Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimating Trade-Related Adjustment Costs in the Agricultural Sector in Iran

Tariff liberalization and its impact on tax revenue is an important consideration for developing countries, because they are increasingly facing the difficult task of implementing and harmonizing regional and international trade commitments. The tariff reform and its costs for Iranian government is one of the issues that are examined in this study. Another goal of this paper is, estimating the cost of trade liberalization. On this regard, imports value of agricultural sector in Iran in 2010 was analyzed according to two scenarios. For reforming nuisance tariff, a VAT policy is used in both scenarios. In this study, TRIST method is used. In the first scenario, imports' value decreased to a level equal to the second scenario and higher tariff revenue will be created. The results show that reducing the average tariff rate does not always result in the loss of tariff revenue. This paper is a witness that different forms of tariff can generate different amount of income when they have same level of liberalization and equal effect on producers. Therefore, using a good tariff regime can help a government to generate income when increases social welfare by liberalization.
The synthetic antimicrobial peptide LTX21 induces inflammatory responses in a human whole blood model and a murine peritoneum model

The global spread of antimicrobial resistance and the increasing number of immune‐compromised patients are major challenges in modern medicine. Targeting bacterial virulence or the human host immune system to increase host defence are important strategies in the search for novel antimicrobial drugs. We investigated the inflammatory response of the synthetic short antimicrobial peptide LTX21 in two model systems: a human whole blood ex vivo model and a murine in vivo peritoneum model – both reflecting early innate immune response. In the whole blood model, LTX21 increased the secretion of a range of different cytokines, decreased the level of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and activated the complement system. In a haemolysis assay, we found 2.5% haemolysis at a LTX21 concentration of 500 mg/L. In the murine model, increased influx of white blood cells (WBCs) and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) in the murine peritoneal cavity was observed after treatment with LTX21. In addition, LTX21 increased monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1). In conclusion, LTX21 affected the inflammatory response; the increase in cytokine secretion, complement activation and WBC influx indicates an activated inflammatory response. The present results indicate the impact of LTX21 on the host–pathogen interplay. Whether this will also affect the course of infection has to be investigated.
Long range guided waves for detecting holes in pipelines

ABSTRACT The use of low frequency (less than 10 kHz) guided waves for structural health monitoring (SHM) against third party intrusion into long pipelines is investigated. A guided wave (GW) is sent along a pipeline and its reflection is used to detect the presence of a drilled hole or a branch connected to the pipeline. Finite element (FE) analysis was conducted on 305 mm (12 inch) outside diameter, 12 mm wall thickness mild steel pipe. The effects of pipe diameter and thickness on the GW propagation characteristics are illustrated. It is shown that the use of low frequencies have a lower attenuation and therefore are suitable for long range propagation. It is shown that GWs have the potential to detect holes over 100s of meters of pipeline
Clustering Macroeconomic Time Series

Abstract The data mining technique of time series clustering is well established. However, even when recognized as an unsupervised learning method, it does require making several design decisions that are nontrivially influenced by the nature of the data involved. By extensively testing various possibilities, we arrive at a choice of a dissimilarity measure (compression-based dissimilarity measure, or CDM) which is particularly suitable for clustering macroeconomic variables. We check that the results are stable in time and reflect large-scale phenomena, such as crises. We also successfully apply our findings to the analysis of national economies, specifically to identifying their structural relations.
Digital image analysis for measuring nanogap distance produced by adhesion lithography

A simple digital image analysis for measuring nanogap distance produced by adhesion lithography is proposed. Adhesion lithography produces metal electrodes with sub-15 nm undulated space and μm to mm scale width without using electron beam lithography. Although the process has been rapidly improved in recent years, there has been no generalized procedure to evaluate the nanogap distance. In this study, we propose a procedure to evaluate a nanogap electrode with large width/gap distance ratios (>1000). The procedure is to determine the average distance of nanogap space from the area and the perimeter of the space by the analysis of the grayscale image. This procedure excludes any arbitrariness of the estimation and gives quantitative comparison of nanogap electrodes produced by different processes.
Motivational Factors, Characteristics, and Computer Skills of MBA Students in Web-Based Courses

Not everyone is necessarily suited for, or is comfortable with, participating in courses offered over the World Wide Web. This recent form of asynchronous distance learning is being implemented or considered by a number of business schools, often with no consideration or knowledge of the market. In this paper, in order to begin a characterization of the market, we investigate the motivations, characteristics, and skills of MBA students who had a choice of regular classroom or Web based classes and chose web-based classes. We find that they are motivated more by convenience and necessity, or the same average age and gender proportions as regular MBA students, predominately technically trained as undergraduates, working in predominately technical fields and possessing average to strong computer skills.
Lexical convergence inside and across echo chambers

Recent studies, targeting Facebook, showed the tendency of users to interact with information adhering to their preferred narrative and to ignore dissenting information. Confirmation bias seems to account for user decisions about consuming and spreading content and, at the same time, aggregation of favored information within groups of like-minded people (echo chambers) reinforces selective exposure and group polarization. To gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of these clustered communities, in this work we analyze the language of users engaged in the echo chambers emerging on Facebook around two distinct and conflicting narratives -- i.e., Science and Conspiracy news. Despite the high level of segregation of such communities, we show that users from both the echo chambers adopt very similar vocabularies and use the same word with almost the same frequency in their commenting activity, both at the individual and the collective level. Moreover, zooming in at the conversation level, we observe the emergence of lexical convergence between users who consistently interact with each other through co-commenting activity not only inside, but also across the echo chambers. Thus, the fact that even users with opposite views gradually coordinate their linguistic behavior when joining a discussion, suggests that users always aim to achieve communication when engaging in a conversation.
Speciation Rate Is Independent of the Rate of Evolution of Morphological Size, Shape, and Absolute Morphological Specialization in a Large Clade of Birds

Whether ecological differences between species evolve in parallel with lineage diversification is a fundamental issue in evolutionary biology. These processes might be connected if conditions that favor the proliferation of species, such as release from competitors, facilitate the evolution of novel ecological relationships. Despite this, phylogenetic studies do not consistently identify such a connection. Conversely, if higher diversity caused species to become increasingly specialized ecologically, then lineage diversification might become dissociated from ecological diversification. In this analysis, we ask whether the rate of lineage diversification in a large clade of birds is correlated with morphological specialization and with rates of morphological evolution. We find that morphological variation is related to species richness within clades but that rates of morphological evolution are decoupled from the rate of lineage diversification. Additionally, morphological specialization within lineages is independent of the rate at which lineages diversify, with the results apparently robust against false negative inference. This dissociation is likely a consequence of the major ecomorphological differences between avian clades arising early in their evolutionary history, with comparatively little variation added subsequently, while avian diversification has been driven predominantly by geographic isolation and sexual selection. Accordingly, biodiversity appears to be limited by the extent to which taxa can subdivide exploited regions of ecological space and not just overall ecological opportunity.
Multilevel Text Normalization with Sequence-to-Sequence Networks and Multisource Learning

We define multilevel text normalization as sequence-to-sequence processing that transforms naturally noisy text into a sequence of normalized units of meaning (morphemes) in three steps: 1) writing normalization, 2) lemmatization, 3) canonical segmentation. These steps are traditionally considered separate NLP tasks, with diverse solutions, evaluation schemes and data sources. We exploit the fact that all these tasks involve sub-word sequence-to-sequence transformation to propose a systematic solution for all of them using neural encoder-decoder technology. The specific challenge that we tackle in this paper is integrating the traditional know-how on separate tasks into the neural sequence-to-sequence framework to improve the state of the art. We address this challenge by enriching the general framework with mechanisms that allow processing the information on multiple levels of text organization (characters, morphemes, words, sentences) in combination with structural information (multilevel language model, part-of-speech) and heterogeneous sources (text, dictionaries). We show that our solution consistently improves on the current methods in all three steps. In addition, we analyze the performance of our system to show the specific contribution of the integrating components to the overall improvement.
Propagation of nonlinear surface waves along the interface between a Kerr-type crystal and a medium characterized by stepwise dielectric permittivity

The contact of a medium characterized by Kerr nonlinearity and a medium characterized by a stepwise nonlinearity, where the dielectric permittivity depends on the amplitude of the electric field strength, is considered. It is found that an optical domain of finite thickness is formed. Two new types of surface waves are described. The influence of the switching field on the intensity distribution across the interface and on total power flow is analyzed. The intensity at the interface in the case of contact with a nonlinear focusing medium can be maximal, in contrast to the case of contact with a linear medium where the intensity at the interface could not be maximal. The total power flow monotonically decreases with an increase in the nonlinearity parameter and it takes the minimum value at a specific value of the switching amplitude. The largest fraction of the power flow is concentrated on the right side of the optical domain for small values of the switching field starting from a certain value.
Linkages Between Dynamic Phytoplankton C:N:P and the Ocean Carbon Cycle Under Climate Change

stabil-ABSTRACT. Modelers of global ocean biogeochemistry are beginning to represent a phenomenon that biologists have long observed in laboratory and field settings: that the elemental stoichiometry of phytoplankton is quite flexible. Today, it is well recognized that the C:N:P ratio in phytoplankton and particulate organic matter can vary substantially on ocean basin scales. Recent data show that, compared to the traditional Redfield ratio C:N:P = 106:16:1, the ratio is much higher in the oligotrophic subtropical gyres (~195:28:1) and much lower in eutrophic polar waters (~78:13:1). This pattern of variability, informed by results from phytoplankton incubation experiments, indicates that environmental factors such as nutrient availability and temperature are important drivers. Our model simulations of the global ocean carbon cycle under global warming and glacial conditions suggest that phytoplankton physiology and community composition control global C:N:P export. Model results also indicate the important role that Southern Ocean sea ice plays in determining the global export stoichiometry by altering the proportional contribution of Southern Ocean phytoplankton to global production. Sea ice retreat under warming and expansion under glaciation, while opposite in sign, can both elevate the global export C:N:P ratio by altering phytoplankton physiology and community composition in contrasting ways between each scenario. The global mean export C:N:P ratio increases from 113:16:1 in the control run to 119:17:1 by the year 2100 in the future run and to 140:16:1 in the glacial run. The impact of higher export C:N:P ratios is to strongly buffer carbon export against change for both scenarios.
Trajectory-tracking of 6-RSS Stewart-Gough manipulator by feedback-linearization control using a novel inverse dynamic model based on the force distribution algorithm

ABSTRACT 6-RSS Stewart-Gough parallel manipulator contains six crank-rod limbs connecting the base and moving platforms to each other, forming a 6DOF manipulator. In this paper, we introduce a novel decoupled inverse dynamic model for this manipulator based on the Force Distribution Algorithm. The performance of the proposed model was evaluated in tracking a complex trajectory (of multiple segments with simultaneous translational and rotational motions) using feedback-linearization control in the joint space and compared with that of the Lagrangian inverse dynamic model. Results showed that this model leads to a better performance in feedback-linearization control, especially when the reference trajectory is quantized, and with less calculation burden in comparison with the Lagrangian model. The control system employing both models showed robustness against payload uncertainty on the moving platform (150% of the moving platform’s mass). The performance assessment and the robustness approval were performed in simulation using a Simscape model specifically built for this purpose in the Simulink environment.
Vaginal Delivery in Women With a Low-lying Placenta: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

removed via a fine mesh. Ultrasound measurements of antral cross-sectional were performed at 5, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after drinking the assigned liquid. Gastric volumes were estimated using the Perlas model and the recalibrated Arzola and Roukhomovsky models. A liquid was considered cleared from the stomach if the gastric volume was <1.5 mL/kg, the volume considered to be the threshold for increased risk of aspiration. A total of 18 women in each of the 3 groups were included in the study analysis. The gastric emptying rate for maltodextrin was faster than that of orange juice without pulp or coffee with milk (P< 0.0001 for comparisons of both vs. maltodextrin), but there was not a significant difference in gastric emptying rates between orange juice and coffee with milk (P= 0.97). In the maltodextrin group, the estimated gastric residual volume was lower than baseline (and <1.5 mL/kg) 90 minutes after drinking the liquid. Coffee with milk and orange juice were both cleared 2 hours after drinking the liquid. On the basis of these study results, the investigators concluded that caloric content and volume are not the only factors that contribute to gastric emptying rates of liquids in laboring women. The authors recommended maltodextrin as an acceptable liquid for women to consume during labor. They noted that although gastric emptying was slower for coffee with milk and orange juice, these liquids also resulted in gastric volumes 2 hours after ingestion that were less than the volume considered to increase aspiration risk.
Does strategic commodities price respond to U.S. Partisan Conflict? Evidence from a parametric test of Granger causality in quantiles

Currently, U.S. politics have been characterized by a high degree of partisan conflict, which has led to increasing polarization and high policy uncertainty. Given the importance of U.S. in the global commodity market, we investigate whether U.S. partisan conflict affects the price performance (returns and volatility) of two strategic commodities (oil and gold). To this end, we employ a parametric test of Granger causality in quantiles proposed by Troster (2016), which can discriminate between causality affecting the median and the tails of the conditional distribution. Meanwhile, this approach allows us to investigate whether there exist different effects of U.S. partisan conflict index on the oil market and gold market under different market conditions. The empirical results suggest that U.S. partisan conflict can affect the returns of oil and gold, with the effects cluster around the tail of the conditional distribution of returns. More specifically, the partisan conflict mainly affects the oil returns when the crude oil market is in a bearish state (lower quantiles). By contrast, partisan conflict matters for gold returns only when the gold market is in a bullish scenario (higher quantiles). In addition, for the volatility of oil and gold, the predictability of partisan conflict index virtually covers the entire distribution of volatility. This study provides valuable implications for academics, policymakers, and investors.
Numerical study of passive forcing on the secondary instability of a laminar planar free shear layer

Direct numerical simulations were performed of a free shear layer developing downstream from a no-slip splitter plate. The simulation results show that three-dimensional streaky perturbations developing in the boundary layer on the high-speed side of the splitter plate are convected downstream from the trailing edge and influence the development of three-dimensional perturbations in the planar free shear layer. Simulations are performed in which a spanwise-wavy shape is introduced to the trailing edge of the splitter plate to influence the downstream development of the free shear layer. Introduction of the spanwise-waviness to the trailing edge results in significantly earlier small-scale breakdown of the free shear layer.
American Society of Anesthesiologists Class as Predictor for Perioperative Morbidity in Head and Neck Free Flaps

Objective To evaluate outcomes of free flaps in low- versus high-risk American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classes utilizing a standardized perioperative clinical pathway. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Single tertiary care academic institution. Subjects and Methods Data were collected from 301 patients who underwent 305 free flap reconstructions for head and neck defects from January 2012 to March 2016 by a single surgeon (M.M.). A standardized perioperative clinical pathway was utilized for all patients, aimed at abbreviating hospital stay and minimizing intensive care unit stay. Data included ASA classification, comorbidities, length of hospitalization, intensive care unit stay, 30-day mortality/readmission, discharge disposition, flap survival, and postoperative complications. Low-risk ASA classes were defined as 1 and 2 (n = 53) and high risk as 3 and 4 (n = 248). Results Total medical complication rates (P = .012) were mildly increased in the high-risk group, as a result of increased minor—not major—medical complication rates (P = .007). Discharge to a nursing or rehabilitation facility was found to be more common in the high-risk group (P = .024). All other outcomes were not statistically different between the cohorts. Conclusion The ASA classification system is a validated tool in determining perioperative risk. We found that minor medical complications and discharge to a rehabilitation/nursing facility were increased in the high-risk ASA classes; otherwise, there were no statistical differences between the groups. These findings suggest that the ASA classification may be helpful for preoperative discharge planning and counseling but should not be used for patient selection or to assess candidacy for the procedure.
Divergent Switchgrass Cultivars Modify Cereal Aphid Transcriptomes

Abstract Schizaphis graminum Rondani (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Sipha flava Forbes (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are two common pests of bioenergy grasses. Despite the fact that they are both considered generalists, they differ in their ability to colonize Panicum virgatum cultivars. For example, S. flava colonizes both P. virgatum cv. Summer and P. virgatum cv. Kanlow whereas S. graminum can only colonize Summer. To study the molecular responses of these aphids to these two switchgrass cultivars, we generated de novo transcriptome assemblies and compared the expression profiles of aphids feeding on both cultivars to profiles associated with feeding on a highly susceptible sorghum host and a starvation treatment. Transcriptome assemblies yielded 8,428 and 8,866 high-quality unigenes for S. graminum and S. flava, respectively. Overall, S. graminum responded strongly to all three treatments after 12 h with an upregulation of unigenes coding for detoxification enzymes while major transcriptional changes were not observed in S. flava until 24 h. Additionally, while the two aphids responded to the switchgrass feeding treatment by downregulating unigenes linked to growth and development, their responses to Summer and Kanlow diverged significantly. Schizaphis graminum upregulated more unigenes coding for stress-responsive enzymes in the Summer treatment compared to S. flava; however, many of these unigenes were actually downregulated in the Kanlow treatment. In contrast, S. flava appeared capable of overcoming host defenses by upregulating a larger number of unigenes coding for detoxification enzymes in the Kanlow treatment. Overall, these findings are consistent with previous studies on the interactions of these two cereal aphids to divergent switchgrass hosts.