Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Information Flow Between the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange: A Transfer Entropy Approach

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there was information flow between the stock markets of Zimbabwe and South Africa during the time the Zimbabwean economy was dollarized. The author used econophysics-based Shannonian and Rényian transfer entropy estimates to establish the flow of information between the markets in tranquil periods as well as at the tails of return distributions. The only significant Shannonian transfer entropy estimate was from Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) resources index to Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) mining index. The findings show that the only significant tail dependence was between JSE All Share Index (JALSH) and ZSE Mining on the one hand, and between JSE Resources and ZSE Mining on the other hand. However, the magnitudes of the effective transfer entropy values are relatively low, showing that there are weak linkages between the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The lack of significant information flows between the exchanges of the two countries offer opportunities to fund managers for portfolio diversification. From a government point of view, it is imperative that the tempo of economic and political reform be accelerated so that integration between the markets can be fast-tracked. Integrated markets will benefit Zimbabwe as this will reduce the cost of equity and accelerate economic growth.
JOB SECURITY AND ERP ACCEPTANCE BY INDIVIDUALS IN SAUDI ARABIA AIR- TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY

Today, internet technologies are considered the most efficient tools assisting companies to grow in the marketplace, enhancing their capability to compete with other competitors and attracting customers to their products and services. It has known that the success or failure of businesses depends on their adoption of the new e-business paradigm successfully. Firms are utilizing the Internet and associated technologies to support their business activities, by internally applying Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) which considered as very expensive, costly and complex and they are investing in this system at an alarming rate, even though there are high rates of ERP adoption failure among organizations worldwide. Very few studies have been conducted regarding technology acceptance of ERP systems at individual level (end users). Therefore, this study aims to examine Job Security (JS) as a Critical Successful Factor (CSF) that affects the individuals’ acceptance of the ERP system in the Saudi Arabia Air-transportation Industry, by studying the impact of JS as factor on individual's behavioral intention to use (BIU) the adopted ERP system, and consequently, assist in avoiding adoption failure, eventually leading to firms fully realizing the advantages of ERP solutions. In this study, TAM theory is considered the most influential theory among the technology acceptance theories, and it is fundamental to understand that there is a comprehensive relationship between TAM and JS as CSF. Comprehensive data analysis was conducted, including Structure Equation Modeling (SEM), to verify the research outcome. The finding from this study has validated JS as CSF of ERP implementation; Based on the research finding, a reliable model (JS-TAM) was constructed, which explains how JS has influenced the end users' acceptance or “Behavioral Intention to Use” of ERP system. A comprehensive explanation of employee’s behavioral intention to use of ERP system was obtained by testing the moderators’ effect on the research model. Ultimately, it is assumed that this study will help researchers and organizations to construct a better comprehensive model that prevent of ERP system implementation failure.
Overlapping Patent Rights and Modularity: Insights from the Gillette Fusion Razor

This paper investigates how firms can enhance value appropriation of modular and integral products through creating interlocking property rights. I analyze patent filings for the Gillette Fusion, a razor with both modular and integral components from a company known for its superior IP strategy. Several levels of interlocking activities were identified, including patent claims following a hierarchical structure and filings of overlapping content in multiple patent families. In general, the degree of technological coupling of components as well as the business model involved influences the creation of interlocking patents which, for integral systems, further enhance complexity.
Detection of Disease in Bombyx Mori Silkworm by Using Image Analysis Approach

Technology is making remarkable changes in almost every aspects of life. Many branches of agriculture are making use of trending technical invention, yet sericulture is a way behind at implementing these developments. Though many approaches are developed for detection of diseased eggs and moths, detection of diseases in silkworm at an earlier stage is a laborious process. Identification and detection of diseases at an earlier stage would be helpful for a farmer to take essential precaution to avoid spreading of diseases. In this research work image classifying and deep learning model are used to identify the silkworm disease. Using various sets of network layers in deep neural network, a machine has been trained to classify healthy silkworm and unhealthy silkworm which has resulted in promising accuracy rate. Tensorflow platform has been used to create layers and train the machine.
Design theory of balanced transistor amplifiers

This paper discusses the expected characteristics of balanced transistor amplifiers with symmetrical directional couplers. Provided that pairs of transistors with similar characteristics can be selected from a given distribution, the input and output matches obtained with the balanced configuration are satisfactory over a ±10 per cent bandwidth with simple one-section lumped-constant LC directional couplers and over a ±40 per cent bandwidth (1.2 octaves) with one section distributed λ/4 couplers. For single-stage amplifiers, the decrease in gain is less than 0.1 db and the phase nonlinearities introduced by the couplers are about ±0.16° and ±0.6°, respectively, over the same bandwidths. The requirements on the terminations which are connected to the couplers to absorb the transistor reflections are not stringent: VSWR's less than 1.4 should be acceptable. The noise measure of balanced amplifiers is calculated to be a weighted average of the noise measures of the two component amplifiers, plus a small term which vanishes when the couplers have 3-db coupling and the component amplifiers have identical gains. Gain compression takes place at a 3-db higher signal level compared with conventional single-ended designs, and the expected improvement in the third-order intermodulation is 9 db on the average. In the final section, the cascade connection of identical balanced amplifiers is discussed. With typical microwave transistors, the input and output return losses for a multistage amplifier should be about 4.5 db worse than those for the individual single-stage amplifiers of which it is composed. The gain ripple introduced by the interactions between stages is also investigated in detail.
Finding a More Pleasant Compliance Illusion Method for a Hand-Held Device

A compliance illusion can be created if vibration bursts, which are called friction grains, are provided in response to changes in pressing force on a surface. This method has been used in many human-computer interaction applications. For instance, it can enrich virtual controls on a hand-held device with compliant feeling. One of the limitations of this method, however, is that the friction grains that it uses feel “bumpy” and “buzzing”, which may pose a hurdle to the adoption of the method by consumer products where the affective quality of tactile feedback is important. As a solution to overcome this limitation, we examined an alternative compliance illusion method, which computes the time derivative of the force applied by the user, and uses it to modulate a base vibration signal.We conducted a magnitude estimation experiment and were successful in showing that the alternative method with a sinusoidal base vibration signal can create significantly less bumpy, less buzzing, and thereby less unpleasant tactile feedback compared with the grainbased method, while achieving the same level of a compliance illusion effect as the grain-based method.
Multidrug-Resistant Epi-Endophytic Bacterial Community in Posidonia Oceanica Seagrass from Mahdia Coastal Seawater as Biomonitoring Factor for Antibiotic Contamination

Faced with the significant disturbances, mainly of anthropogenic origin, which affect the Mediterranean coastal ecosystem, it is necessary to set up rapid diagnostic tools for these disturbances. Posidonia oceanica, which is one of the pillars of this ecosystem, has often been used to assess the state of health of the Mediterranean coastal environment. Despite environmental changes, this plant can accumulate reserves which allow it, during relatively long periods, to keep a stationary phenology. It may also represent important mechanisms for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes among pathogenic bacterial populations. The present study aims to determine the multi-drug resistance patterns among isolated and identified epi-endophytic bacterial strains in Posidonia oceanica seagrass collected from Mahdia coastal seawater (Tunisia). 43 isolates were obtained, seven of them were selected and identified. These isolates belonged to the genus Bacillus. Susceptibility patterns of these strains were studied toward commonly used antibiotics in Tunisia. All identified isolates were completely resistant to Aztreonam, Ceftazidime, Trimethoprim, Amoxicillin and Rifampicin.
Kleptocracy and Foreign Loan Decision-Making Process: Insights From Malaysia's Deals and Renegotiations With China

One the largest cases of kleptocracy is attributed to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal involving the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak. As a result of the pressure to pay the debt, Najib signed multiple inflated infrastructure loans from China in 2016. This study analyses the manipulation of Public Service Bargains as a critical variable influencing the foreign loan decision-making of the kleptocrat leader. It concludes that Najib's manipulation strategies transformed the established Trustee-type to kleptocratic-type bargains in Malaysia's foreign loan decision-making process. The post-Najib's restoration of Trustee-type bargains under the new Malaysian government, followed by a series of successful renegotiations with China, attest to the significance of the Public Service Bargains system on the foreign loan decision-making process. This analysis also contributes to the wider discussion on the critical side of China's Belt and Road Initiative amidst a global call for good governance.
A line-voltage-sensorless synchronous rectifier

A line-voltage-sensorless control for three-phase pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) synchronous rectifiers is presented. A line synchronization and unity power factor control are described. Indirect synchronization without sensing the line voltage allows a standard vector-controlled inverter to be used as a synchronous rectifier without requiring any additional hardware. Furthermore, the line synchronization can be properly operated under line voltage distortion or notching and line frequency variation. All control functions are implemented with a single-chip microcontroller. It is shown via experimental results that the proposed controller gives good performance for the synchronous rectifier.
Multi-Path Forwarding Strategy for Named Data Networking Based on Pending Interests and Available Bandwidth

Named Data Networking (NDN) is a new Internet architecture, and it focuses on the content or name rather than the location or address. One-to-many communication has become the main feature of NDN networks. Therefore, forwarding strategy plays an important role in the content delivery performance enhancement of NDN networks. Most existing schemes tend to consider one or two metrics of different faces, such as round trip time(RTT), pending Interests (PI) and bandwidth (BW). Such single-metric or dual-metric designs usually lower accuracy in characterizing path performance. In addition, the Data packet can carry rich performance information of the path it passes through, which is more powerful than estimating the path performance on the local interface. To this end, we propose a multi-path forwarding strategy named PIBW, considering multiple metrics including PI, available BW, etc. We implement PIBW and conduct performance evaluations based on ndnSIM. Simulation evaluation shows that PIBW outperforms baseline solutions in terms of throughput, link bandwidth utilization and convergence time.
Development of an Aerodynamics Code for the Optimisation of Hypersonic Vehicles

Numerical tools and methods are required for the rapid design of hypersonic vehicles. The present paper outlines the development of the computer code HYPAERO for the prediction of the aerodynamic performance of hypersonic vehicles, and its implementation as part of a vehicle optimisation system. The code determines the hypersonic aerodynamic coefficients of discretised three-dimensional geometries for specified input velocities and altitudes within the Earth’s atmosphere. Based on strip theory, various surface inclination methods and skin-friction models are applied. Details are provided on the implementation of these engineering approaches, including the accuracy in the prediction of pressure and viscous forces in comparison to state-of-the-art CFD solutions. For most investigated test cases, discrepancies are found of approximately 2 % for the horizontal pressure forces, 10 to 30 % for the vertical pressure forces, and less than 10 % for the viscous forces. Preliminary studies are presented where HYPAERO is used for the optimisation of various hypersonic shapes.
Identification of Small-Molecule Potential Inhibitor(s) for Helicoverpa armigera Juvenile Hormone Acid-o-Methyl Transferase (HaJHAMT) through Molecular Docking and MD Simulation Approaches

: Juvenile hormone compounds belong to a family of acyclic sesquiterpenoids, biosynthe-sized within small paired endocrine glands of corpora allata-corpora cardiaca having a neural connection with the brain. Stringent regulation of JH-levels in insect haemolymph is one of the most critical factors ensuring normal growth and development in insects. JHAMT is characterized as a key regulatory enzyme playing a pivotal role during insect metamorphosis and reproduction physiology by cat-alyzing the final step of SAM-dependent methylation of JH-acids into their cognate methyl esters. Recent reports on biochemical and molecular characterization of JHAMT gene from different insect species have proposed the JHAMT enzymatic activity as a potential target for the development of novel small molecule insect growth regulator(s). Therefore, in the present study, the protein sequence identity dependent homology model for JHAMT protein from a polyphagous pest, Helicoverpa armigera (order: Lepidoptera) has been generated and subsequently explored for virtual screening against small molecules natural product library. One such promising compouns namely, Scolimoside (HMDB05799) showing interactions with amino acid residues of enzyme's substrate-binding pocket (SBP) was further validated using molecular docking and Molecular Dynamics simulation (MD simulation). The study may pave the way forward for the design and development of novel eco-friendly small regulatory molecules as a component of integrated pest management.
Design of a 3‐degrees of freedom platform for the stereolithography apparatus

This paper presents the design of a 3 degrees of freedom build platform for a Stereo‐lithography Apparatus machine (older model without Zephyr coating). The Pahl and Beitz methodology is used to systematically design such a component. The various steps are illustrated and the final design described. The impetus for the research is the need to reduce layering errors in layer‐based machines. The final solution allows the platform to rotate along two axes and be elevated along the Z‐axis with minimal disruption to the present set‐up.
Empirical Validation of CodeCity: A Controlled Experiment

We describe an empirical evaluation of a visualization approach based on a 3D city metaphor, implemented in a tool called CodeCity. We designed the controlled experiment based on a set of lessons extracted from the current body of research and perfected it during a preliminary pilot phase. We then conducted the experiment in four locations across three countries over a period of four months, involving participants from both academia and industry. We detail the decisions behind our design as well as the lessons we learned from this experience. Finally, we present the results of the experiment and the complete set of data required to ensure repeatability of the experiment.
Upland rice intercropped with green manures and its impact on the succession with common bean

Abstract The aim of this work was to verify the possibility of intercropping rice with green manures, as well as the impact of the dry biomass yield of these intercropping systems on common bean in succession, evaluating the agronomic and qualitative performance of grains from both crops. The experiment was conducted in Southeastern Brazil in the years 2018 and 2019, with succession of rice (spring/summer) and common bean (autumn/winter). The treatments were composed of cropping systems with rice as a sole crop and intercropped with forage peanut, calopo, Crotalaria breviflora, Crotalaria spectabilis, stylo, jack bean and dwarf pigeon pea. No intercropping increased the system's yield compared to sole-crop rice, but intercropping of rice with forage peanut and stylo promoted grain yield and quality similar to those of sole-crop rice. Intercropping with C. breviflora affected the agronomic and qualitative performance of rice. Common bean yield after rice intercropped with dwarf pigeon pea, C. spectabilis and C. breviflora was similar in yield after sole-crop rice, while the other intercrops reduced common bean yield. Common bean grain quality was not affected by the cultivation of rice as sole crop and intercropped with green manures. Although none of the intercropping systems increased yield compared to sole-crop rice (control), it can be concluded that the intercropping of upland rice is viable depending on the green manure species, allowing greater biomass production per area that can help long-term soil conservation and increase the system's yield.
PFAT5 stability assessment of Lipovenoes MCT in total nutrient admixtures.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of monovalent and divalent cations on the stability of a fat emulsion (Lipovenoes MCT) in total nutrient admixtures (TNAs) by testing the percentage of fat residing in globules >5 µm (PFAT5) values. METHODS TNAs with different combinations of glucose (5% and 10%), amino acids (3.35 and 4.5 g/100 mL), Na+/K+ (100/39 mmol/L), Mg2+ (3.4 and 2.7 mmol/L), and fat emulsion (2.4%) were tested in triplicate at room temperature. The pH, mean droplet size (MDS), and PFAT5 were assessed at 0, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h. RESULTS In all seven groups, the TNA globule distribution was uniform, the pH value fluctuated in the range of 5.93-6.06, and the MDS met the limit of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) within 48 h. The PFAT5 value of the control group 0 without electrolytes was the lowest; group 1 added monovalent ions of 139 mmol/L was significantly higher (P<0.05) but without exceed the USP limit after 48 h. Groups 2 and 3 added Mg2+ 3.4 and 2.7 mmol/L respectively, based on group 1. Group 4 increased the amino acid concentration from 3.35% to 4.5% based on group 2, and group 5 reduced the glucose concentration from 10% to 5% based on group 4. Group 6 removed monovalent ions and retained only Mg2+ based on group 5. The PFAT5 values of group 2, 3, 4, and 5 exceeded the limit after 6 h and group 6 after 12 h. There was no statistical difference between group 2 and 4 (P>0.05) or between group 4 and 5 (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS When the concentration of glucose is 10-25% and the amino acid is 2.5-4.5%, The addition of monovalent ions affects the stability of fat emulsion in TNAs, however when the concentrations of Na+ ≤100 mmol/L and K+ ≤39 mmol/L, the PFAT5 value will not exceed the USP limit within 24 h. Mg2+ has a significant effect, the PFAT5 value will exceed the USP limit after 6 h when the concentration ≥2.7 mmol/L, which may cause potential safety hazards.
Comparisons of the Prevalence, Severity, and Risk Factors of Dysmenorrhea between Japanese Female Athletes and Non-Athletes in Universities

This study aimed to investigate the difference in the prevalence, severity, and risk factors of dysmenorrhea between Japanese female athletes and non-athletes in universities. The participants were 18 to 30 years old with no history of a previous pregnancy and/or childbirth. After application of the exclusion criteria, the cohort comprised 605 athletes and 295 non-athletes. An anonymous questionnaire, which included self-reported information on age, height, weight, age at menarche, menstrual cycle days, menstrual duration, dysmenorrhea severity, sleeping hours, dietary habits, exercise habits, training hours, and competition level was administered. Compared with athletes, non-athletes had a higher prevalence of dysmenorrhea (85.6% in athletes, 90.5% in non-athletes, p < 0.05); non-athletes also demonstrated increased severity (none/mild 27.8%, moderate 19.3%, and severe 52.9% in athletes; none/mild 21.2%, moderate 17.2%, and severe 61.6% in non-athletes; p < 0.05). Factors related to severe dysmenorrhea in athletes included long training hours, early menarche, and prolonged menstrual periods. In non-athletes, short menstrual cycle days and extended menstrual periods were related to severe dysmenorrhea. The prevalence and severity of dysmenorrhea were higher among non-athletes than among athletes; different factors were related to severe dysmenorrhea in these two groups. Thus, different strategies are necessary to manage dysmenorrhea for athletes and non-athletes in universities.
Apartment Building Energy Management System in Group Optimization with Electricity Interchange Using In-Vehicle Batteries

In Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) systems, charge/discharge scheduling of in-vehicle battery installed in Electric Vehicles (EVs) or Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHVs) is very important in order to operate the battery as an storage and a source of electricity for the car owner’s home. This significance of the battery is similarly applied to apartment buildings not only to homes. In this paper, the authors proposed an Energy Management System (EMS) for apartment buildings based on model-predictive control (MPC) using group optimization with electricity interchange from in-vehicle batteries, and the authors investigate and verify the usefulness of the proposed system for apartment buildings where households have various patterns in profiles of electricity consumption and vehicle use.