Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do Interbank Interest Rates Matter for Stock Prices at Nepal Stock Exchange?

This study examines an auto-regressive distributed lag (ADRL) modeling approach to develop the relationship between the stock price and interest rate in the context of Nepal, using the monthly data for the period from July 1996 to January 2019. NEPSE Index in Nepal Stock Exchange Limited is used for the stock prices and interbank interest rate released in Quarterly Economic Bulletin of Nepal Rastra Bank is used for the interest rate. The bound test for co-integration and estimated negative coefficient of long-run regression results justified by the Error Correction Mechanisms (ECM) establishes a valid negative long-run association between the INTEREST and PRICE. This suggests important considerations for policies towards an interest rate stabilization for the stock price stability and further development of the stock market in Nepal.
Engineering-Oriented Hybrid Genetic Algorithm for Frequency Assignment Problem

Since the usable range of the frequency spectrum is limited, the frequency assignment problem (FAP) is important in mobile telephone communication. In this paper, according to the characteristics of engineering- oriented FAP, an engineering-oriented hybrid genetic algorithm (EHGA) based on traditional genetic algorithm (TGA) is proposed, combined with particle swarm optimization (PSO) and simulated annealing (SA). The results obtained by the simulation to a real-word FAP case in GSM show that the algorithm we proposed is a better approach to solve the engineering-oriented FAP.
A novel PVDF microforce/force rate sensor for practical applications in micromanipulation

This paper presents our development of a novel force and force rate sensory system to advance applications in micromanipulation using an in situ polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric sensor. To allow close monitoring of magnitude and direction of microforces acting on microdevices during manipulation, PVDF ploymer films are used to fabricate highly sensitive 1D and 2D sensors to detect real‐time microforce and force rate information during the manipulation process. The sensory system with a resolution in the range of sub‐micronewtons can be applied effectively to develop a technology on the force‐reflection microassembly of surface MEMS structures. In addition, a tele‐micromanipulation platform, which can be used to perform tele‐microassembly of the MEMS structures and tele‐cell‐manipulation with force/haptic feedback via Internet was also built successfully.
Research on the Delay Suspension System Based on Different Learning Rules

Track irregularity is one of the most important aspects of the suspension control performance impact. Due to the delay phenomenon of suspension system, the traditional PID control is unable to accurately track irregularity of track changes. Based on the qualitative analysis to delay suspension system, through modifying conventional PID controller, the article establishes four kinds of Neural Network adaptive PID Controllers based on different learning rules. The control strategy combines by the simple structure of the PID Control, the self-organizing ability of the Neural Network Control and the self-learning ability of the learning rules, adjusts PID parameters on-line, adapts to the change of track irregularity, and has strong robustness. However, the different learning rules have different learning ability of the interferences of track irregularity for the delay phenomenon of the suspension system. Simulation result shows that the supervised Delta learning rules is confirmed more effectively to realize tracking compared with other learning rules, faster response speed, more simple structure, easier operation for the track interference and load disturbance of the delay suspension system. This provides a very good way to solve the interference problem of orbit of the delay suspension system.
Maladaptive Pulmonary Vascular Responses to Chronic Sustained and Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia in Rat

Chronic sustained hypoxia (CSH), as found in individuals living at a high altitude or in patients suffering respiratory disorders, initiates physiological adaptations such as carotid body stimulation to maintain oxygen levels, but has deleterious effects such as pulmonary hypertension (PH). Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a respiratory disorder of increasing prevalence, is characterized by a situation of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). OSA is associated with the development of systemic hypertension and cardiovascular pathologies, due to carotid body and sympathetic overactivation. There is growing evidence that CIH can also compromise the pulmonary circulation, causing pulmonary hypertension in OSA patients and animal models. The aim of this work was to compare hemodynamics, vascular contractility, and L-arginine-NO metabolism in two models of PH in rats, associated with CSH and CIH exposure. We demonstrate that whereas CSH and CIH cause several common effects such as an increased hematocrit, weight loss, and an increase in pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), compared to CIH, CSH seems to have more of an effect on the pulmonary circulation, whereas the effects of CIH are apparently more targeted on the systemic circulation. The results suggest that the endothelial dysfunction evident in pulmonary arteries with both hypoxia protocols are not due to an increase in methylated arginines in these arteries, although an increase in plasma SDMA could contribute to the apparent loss of basal NO-dependent vasodilation and, therefore, the increase in PAP that results from CIH.
Revisiting the Impact of Modernization on Support for Women Politicians: The Role of Women’s Political Empowerment

We examine the role of societal modernization and women’s political empowerment in generating support for women politicians amongst citizens. Using a global analysis of 116 countries with a new dataset of micro- and macro-level longitudinal data, we show that societal modernization and women’s political empowerment only have positive effects on support for women in politics when the other is also present. For citizens who experienced either societal modernization or women’s political empowerment, but not both, we do not see this positive relationship. Crucially, these patterns hold when analysing the current social and political context, as well as the context experienced by citizens during their formative years. We argue that both social and political changes are required to develop supportive attitudes towards women in politics.
Psychological Essentialism and the Structure of Concepts

Psychological essentialism is the hypothesis that humans represent some categories as having an underlying essence that unifies members of a category and is causally responsible for their typical attributes and behaviors. Throughout the past several decades, psychological essentialism has emerged as an extremely active area of research in cognitive science. More recently, it has also attracted attention from philosophers, who put the empirical results to use in many different philosophical areas, ranging from philosophy of mind and cognitive science to social philosophy. This article aims to give philosophers who are new to the topic an overview of the key empirical findings surrounding psychological essentialism, and some of the ways the hypothesis and its related findings have been discussed, extended, and applied in philosophical research.
Analysis of distortion in A/D converters by time-domain and code-density techniques

Two new methods for measuring the total harmonic distortion of an A/D converter are described. One is based on time-domain analysis, the other on modified code density analysis. Experiments show that these methods give results comparable to the ones provided by FFT analysis. It is then shown, by both experiments on a flash converter and computer simulations, that the conventional code density analysis does not provide accurate signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio (SNDR) estimates at the highest frequencies, while the proposed methods do.
Factors affecting contractor's business failure: contractors' perspective

Purpose – The main objective of this paper is to identify the factors that have the potential to cause a contractor's business failure in the West Bank in Palestine and to determine their impact level from the contractor's viewpoint.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 84 contractors from the West Bank in Palestine was performed. A total of 44 factors were considered in this study and were listed under three groups, i.e. financial, managerial, and external.Findings – Contractors have ranked the following factors as highly influential with huge potential to cause contractor's business failure: fluctuation in construction material costs; delay in collecting dibs from clients; lack of experience in contracts; low margin of profit due to competition; and closure and limitation of movement between West Bank areas.Originality/value – This paper identified the factors that have the potential to cause contractor's business failure in the West Bank in Palestine and determined their impact level from the contr.
Study on Multimode Intelligent Control for Ship Steering System

The ship motion is characterized by nonlinearity, time varying, uncertainty and complex interference from the environment, therefore there are certain limits in conventional PID control and self-adapting control for ship steering system. This paper combines three intelligent control technologies, that is, fuzzy control, neural network and extension control, to propose a multimode intelligent control method. Fuzzy control is utilized to solve control problem of uncertainty system, and learning ability of neural network is utilized to optimize the controller parameters. A new multi-mode transition controller based on extension control is presented and well designed in this paper, which may realize smooth switching during control process. In order to satisfy the requirements of higher accuracy and faster response of complex system, every control strategy designed can realize ideal control effect within the scope of its effective control. The simulation experiment is made to test dynamic and static performances of ship steering system under model parameter perturbation and wave interference. The simulation results show that the control system achieves satisfactory performances by implementing the multimode intelligent control.
Breaking off from local bounds: human resource management practices of national players in the BRIC countries

Automobile manufacturers from the BRIC countries have upgraded their products and increasingly compete with companies from industrialised countries. In regard to HRM they face, however, the dilemma whether to continue their established local practices or to implement global standard production systems and 'best practice' HRM concepts. Based on case studies of automobile manufacturers from the BRICs, this article analyses the strategic choices of the companies regarding production systems and HRM. The companies show a surprisingly high readiness to break with local traditions and to adapt global standard production systems. The requirements of lean manufacturing and of new production technologies lead to new skill formation, elite formation and attitude formation practices in the companies.
Psychomedical Interventions with Transgender People in Portugal and Brazil: A Critical Approach

This study aims to analyze biopsychomedical interventions with transgender people. For this purpose, we carried out 35 semi-structured interviews with people who self-identify as transsexuals and transvestites in Brazil and Portugal. The responses of the study participants were systematized according to a thematic analysis, which led to the emergence of the following three main themes: “institutional power”, “expectations of trans-bodies”, and “experiences in health services”. This study demonstrates how some trans people perform bodily modifications to fight the transphobia they experience throughout their lives. In addition, they believe that, by making their bodies conform to each other, they may become more attractive and desirable. The process of cisnormativity is, furthermore, conveyed by the idea present in the answers of some respondents: that having “integrated” bodies means facing less discrimination and that they will, therefore, obtain more satisfactory ways of personally and socially experiencing their identities. This study contributes to a deepening critical reflection on the experiences/exclusions of trans people, especially in the psychomedical context of “normalization” devices. Hence, just as social structures produce and sustain transphobia, the same structures are responsible for combating it.
Comment on 'Canard-wing interaction in unsteady supersonic flow'

A N application of various supersonic oscillatory aerodynamic computer programs was made in Ref. 1 to an idealization of the SAAB 37 Viggen canard airplane. It was suggested that the harmonic gradient method (HGM) of Chen and Liu only had accuracy comparable to the PG version of Hounjet's potential gradient method. However, the HGM has been extended from a velocity potential formulation to an acceleration potential formulation since the publication of Ref. 2. The formulation of this HGM/acceleration-potential method has been published in Ref. 4, and the associated computer program, known as the ZONA51C code, now has comparable accuracy to Hounjet's CP method. It seems appropriate to compare the newer harmonic gradient results to the NLR SPNLRI-CP results on the Viggen configuration. The calculations were carried out in the Flutter Solution Sequence of MSC/NASTRAN for the Viggen idealization of Ref. 1 shown in Fig. 1. (ZONA51D, an improved version of ZONA51C, has been incorporated into Version 67 of MSC/ NASTRAN in a new option as a variation on the subsonic Doublet Lattice Method since the aerodynamic modeling is identical for the two methods; the branching within MSC/ NASTRAN is simply determined by the Mach number.) The canard is slightly above the wing plane by a distance of 0.1 length units. The generalized force Q12 shown is the lift coefficient of the wing due to a unit rotation of the canard about its midchord. The lift coefficient is obtained by dividing the generalized force by the dynamic pressure and the square of the wing span (1.20 units). As in Ref. 1, the wing lift is calculated by considering two rigid-body modes of motion, the first being the wing alone undergoing unit plunging, and the second being unit canard rotation. (Example HA75H of Ref. 6 illustrates the application of MSC/NASTRAN to this task, including the necessary DMAP Alters.) The reduced frequency is based on a reference semichord of 1.00 unit. The results are shown in Fig. 1 and almost coincide with the NLR SPNLRI-CP results up to the high reduced frequency of k 5.0. To verify convergence, two aerodynamic element ("box") idealizations were considered. In the first, the canard was divided into 8 equal width strips with 8 equal chordwise divisions, and the wing was divided into 12 equal width strips and 12 equal chordwise divisions, giving a total of 208 boxes. In the second idealization, the equal divisions were 10 x 10 on the canard and 20 x 20 on the wing for a total of 500 ReQ12
Optimal inventory policies when stockouts result from defective products

An implicit assumption underlying most inventory systems is that the lot ordered will not contain any defective, i.e., unsaleable items when delivered and so there will be no ‘shortages’ in the delivery in the sense that every unit of the product in the accepted lot is of perfect quality and therefore fully acceptable to the customers. Such an assumption is not always tenable in view of the extensive use of acceptance sampling by business and industry in the quality control process. The presence of defective items in the traditional inventory models which foresee no such possibility would certainly disrupt the systems in use, and consequently entail higher operating cost on the inventory management. With an aim to broaden the base of applications, and to demonstrate the impacts of the possible presence of defective products upon the structure and the cost of certain inventory systems, this paper extends two inventory models to the case where the proportion of defective units in the accepted lot is a rando.
An application of Newton-like algorithm for H ∞ proportional–integral–derivative controller synthesis of seesaw-cart system

This paper is concerned with the synthesis of proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller according to the H ∞ optimality criterion for seesaw-cart system. The equations of dynamics are obtained through modelling a seesaw-cart system actuated by direct-current motor via rack and pinion mechanism using the Euler–Lagrange approach. The obtained model is linearised and synthesis of the PID controller for linear model is performed. An algorithm based on the sub-gradient method, the Newton method, the self-adapting backpropagation algorithm and the Adams method is proposed to calculate the PID controller gains. The proposed control strategy is tested and compared with standard linear matrix inequality (LMI)-based method on computer simulations and experimentally on a laboratory model.
Structural Variations across Wolframite Solid Solutions, (Fe,Mn)WO4

The crystal structure of four samples from natural wolframite solid solutions, (Fe,Mn)WO4, was obtained with synchrotron high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction (HRPXRD) data, Rietveld refinements, space group P2/c, and Z = 2. Wolframite solid solutions extend from ferberite (FeWO4) to hübnerite (MnWO4). The W and (Mn,Fe) cations are in six-fold coordination. This study shows that the unit-cell parameters, a, b, c, and β angle, vary linearly with the unit-cell volume, V, across the wolframite series. The average distance increases linearly because of larger Mn2+ (0.83 Å) replacing smaller Fe2+ (0.78 Å) cations, whereas the average distance increases slightly because of the higher effective charge of the smaller Fe2+ cation. The distortions of the two types of polyhedra across the series are discussed.
A novel active current waveshaping technique for solid state input power factor conditioners

A novel input power factor correction method which uses a closed-loop active current waveshaping technique is presented. The novel feature of the proposed method is that nearly sinusoidal input currents are obtained at constant switching frequencies. Moreover, the method exhibits instantaneous current control, which results in very fast response and increased switch reliability characteristics. Selected predicted system performance and design methods are verified experimentally on a 1 kVA laboratory prototype. <<ETX>>
Working collaboratively to create a legacy: the development of The Critical Incident Resource

ABSTRACT Critical incidents (CIs) are sudden, unexpected events that have a significant impact upon children and young people. In response to the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017, the Association of Regional Educational Psychology Services (EPSs) created face-to-face training materials to support schools with CI response. In order to embed the legacy of this cross-service training initiative, the aim of this research was to explore how these materials could be developed into an online resource through a process of action research. Supported by an IT expert, one trainee educational psychologist (TEP) and five EPs from different EPSs across the region formed a ‘task-and-finish’ group and followed a seven-phase process, including a pre- and post-phase. 'The Critical Incident Resource’ (TCIR) website was created, to support EPs in their support for school CI response. The online resource development highlighted key project management skills for EPs including conceptual, human, negotiation and technical abilities.
Histidine-Tagged Folate-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles for Enhanced Transgene Expression in Breast Cancer Cells In Vitro

Nanotechnology has emerged as a promising treatment strategy in gene therapy, especially against diseases such as cancer. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are regarded as favorable gene delivery vehicles due to their low toxicity, ease of synthesis and ability to be functionalized. This study aimed to prepare functionalized AuNPs (FAuNPs) and evaluate their folate-targeted and nontargeted pCMV-Luc-DNA delivery in breast cancer cells in vitro. CS was added to induce stability and positive charges to the AuNPs (Au-CS), histidine (Au-CS-His) to enhance endosomal escape and folic acid for folate-receptor targeting (Au-CS-FA-His). The FAuNP:pDNA nanocomplexes possessed favorable sizes (<135 nm) and zeta potentials (<−20 mV), strong compaction efficiency and were capable of pDNA protection against nuclease degradation. These nanocomplexes showed minimal cytotoxicity (>73% cell viability) and enhanced transgene activity. The influence of His was notable in the HER2 overexpressing SKBR3 cells, which produced higher gene expression. Furthermore, the FA-targeted nanocomplexes enhanced receptor-mediated endocytosis, especially in MCF-7 cells, as confirmed by the receptor competition assay. While the role of His may need further optimization, the results achieved suggest that these FAuNPs may be suitable gene delivery vehicles for breast cancer therapeutics.
Preparation of nanocellulose by hydrolysis with ionic liquids and two-step 
hydrolysis with ionic liquids and enzymes

The aim of this study was to compare parameters of nanocellulose obtained by two different procedures: hydrolysis with ionic liquids (1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) and hydrolysis with ionic liquids in combination with hydrolysis using a cellulolytic enzyme from Trichoderma reesei. Avicel cellulose was treated with two ionic liquids: 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (AmimCl) and 1-ethyl 3-methylimidazolium acetate (EmimOAc). In the two-step hydrolysis cellulose after treatment with ionic liquids was additionally hydrolyzed with a solution of enzymes. In order to characterize the obtained material, the following analyses were used: infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and dynamic light scattering. The results indicated that cellulose obtained by two-step nanocellulose production methods (first hydrolysis with ionic liquids and then with enzymes) showed similar parameters (particle size, XRD patterns and degree of crystallinity) as the material after the one-step process, i.e. hydrolysis with ionic liquids.
Research on Management Policy and National Real Estate Climate Index in China

Using ARIMA time series analysis method, this paper predicts NRECI from May to December 2011. Then detailed analysis is made of the NRECI trend and the major management policies introduced in corresponding periods. The results show that NRECI is closely related with management policy of real estate industry in China. The development trend of the NRECI from May to December 2011 indicates that the authorities should take moderate management measures to keep the stable trend sustained. Streszczenie. W artykule przedstawiono metode obliczania iprzewidywnia wspolczynnika NRECI (National Real Estate Climate Index). Do tego celu wykorzystano metode analizy szeregu ARIMA. (Badania nad polityką zarządzania wykorzystującą indeks NRECI - National Real Estate Climate Index)