Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding econo-political risks: impact of sanctions on an automotive supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce econo-political risks (EPRs) to supply chains (SCs). Based on case data from an automotive SC, this research identifies the mechanisms through which a subset of EPRs influences SC operations and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory case study method is employed for theory development. Interviews with SC professionals of three case companies were the primary data source. Company documents, archival records, and direct observation provided further insights into how EPRs are perceived, how they impact a SC, how SC actors react to them, and what the overall performance results are. Findings – The research identifies EPRs in terms of scope (flow of material, money, and knowledge) and time, and provides concrete examples, along with the channels through which their impact unfolds, and the responses available to SC actors. The authors find secondary impacts of EPRs through economic and regulatory channels to be significant, and bankruptcy, strategic reorientation, and single sourcing are common outcomes. By elaborating on the mechanisms through which sanctions impact upon SCs, and the feasible response trajectories, this research can assist SC actors with more effective management of EPRs. Originality/value – This paper is novel for three reasons: first, it introduces EPRs to research into supply chain risk management (SCRM); second, it addresses SC risks in a developing country, a topic largely missing from the literature; and finally, this research focuses on post-event SC risks, whereas the bulk of SCRM literature focuses on the pre-event phase.
Table 1 — Sodium Transport in Different Nephron Segments

Water accounts for approximately half of an adult human’s body weight. Because fat contains little water, individuals with more body fat have less body water. On average, total body water constitutes 60% of lean body weight in young men, 50% in young women and older men, and 45% in older women. Two thirds of body water is intracellular, and the remainder is contained in the extracellular fluid compartment, which includes intravascular (plasma) and interstitial fluid. Small amounts of water are also contained in bone, dense connective tissue, digestive secretions, and cerebrospinal fluid. Extracellular solutes are predominantly sodium salts (primarily a mixture of NaCl and NaHCO3). Thus, extracellular fluid can be thought of as saltwater. Except for protein (present at a higher concentration in plasma [approximately 1 mmol/L] than in interstitial fluid), the compositions of the intravascular and interstitial subdivisions of the extracellular fluid compartment are similar. The sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na,KATPase) pump on cell membranes keeps intracellular sodium at low levels. Potassium, the dominant intracellular cation, is electrically balanced, in large part, by anionic charges on impermeant macromolecules. Stability in the number of intracellular anionic charges makes the total solute content of cells much less variable than that of the extracellular fluid.
Customized Simulated Annealing Algorithm Suitable for Primer Design in Polymerase Chain Reaction Processes

The investigation of functionalities and other biological characteristics of proteins can be carried out from their corresponding gene sequence (DNA). The development of a process named PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) (Mullis & Faloona, 1987), based on an enzyme named DNA polymerase, was decisive for establishing a laboratorial procedure for generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence (amplification). Besides amplification, PCR-based techniques can also be employed in a variety of processes with different purposes, such as DNA sequencing and molecular evolution. A basic PCR set up requires several components and reagents as described in (Sambrook & Russel, 2001). Among the components, the two most relevant for the in silico proposal and the experiments described in this chapter are the DNA fragment to be amplified (referred to as template) and a primer sequence pair. Primers are appropriate short nucleotide sequences added to the reaction in order to mark the limits of the target region, i.e., the region of the template to be amplified. Commonly two primers are used namely forward, for flanking the beginning of the target region, and reverse, for flanking its end. The primer pair is one of the most important parameters for a successful PCR. Its design involves several variables whose values, generally, are determined via extensive calculations. Also, primer design requires several issues; for instance, it should not be easy for primers to anneal with other primers in the mixture neither should they be biased to anneal among themselves, which would prevent them to anneal with the DNA template. It is worth mentioning that although many different software systems are available for assisting primer design, such as those described in (Contreras-Moreira et al., 2009; Boyce et al., 2009; Mann et al., 2009; Kalendar et al., 2009; Gatto & Schretter, 2009; Piriyapongsa et al., 2009; You et al., 2008; Christensen et al., 2008; Tsai et al., 2007; Schretter & Milinkovitch, 2006; Liang et al., 2005; Boutros & Okey, 2004; Gordon & Sensen, 2004; Rose et al., 2003; Rozen & Skaletsky, 2000), the design process itself is still not well defined. This is mainly 7
MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES FOR OCEAN SCIENCE AND EXPOLORATION

Microfluidic devices have been applied to realize functionally integrated and compact in situ chemical and biochemical analyzers that can be operated in deep-sea environments. PDMS-based microfluidic devices are connected with miniature pumps, valves, and flow-rate sensors to enable in situ detection of biomolecules or trace elements. The in situ analyzers can be mounted on a variety of underwater platforms such as remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles, and manned submersibles. Development, evaluation, and in situ operation processes of the in situ analyzers will be introduced together with practical operation results.
Manners and Hierarchy in the Natural Sciences

Much recent anthropological work on the natural sciences has taken its starting point from Latour and Woolgar (1986). Yet one dimension that was little considered in their work was that both observer and observed were employed by Western European states and by institutions regarded as prestigious. This shoved questions of perceived authority or hierarchies of institutions and the state to one side. Consequently the foundations of such hierarchy on a broader historical scale, namely, a concrete discussion of the situation in which both the ethnographers and scientists found themselves, in relation to the economic history and context of Western imperialism, was left untouched. It is this topic I address, in offering a very different anthropological study of science. Following Graeber’s (2007) work linking the rapid growth of mild avoidance relations (manners) over the past few centuries to the development of private property regimes, I look at how manners and ‘polite conduct’ express an unpleasant relation of hierarchy and how that connects with the natural sciences. Such sciences, according to Shapin (1995), have a male-biased grounding in being a conversation between 'gentlemen' in civil society. This is because, during the early modern period, there was a move towards valuing highly knowledge based on experience. Testimony played a crucial role in convincing others that your experiences and observations were worth taking seriously. Whilst not constituting the basis of truth alone, the question of who to trust, or rather, who was a credible spokeswoman for reality was of central importance. This 'credible spokeswoman' was typically a gentleman, a man of refined manners and conduct. I consider the implications of Shapin and Graeber’s arguments for the natural sciences by exploring these fascinating connections between the global production of hierarchy in academia, manners and private property regimes through ethnographic material gained from eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork based in Belgrade and Zagreb, working in scientific institutions with researchers and students.
Microbial Remediation of Acid Mine Drainage

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), or biocorrosion, is blamed for causing serious problems in many fields, such as the oil and gas industry, water treatment systems and sewer systems. The integrity, safety and reliability of the pipeline and equipment are severely affected by MIC. In 2006, MIC was a primary suspect in the leakage of Alaska oil pipelines. The leak caused a major production shutdown that resulted in an oil price spike (Jacobson 2007). MIC may account for 20% of all corrosion losses (Flemming 1996). Sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are the more common microbes involved in MIC. They may be introduced in a system via multiple ways, including secondary oil recovery and hydrotest. SRB oxidise organic carbons to harvest electrons. The electrons are used for sulphate reduction that causes biogenic CONTENTS
Survey on Matrix Factorization Using Information Fusion

Information sets that portray the watched framework from different points of view and record the conduct of its individual parts, find that issues in science and Engineering. Heterogeneous information sets can be all things considered mined by information combination. Fusion can concentrate on a particular target connection and endeavor specifically related information together with logical information and information about framework's requirements. The paper describe that this paper portray an data fusion approach with punished matrix tri-factorization (DFMF) that at the same time factorizes information grids to uncover shrouded affiliations. The methodology can specifically consider any information that can be communicated in a framework, counting those from highlight based representations, ontologies, affiliations and systems. This paper exhibit the utility of DFMF for quality capacity forecast undertaking with eleven diverse information sources and for expectation of pharmacologic activities by combining six information sources. Our information combination calculation thinks about positively to option information reconciliation approaches and accomplishes higher exactness than can be gotten from any single information source alone.
Strong responses of Southern Ocean phytoplankton communities to volcanic ash

Volcanic eruptions have been hypothesized as an iron supply mechanism for phytoplankton blooms; however, little direct evidence of stimulatory responses has been obtained in the field. Here we present the results of twenty‐one 1–2 day bottle enrichment experiments from cruises in the South Atlantic and Southern Ocean which conclusively demonstrated a photophysiological and biomass stimulation of phytoplankton communities following supply of basaltic or rhyolitic volcanic ash. Furthermore, experiments in the Southern Ocean demonstrated significant phytoplankton community responses to volcanic ash supply in the absence of responses to addition of dissolved iron alone. At these sites, dissolved manganese concentrations were among the lowest ever measured in seawater, and we therefore suggest that the enhanced response to ash may have been a result of the relief of manganese (co)limitation. Our results imply that volcanic ash deposition events could trigger extensive phytoplankton blooms, potentially capable of significant impacts on regional carbon cycling.
Lycopene Prolongs the Lifespan and Enhances the Cytotoxicity of NK Cells after Ex Vivo Expansion

Lycopene is a nonprovitamin A carotenoid mainly found in fruits and vegetables, which has been reported to possess a variety of biological effects. The properties of lycopene on human natural killer (NK) cells after ex vivo expansion were assessed in the present study. Results showed that lycopene has a positive effect on NK cells viability and cytotoxicity. Aging and apoptosis started from the fourth week onwards in the cultured NK cells which were obtained from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Supplemented with lycopene (5μM) can restore the decreased viability and cytotoxicity of NK cells and reduce NK cells apoptosis caused by aging during fourth-sixth week culture. Its anti-apoptosis effect in NK cells may be related to lycopene which can decrease the expression of caspase 3 and 9 genes. Furthermore, lycopene can enhance the IFN-γ expression in gene and protein level after 7d treatment. However, lycopene did not affect the functional receptor’s (NKG2A, NKG2D, NKp30 and NKp44) expression on NK cells. These results indicated that lycopene has a positive effect on NK cells. As a health product, it may help to prolong the lifespan and enhance the cytotoxicity of NK cells after ex vivo expansion.
Understanding 802.11e Voice Behaviour via Testbed Measurements and Modeling

Analytic modeling and simulation of 802.11 and 802.11e have flagged up a number of potential performance problems with voice in an infrastructure mode network. This body of work has also predicted a number of possible solutions, such as the use of TXOP. In this paper we reproduce a number of these problems in a 802.11 testbed, and demonstrate that analytic models usefully bound performance. We study the impact of buffer size, which is difficult to fully capture in analytic models. We observe an asymmetry in buffer requirements between stations and the access point and explore how buffering and the use of TXOP impact throughput and delay of voice.
Effect of indium-flush method on the control of photoluminescence energy of highly uniform self-assembled InAs quantum dots by slow molecular beam epitaxy growth

The control of the emission energy from self-assembled InAs quantum dots has been demonstrated by using indium flush. The low-temperature indium-flush method was found to control the emission energy preserving the high structural uniformity attributed to the slow dot growth. In the standard indium-flush method, where the substrate temperature was raised up from the dot-growth temperature, blueshift larger than the shift by the low-temperature indium flush was observed and was explained reasonably by the enhanced In/Ga-interdiffusion. Also, the effect of AlGaAs capping layer before the indium-flush step was studied.
Subject and object omission in children's early transitive constructions: A discourse-pragmatic approach

ABSTRACT This paper investigates discourse effects on the provision of both subjects and objects and investigates whether pragmatic discourse features govern the realization/omission of both constituents alike. In an elicitation study, we examined how the discourse-pragmatic feature contrast, as applied to the subject, verb, or object of a transitive utterance affected the provision of elements in the remainder of the sentence when all elements were previously introduced. The results showed that 3.5-year-old children were more likely to realize a contrasted argument with a lexical noun but more likely to omit the argument when it was not part of a contrast, regardless of its subject or object status. This suggests that contrast presents a unifying discourse feature for argument omission in language development.
Universal Origin of Boson Peak Vibrational Anomalies in Ordered Crystals and in Amorphous Materials.

The vibrational spectra of solids, both ordered and amorphous, in the low-energy regime, control the thermal and transport properties of materials, from heat capacity to heat conduction, electron-phonon couplings, conventional superconductivity, etc. The old Debye model of vibrational spectra at low energy gives the vibrational density of states (VDOS) as proportional to the frequency squared, but in many materials the spectrum departs from this law which results in a peak upon normalizing the VDOS by frequency squared, which is known as the "boson peak. " A description of the VDOS of solids (both crystals and glasses) is presented starting from first principles. Without using any assumptions whatsoever of disorder in the material, it is shown that the boson peak in the VDOS of both ordered crystals and glasses arises naturally from the competition between elastic mode propagation and diffusive damping. The theory explains the recent experimental observations of boson peak in perfectly ordered crystals, which cannot be explained based on previous theoretical frameworks. The theory also explains, for the first time, how the vibrational spectrum changes with the atomic density of the solid, and explains recent experimental observations of this effect.
Synchronized chaos in networks of simple units

We study synchronization of non-diffusively coupled map networks with arbitrary network topologies, where the connections between different units are, in general, not symmetric and can carry both positive and negative weights. We show that, in contrast to diffusively coupled networks, the synchronous behavior of a non-diffusively coupled network can be dramatically different from the behavior of its constituent units. In particular, we show that chaos can emerge as synchronized behavior although the dynamics of individual units are very simple. Conversely, individually chaotic units can display simple behavior when the network synchronizes. We give a synchronization criterion that depends on the spectrum of the generalized graph Laplacian, as well as the dynamical properties of the individual units and the interaction function. This general result is then applied to coupled systems of tent and logistic maps and to two models of neuronal dynamics. Our approach yields an analytical understanding of how simple model neurons can produce complex collective behavior through the coordination of their actions.
The Weaknesses of Strong Inference Author ( s ) :

Platt's 1964 paper "Strong Inference" (SI), published in Science, has had considerable influence upon the conception of the nature of the scientific method held in both the social and physical sciences. Platt suggests that a four-step method of specifying hypotheses and conducting critical experiments that systematically eliminate alternatives has been responsible for progress in the history of the successful sciences and, if adopted, will allow the less successful sciences to make greater progress. This paper criticizes SI on a number of grounds including: 1) no demonstration of the central historical claim, that is, that the more successful sciences actually have utilized this method more frequently than the less successful sciences; 2) poor historiography, in that more faithful explications of some of the historical case studies Platt cites as canonical examples of SI fail to support that SI was actually used in any of these cases; 3) failure to identify other cases of important scientific progress that did not use SI and instead used distinct scientific methods; 4) neglect of the importance and implications of background knowledge used in problem formulation; 5) the impossibility of enumerating a complete set of alternative hypotheses; 6) no acknowledgement of the Quine-Duhem thesis indicating that "critical" experiments are actually logically inconclusive; 7) the assumption that there is one scientific method; and 8) significant ambiguity regarding exactly how each of the four steps of SI is to be faithfully implemented. Some recommendations regarding a normative scientific method are given.
W HAT A DIFFERENCE A PIXEL MAKES : A N EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF FEATURES USED BY CNN S FOR CATEGORISATION

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) were inspired by human vision and, in some settings, achieve a performance comparable to human object recognition. This has lead to the speculation that both systems use similar mechanisms to perform recognition. In this study, we conducted a series of simulations that indicate that there is a fundamental difference between human vision and CNNs: while object recognition in humans relies on analysing shape, CNNs do not have such a shape-bias. We teased apart the type of features selected by the model by modifying the CIFAR-10 dataset so that, in addition to containing objects with shape, the images concurrently contained non-shape features, such as a noise-like mask. When trained on these modified set of images, the model did not show any bias towards selecting shapes as features. Instead it relied on whichever feature allowed it to perform the best prediction – even when this feature was a noise-like mask or a single predictive pixel amongst 50176 pixels. We also found that regularisation methods, such as batch normalisation or Dropout, did not change this behaviour and neither did past or concurrent experience with images from other datasets.
A Novel and Fast Adaptive Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit Algorithm

: A weakness of compressive sampling is that it needs the information of sparsity to approximate the compressible signal. In this paper, an fast iterative reconstruction algorithm called Adaptive Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit is presented to solve the problem mentioned above, which delivers the same guarantees as the best optimization-based approaches and get rid of the dependence on the information of sparsity. Experimental results also demonstrate that the image reconstructed performance of the proposed algorithm is improved in terms of PSNR, SNR and reconstructed time, compared to Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) and Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit (CoSaMP).
Vulnerability of island countries in the South Pacific to sea level rise and climate change

An assessment of the vulnerability to sea level rise and climate change was performed for island countries in the South Pacific (Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, and Tuvalu) under the collaboration of Japan- ese experts and the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme. A combination of experience- based and scientific methods were developed to reveal the overall vulnerability of and possible impacts on the coastal zone sectors. The studies identified the common impacts on and vulnerability of these countries. Inundation and flooding are the common threats to these islands because of their low-lying setting; the problem is exacerbated by the social trends of population growth and migration to main islands, in particular to the capital cities. Other threats include beach erosion, saltwater intrusion, and impacts on the infrastructure and coastal society. For the island countries, the response to sea level rise and climate change focuses on adaptation rather than on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (that is, mitigation). Based on the results of the vulnerability assessment, the concept of and options for adap- tation are also discussed.
Enhanced Channel Estimation and Traffic Monitoring for Misbehaviour Nodes in Disruption Tolerant Networks

: In disruption tolerant networks (DTNs), the malicious nodes can be detected by watchdog and pathrater solutions. To address the problem of noise between the nodes, a distributed scheme has been used to detect the packet dropping in DTNs, where a node is used to keep a few signed contact records of its previous contacts, based on it the next contacted node is detected whether the node has dropped any packet. Since misbehaving nodes may misreport the contact records in order to avoid being detected, a small part of each of the contact record is disseminated to a certain number of witness nodes. A scheme to mitigate routing misbehaviour by limiting the number of packets forwarded to the misbehaving nodes is used. Thus the misbehaving nodes ensure low packet delivery, throughput, end to end latency and more energy consumption. So a Channel Aware Detection (CAD) algorithm is used to enhance the above metrics and to limit the traffic flowing to the misbehaving nodes. The CAD algorithm is used based on two strategies, the channel based estimation and traffic monitoring. If the monitored loss rate at particular hops exceeds the estimated normal loss rate, those nodes identified will be taken as attackers. The NS2 simulation shows that the solutions are efficient and effectively enhance routing misbehaviour.