemented with 28-EBL and Salicylic acid treatments. Combined supplementation of EBL+SA alone also exhibited the significant improvement on chlorophyll content (34.4% of Chl a and 35.5 % of Chl b) than EBL and SA alone treatments compared to the control plants. Control plants receiving the EBL+SA alone treatment showed the significant effect (by 32.8%) than the EBL and SA alone treatment (20.4 % and 11.4% respectively) compared to the control for carotenoid levels. combined supplementation of EBL+SA exhibited the significant improvement of PN (21%; 0.0411, p≤0.05) over their individuals in comparison to control. Co-application of EBL and SA was more effective (44%; 0.0341, p≤0.05) over unstressed control than their individual applications in enhancing gS in control plants. Plants treated with EBL+SA alone showed a marked increase in Ci (by 20%) compared to control plants. Co-application of EBL and SA was more effective (41.2%; 0.0265, p≤0.05) over unstressed control than their individual applications in enhancing E in control plants. Co-application of EBL and SA considerably increased the Fv/Fm and ФPSII in comparison to unstressed control. Control plants treated with EBL+SA exhibited the more impact on Ru BP case activity (33.1%; 0.0411, p≤0.05) over unstressed control than their individual applications over the control plants. Co-application of EBL and SA was more effective (32.4%; 0.0237, p≤0.05) over unstressed control than their individual applications in enhancing FB Pase activity in control plants. Control plants treated with EBL+SA was found to be more effective on the PGK activity by 63.3% (0.0112, p≤0.05) than their individuals (EBL by 52.1% and SA by 36.1%) compared to control. EBL and SA has a more significant effect than their individual applications on the improvement of leaf starch and sucrose concentrations in drought stressed and well-watered plants.
Particlelike scattering states in a microwave cavity

We realize scattering states in a lossy and chaotic two-dimensional microwave cavity which follow bundles of classical particle trajectories. To generate such particlelike scattering states we measure the system’s transmission matrix and apply an adapted Wigner-Smith time-delay formalism to it. The necessary shaping of the incident wave is achieved in situ using phase and amplitude regulated microwave antennas. Our experimental findings pave the way for establishing spatially confined communication channels that avoid possible intruders or obstacles in wave-based communication systems.
Behavioural change scale development towards organic farming transition by farmers

The present study was attempted to know the behavioral change of farmers towards organic farming transition. Due to non-availability of a proper scale to measure the behavioural change of farmers towards organic farming, it was thought necessary to construct a scale for the purpose. The method suggested by Likert (1932) and Edwards (1969) in developing summated rating scale was followed in the construction of behavioural change scale of farmers towards organic farming. The behavioral change scale developed was administered to 180 transition farmers of Mandya and Mysore district. The results revealed that majority (41.11%) of the respondents shown moderate extent of behavioural change, 33.89 per cent shown greater extent and 25.00 per cent had shown lower extent of behavioural change towards organic farming. The scale developed was found to be reliable and valid, hence it can be used by the researchers to measure the behavioural change of farmers.
On a Model of Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in Quantum Mechanics

Our goal is to find a model for the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking arising in one dimensional quantum mechanical problems. For this purpose we consider boundary value problems related with two interior points of the real line, symmetric with respect to the origin. This approach can be treated as a presence of singular potentials containing shifted Dirac delta functions and their derivatives. From mathematical point of view we use a technique of selfadjoint extensions applied to a symmetric differential operator which has a domain containing smooth functions vanishing in two mentioned above points. We calculate the resolvent of corresponding extension and investigate its behavior if the interior points change their positions. The domain of these extensions can contain some functions that have non differentiability or discontinuity at the points mentioned above, the latter can be interpreted as an appearance of singular potentials centered at the same points. Next, broken-symmetry bound states are discovered. More precisely, for a particular entanglement of boundary conditions, there is a ground state, generating a spontaneous symmetry breaking, stable under the phenomenon of decoherence provoked from external fluctuations. We discuss the model in the context of the “chiral” broken-symmetry states of molecules like NH3. We show that within a Hilbert space approach a spontaneous symmetry breaking disappears if the distance between the mentioned above interior points tends to zero.
MODELIRANJE ONESNAŽEVANJA MEHIŠKIH LAGUN S POLJEDELSKIH POVRŠIN – PRVI DEL: METODOLOGIJA MODELLING OF AGRICULTURAL POLLUTION IN MEXICAN LAGOONS – PART 1: METHODOLOGY

V številnih mehiških obalnih lagunah gojijo ribe, škampe in školjke. Večinoma pa so v zaledju lagun poljedelska območja, s katerih z vodo odtekajo v lagune tudi hraniva in pesticidi, ki pogosto onesnažujejo morsko hrano nad dovoljeno mejo. Cilj raziskave je predlagati nekaj optimalnih načinov poljedelskega upravljanja, ki bo v zadostni meri zmanjšalo onesnaženje vode in morske hrane v lagunah. V prispevku opisujemo metodologijo reševanja problema s sistemom dveh numeričnih modelov. Z modelom GLEAMS (Groundwater Loading Effects of Agricultural Management Systems) najprej za znane podatke o padavinah, tipu tal, tipu pridelka in vrsti hraniv in pesticidov določimo iztok vode, sedimentov, hraniv in pesticidov z območja. Potem z modelom PCFLOW2D izračunamo širjenje in koncentracije onesnaževalcev v lagunah. S pomočjo obeh modelov in z nekaj nujnimi meritvami bomo predlagali optimalni način poljedelskega upravljanja. Ta prispevek opisuje predlagano tehnologijo, v drugem delu bo podrobno opisano modeliranje cirkulacije in širjenja polutantov za sistem lagun ob dolini Carizo v SZ Mehiki, v tretjem delu pa bo opisana uporaba modela GLEAMS in predlagane končne rešitve. Ključne besede: dvodimenzijsko hidrodinamično modeliranje, modeliranje polutantov, model GLEAMS, obalne lagune, Mehika, marikultura
J u l 2 0 2 0 CPHT-RR 046 . 072020 DESY 20-123 String Defects , Supersymmetry and the Swampland

Recently, Kim, Shiu and Vafa proposed general consistency conditions for six dimensional supergravity theories with minimal supersymmetry coming from couplings to strings. We test them in explicit perturbative orientifold models in order to unravel the microscopic origin of these constraints. Based on the perturbative data, we conjecture the existence of null charges Q ·Q = 0 for any six-dimensional theory with at least one tensor multiplet, coupling to string defects of charge Q. We then include the new constraint to exclude some six-dimensional supersymmetric anomaly-free examples that have currently no string or F-theory realization. We also investigate the constraints from the couplings to string defects in case where supersymmetry is broken in tachyon free vacua, containing non-BPS configurations of brane supersymmetry breaking type, where the breaking is localized on antibranes. In this case, some conditions have naturally to be changed or relaxed whenever the string defects experience supersymmetry breaking, whereas the constraints are still valid if they are geometrically separated from the supersymmetry breaking source. E-mail: carlo.angelantonj@unito.it E-mail: quentin.bonnefoy@desy.de E-mail: ccezar@theory.nipne. ro E-mail: emilian.dudas@polytechnique.edu 1
Proximal Splenorenal Shunt Surgery for Bleeding Gastric Varices in Non-Cirrhotic Portal Hypertension

Background The optimal management of gastric variceal bleeding in patients with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension (NCPH) is debatable due to the lack of data from large randomized controlled trials. Here we present our experience on proximal splenorenal shunt (PSRS) surgery in NCPH patients with bleeding gastric varices. Methods Over a five-year period, a total of 25 PSRS surgeries were performed and data was collected prospectively. Nineteen extrahepatic portal vein obstruction (EHPVO) and six non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis (NCPF) patients with bleeding fundic or isolated gastric varices and normal liver function were included. The collected data was analyzed retrospectively. Results Of the 25 patients who underwent PSRS five were lost to follow-up. Twenty patients (80%) were followed up for a median of 3.4 (1-5) years. Gastric variceal regression was noted in all 20 patients with the disappearance of varices in eight patients. On follow-up, shunt thrombosis was noted in four (20%) patients of whom, two had rebleeding between six months and three years after shunt surgery. Conclusion PSRS was effective in controlling gastric variceal hemorrhage in 92% (23 of 25) of patients with preserved liver function.
Methods for microRNA profiling and discovery using massively parallel sequencing

M i c r o R N A s (miRNAs) are emerging as important, albeit poorly character ized, regulators of gene express ion. Here, I review the current knowledge of m i R N A s in humans, including their b iogenesis , modes of action and var ious methods for studying them. To fully elucidate the various functions of m i R N A s in humans, we require a more complete understanding of their numbers and express ion changes amongst different cell types. Th is document includes a descript ion of a new method for surveying the express ion of m i R N A s that employs the new l l lumina sequenc ing technology. A set of methods is presented that enab les identification of sequences belonging to known m i R N A s as well as variability in their mature sequences . A s well, a novel sys tem for m i R N A gene discovery using these data is descr ibed. Appl icat ion of this approach to R N A from human embryonic stem cel ls ( h E S C s ) obtained before and after differentiation into embryoid bodies (EBs) revealed the sequences and express ion levels of 362 known plus 170 novel m i R N A genes . O f these, 190 known and 31 novel m i c r o R N A sequences exhibited significant express ion dif ferences between these two developmental states. Owing to the increased number of sequence reads, these libraries currently represent the deepest m i R N A sampl ing in any human cell type spanning nearly six orders of magnitude of express ion . Predicted targets of the differentially expressed m i R N A s were ranked to identify those that are likely under cooperat ive m i R N A regulation in either h E S C s or E B s . T h e predicted targets of those m i R N A s enr iched in either sample shared common features. Included amongst the high-ranked predicted gene targets are those implicated in differentiation, cell cycle control, programmed cell death and transcriptional regulation. Direct validation of these predicted targets or global discovery of miRNA targets should reveal the functions of these sequences in the differentiation of hESCs.
Protective role of Bacopa monniera L. against hepatic oxidative stress in wistar albino rats

The protective role of ethanol extract of Bacopa monniera against alcohol plus carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatic oxidative stress in male wistar albino rats has been evaluated. Hepatic oxidative stress was significantly (P<0.001) induced by 30% alcohol (3.0 ml/100g b. wt/day, po) and carbon tetrachloride (1:1 groundnut oil, 0.5 ml/kg b. wt, ip, on day 20th only) for 21 days. Simultaneously, the oral administration of Bacopa monniera extract, at the doses of 100 mg and 200 mg/kg b. wt /day) for 21 days, significantly (P<0.001) restored the enzymatic activities of gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (γGTP), aspartate and alanine aminotransferases (AST, ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin, total protein and albumin in serum. Further, the levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, lipid peroxidation (LPO), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), cytochrome-P450 and ascorbic acid in the liver also returned near to the normal level in alcohol plus carbon tetrachloride– intoxicated rats. These biochemical observations were also supported by histopathological findings. In conclusion, Bacopa monniera showed liver protection in wistar albino rats possibly by its free radical scavenging activity along with reduction of fat metabolism might be due to the presence of triterpenoid saponins, alkaloids, total phenolics and flavonoids in the extract and/or the purified compoundsbetulinic acid, wogonin and oroxindin, which were isolated from the ethanol extract of Bacopa monniera.
Object Tracking and Collision Avoidance Using Particle Filter and Vector Field Histogram Methods

Object tracking and collision avoidance are important topics in various applications of autonomous vehicles and robotics. In previous studies, we have developed a real-time stereo vision system equipped with efficient algorithms for obstacle detection and recognition. To detect and locate obstacles, the estimated three-dimensional information of each pixel is projected onto a non-linear top-view map, and the blob segmentation is used to find the obstacle candidates in the top-view map. Detected obstacles can be further recognized based on their geometrical features and histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) feature using support vector machine method. The 3D information of obstacles and the relationship of obstacles are subsequently applied to track obstacle paths and to estimate the motion model. In this study, particle filter approach was applied to offer stable tracking of detected obstacles in different frames. This method was compared with Kalman filter approach under various experimental conditions. Finally, by combining various information including color and 3D information as well as motion models, the collision avoidance algorithm was developed based on the vector field histogram approach. The output of the collision avoidance algorithm includes the direction and predicted path of the vehicle and warning signals for the driver. The performance of the collision avoidance algorithm was analyzed and compared with the method based on the A-star path-finding algorithm. Experiments were carried out under different scenarios of driving conditions and obstacle states to compare the overall performance of the system. The proposed object tracking and collision avoidance method will help in enhancing the safety of operations of agricultural vehicles.