Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Convergence of the MPIE Galerkin MoM Thin Wire Formulation

Convergence studies of the Method of Moments solution of thin wires have long been handicapped by the issue of conditional convergence: when the segment length approaches the wire radius, the approximations typically made result in exponentially diverging solutions. In this communication, it is shown that it is the approximation of the singularity which is the main cause of this problem. Using the mixed potential integral equation, paralleling the classic RWG formulation for surfaces, the formulation in this communication approximates the surface (as opposed to equivalent filamentary) current, and applies Galerkin testing on the wire surface. The use of contemporary singularity-canceling integral transforms for highly efficient and accurate quadrature is demonstrated. Results are presented for typical thin-wire dipoles for both radiation and scattering problems. It is shown that with a rigorous treatment of the singularity, a far more comprehensive convergence study may be undertaken than previously demonstrated. Furthermore, the results shown justify the many years of successful use in practice of simple source models with modest mesh requirements.
A Comparison of Carbon Dioxide Emissions between Battery Electric Buses and Conventional Diesel Buses

To prove the important role of battery electric buses (BEBs) in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, we propose a framework to compare CO2 emissions between BEBs and conventional diesel buses (CDBs) based on low sampling frequency BEBs data at the city scale in Shenzhen. We applied the VT-Micro model to improve the estimation of CDBs’ CO2 emissions. A modal-activity-based method was implemented to reconstruct the second-by-second trajectories from the dataset as the input of the VT-Micro model. We updated the data of the Guangdong power generation mix to improve the estimation of BEBs’ CO2 emissions. The experiments showed that BEBs could reduce CO2 emissions by 18.0–23.9% in comparison with CDBs when the frequency of air-conditioning usage was low. In addition, BEBs tended to achieve more CO2 emission reduction benefits when the transit buses traveled at a low speed. Improving the traffic efficiency of road networks and promoting inter-provincial electricity trading are important to promote the adoption of BEBs.
MAPPING OF LABORATORY SAFETY RESEARCH: A BIBLIOMETRIC REVIEW

Laboratory safety has become a priority for reducing occupational health risks among public health workers in developed countries. Analysing this scientific domain’s evolution and creation is essential. This review discusses the bibliometric data of scholarly research performed in laboratory safety in seven decades (1949 to 2020). The review uses the Scopus database and a wide variety of bibliometric metrics, including publications, citations, and publishing patterns. A graphical visualisation of bibliographic details using the VOSviewer software is also presented. Results show that the number of studies covering this subject has fluctuated, with the highest number of publications was 47 in 2016. Often, by reviewing publications and research areas, it can be construed that laboratory safety research is diverse. The bibliometric review conducted offers a rigorous and thorough view of laboratory safety research that may be beneficial to occupational safety and health practitioners and researchers keen on the pursuit of enhancing or discovering new knowledge in this field.
SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC AND SPECTROFLUORIMETRIC DETERMINATION OF 1,4-DIHYDROPYRIDINE DRUGS USING POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE AND CERIUM (IV) AMMONIUM SULPHATE

Simple and sensitive spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric methods have beendeveloped for determination of 1,4-dihydropyridine (1,4-DHP) drugs based on the oxidation ofthe investigated 1,4-DHP drugs with acidic KMnO4 (method I) or Ce (IV) (method II). The firstmethod is based on the decrease in the colour of the permanganate solution due to the presenceof the studied drug was measured at 525 nm. And the second method is based on monitoring thefluorescence of the produced cerium (III) at emission 355 nm (excitation at 255 nm). Allvariables that affect the performance of the proposed methods were carefully studied andoptimized. The analytical performance of the methods was validated according to InternationalConference of Harmonization guidelines. The proposed methods were applied successfully tothe determination of the drugs in commercial tablets and capsules. The results of the proposedprocedures were statistically and compared with those obtained by the reference methods.
Research biases create overrepresented “poster children” of marine invasion ecology

Nonnative marine species are increasingly recognized as a threat to the world's oceans, yet are poorly understood relative to their terrestrial and freshwater counterparts. Here, we conducted a systematic review of 2,203 research articles on nonnative marine animals to determine whether the current literature reflects the known diversity of marine invaders, how much we know about these species, and how frequently their impacts are measured. We found that only 39% of nonnative animals listed in the World Register of Introduced Marine Species appeared in the peer‐reviewed English literature. Of those, fewer than half were the subject of more than one study. There is currently little focus on the consequences of marine introductions: only 9.9% of studies quantified the impact of nonnative species. Finally, our knowledge of nonnative marine species is heavily limited by strong taxonomic biases consistent across all phyla, resulting in one or two disproportionately well‐studied representatives for each phylum, which we refer to as the “poster children” of invasion. These gaps in the literature make it difficult to effectively triage the most detrimental invasive species for management and illustrate the challenges in achieving the global biodiversity goals of preventing and managing the introduction and establishment of invasive species.
Distance learning of students through informational and educational blogs

Vladimir Vasilievich Afanasyev Olga Alekseevna Gracheva Ravil Garifovich Rezakov Mikhail Vladimirovich Voropaev ABSTRACT The present study aims to disclose the structure, content, and stages of educational blog designed to serve the cognitive component of professional and communicative culture during distance learning of students of psychological and social university faculties. Different stages of the present study involved deploying the following methods: in addition to the scientific literature, a questionnaire allowing the authors to determine the degree of formation of the cognitive component of the professional and communicative culture in future specialists; in addition to other procedural axes. The objectives and functions of a said blog, as well as the stages of creating one, are determined and its structure is developed. The requirements for the content of a blog and the format of content delivery are established. Information should be presented in the form of clips; vivid visual presentations with clear and figurative language are to be used; visual images in the form of slides of animated videos are also recommended for use.
Risky alcohol consumption in older people before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT Background There has been little previous research within mental health services exploring changes in drinking behavior among older people during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study compared alcohol use and risky drinking both before and after lockdown in this age group. Methods The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to identify risky drinking in people aged between 55 and 74, in a sample of 366 people. One hundred and eighty-five people were referred before and one hundred and eighty-one people after lockdown in the UK. Results Compared with before lockdown, it was more likely for older people referred after lockdown to be female, have less severe cognitive impairment, and to show other features of alcohol-related harm such as morning drinking and feeling guilt or remorse over their drinking. Conclusion These findings have implications for both access to services and service provision in older people who experience restrictions on their independence during a pandemic.
Microbiological Assessment of Poultry Droppings, Water and Soil Under Deep Litter (Dl) And Battery Cage (Bl) Systems Within Lagos, Nigeria

This study focuses on the evaluation of the microbiological profile of microbes found in water, soil, droppings, in selected poultry farms under intensive and semi-intensive management system within Lagos, Nigeria. Bacteria and fungi were isolated from poultry droppings, water and soil samples and identified by standard microbiological protocol. The data on the assessment of poultry production system were obtained with structured questionnaire. The bacterial and fungal counts ranged from 29 X 109 CFU/mL 106 X 109 CFU/mL and 72 X 109 CFU/mL 115 X 109 CFU/mL respectively. The microorganisms isolated were Streptococcus pluranimalium, Micrococcus sp. , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella sp. , Staphylococcus arlettae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Bacilllus subtilis, Aeromonas hydrophila, Candida tropicalis, Saccharomyces spp, Sporendonema spp. , Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium oxysporum, Kloeckera spp. , Zygosaccharomyces spp and Aspergillus niger. Aspergillus niger (30.5%), Micrococcus sp. (17.6%) and Staphylococcus saprophyticus, (17.6%), occur most frequently while Candida tropicalis (4.6%) and Escherichia coli (5.8%) has the lowest percentage occurrence in poultry droppings. Aspergillus sp. (48.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (28.6%) occur most frequently while Penicillium sp. (15.2%), Staphylococcus spp. (7.1%), has the lowest percentage occurrence in poultry soil samples. Fusarium sp. (38.8%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (28.6%), occur most frequently while Aspergillus sp. (7.7%), Staphylococcus spp. (7.1%) has the lowest percentage occurrence in water samples. Most of the isolated bacteria showed resistance to at least two different classes of antibiotics. There is strong evidence that poultry farms in Lagos have utilized many antibiotics and this may have contributed to antibiotic resistant pattern of some bacterial isolates to antibiotics.
An intelligent system to help deaf students learn Arabic Sign Language

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a new system to translate an Arabic Sign Language (ArSL). The system consists of two sub-systems: the first, Speech to ArSL translation Subsystem. This sub-system is mainly based on the speech recognition engine. The second is ArSL to speech translation subsystem to translate the images of signs into speech, mainly based on GTTS library. This system will be easily used by both groups (the hearing disabled and normal persons) who want to learn ArSL and will support more communication between them. Among the advantages of this system is that it is expandable by adding new signs to the database and can be accessed online at: https://sr.gravita-demo.com/. The proposed system was evaluated using several methods. The findings show that the system can translate ArSL with a recognition rate of 99%. An experimental approach was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system. Results show that the proposed system was effective and the ability of Arab deaf students to learn improved significantly. In addition, the system's performance evaluation questionnaire revealed that system users preferred this approach to ArSL learning and teaching and acquired new concepts, which predicts a promising future for this system in academic environments.
Improvement of the open-circuit voltage of Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells using a two-layer structure

In Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) photovoltaic cells, a low open-circuit voltage (VOC) principally causes low conversion efficiency. We investigated the deposition of a CZTS layer by a two-layer process to improve the VOC of the CZTS cells. In this process, the first CZTS layers near a Mo electrode have a high Cu content and the second layer near the surface has a low Cu content. The two-layer process improved the VOC of the CZTS cells from 0.66 to 0.78 V. Finally, the best CZTS cell showed a conversion efficiency of 8.8%.
Behavioral and Neural Signatures of Visual Imagery Vividness Extremes: Aphantasia versus Hyperphantasia

Abstract Although Galton recognized in the 1880s that some individuals lack visual imagery, this phenomenon was mostly neglected over the following century. We recently coined the terms “aphantasia” and “hyperphantasia” to describe visual imagery vividness extremes, unlocking a sustained surge of public interest. Aphantasia is associated with subjective impairment of face recognition and autobiographical memory. Here we report the first systematic, wide-ranging neuropsychological and brain imaging study of people with aphantasia (n = 24), hyperphantasia (n = 25), and midrange imagery vividness (n = 20). Despite equivalent performance on standard memory tests, marked group differences were measured in autobiographical memory and imagination, participants with hyperphantasia outperforming controls who outperformed participants with aphantasia. Face recognition difficulties and autistic spectrum traits were reported more commonly in aphantasia. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory highlighted reduced extraversion in the aphantasia group and increased openness in the hyperphantasia group. Resting state fMRI revealed stronger connectivity between prefrontal cortices and the visual network among hyperphantasic than aphantasic participants. In an active fMRI paradigm, there was greater anterior parietal activation among hyperphantasic and control than aphantasic participants when comparing visualization of famous faces and places with perception. These behavioral and neural signatures of visual imagery vividness extremes validate and illuminate this significant but neglected dimension of individual difference.
Mineral Magnetic Characterization of High‐Latitude Sediments From Lake Levinson‐Lessing, Siberia

Levinson‐Lessing Lake in northern Central Siberia is a sedimentary archive characterized by continuous, widely constant sedimentation at high rates (0.7 m ka−1 for >32 ka). This study provides the first evidence of the suitability of the lake′s sediments for paleomagnetic analyses using the 46‐m‐long core Co1401. Although the lowermost 8 m are disturbed, the upper 38 m of Co1401 provide the preconditions for an exceptional, high‐resolution paleomagnetic record located within the tangent cylinder of the inner core. High‐resolution analyses of magnetic susceptibility, anhysteretic remanent magnetization, isothermal remanent magnetization, and hysteresis parameters show largely uniform mineral magnetic properties. First‐order reversal curves indicate magnetite particles in pseudo‐single domain state are the main remanence carrier, supplemented by single‐domain particles, originating likely from magnetotactic bacteria. Above 6.7 m, the bulk magnetic mineralogy is slightly harder than below and initial greigite formation occurs. However, the main remanence carriers are still of detrital origin.
Development of a Kaizen series model: abducting a blend of participatory formats to enhance the development of process improvement practices

The paper utilises a form of Action Research, known as the ‘Constructive Research Approach’ (CRA), to explore how project teams could engender the development of process improvement (PI) routines in a higher education context. The methodology of Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA), an ethnographic approach to researching practice, is used to trace the development of PI routines over time. The findings showed that process owners and actors who were engaged because of ‘power’ of an initial pre-project Kaizen event, then became more passive participants in the ensuing traditional improvement project, with reduced performances of the PI routines. The main contrition stemming from the work was the abduction of a hybrid model of participatory engagement, that of a ‘Kaizen series’. This extended series of events affords the development of two key routines, ‘the working with a process map’ and the process analysis routine, by increasing opportunity for actors to perform these routines both within and between events, and by balancing the facilitation and empowerment routines. In addition, the Kaizen series is not dependent on any individual PI methodology. The resulting Kaizen series offers PI practitioners an opportunity to blend the best aspects of two different modes of engagement, Kaizen events and project improvement teams.
The effects of government spending shocks on income distribution in South Africa

PurposeThe main aim of this study is to examine the effect of government spending and its components' shocks on the distribution of income between labour and capital in South Africa for the period between 1994Q2 and 2019Q3.Design/methodology/approachThe effects of government spending shocks on income distribution are analysed using Jordà's (2005) local projection method. The shocks, however, are identified by applying short-run contemporaneous restrictions in a vector autoregressive model based on Cholesky identification scheme.FindingsThe results indicate that government spending shock has a positive and significant effect on labour share after the first quarter. This means that expansionary government spending has a paramount role in reducing income inequality in the economy. Both government investment and government consumption shocks have also contributed to a reduction in income inequality, though the magnitude effect is smaller for government consumption.Originality/valueResearch findings on the effects of government spending shock on income inequality are still inconclusive. Therefore, this research examines the effect of total government spending shock along with its components on labour income share for the South African economy.
Disarray at the headquarters: Economists and Central bankers tested by the subprime and the COVID recessions

The article explores the discussions among economic modelers and central banks research staff and decision makers, namely on the adequacy of unconventional monetary policy and fiscal expansionary measures after the subprime crisis and as the COVID recession is developing. First, the article investigates the arguments, models and policy proposals of several mainstream schools of economics that challenged the traditional Chicagoan orthodoxy based on Milton Friedman’s views, and developed the Lucas Critique, the New Classical synthesis and Real Business Cycle approach that replaced monetarism as the main rivals to old-time Keynesianism. Second, the transformation of Real Business Cycle models into Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models is mapped, as it extended the ideas of the iniquity of government intervention and unified academic and central bank research. Yet, a battery of criticism was levied against the DSGE models and, as the debate emerged over quantitative easing and other tools of unconventional monetary policy, the need for policy pragmatism shattered the previous consensus. The article then proceeds to discuss how the leading mainstream academic economists reacted to changes in central banks‘ practices, noticing a visible dissonance within Chicago-school and DSGE economists, as well as major contortions of central bankers in order to justify their new postures. The article concludes with a call for an extensive menu of fiscal, industrial and innovation policies in order to respond to recessions and structural crises.
Hemispheric Conformal Wide Beamwidth Circularly Polarized Antenna Based on Two Pairs of Curved Orthogonal Dipoles in Space

A wide axial-ratio beamwidth (ARBW) and half-power beamwidth (HPBW) circularly polarized (CP) antenna is realized by arranging two curved patch dipole pairs orthogonally in a cruciform contour that conforms with a hemispheric shell. First, two orthogonal curved dipole pairs are designed via step-by-step investigation of the evolution of traditional crossed dipoles. Then, an antenna with a wide CP working bandwidth and wide ARBWs and HPBWs is developed by enlarging the diameter of the curved arms, replacing the narrow arms with the wide patches and making these patches conformal with the shell surface; this improves the impedance bandwidth (IBW) and further reduces the antenna’s size. Finally, a prototype with reduced dimensions of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.52\times 0.52\times0.15$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{0}^{3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) is designed, fabricated, and measured. The resulting antenna exhibits a −10 dB IBW of 55.8% (1.06–1.89 GHz) and a 3 dB AR bandwidth of 70.9% (1–2.1 GHz), within which the ARBW and HPBW reach maximum values of 202°/196° and 113°/111° in the two orthogonal principal planes at 1.602 and 1.268 GHz, respectively. Furthermore, a 3 dB ARBW exceeding 100°, an HPBW exceeding 96°, and efficiency exceeding 60% are acquired within the 1.252–1.89 GHz (40.6%) target service coverage band.
Two decades of European criminology: Exploring the conferences of the European Society of Criminology through topic modelling 1

What is European criminology about? Through topic modelling, we investigate the content of 11,724 presentations held at the annual conferences of the European Society of Criminology, the largest and most influential professional association in Europe for those who are actively engaged in research, teaching, and/or practice in criminology, from 2001 to 2019. We extract 50 topics and identify the top contributing institutions and countries based on first author institutional affiliation. In addition, we determine the most and least influential topics in European criminology. We further explore how the prominence of topics has evolved over time and identify five topics that are increasingly being addressed and three topics that have gradually declined in interest – hot and cold topics, respectively. The results are discussed in light of previous research on European criminology and current debates on its epistemology.
An Innovative and Cost-Advantage CAD Solution for Cubitus Varus Surgical Planning in Children

The study of CAD (computer aided design) modeling, design and manufacturing techniques has undergone a rapid growth over the past decades. In medicine, this development mainly concerned the dental and maxillofacial sectors. Significant progress has also been made in orthopedics with pre-operative CAD simulations, printing of bone models and production of patient-specific instruments. However, the traditional procedure that formulates the surgical plan based exclusively on two-dimensional images and interventions performed without the aid of specific instruments for the patient and is currently the most used surgical technique. The production of custom-made tools for the patient, in fact, is often expensive and its use is limited to a few hospitals. The purpose of this study is to show an innovative and cost-effective procedure aimed at prototyping a custom-made surgical guide for address the cubitus varus deformity on a pediatric patient. The cutting guides were obtained through an additive manufacturing process that starts from the 3D digital model of the patient’s bone and allows to design specific models using Creo Parametric. The result is a tool that adheres perfectly to the patient’s bone and guides the surgeon during the osteotomy procedure. The low cost of the methodology described makes it worth noticing by any health institution.