Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Future Climate Change on Energy Consumption of Office Buildings in Different Climate Zones of China

We quantitatively evaluated the future energy consumption of offi ce buildings for cooling and heating in Harbin, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, which represented different building climate zones in China. The results show that offi ce buildings in different building climate zones have a decreasing trend of heating load and an increasing trend of cooling load. For the change of heating load, the fastest decreasing rate is in Harbin, located in a severe cold zone with 32.9 and 81.5 W/m2 per 10 years for low and medium forcing, respectively, followed by Shanghai, located in a hot summer and cold winter zone, and Tianjin, located in the cold zone. For the change of cooling load, the fastest increasing rate is in Shanghai, with 76.3 and 124.0 W/m2 per 10 years for low and medium forcing, respectively, followed by Guangzhou, located in a hot summer and warm winter zone. By contrast, the increasing rate for the cooling load is relatively slow in Harbin and Tianjin. By comparing with the past 50 years (1961-2010), total energy consumption in Harbin will decrease in the future during two periods (2011-50 and 2011-2100), with 1.93% and 1.85% reduction in 2011-50 for low and medium forcing, and 2.16% and 2.72% reduction in 2011-2100, respectively.
Characterisation of Pathogenesis-Related Genes and Resistance Gene Candidates in Banana (Musa acuminata) and Their Expression during Host-Pathogen Interaction

Amplified chitinase gene sequence shared 99% homology with Musa acuminata class III acidic chitinase and beta-1,3-glucanase gene sequence was 100% homologous to Musa x paradisiaca beta-1,3-glucanase. Three nucleotide-binding sites and the leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) type of putative RGCs and one serine/threonine kinase gene were characterised at the amino acid level. Kinase-2 (LVLDDVW) and kinase-3 (GSRIIITTRD) motifs in the nucleotide-binding domain were highly conserved in RGC2 and RGC3 and these genes belong to the non-TIR-NBS class RGCs. RGC1 was also clustered into non-TIR-NBS class RGCs; however, many residue substitutions were present in the kinase-2 and kinase-3 motifs. The sub-domain IX (LTEKSDVYSFGVVL) of serine/threonine protein kinase was highly conserved in RGC5 and it shared highest homology with PTH-2 from muskmelon. RT-PCR analysis revealed the differential expression of PR and RGC genes exhibited by different banana genotypes over sampling time. Chitinase was expressed during bananaFocR4 interaction in all three banana genotypes. However, its expression was high and constant in ‘Rastali Mutiara’ during banana-FocR4 interaction and resulted in very low disease severity in FocR4 inoculated plants (2%) compared to ‘Rastali wild-type (16%) and ‘Jari Buaya’ (8%) at six weeks after inoculation. This suggests that chitinase may play an important role in disease resistance against FocR4. Besides, our study also shows that ‘Rastali Mutiara’ can be a potential source of disease-resistant genes for molecular breeding of banana.
A FRAMEWORK FOR GAMIFIED ACTIVITIES BASED ON MOBILE GAMES PLAYED BY PORTUGUESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

This paper starts by reporting the findings of a survey of Portuguese university students concerning their game habits and preferences. An online questionnaire was developed and 1101 answers were collected, 626 were mobile game players. The results from the survey indicate that the games most played by university students are essentially casual and puzzle games, existing differences between female and male students' preferences. Then, learning principles were identified according to Gee (2003) and game mechanics on the students' preferred games. Finally, based on these results we propose a framework for gamified interactive activities to university students, to get them engaged in learning with their mobile devices.
Letter. In situ observation of the breakdown of magnetite (Fe3O4) to Fe4O5 and hematite at high pressures and temperatures

Abstract In situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction measurements using a Paris-Edinburgh pressure cell were performed to investigate the nature of the high-pressure breakdown reaction of magnetite (Fe3O4). Refinement of diffraction patterns reveals that magnetite breaks down via a disproportionation reaction to Fe4O5 and hematite (Fe2O3) rather than undergoing an isochemical phase transition. This result, combined with literature data indicates (1) that this reaction occurs at ~9.5-11 GPa and 973-1673 K, and (2) these two phases should recombine at yet higher pressures to produce an h-Fe3O4 phase.
Essays on Wage Determination Factors and Individual Heterogeneity : Evidence from Japanese Panel Data

This dissertation presents three essays related to factors determining wage. Verifying factors influencing wage levels and changes in wage rate has remained a key issue in labor economics. Since Mincer (1974) proposed his famous Mincer earnings function on the basis of human capital theory in his book “Schooling, Experience, and Earnings,” many empirical studies have shown that these years of schooling and labor market experience are major factors determining wages in the United States and several other countries (Burusku 2006). Studies analyzing the role of returns of education, work experience, and job tenure on wage apply the Mincer equation to tackle the problems of omitted variables and individual heterogeneity of biased estimates (Altonji and Shakotko 1987; Abraham and Farber 1987; Marshall and Zarkin 1987). These problems also apply to the case of Japan. This dissertation investigates factors affecting wages by conducting a Japanese panel data analysis. As Hsiao (2003) and Baltagi (2013) note, panel data analysis can remove potential sources of time-invariant unobservable individual heterogeneity, which cannot be controlled for using time-series or cross-sectional data. There are several potential factors influencing wages, including family and social environment and habituation. Recent economists have investigated the influence of behavioral factors on economic decision-making. In this thesis, we investigate the effects of two behavioral factors, smoking and marriage, on wages. We use two methods to measure personality traits as potential unobservable individual heterogeneity to assess the validity of these unstable variables in an economic empirical analysis. In fact, several recent studies, particularly in the field of economic behavior, use unstable variables such as time discount rate, risk aversion rate, and a locus of control or other personality traits as proxy variables of individual unobservable heterogeneity. The analysis results reveal that individual unobservable heterogeneity affects wage determination through two behavioral factors: smoking and
Dimension Reduction Using Samples’ Inner Structure Based Graph for Face Recognition

Graph construction plays a vital role in improving the performance of graph-based dimension reduction (DR) algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel graph construction method, and we name the graph constructed from such method as samples’ inner structure based graph (SISG). Instead of determining the -nearest neighbors of each sample by calculating the Euclidean distance between vectorized sample pairs, our new method employs the newly defined sample similarities to calculate the neighbors of each sample, and the newly defined sample similarities are based on the samples’ inner structure information. The SISG not only reveals the inner structure information of the original sample matrix, but also avoids predefining the parameter as used in the -nearest neighbor method. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of SISG, we apply it to an unsupervised DR algorithm, locality preserving projection (LPP). Experimental results on several benchmark face databases verify the feasibility and effectiveness of SISG.
Thymic atrophy in cattle poisoned with Solanum glaucophyllum

Solanum glaucophyllum (Sg) [= S. malacoxylon] is a calcinogenic plant inducing "Enzootic Calcinosis" in cattle. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, its main toxic principle, regulates bone and calcium metabolism and also exerts immunomodulatory effects. Thymocyte precursors from bone marrow-derived progenitor cells differentiate into mature T-cells. Differentiation of most T lymphocytes is characterized not only by the variable expression of CD4/CD8 receptor molecules and increased surface density of the T cell antigen receptor, but also by changes in the glycosylation pattern of cell surface glycolipids or glycoproteins. Thymocytes exert a feedback influence on thymic non-lymphoid cells. Sg-induced modifications on cattle thymus T-lymphocytes and on non-lymphoid cells were analysed. Heifers were divided into 5 groups (control, intoxicated with Sg during 15, 30 or 60 days, and probably recovered group). Histochemical, immunohistochemical, lectinhistochemical and morphometric techniques were used to characterize different cell populations of the experimental heifers. Sg-poisoned heifers showed a progressive cortical atrophy that was characterized using the peanut agglutinin (PNA) lectin that recognizes immature thymocytes. These animals also increased the amount of non-lymphoid cells per unit area detected with the Picrosirius technique, WGA and DBA lectins, and pancytokeratin and S-100 antibodies. The thymus atrophy found in intoxicated animals resembled that of the physiological aging process. A reversal effect on these changes was observed after suppression of the intoxication. These findings suggest that Sg-intoxication induces either directly, through the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 itself, or indirectly through the hypercalcemia, the observed alteration of the thymus.
Growth, Development, and Water Consumption of Irrigated Bean Crop Related to Growing Degree-Days on Different Soil Tillage Systems in Southeast Brazil

Degree-days may be an alternative for predicting the influence of temperature on physiological aspects of plants in a changing climate. The objective of this research was to evaluate the relation between cumulative degree-days index () and the development, growth, and water consumption of irrigated bean under different soil tillage systems (STS). We developed an experiment in Southeast Brazil in plots managed with the following STS: chisel ploughing (CP), disk ploughing (DP), and revolving hoe (RH). The treatments did not influence the crop phenology when correlated to . The parameters of canopy ground cover, leaf area index, total dry matter, and the plant height presented a highly significant relationship with (). We also compared the results of field water balance with a simulation developed between the crop coefficient and and found a strong relationship ( = 0.93∗∗; ∗∗: high statistical significance ()) between these measurements and the model. The total water consumption measured at the irrigated bean crop reached 383 mm, 386 mm, and 375 mm while that simulated from dual crop coefficient approach based on reached 378 mm, 373 mm, and 349 mm to CP, DP, and RH, respectively, representing a mean difference of 4.2%.
Extending the tail end of working lives: How policies shape labour market participation and retirement of older workers

In the last two decades, public pension systems have been geared towards extending working lives and postponing retirement, thus activating older workers in most of the advanced welfare states. When materialized, those outcomes contribute to the sustainability of pension schemes and concurrently, to adequate old age incomes in the face of demographic ageing. In this paper, a comparative time-series—cross-section analysis is performed in order to assess the effects of macro-level institutional pull, push, and retention factors on effective retirement age, cohort-adjusted labour market exit rates, and employment ratio of older workers in 15 OECD countries from 1992 to 2010. The results show that policies matter: pension system parameters setting incentives for working longer are significant determinants of retirement age and labour market participation of elderly. However, effects of push and pull factors are in part different for women and men. Most notably, though, the overall orientation of social policies over the life course matters: a greater weight of social investment in human capital and public services clearly supports the extension of working live even at its tail end. Our analysis thus provides evidence on the importance of the institutional social policy design over the whole life course in extending working lives and postponing retirement.
Exploration and Research on the Cultivation Mode of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Engineering Students in Colleges and Universities

Due to the difference of engineering and humanities and social science professional personnel training, engineering students for the status of technology industry to understand deeply, but the lack of training and training in the humanities and business management capabilities, combined with engineering innovation and entrepreneurship education students teaching ability advantages and weak part, suggestions from the revision of personnel training for the cultivation of innovative talents mechanism, build innovation and entrepreneurship education curriculum education system, improve the innovative practice education system to carry out innovation and entrepreneurship training.
Dynamics of Ebola epidemics in West Africa 2014

This paper investigates the dynamics of Ebola virus transmission in West Africa during 2014. The reproduction numbers for the total period of epidemic and for different consequent time intervals are estimated based on a simple linear model. It contains one major parameter - the average infectious period that defines the dynamics of epidemics. Numerical implementations are carried out on data collected from three countries Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia as well as the total data collected worldwide. Predictions are provided by considering different scenarios involving the average times of infectiousness for the next few months and the end of the current epidemic is estimated according to each scenario.
Evolutionary paths among different red galaxy types at 0.3 < z < 1.5 and the late buildup of massive E-S0s through major mergers

Some recent observations seem to disagree with hierarchical theories of galaxy formation about the role played by major mergers in the late buildup of massive E-S0s. We re-address this question by analysing the morphology, structural distortion level and star formation enhancement of a sample of massive galaxies (M_* > 5x10^10M_⨀) lying on the Red Sequence and its surroundings at 0.3 10^11 M_⨀ at z = 0 through gas-rich major mergers has frozen since z similar to 0.6. All these facts support that major mergers have played a dominant role in the definitive buildup of present-day E-S0s with M-* > 10(11) M-circle dot at 0.6 < z < 1.2, in good agreement with hierarchical scenarios of galaxy formation.
Three Dimensional Quantitative Evaluation of Asymmetry in Facial Expressions

We present a simple but effective approach to estimate the asymmetry in facial expressions using range data. A face measuring system called “Cubicfacer” that equips two laser scanners and a color CCD camera measures the human faces and produces range and color texture images simultaneously. Five pre-determined facial actions are measured on each subject and 42 symmetrically distributed mapping points are then extracted from the color images of each action. Pre-selected nodes of a generic face mesh are mapped to these points using a least squares approximation method. A local approximation for facial parts is then applied iteratively and the measured range data is transformed to produce a complete wrap of the mesh. This procedure is applied for each measured facial action and the deformation obtained is analyzed with sub-meshes that correspond to forehead, eyes, mouth, cheeks and chin areas. Variance and regression analysis are performed on patch pairs on left and right halves of the meshes to estimate the asymmetry. We set a threshold value to extract the prominent patches with greater deformation variances to produce an estimation of expression asymmetry. Error estimation is further applied to analyze the mesh fitting anomalies.
Gravitational spin-orbit coupling in binary systems at the second post-Minkowskian approximation

We compute the rotations, during a scattering encounter, of the spins of two gravitationally interacting particles at second order in the gravitational constant (second post-Minkowskian order). Following a strategy introduced by us [D. Bini and T. Damour, Phys. Rev. D 96, 104038 (2017)], we transcribe our result into a correspondingly improved knowledge of the spin-orbit sector of the effective one-body (EOB) Hamiltonian description of the dynamics of spinning binary systems. We indicate ways of resumming our results for defining improved versions of spinning EOB codes which might help in providing a better analytical description of the dynamics of coalescing spinning binary black holes.
Submicron X-ray diffraction

At the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley we have instrumented a beam line that is devoted exclusively to X-ray micro-diffraction problems. By micro-diffraction we mean those classes of problems in Physics and Materials Science that require X-ray beam sizes in the sub-micron range. The instrument is for instance, capable of probing a sub-micron size volume inside micron-sized aluminum metal grains buried under a silicon dioxide insulating layer. The resulting Laue pattern is collected on a large area CCD detector and automatically indexed to yield the grain orientation and deviatoric (distortional) strain tensor of this sub-micron volume. A four-crystal monochromator is then inserted into the beam, which allows monochromatic light to illuminate the same part of the sample. Measurement of the diffracted photon energy allows for the determination of d spacings. The combination of white and monochromatic beam measurements allow for the determination of the total strain/stress tensor (6 components) inside each sub-micron-sized illuminated volume of the sample. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Design and Optimization of the VideoWebWireless Camera Network

Sensor networks have been a very active area of research in recent years. However, most of the sensors used in the development of these networks have been local and nonimaging sensors such as acoustics, seismic, vibration, temperature, humidity. The emerging development of video sensor networks poses its own set of unique challenges, including high-bandwidth and low latency requirements for real-time processing and control. This paper presents a systematic approach by detailing the design, implementation, and evaluation of a large-scale wireless camera network, suitable for a variety of practical real-time applications. We take into consideration issues related to hardware, software, control, architecture, network connectivity, performance evaluation, and data-processing strategies for the network. We also perform multiobjective optimization on settings such as video resolution and compression quality to provide insight into the performance trade-offs when configuring such a network and present lessons learned in the building and daily usage of the network.
SMEs and IT: Evidence for a market for 'lemons'?

It is well known that Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) suffer from a lack of IT proficiency and therefore depend heavily on external IT expertise. The acquisition of a strategic IT artefact by an SME is mainly initiated in a market where Independent Software Vendors (ISV) and customers meet. This complex process is dominated by information asymmetry and leads to the ‘lemons’ problem, where low-quality vendors drive out high-quality vendors as predicted by the Lemon Market Theory (LMT). The diversity in quality makes it difficult for prospective buyers to evaluate a product or service with complete certainty and makes the decision to acquire risky. According to LMT, there is incentive for vendors selling poor quality, where quality of services is linked to an entire group rather than to an individual vendor. Although many scholars refer to this phenomenon in their work, empirical evidence is scarce. In this paper, we present the results of an enquiry into the ‘lemon’ problem within a group of 484 Belgium ISVs that target the SME market. A survey of the websites of the selected ISVs was conducted, in which we examined the way the products and services were presented. This was followed by six case studies, in which Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of SMEs were interviewed about the way they perceive the services of the ISVs. Our findings suggest that there are elements of a ‘lemons’ market present. However, there are also indications of a self-cleaning mechanism present in the market within the group of ISVs, leading to a globally higher degree of quality and leading to positive filtering from ‘the buy side’. However, the strongest conclusion is that some SMEs are encouraged by ISVs to withdraw from progressing further with their software acquisition process due their inferior IT capabilities and practices.
Molecular taxonomy. Bioinformatics and practical evaluation

Summary Molecular taxonomy is a field that studies the diversity of organisms based on molecular markers. This work is devoted to develop a methodology of molecular taxonomy of small organisms. The ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is used as a molecular marker since its nucleotide sequence includes stretches of various levels of conservation, which can be used as species, genus and taxa specific regions. The organisms live in complex communities. To discover the composition of these communities, a hybridization assay employing oligonucleotide microarrays is developed to indicate the presence of a certain rRNA, in a sample under investigation. An additional method based on the pyrosequencing process is proposed here. In this case the mixture of rRNA genes is directly sequenced and the proportion of individual sequences is then calculated from the obtained pyrogram. The work comprises two parts: theoretical bioinformatics and practical evaluation. The first part tackles the problem of DNA-RNA duplex stability prediction. As a result, an ad hoc stability function is proposed. An algorithm and a program are developed for the design of oligonucleotides employed in the microarray approach. The kinetics of DNA-RNA duplex dissociation is considered as well. In addition, the formalism of the pyrosequencing approach is elaborated theoretically. The experimental part deals with the issues of oligonucleotide microarray establishment, including fabrication, immobilization, hybridization and scanning. A real-time kinetic setup for observing the RNA-DNA duplex dissociation was developed. The theoretical findings and quality of the oligonucleotide design are practically evaluated. The theory is found to be in a good accordance with experiment. The pyrosequencing approach is tested as well and is demonstrated to have enough power to discover the composition of a complex mixture of rRNA genes.
Change and Response on the Corporate Web Site

The study examined the how much the content and format of Fortune 500 corporation web sites changed over a 12-month period. Most corporations actively updated and changed their sites. The study also examined how companies responded to inquiries initiated by web site visitors. Nearly 85% of the web sites had email links, but less than half of the corporations responded to inquiries within one week. Responsiveness to email inquiries varied by corporation size and by the type of inquiry. The email response data indicate that some organizations may experience a cultural lag in adapting to the interactive features of corporate web sites.