Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oil Volatility Spillover into Oil Dependent Equity-Sector Stock Returns: Evidence from Major Oil Producing Countries

In this paper, we study the effects of oil price volatility on the stock market relevant sectors from several oil producing countries. We investigate the interdependence between oil prices and sector stock indices within OPEC markets and selected major non-OPEC countries such as Russia and United States. By exploring the time-varying dynamics of oil prices and sector-stock indices on the sectoral reaction to oil price shocks we investigate how the shocks in oil prices affect the correlation dynamics of the different sectors. Our study finds that different sectors display heterogeneous dynamic correlation pattern with different oil price shocks origins in different countries. Specifically, the GARCH coefficients in several sectors, such as, industrial, energy and healthcare in some of oil-producing middle-eastern countries are not significant. In addition, the negative coefficients for some sectors in some of the countries indicate the existence of hedging opportunities for portfolio managers. JEL classification numbers: G11, G12
Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Academic Performance in Students University During Virtual Learning

Optimization of virtual learning is not only supported by the availability of adequate facilities but also through developing student potential in the aspects of creativity and critical thinking. Both of these aspects are absolutely needed by students to adapt to the learning process, one of which will also affect their learning achievement improvement. This study aims to look at the relationship between creativity, critical thinking, and student academic performance during online learning. The quantitative research design used in this study involved 168 student respondents who attended online lectures and were selected using purposive sampling technique. The results showed that creativity has a significant and linear relationship with critical thinking disposition, where the higher a person's creativity, the higher their critical thinking and vice versa. Besides that, simultaneously creativity and critical thinking can be one of the factors that determine student academic performance. Thus, this study shows that by considering these three variables in learning, it is expected to be able to produce optimal learning outcomes, especially in virtual learning. Keywords—academic performance, creativity, critical thinking, critical thinking disposition, virtual learning
The Role of Strength and Conditioning in the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Lateral Ankle Instability

ABSTRACT Lateral ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries sustained during sport or physical activity. Up to 40% of individuals can develop chronic lateral ankle instability (CLAI) after a lateral ankle sprain. CLAI occurs when functional or mechanical insufficiencies of the lateral ankle ligamentous complex persist. The purpose of this article is to identify characteristics of CLAI and describe strength and conditioning strategies that can be used to treat lateral ankle ligamentous injuries, preventing them from progressing on to CLAI (See Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/SCJ/A306).
Influence of a Discontinuous Process Strategy on Microstructure and Microhardness in Drilling Inconel 718

Nickel-base alloys are proven materials in the fields of the aerospace and oil industry, which is due to their characteristic material properties of high temperature strength, high toughness and good oxidation resistance. These properties are beneficial to applications in technical components in general. However, they also represent challenges for machining. Especially while drilling Inconel 718, high temperatures occur in the chip-formation zone that implicate high thermal load in the material and thus, influence the surface integrity, for example, by causing white layers. Hence, the development of strategies to improve the ability to supply cutting edges with cooling lubricant is becoming increasingly important. In this context, an alternative process design, the discontinuous drilling, takes place, characterized by a periodic interruption of feed motion and thus, chip formation. A minor retraction movement from the contact zone enables the cooling lubricant to reach the cutting edges and to reduce their thermal load. In comparison to the conventional process of drilling Inconel 718, the effects of discontinuous drilling with varying numbers of interruptions on the resulting surface integrity and further parameters of drilling qualities are analyzed. Thereby, the prevention of process-related phase transformations due to thermal impact was discovered when a discontinuous drilling strategy was implemented.
lncRNA HHIP-AS1 Promotes the Osteogenic Differentiation Potential and Inhibits the Migration Ability of Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells

Alveolar bone remodeling under orthodontic force is achieved by periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs), which are sensitive to mechanical loading. How to regulate functions of PDLSCs is a key issue in bone remodeling during orthodontic tooth movement. This study is aimed at investigating the roles of lncRNA Hedgehog-interacting protein antisense RNA 1 (HHIP-AS1) in the functional regulation of PDLSCs. First, HHIP-AS1 expression was downregulated in PDLSCs under continuous compressive pressure. Then, we found that the alkaline phosphatase activity, in vitro mineralization, and expression levels of bone sialoprotein, osteocalcin, and osterix were increased in PDLSCs by HHIP-AS1. The results of scratch migration and transwell chemotaxis assays revealed that HHIP-AS1 inhibited the migration and chemotaxis abilities of PDLSCs. In addition, the RNA sequencing data showed that 356 mRNAs and 14 lncRNAs were upregulated, including receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 and nuclear-enriched abundant transcript 1, while 185 mRNAs and 6 lncRNAs were downregulated, including fibroblast growth factor 5 and LINC00973, in HHIP-AS1-depleted PDLSCs. Bioinformatic analysis revealed several biological processes and signaling pathways related to HHIP-AS1 functions, including the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and JAK-STAT signaling pathway. In conclusion, our findings indicated that HHIP-AS1 was downregulated in PDLSCs under compressive pressure, and it promoted the osteogenic differentiation potential and inhibited the migration and chemotaxis abilities of PDLSCs. Thus, HHIP-AS1 may be a potential target for accelerating tooth movement during orthodontic treatment.
Assessment of Characteristics of Acid Mine Drainage Treated with Fly Ash

Acid mine drainage (AMD) occurs naturally in abandoned coal mines, and it contains hazardous toxic elements in varying concentrations. In the present research, AMD samples collected from an abandoned mine were treated with fly ash samples from four thermal power plants in Singrauli Coalfield in the proximate area, at optimized concentrations. The AMD samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters and metal content before and after fly ash treatment. Morphological, geochemical and mineralogical characterization of the fly ash was performed using SEM, XRF and XRD. This laboratory-scale investigation indicated that fly ash had appreciable neutralization potential, increasing AMD pH and decreasing elemental and sulfate concentrations. Therefore, fly ash may be effectively used for AMD neutralization, and its suitability for the management of coalfield AMD pits should be assessed further.
Creating Project-Based Learning for Online Art Classrooms

Project-based learning (PBL) is considered an engaging and promising pedagogy across diverse disciplines and student populations in the United States in the digital age. Research on PBL in online environments and in the field of art has, however, been limited. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to examine the theoretical grounds of PBL and analyze its pedagogical features and application. Of specific interest is Krajcik and Shin’s (2014) PBL model, which includes six pedagogical features: asking driving questions, emphasizing learning goals, fostering authentic practice, enhancing collaboration, learning with technology, and creating artifacts. An account of a qualitative descriptive pilot study conducted in an undergraduate online art course further explicates the application of this PBL model. The pilot study accentuates ways to create an online PBL art classroom and illustrates students performing PBL through their arts-based research projects. Reflection on pedagogical recommendations and the challenges of implementing PBL in the online art classroom concludes the study.
Measurements of the Magnetic Field Variations Related with the Size of V-Shaped Notches in Steel Pipes

Gas and oil pipeline networks require periodic inspections to detect cracks or notches that can cause industrial accidents and environmental contamination. For these inspections, the metal magnetic memory (MMM) method could be used as a non-destructive testing (NDT) technique, which does not need expensive equipment and high-skilled operators. However, more investigations are required to quantify the size and shape of defects in ferromagnetic pipes using the MMM signals. We present experimental measurements of MMM signals around five small V-shaped notches of an ASTM-A36 steel pipe using a three-axis magnetoresistive sensor. The V-shaped notches have different values of depth (500 µm, 1000 µm, 1500 µm, 2000 µm and 2500 µm) and width (1000 µm, 1500 µm, 2000 µm, 3000 µm and 3500 µm). We measured the variations of tangential and normal MMM signals around these defects and their relationships with the size of each defect. The first V-notch defect (500 μm depth and 1000 μm width) registers variations of the tangential and normal MMM signals of 14.32 μT ± 1.62 μT and 27.95 μT ± 1.14 μT, respectively. On the other hand, the fifth V-notch defect (2500 μm depth and 3500 μm width) has variations of the tangential and normal MMM signals of 68.75 μT ± 1.10 μT and 71.37 μT ± 0.72 μT, respectively. The MMM method could be used for real-time monitoring of V-shaped notches in steel pipes. This method does not require special treatment of steel pipes.
A versatile and cost-effective reduced graphene oxide-crosslinked polyurethane sponge for highly effective wastewater treatment

Gradually deteriorating water quality caused by oil or chemical leakage and heavy metal wastewater discharge is becoming a global problem. To address this issue, a versatile absorbent material was designed and fabricated by coating reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on porous polyurethane (PU) sponges. Firstly, calcium carbonate nanoparticles (nano-CaCO3) and graphene oxide (GO) were added during the preparation of the PU sponge. A PU sponge with nanosized porous framework was obtained after etching the nano-CaCO3. After the reducing process, rGO was precisely coated on the prepared porous PU via crosslinking to obtain porous rGO-based PU sponge (porous PU@rGO). The physicochemical properties of the as-fabricated porous PU@rGO indicated that it was recyclable, hydrophobic and conductive. Batch experiments were carried out, and results suggested that porous PU@rGO has a widespread potential for applications in oil–water separation, the break-up of oil-in-water emulsions, as well as hazardous ion adsorption.
Amorphous materials: Properties, structure, and durability

Abstract The compressional and shear wave velocities of seven series of hydrous aluminosilicate glasses were measured by Brillouin scattering at room temperature and pressure as a function of water content. The glasses were quenched from high temperature and 0.2 or 0.3 GPa pressure. The dry end-members range from highly polymerized albitic and granitic compositions, to depolymerized synthetic analogues of mantle-derived melts. For each set of glasses, the adiabatic shear and bulk moduli have been calculated from the measured sound velocities and densities. These moduli are linear functions of water content up to 5 wt% H2O, the highest concentration investigated, indicating that both are independent of water speciation in all series. For anhydrous glasses, (∂V/∂P)S changes from about -0.3 to -0.7 × 10−15 m3/(Pa·mol) with increasing degree of polymerization. For the same compositions, the partial molar (∂V/∂P)S of the water component changes from near zero to -0.8 × 10−15 m3/(Pa⋅mol) with increasing degree of polymerization, such that dissolved water amplifies the differences in rigidity between the anhydrous glasses. This strong variation indicates that the solubility mechanisms of water depend strongly on silicate composition. A simple linear model reproduces (∂V/∂P)S to within measurement uncertainty, with glasses becoming more compressible as NBO/T decreases and as alkalinity increases. The dissolved water component also becomes more compressible as NBO/T decreases, but less compressible as alkalinity increases. In strongly depolymerized structures, water causes an increase in sound velocities even though it induces a decrease in density. The general rule according to which sound velocities correlate with density is, therefore, violated, for in these cases water dissolution results in a decrease of compressibility. Barring any strongly anomalous effect of water on configurational compressibility, the trends observed for glasses should be still more divergent for melts. Consequently, hydrous mafic and ultramafic liquids are predicted to have a very low compressibility. The shear modulus of hydrous glasses varies little with bulk composition or water content, supporting the use of a single composition-independent pre-exponential factor in models of melt viscosity.
Reading texts, reading people: Cognitive literary science and pedagogy

Cognitive literary science has explored the the complex relationship between literary reading and social cognition. However, this insightful work about reading literature is frequently distanced from discussions about teaching literature. This essay discusses the results and ramifications of a pedagogical study conducted in two sections of an introductory literature course that was redesigned around cognitive literary studies. Qualitative and quantitative data is collected and analyzed in order to see if a pedagogy rooted in cognitive literary science affects students’ perspective-taking. The essay also illustrates how such a teaching practice might be incorporated into any undergraduate literature curriculum.
Manager Sentiment Bias and Stock Returns: Evidence from China

ABSTRACT Using textual analysis of Chinese listed firms from 2004 to 2017, we examine the role that managers’ sentiment plays in financial disclosures and its impact on firms’ future stock returns. We distinguish manager sentiment as either signal or noise according to its consistency with firm earnings. We find that good signal sentiment positively impacts stock returns, whereas bad signal sentiment and noisy sentiment that reflects overconfidence negatively impact stock returns. Further analysis shows that external supervision, internal control, and managers’ expertise contribute to improving the information quality of both signal and noisy sentiments, and the enactment of earnings forecast policy helps strengthen the signaling impact of manager sentiment.
Hot Air, Hot Lakes, or Both? Exploring Mid‐Holocene African Temperatures Using Proxy System Modeling

Climate models predict Africa will warm by up to 5°C in the coming century, stressing African societies. To provide independent constraints on model predictions, this study compares two notable reconstructions of East African temperatures to those predicted by Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP3) and transient TraCE (Transient Climate Evolution) simulations, focusing on the Mid‐Holocene (MH, 5–8 kyr B.P.). Reconstructions of tropical African temperature derived from lake sedimentary archives indicate 1–2.5°C of warming during the MH relative to the 20th century, but most climate models do not replicate the warming observed in these paleoclimate data. We investigate this discrepancy using a new lake proxy system model, with attention to the (potentially non‐stationary) relationship between lake temperature and air temperature. We find amplified lake surface temperature changes compared to air temperature during the MH due to heightened seasonality and precessional forcing. Lacustrine processes account for some of the warming, and highlight how the lake heat budget leads to a rectification of the seasonal cycle; however, the simulated lake heating bias is insufficient to reconcile the full discrepancy between the models and the proxy‐derived MH warming. We find further evidence of changes in mixing depth over time, potentially driven by changes in cloud cover and shortwave radiative fluxes penetrating the lake surface. This may confound interpretation for glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGT) compounds which exist in the mixed layer, and suggests a need for independent constraints on mixed layer depth. This work provides a new interpretive framework for invaluable paleoclimate records of temperature changes over the African continent.
Unified Analytical Synthesis of Cascaded n-Tuplets Filters Including Nonresonant Nodes

This article presents an analytical method for the synthesis of a low-pass prototype filter constituted by cascaded <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-tuplets, including resonant node (RN) and nonresonant node (NRN). The method extends the features of previously published solutions, limited to RNs only or that allow the inclusion of NRNs but in rigid configurations. The method begins with extracted-pole synthesis, arbitrarily defining the transmission zeros (TZs). Then, a filter topology transformation is applied by grouped node blocks to obtain the desired topology, with each <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-tuplet characterized by the assigned TZs. The procedure overcomes the <italic>ad hoc</italic> techniques currently available in the literature. Moreover, the novel filter transformation presented here (from extracted-pole to cross-coupled topology) provides an additional degree of freedom for filter synthesis, which can be further exploited by filter designers. Several examples are presented to validate the novel synthesis procedure.
The Effect of Child Soldiers on Rebel Violence against Civilians

ABSTRACT Existing work describes child soldiers as very violent towards civilians. Challenging this, I posit that children’s effect on group behaviour is conditioned by rebels’ civilian support. Because they have weak pre-existing norms, children are both prone to normalize violence and susceptible to rebel efforts to control their use of violence. They should thus closely follow group rules in their behaviour towards civilians, implying a moderating effect of these rules. I expect that child soldiering increases civilian victimization only for groups who lack incentives to show restraint towards civilians because they receive no support from them. Empirical tests support this expectation.
Global boundedness and asymptotic behavior of the solutions to an attraction–repulsion chemotaxis-growth system

This paper deals with the following attraction–repulsion chemotaxis system with logistic source under homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions in a bounded domain with smooth boundary, where are assumed to be positive constants and with and . It is shown that the system admits a unique globally bounded classical solution provided that space dimension n = 2, or and , or and with some . Furthermore, under the additional assumption μ is suitably large, we show that the global classical solution will converge to the constant steady state exponentially as . Our results imply that the logistic source plays an important role on the behavior of the solutions in this model.
Sliding Balance Control of a Point-Foot Biped Robot Based on a Dual-Objective Convergent Equation

The point-foot biped robot is highly adaptable to and can move rapidly on complex, non-structural and non-continuous terrain, as demonstrated in many studies. However, few studies have investigated balance control methods for point-foot sliding on low-friction terrain. This article presents a control framework based on the dual-objective convergence method and whole-body control for the point-foot biped robot to stabilize its posture balance in sliding. In this control framework, a dual-objective convergence equation is used to construct the posture stability criterion and the corresponding equilibrium control task, which are simultaneously converged. Control tasks are then carried out through the whole-body control framework, which adopts an optimization method to calculate the viable joint torque under the physical constraints of dynamics, friction and contact forces. In addition, this article extends the proposed approach to balance control in standing recovery. Finally, the capabilities of the proposed controller are verified in simulations in which a 26.9-kg three-link point-foot biped robot (1) slides over a 10∘ trapezoidal terrain, (2) slides on terrain with a sinusoidal friction coefficient between 0.05 and 0.25 and (3) stands and recovers from a center-of-mass offset of 0.02 m.
Cultural factors that influence the adoption of e-commerce: A Palestinian case study

The objective of this study is to explore the impact of various cultural dimensions on the acceptance of E-commerce in the Palestinian context. The developed theoretical framework is a modified version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), wherein the trust, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use act as mediators for the intention to use E-commerce. As such, five cultural dimensions were employed in the proposed model. These are; uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity, collectivism, and long-term orientation. Data was collected from a non-probabilistic sample of 418 participants using a pre-tested and validated questionnaire. Findings demonstrate that the hypothesized model was able to explain 62% of the variability of the intention towards the use of E-commerce. In particular, they signify a strong correlation between acceptance of E-commerce and the domestic culture of consumers, where uncertainty avoidance and power distance are the most vital cultural dimensions influencing the decision to transact online.