Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study on Impact of Oil Prices on Emerging Market Stock Indices

Stock indices are influenced by several economic and political factors. Some of the most influencing parameters affecting indices are inflation, interest rates, world events, currency exchange rates and commodity prices. One of the most volatile commodities in recent times in terms of its price fluctuation is crude oil price. Impact of crude oil price fluctuations on stock indices has been observed by many researchers in recent times. This paper attempts to analyze the short term and long term relationship between oil prices and stock market indices of emerging markets for the period July 2005 to June 2015 by using Vector Auto Regression (VAR) model. The research paper used Granger Causality test and Variance Decomposition under VAR environment to understand whether stock indices influence oil prices in India and China or not. Among the emerging economies Sensex and SSE Composite Index were chosen as indices for study. The results obtained suggest that Sensex does granger cause oil prices in India whereas oil prices in India do not granger cause Sensex. In China also SSE Composite index does granger cause oil prices, whereas oil prices does not granger cause SSE Composite Index. Our results for variance decomposition show that in the short run shock to oil prices in India and China can cause 0.97% & 3.21% variation fluctuation in Sensex and SSE Composite index respectively in the future. In the long run shock to oil prices in India and China can cause 1.09% & 3.86% variation fluctuation in Sensex and SSE Composite index respectively in the future. Variance decomposition shows that in the short run shock to stock Indices can cause 8.16% & 7.73% variation fluctuation in oil prices in both countries. Whereas, in long run shock to stock indices can cause 8.35% & 10.21% variation fluctuation in oil prices in both countries. The study revealed that in the short run or long run volatility of stock prices in India and China have marginal impacts on the volatility of oil prices. But volatility in oil prices does not have impact on stock prices of both India and China.
Mechanistic Insights into Hsp104 Potentiation*

Potentiated variants of Hsp104, a protein disaggregase from yeast, can dissolve protein aggregates connected to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, the mechanisms underlying Hsp104 potentiation remain incompletely defined. Here, we establish that 2–3 subunits of the Hsp104 hexamer must bear an A503V potentiating mutation to elicit enhanced disaggregase activity in the absence of Hsp70. We also define the ATPase and substrate-binding modalities needed for potentiated Hsp104A503V activity in vitro and in vivo. Hsp104A503V disaggregase activity is strongly inhibited by the Y257A mutation that disrupts substrate binding to the nucleotide-binding domain 1 (NBD1) pore loop and is abolished by the Y662A mutation that disrupts substrate binding to the NBD2 pore loop. Intriguingly, Hsp104A503V disaggregase activity responds to mixtures of ATP and adenosine 5′-(γ-thio)-triphosphate (a slowly hydrolyzable ATP analogue) differently from Hsp104. Indeed, an altered pattern of ATP hydrolysis and altered allosteric signaling between NBD1 and NBD2 are likely critical for potentiation. Hsp104A503V variants bearing inactivating Walker A or Walker B mutations in both NBDs are inoperative. Unexpectedly, however, Hsp104A503V retains potentiated activity upon introduction of sensor-1 mutations that reduce ATP hydrolysis at NBD1 (T317A) or NBD2 (N728A). Hsp104T317A/A503V and Hsp104A503V/N728A rescue TDP-43 (TAR DNA-binding protein 43), FUS (fused in sarcoma), and α-synuclein toxicity in yeast. Thus, Hsp104A503V displays a more robust activity that is unperturbed by sensor-1 mutations that greatly reduce Hsp104 activity in vivo. Indeed, ATPase activity at NBD1 or NBD2 is sufficient for Hsp104 potentiation. Our findings will empower design of ameliorated therapeutic disaggregases for various neurodegenerative diseases.
Overview of Distributed Computing Technology

In the past 20 years, there have been a lot of distributed computing technologies, such as middleware technology, grid technology, mobile agent technology, P2P technology and recently introduced Web Service technology. Each technology has been recognized to a certain extent, solving the problem of distributed computing in a specific range. But there are some unsolved problems in the existing distributed computing technology, which affect the application and popularization of the distributed computing technology. The integration of a variety of distributed computing technologies to meet the needs of distributed computing is the research direction in the future. It is also the key to the smooth development of distributed computing.
Sustainability of University Technology Transfer: Mediating Effect of Inventor’s Technology Service

Based on the perspective of knowledge transfer and the technology acceptance model (TAM), this paper constructs a university technology transfer sustainable development model that considers the inventor’s technology service from the perspective of the long-term cooperation of enterprise, and analyzes the mediating effect of the inventor’s technology service on university technology transfer sustainability. By using 270 questionnaires as survey data, it is found that the availability of an inventor’s technology service has a significant positive impact on the attitude tendency and practice tendency of enterprise long-term technological cooperation; enterprise technology absorption capacity and trust between a university and an enterprise also have significant influence on an inventor’s technical service availability. Therefore, the inventor’s technology service acts as a mediator in the relationship between university technology transfer sustainability and influence factors. Universities ought to establish the technology transfer model, which focuses on the inventor’s tacit knowledge transfer service, and promotes the sustainable development of the university.
Blockchain-based Node-aware Dynamic Weighting Methods for Improving Federated Learning Performance

Federated learning (FL) is a decentralized learning method that deviated from the conventional centralized learning. The FL progresses learning locally on each device and gradually improves the learning model through interaction with the central server. However, it can cause network overload because of limited communication bandwidth and the participation of a huge number of users. One of the ways to minimize the network load is for the model to converge rapidly and stably with target learning accuracy. In this paper, we propose blockchain based federated learning scenario. Blockchain can efficiently induce users to participate in learning and can separate each participating user as a ‘node’. In addition, it can be pursued the integrity, stability, and so on. We consider two types of weights to choose the subset of clients for updating the global model. First, we consider the weight based on local learning accuracy of each client. Second, we consider the weight based on participation frequency of each client. We choose two key performance indicators, learning speed and standard deviation, to compare the performance of our proposed scheme with existing schemes. The simulation results show that our proposed scheme achieves higher stability along with fast convergence time for targeted accuracy compared to others.
Mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet from 1958 to 2007

We combine estimates of the surface mass balance, SMB, of the Greenland ice sheet for years 1958 to 2007 with measurements of the temporal variability in ice discharge, D, to deduce the total ice sheet mass balance. During that time period, we find a robust correlation (R2 = 0.83) between anomalies in SMB and in D, which we use to reconstruct a continuous series of total ice sheet mass balance. We find that the ice sheet was losing 110 ± 70 Gt/yr in the 1960s, 30 ± 50 Gt/yr or near balance in the 1970s–1980s, and 97 ± 47 Gt/yr in 1996 increasing rapidly to 267 ± 38 Gt/yr in 2007. Multi‐year variations in ice discharge, themselves related to variations in SMB, cause 60 ± 20% more variation in total mass balance than SMB, and therefore dominate the ice sheet mass budget.
Insar Error Budget for Large Scale Deformation

The capacity of SAR interferometry to measure surface deformation with accuracy of 1 mm/year or better are well known. However this is typically limited to relative motion at short distance. Thanks to several advances in SAR sensor quality, data availability, orbit determination, processing, and calibration of atmospheric delays it is now possible to achieve that accuracy even across large distances of hundreds of kilometers.In this paper we revise the main contributions to the large scale error, considering available mitigation techniques. We provide a first validation for a processing based on Sentinel-1 data, by comparing our results with GNSS stations.For future SAR’s operating at lower frequencies, it is vital to consider ionospheric corrections and likely also the influence of moisture variations in natural scatterers. The choice of processing algorithms, though typically not discussed, can also have a significant effect on the quality of the result.
Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Land Cover Change at the Bento Rodrigues Dam Disaster Area Using Machine Learning Techniques

Disasters are an unpredictable way to change land use and land cover. Improving the accuracy of mapping a disaster area at different time is an essential step to analyze the relationship between human activity and environment. The goals of this study were to test the performance of different processing procedures and examine the effect of adding normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as an additional classification feature for mapping land cover changes due to a disaster. Using Landsat ETM+ and OLI images of the Bento Rodrigues mine tailing disaster area, we created two datasets, one with six bands, and the other one with six bands plus the NDVI. We used support vector machine (SVM) and decision tree (DT) algorithms to build classifier models and validated models performance using 10-fold cross-validation, resulting in accuracies higher than 90%. The processed results indicated that the accuracy could reach or exceed 80%, and the support vector machine had a better performance than the decision tree. We also calculated each land cover type’s sensitivity (true positive rate) and found that Agriculture, Forest and Mine sites had higher values but Bareland and Water had lower values. Then, we visualized land cover maps in 2000 and 2017 and found out the Mine sites areas have been expanded about twice of the size, but Forest decreased 12.43%. Our findings showed that it is feasible to create a training data pool and use machine learning algorithms to classify a different year’s Landsat products and NDVI can improve the vegetation covered land classification. Furthermore, this approach can provide a venue to analyze land pattern change in a disaster area over time.
Own experience bias in a labor market with heterogeneous rewards∗

We develop a model with which to explore discrimination and prejudice within labor markets. Our approach emphasizes the role of an individual’s own experience in the assessment of efforts of other individuals. Specifically, we consider a two stage process in which individuals first learn, through experience, whether effort is rewarded and then subsequently have to estimate the effort of others. Our theoretical results suggest that those who are not rewarded for high effort ∗This research was partly funded by: Nuffield Foundation Social Sciences Small Research Grant SGS/36604, ‘An experimental investigation of prejudice and economic discrimination’; NSF Grant 1526860; the Douglas May Funds for Economics at Vanderbilt University; and an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Grant at Vanderbilt University.
A THEORY OF HUMOR

BACKGROUND: When we experience humor, we focus mostly on positive affects, though, apparently in a paradoxical manner, laugh and humor often occur in the presence of pain. Humor can emerge where adversity is substantial, in most traumatic situations that sometimes help in the individual‟s growth and in his development. PURPOSE OF STUDY: The objective of this paper is to explore and analyze the relationship between humor and pain, insisting on the importance of pain for understanding humor. We challenge different approaches related to humor and pain with the aim to advance new directions of study. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: Although there are various studies to argue the relationship between humor and pain, attempts to theorizing humor through pain are minimal to our knowledge (Veatch, 1998). The main theories of humor (psychoanalytic, superiority, arousal, incongruity and reversal theories), but also cultural and physiological factors underlying humor experimentation, add valuable explanations but seem to be incomplete. MAIN ARGUMENT: Of specific theories of humor, neither seems to fully explain the humor, which is why pain needs to be reconsidered to a much greater extent and from here to reformulate the perspective towards humor. The painful humor theory, the theory we propose indicates the fact that the relationship between humor and pain, though being a paradoxical one, can contribute to a more in-depth exploration of different facets of humor. CONCLUSION: It can easily be noticed that there are correlations between humor and pain since the two have common points in previous studies. A more in-depth exploration of the mechanisms of humor and pain and a larger attention oriented towards the manner of studying both could be critical, from this point of view. Therefore, the results could be relevant and the refinement of theories of humor could start right here.
Diagnostic challenge of adrenal cyst in an adolescent girl: A case report and overview of the literature

Cystic lesions of adrenal gland are rare and usually asymptomatic in children. Cysts usually have been found incidentally by imaging studies during an investigation of other abdominal causes. Differential diagnosis of adrenal cysts from other cystic disease may not be possible by imaging studies. Although the management of adrenal cysts is a controversial subject, surgical treatment is still important for both diagnosis and treatment. In this case report, we will discuss the surgical approach of a case with adrenal cyst detected incidentally.
Regional Differences in the Determinants of Investment Decisions of Private Firms in Brazil

This study takes on an important part or regional growth, that is, the investment decisions of private firms. The question asked is: do corporations decide on investments in the same way in different parts of the territory? The paper analyses investments of 482 large Brazilian firms in the period 1996-2004. The role of sales, cash-flow, external financing, and working capital is investigated through regression analysis, following the literature on firm investment decisions. Regional dummies used to capture differences in the role of those determinants indicate that there are significant differences across regions. This is important information for regional development policy, for different mechanisms should be used in different regions in order to foster private investments.
Impact of Composite Materials on the Shielding Effectiveness of Enclosures

This paper investigates and compares the electromagnetic behavior of different shielding enclosures built with composite panels (dielectric materials with conducting inclusions, carbon-fiber, fiberglass, conductive materials). The numerical model is based on a full wave finite element method taking into account the geometrical details of the walls and avoiding the use of the classical equivalent layer approach. A 2D composite enclosure with two wall structures is modeled: fiber rods shielding and metal screen shielding. Impacts of conductivity and rod diameter on the shielding effect are investigated. Concerning metal screen, the shielding effectiveness is studied for different metals with the same mass, leading to identify the most effective metal. The influence of the angle of incidence and the number of apertures is also studied. Finally, a comparison is performed considering the same mass of the two composite wall structures, each composed of fiberglass and carbon fiber.
1 Favaro Postnatal development of echolocation abilities in a bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops 1 truncatus ) : temporal organization 2 3

36 37 In spite of all the information available on adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) 38 biosonar, the ontogeny of its echolocation abilities has been investigated very little. Earlier 39 studies have reported that neonatal dolphins can produce both whistles and burst-pulsed sounds 40 just after birth and that early-pulsed sounds are probably a precursor of echolocation click 41 trains. The aim of this research is to investigate the development of echolocation signals in a 42 captive calf, born in the facilities of the Acquario di Genova. 43 A set of 81 impulsive sounds were collected from birth to the seventh postnatal week and 6 44 additional echolocation click trains were recorded when the dolphin was 1 year old. Moreover, 45 behavioral observations, concurring with sound production, were carried out by means of a 46 video camera. 47 For each sound we measured 5 acoustic parameters: click train duration, number of clicks per 48 train, minimum, maximum and mean click repetition rate. Click train duration and number of 49 clicks per train were found to increase with age. Maximum and mean click repetition rate 50 followed a decreasing trend with dolphin growth starting from the second postnatal week. The 51 calf’s first head scanning movement was recorded 21 days after birth. 52 Out data suggest that in the bottlenose dolphin the early postnatal weeks are essential for the 53 development of echolocation abilities and that the temporal features of the echolocation click 54 trains remain relatively stable from the seventh postnatal week up to the first year of life. 55 56
Control of morphology and crystal purity of InP nanowires by variation of phosphine flux during selective area MOMBE

InAsSb nanowires (NWs) with a high Sb content have potential in the fabrication of advanced silicon-based optoelectronics such as infrared photondetectors/emitters and highly sensitive phototransistors, as well as in the generation of renewable electricity. However, producing optically efficient InAsSb NWs with a high Sb content remains a challenge, and optical emission is limited to 4.0 μm due to the quality of the nanowires. Here, we report, for the first time, the success of high-quality and optically efficient InAsSb NWs enabling silicon-based optoelectronics operating in entirely mid-wavelength infrared. Pure zinc-blende InAsSb NWs were realized with efficient photoluminescence emission. We obtained room-temperature photoluminescence emission in InAs NWs and successfully extended the emission wavelength in InAsSb NWs to 5.1 μm. The realization of this optically efficient InAsSb NW material paves the way to realizing next-generation devices, combining advances in III-V semiconductors and silicon.
C∞-REGULARIZATION BY NOISE OF SINGULAR ODE’S

In this paper we construct a new type of noise of fractional nature that has a strong regularizing effect on differential equations. We consider an equation with this noise with a highly irregular coefficient. We employ a new method to prove existence and uniqueness of global strong solutions where classical methods fail because of the ”roughness” and non-Markovianity of the driving process. In addition, we prove the rather remarkable property that such solutions are infinitely many times classically differentiable with respect to the initial condition in spite of the vector field being discontinuous. This opens a fundamental question on studying certain classes of interesting partial differential equations perturbed by this noise.
Optimizing fermentation conditions for fructosyltransferase enzyme production by Lactobacillus plantarum

Enzymatic production of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) from sucrose using β-D fructosyltransferase is commonly employed in commercial scale. FOS are low calorie sweetners with prebiotic property widely used as functional food material. In the present study, a strain of Lactobacillus plantarum (LABF 16) was found to produce bioactive oligosugars such as kestose and nystose exhibiting fructosyltransferase (FTase) enzyme activity. Further maximization of FTase production by the particular isolate was also attempted. The fermentation parameters viz., pH, temperature and sucrose concentration, which was found to influence the fructosyltransferase yield, were optimized by response surface methodology. The optimized conditions for the FTase production were pH 6.33, temperature of 32°C, sucrose concentration of 20.74 g/l, which resulted in an enzymatic activity of 129.62 U/ml/min. Key words: Fructooligosaccharides, Lactobacillus, response surface methodology.
1 Iron depletion Reduces Abce 1 Transcripts While 2 Inducing the Mitophagy Factors Pink 1 and Parkin 3 4

Lifespan extension was recently achieved in Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes by 10 mitochondrial stress and mitophagy, triggered via iron depletion. Conversely in man, deficient 11 mitophagy due to Pink1/Parkin mutations triggers iron accumulation in patient brain and limits 12 survival. We now aimed to identify murine fibroblast factors, which adapt their mRNA expression 13 to acute iron manipulation, relate to mitochondrial dysfunction and may influence survival. After 14 iron depletion, expression of the plasma membrane receptor Tfrc with its activator Ireb2, the 15 mitochondrial membrane transporter Abcb10, the heme-release factor Pgrmc1, the heme16 degradation enzyme Hmox1, the heme-binding cholesterol metabolizer Cyp46a1, as well as the 17 mitophagy regulators Pink1 and Parkin showed a negative correlation to iron levels. After iron 18 overload, these factors did not change expression. Conversely, a positive correlation of mRNA levels 19 with both conditions of iron availability was observed for the endosomal factors Slc11a2 and Steap2, 20 as well as for the iron-sulfur-cluster (ISC)-containing factors Ppat, Bdh2 and Nthl1. Positive 21 correlation only after iron depletion was observed for the iron export factor Slc40a1, mitochondrial 22 iron transporters Slc25a28, Abcb7 and Abcb8, mitochondrial ISC-containing factors Glrx5, Nfu1, Bola1 23 and Abce1, cytosolic Aco1 and Tyw5, as well as nuclear Dna2, Elp3, Pold1 and Prim2. The latter are 24 regulators of nucleotide synthesis and DNA quality control, which have known importance for 25 growth and lifespan. The only Pink1-/triggered transcript modulation was the reduced expression 26 of the ISC-containing ribosomal factor Abce1. These mammalian findings support previous fly data 27 that Pink1 influences co-translational quality control via Abce1, as well as mitophagy. Our findings 28 provide the first systematic survey how iron dosage triggers homeostatic transcriptional regulations 29 and elucidate how iron deprivation results in mitophagy. 30