Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multimicronutrient supplementation in older persons decreased zinc deficiency but not serum TNF- α

The increase in the population of older persons needs to be accompanied by increased quality of healthcare in older persons, particularly a decrease in the incidence of infections. Impaired immune responses are common in older adults, and immune senescence likely contributes to the increased incidence of infectious diseases in the older persons. The aging process decreases the immune response and many studies have been conducted to explain the role of supplementation with various micronutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, β-carotene and zinc, on the immune response. The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of 6 months of multi-micronutrient (MMN) supplementation on zinc and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) levels in older persons. A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 78 older persons, who were divided into two groups. The treatment group received MMN supplementation containing 40 mg elemental zinc, 120 mg ascorbic acid, 6 mg β-carotene, 15 mg α-tocopherol and 400 µg folic acid and the control group 400 mg calcium carbonate. The study did not demonstrate that 6 months of MMN supplementation resulted in significant differences between both groups, with respect to total protein, albumin, globulin, and TNF-α levels. In contrast, MMN supplementation significantly decreased the proportion of older persons with zinc deficiency in the treatment group, in comparison with the control group. The present data suggest that in older persons with relatively good immune and protein status, improvement of the immune status by MMN supplementation may be difficult and at best limited.
Local Distributional Effects of Government Cash Transfers in Chile

Despite rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, inequality in Chile has remained high and remarkably constant over the last 20 years, prompting academic and public interest in the subject. Due to data limitations, however, research on inequality in Chile has concentrated on the national and regional levels. The impact of cash subsidies to poor households on local inequality is thus not well understood. Using poverty-mapping methods to asses this impact, we find heterogeneity in the effectiveness of regional and municipal governments in reducing inequality via poverty-reduction transfers, suggesting that alternative targeting regimes may complement current practice in aiding the poor.
1 Tightening Credit Standards : Fact or Fiction ?

Over the latest twenty years, the average credit rating of U.S. corporations has trended down. This observation has been interpreted as evidence that rating agencies have been tightening credit standards. More formally, Blume et al. (1998) model the credit rating process by an ordered probit regression and indeed find that the annual intercept, reflecting the average credit rating, has been drifting down, holding the effect of other variables constant. We extend the analysis in several ways. First, we find that this trend does not apply to speculative-grade issuers. Second, we account for structural shifts in investment-grade issuers that could rationally explain this decrease in ratings. Explanations include a shift away from utilities, which are generally less risky than other industries, increasing volatility of market values, and increased manipulation of accounting data. We find that the informativeness of accounting data decreased and that earnings management increased for investment-grade firms, but not for speculativegrade firms. After accounting for all of these effects, we find that the intercept remains stable for both samples, thus providing no support for the view that rating agencies have tightened their
An orientational perturbation theory for pure liquid water

This work develops a statistical mechanical perturbation theory for understanding and quantifying the role of directional hydrogen bonding in pure water at any given temperature or density. A reference fluid has been defined with no orientational preferences, but which reproduces the short‐ranged oxygen order as determined by x‐ray or neutron diffraction. The orientational anisotropy can be reintroduced by perturbing the reference potential toward a fully coupled water potential; we have developed a new water model, ST4, which provides some noticeable structural improvements over its predecessor, ST2, to provide these anisotropic interactions. Monte Carlo simulations at 25 °C and 1 kg/l mass density have been implemented for various values of the coupling parameter to determine the importance of directed hydrogen bonds at various strengths in dictating energetic and structural features of liquid water. We find that virtually full hydrogen bond strength is required to recover the basic structural features .
General performance factors and group differences in assessment center ratings

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish the extent of general performance factors (GPF) in assessment center (AC) exercises and dimensions. The study further aims to determine if larger GPF contributes to larger ethnic group differences across exercises and dimensions that are more cognitively loaded in an emerging market context. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed data across three independent AC samples (Sample 1: N=172; Sample 2: N=281; Sample 3: N=428). The Schmid-Leiman solution was used to determine the extent of GPF in AC exercises and dimensions. An independent samples t-test and Cohen’s d was used to determine the size of ethnic group differences across exercises and dimensions. Findings The results indicate that GPF is consistently large for the in-basket exercise. Furthermore, dimensions that are more cognitively loaded, such as problem solving, strategic thinking, and business acumen, seem to produce the largest ethnic group differences. Overall, the research indicates that larger GPF is associated with larger ethnic group differences in relation to specific AC dimensions and exercises. Originality/value The authors add to the literature by investigating the prevalence of a GPF in AC ratings across AC exercises and dimensions. A novel contribution of the research attempts to link the prevalence of a GPF in AC ratings to group membership in South Africa. The study offers an alternative statistical analysis procedure to examine GPF in AC ratings.
Undefined Behaviour in Mutation Testing

Mutation testing is used to evaluate the quality of a test suite by measuring how well the test suite detects systematically seeded faults (mutants). However, in the C programming language, the created mutants may introduce undefined behaviour. Such a mutant has no meaning and thus cannot meaningfully be reported as either detected or undetected by mutation testing. This introduces two problems. First, it increases the number of mutants that must be considered for mutation testing. Second, it creates a potential for bias in the mutation score when mutants with undefined behavior count toward the number of detected or undetected mutants. This thesis makes contributions toward identifying the ways in which traditional mutation testing mechanisms may lead to undefined behavior. It furthermore introduces automated analyses for statically detecting mutants that cause undefined behavior so that they can be filtered out ahead of time. A proof of concept implementation using Clang and LLVM validates that these techniques work for real world programs in the C programming language.
Studying Executives’ Green Behaviors: An Environmental Theory of Planned Behavior

Global concern about climate change has markedly increased in recent years (Pew Research Center, 2007). Unfortunately, without cohesive national or global initiatives to ameliorate or even counteract the footprint of human activities on nature, it becomes essential to encourage businesses to adopt sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices. Executives and managers, primary decision-makers in business, are to be studied to better understand the appearance of pro-environment attitudes, and the link between these attitudes and the implementation of sustainable business practices. Our study-in-progress develops, validates, and evaluates an Environmental Theory of Planned Behavior model aimed at predicting green (i.e., environmentally-friendly) behavioral intentions using a large multinational sample (n=162). An additional executive sample (n=50) has been collected and will be used to examine preservation and utilization attitudes and behaviors in organizational settings.
EVALUATION OF TRUCK IMPACTS ON PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE COSTS

To determine the factors that influence pavement maintenance costs of California state highways and evaluate the impact of heavy-truck traffic on maintenance cost is the purpose of this paper. More than 1,100 one-mile sections of state highways were randomly sampled, and data from various sources were integrated to form a data base containing information on traffic, weather, geometric conditions, and pavement maintenance costs for the sample sections. Following an extensive explorative analysis of the data, a model of pavement maintenance cost was formulated. The most significant finding is that heavy-truck (five or more axles) traffic has a much larger impact on pavement maintenance cost than does light-truck traffic or passenger-car traffic. The estimation results indicate that, on a typical roadway, the average annual maintenance cost per heavy truck per day amounts to $7.60 per mile per year, while the corresponding cost per passenger car is approximately $0.08. The study further shows that one additional heavy truck per day will cost an additional $3.73 per mile per year of roadway for pavement maintenance. An increase of 50 heavy trucks will cost $183.10 per year per mile. The corresponding cost increases due to passenger-car traffic are $0.04 and $2.18 per year per mile, respectively. This study thus establishes that one heavy truck is equivalent to about 90 light trucks or passenger cars in terms of its impact on pavement maintenance cost.
Robustness comparison of emerging devices for portable applications

Extensive development in portable devices imposes pressing need for designing VLSI circuits with ultralow power (ULP) consumption. Subthreshold operating region is found to be an attractive solution for achieving ultralow power. However, it limits the circuit speed due to use of parasitic leakage current as drive current. Maintaining power dissipation at ultralow level with enhanced speed will further broaden the application area of subthreshold circuits even towards the field programmable gate arrays and real-time portable domain. Operating the Si-MOSFET in subthreshold regions degrades the circuit performance in terms of speed and also increases the well-designed circuit parameter spreading due to process, voltage, and temperature variations. This may cause the subthreshold circuit failure at very low supply voltage. It is essential to examine the robustness of most emerging devices against PVT variations. Therefore, this paper investigates and compares the performance of most promising upcoming devices like CNFET and DG FinFET in subthreshold regions. Effect of PVT variation on performance of CNFET and DG FinFET has been explored and it is found that CNFET is more robust than DG-FinFET under subthreshold conditions against PVT variations.
GAPPARD: a computationally efficient method of approximating gap-scale disturbance in vegetation models

Abstract. Models of vegetation dynamics that are designed for application at spatial scales larger than individual forest gaps suffer from several limitations. Typically, either a population average approximation is used that results in unrealistic tree allometry and forest stand structure, or models have a high computational demand because they need to simulate both a series of age-based cohorts and a number of replicate patches to account for stochastic gap-scale disturbances. The detail required by the latter method increases the number of calculations by two to three orders of magnitude compared to the less realistic population average approach. In an effort to increase the efficiency of dynamic vegetation models without sacrificing realism, we developed a new method for simulating stand-replacing disturbances that is both accurate and faster than approaches that use replicate patches. The GAPPARD (approximating GAP model results with a Probabilistic Approach to account for stand Replacing Disturbances) method works by postprocessing the output of deterministic, undisturbed simulations of a cohort-based vegetation model by deriving the distribution of patch ages at any point in time on the basis of a disturbance probability. With this distribution, the expected value of any output variable can be calculated from the output values of the deterministic undisturbed run at the time corresponding to the patch age. To account for temporal changes in model forcing (e.g., as a result of climate change), GAPPARD performs a series of deterministic simulations and interpolates between the results in the postprocessing step. We integrated the GAPPARD method in the vegetation model LPJ-GUESS, and evaluated it in a series of simulations along an altitudinal transect of an inner-Alpine valley. We obtained results very similar to the output of the original LPJ-GUESS model that uses 100 replicate patches, but simulation time was reduced by approximately the factor 10. Our new method is therefore highly suited for rapidly approximating LPJ-GUESS results, and provides the opportunity for future studies over large spatial domains, allows easier parameterization of tree species, faster identification of areas of interesting simulation results, and comparisons with large-scale datasets and results of other forest models.
Light and Electron Microscopic Observations on Erythrolobus coxiae gen.et sp.nov. (Porphyridiophyceae, Rhodophyta) from Texas U.S.A.

Species of the unicellular red algae Dixoniella, Flintiella, Glaucosphaera, Porphyridium, Rhodosorus and Rhodella have been formally described and their fine structure investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM; Broadwater and Scott 1994) while the unicellular genus Rhodospora (Geitler 1927, Johansen et al. 2005) is described only at the light microscopic level. Several other new species and genera of unicellular red algae have also been isolated and briefly examined by molecular analysis and light and electron microscopy (Hara et al. 2000, Yokoyama et al. 2004) and formal description of several of these is currently underway (Yokoyama and Hara, personal communication). Recently our understanding of phylogenetic interrelationships of red algal unicells has progressed significantly using molecular techniques in combination with several TEM features (Hara et al. 2000, Saunders and Hommersand 2004, Yoon et al. 2006). Ultrastructural features considered most valuable in unicellular red algal systematics include Golgi apparatus associations with other organelles, presence or absence of pyrenoids and pyrenoid attributes, the morphology and precise details of chloroplasts and certain details of nuclei and mitosis (Broadwater and Scott 1994). In the mid-1970s a unicellular red alga believed to be a new genus was isolated from coastal Texas USA. Initial work describing growth characteristics and behavior in culture, phycobilin pigments and light and electron microscopy was completed but the results were not published (see Baca 1978). Recently, we conducted microscopic studies on this strain in order to formally describe this new coccoid red alga as Erythrolobus coxiae nov.gen et nov. sp. Algae Volume 21(4): 407-416, 2006
Draft Deployment of Traction Units with Active Tilting System for Regional and Long-distance Transport on Non-modernized Railway Tracks

The paper presents the perspectives of suburban traction units with tilting system particularly in regional transport to decrease the travel times and increase the competitiveness of railway transport. It aims to outline the importance of its use in this mode of transport, especially in the case when the condition of infrastructure is unable to provide higher efficiency possibilities for railway enterprises and investments for tracks optimization are not available or insufficient, i.e. enterprises cannot be more efficient in utilization of classic traction units of conventional design. The paper is focused especially on using traction units with tilting system within a selected regional transport section when analyzing the operational and technical characteristics and comparison of time savings after these units deployment.
EM Algorithms for Ordered Probit Models with Endogenous Regressors

We propose an EM algorithm to estimate ordered probit models with endogenous regressors. The proposed algorithm has a number of computational advantages in comparison to direct numerical maximization of the (limited information) log-likelihood function. First, the sequence of conditional M(aximization)-steps can all be computed analytically. Second, the algorithm updates the model parameters so that positive definiteness of the covariance matrix and monotonicity of cutpoints are naturally satisfied. Third, the variance parameters normalized for identification can be activated to accelerate convergence of the algorithm. The algorithm can be applied to models with dummy endogenous, continuous endogenous or latent endogenous regressors. A small Monte Carlo simulation experiment examines the finite sample performance of the proposed algorithms. Copyright The Author(s). Journal compilation Royal Economic Society 2009
A forward-looking model for time-varying capital requirements and the New Basel Capital Accord

This paper proposes a forward-looking model for time-varying capital requirements which finds application within the New Basel Capital Accord (NBCA) framework. The model aims at reconciling two somewhat contrasting objectives of the NBCA proposal: introducing risk-sensitive capital requirements and avoiding at the same time procyclical effects. The model rests on the relationship existing between default rates and the business cycle phases and proposes a modelisation of the default probabilities which is based on a business cycle forecast over the credit horizon. The model is applied to US data over the forecasting period 1971-2002: despite a failure in predicting the early nineties recession, the objective of raising the capital requirements in anticipation of a recessions is in general satisfied. The results obtained are interesting as they suggest that there is room for dampening procyclicality of capital requirements even within a risk-sensitive framework.
Commodity prices: how important are real and nominal shocks?

We consider the response of both nominal and real commodity prices on world markets to real and nominal shocks by hypothesizing that nominal shocks can permanently affect nominal commodity prices, but can have only temporary effects on real commodity prices. Real shocks, in contrast, can have permanent as well as temporary effects on both nominal and real commodity prices. When nominal and real shocks are decomposed in this manner, real shocks are found to be of much greater importance to the observed movements in commodity prices. We use the Blanchard and Quah (BQ, 1989) decomposition to obtain the permanent and temporary components of the real commodity price series and relate this to the rate of growth of world industrial production as an indicator of business cycle movements. The results suggest that the impact of the business cycle is self-stabilizing in that there is an initial positive effect on growth in commodity prices followed by a fully offsetting negative effect.
Title Torque ripple minimization of doubly salient permanent-magnetmotors

Due to the nature of salient poles in both the stator and rotor, the doubly salient permanent-magnet (DSPM) motor suffers from severe torque ripples. In this paper, the torque ripple of DSPM motors is analyzed, and the torque ripple factor is newly derived. A new approach, namely the conduction angle control, is proposed to minimize the torque ripple. Moreover, the genetic algorithm is employed to optimize the corresponding control angles. Computer simulation and experimental results are given to verify the proposed approach.
The GAPS programme with HARPS-N at TNG - I. Observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and characterisation of the transiting system Qatar-1

Context. Our understanding of the formation and evolution of planetary systems is still fragmentary because most of the current data provide limited information about the orbital structure and dynamics of these systems. The knowledge of the orbital properties for a variety of systems and at di erent ages yields information on planet migration and on star-planet tidal interaction mechanisms. Aims. In this context, a long-term, multi-purpose, observational programme has started with HARPS-N at TNG and aims to characterise the global architectural properties of exoplanetary systems. The goal of this first paper is to fully characterise the orbital properties of the transiting system Qatar-1 as well as the physical properties of the star and the planet. Methods. We exploit HARPS-N high-precision radial velocity measurements obtained during a transit to measure the Rossiter-McLaughlin e ect in the Qatar-1 system, and out-of-transit measurements to redetermine the spectroscopic orbit. New photometric-transit light-curves were analysed and a spectroscopic characterisation of the host star atmospheric parameters was performed based on various methods (line equivalent width ratios, spectral synthesis, spectral energy distribution). Results. We achieved a significant improvement in the accuracy of the orbital parameters and derived the spin-orbit alignment of the system; this information, combined with the spectroscopic determination of the host star properties (rotation, Te , logg, metallicity), allows us to derive the fundamental physical parameters for star and planet (masses and radii). The orbital solution for the Qatar-1 system is consistent with a circular orbit and the system presents a sky-projected obliquity of = 8:4 7:1 deg. The planet, with a mass of 1:33 0:05 MJ, is found to be significantly more massive than previously reported. The host star is confirmed to be metal-rich ([Fe/H] = 0:20 0:10) and slowly rotating (v sinI = 1:7 0:3 km s 1 ), though moderately active, as indicated by the strong chromospheric emission in the Caii H&K line cores (logR 0 4:60). Conclusions. We find that the system is well aligned and fits well within the general versus Te trend. We can definitely rule out any significant orbital eccentricity. The evolutionary status of the system is inferred based on gyrochronology, and the present orbital configuration and timescale for orbital decay are discussed in terms of star-planet tidal interactions.
3D Model-Based Simulation Analysis of Energy Consumption in Hot Air Drying of Corn Kernels

To determine the mechanism of energy consumption in hot air drying, we simulate the interior heat and mass transfer processes that occur during the hot air drying for a single corn grain. The simulations are based on a 3D solid model. The 3D real body model is obtained by scanning the corn kernels with a high-precision medical CT machine. The CT images are then edited by MIMICS and ANSYS software to reconstruct the three-dimensional real body model of a corn kernel. The Fourier heat conduction equation, the Fick diffusion equation, the heat transfer coefficient, and the mass diffusion coefficient are chosen as the governing equations of the theoretical dry model. The calculation software, COMSOL Multiphysics, is used to complete the simulation calculation. The influence of air temperature and velocity on the heat and mass transfer processes is discussed. Results show that mass transfer dominates during the hot air drying of corn grains. Air temperature and velocity are chosen primarily in consideration of mass transfer effects. A low velocity leads to less energy consumption.