Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accruals and Forecasting

Sloan (1996), Richardson et al. (2005, 2006) examine how firms’ accruals relate to subsequent financial performance. They identify a negative correlation and attribute it to accruals lack of reliability. This paper considers the issue from a different starting point: we forecast sales and expenses separately and argue on prior grounds that accruals are generally informative about the changes/growth in the income statement items. Two accruals variables serve as the primary predictors, year-to-year changes in operating assets and operating liabilities. This framework thus implies 2 forecasting equations and where the RHS of each includes the 2 accrual variables, plus controlling variables. Traditional accounting concepts can be applied to gauge the expected magnitudes of the 2x2 load-factors. Moreover, this framework leads to the hypothesis that the 2 accrual variables have a negative effect on the ROA and earnings forecasts, consistent with the literature. However, a closer look at the estimated load-factors shows some subtleties. First, liability accruals are markedly more informative than asset accruals. Second, while both accrual variables forecast ROA robustly, a shift to earnings weakens the results. Third, the 2 accrual variables are more informative about future performance in case of smaller firms. The empirics also highlight the ways in which financial assets and liabilities influence the forecasting and how their effects differ from those of the (operating) accruals.
Lithium Contamination in AMS Measurements of 14C

High count rates of lithium ions in an AMS measurement system for 14C were traced to the lithium content in the quartz tubes used in the graphitization of the samples. The lithium contamination was nearly eliminated by the use of borosilicate glass reaction tubes at a lower reaction temperature. The ion beam current and the measurement precision of the isotope ratio were not affected.
A Study of Academic Self-efficacy of University Students in Associations of Socio-demographic Variables

In proposed study whether academic self-efficacy on university students differ in perception of various social demographic features have been analyzed. This surveillance was conducted on 1678 BS Honor students who were attending perspective classes held at Government College University Faisalabad. In the perception the academic self-efficacy Scale and personal information farm work were used as data collection tools and implement. Independent sample “ t test ” and one-way analysis of Variance” were used for the analysis of perspective data. The finding of the perception suggested there are significant discrepancy between academic selfefficacy, Gender grad level, Economic situation of the family, Field of study and perceived academic achievement. It was also suggested by the conclusion of the study that are no significant difference between academic self-efficacy of University, BS Honor students and field of study that educational levels of the parents, Number of family members and hereditary numbers, and perceived academic achievement in high school and the dwelling unit where the students lived in the longest. With the help of relevant data progression has been discussed and conclusions were made.
QUANTUM DOTS SOLAR CELLS BASED-ON Pt, CuS, Cu2S, PbS COUNTER ELECTRODES

Solar cells based on a mesoporous structure of TiO 2 and the polysulﬁde redox electrolyte were prepared by direct adsorption of CdS/CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) light absorbers onto the oxide. Moreover, we also synthesized quantum dots solar cells (QDSSCs) based on different counter electrodes like CuS, Cu 2 S, PbS by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method and chemical bath deposition (CBD). The performance photovoltaic was about 0.87 % for Cu 2 S counter electrode, i.e. higher than other counter electrodes. With this result, CuS, Cu 2 S and PbS exhibit several advantages in which they can replace Pt commercial in the future.
An Introduction to Hydrogen Bonding

1. Brief History 2. Nature and Properties 3. Strong Hydrogen Bonds 4. Moderate Hydrogen Bonds 5. Weak Hydrogen Bonds 6. Cooperativity, Patterns, Graph Set Theory, Liquid Crystals 7. Disorder, Proton Transfer, Isotope Effect, Ferroelectrics, Transitions 8. Water, Water Dimers, Ices, Hydrates 9. Inclusion Compounds 10. Hydrogen Bonding in Biological Molecules 11. Methods
Influence of Nanosilica on Workability and Compressive Strength of Wood Ash Cement Concrete

Studies have revealed that wood ash cement concrete just like other pozzolanic cement concrete has lower early strength compared to plain cement concrete. Nanoparticles have been found to improve the early strength of concrete due to its small size and large surface area. This paper reports the influence of nanosilica on the workability and compressive strength of wood ash cement concrete. Wood ash was obtained as a waste product from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) bread bakery, Ogbomoso. Biological synthesis of nanosilica using kola Pod extract and silica precursor (1:5) was conducted at Nanotechnology research group laboratory at LAUTECH. The chemical composition, specific gravity and particle size distribution of wood ash, fine and coarse aggregate used were determined. Concrete with 10% wood ash replacement for cement was produced using1:2:4mix proportion and water to binder ratio of 0.5. Nanosilica was added at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% levels. Concrete with no wood ash and nanosilica served as the control. Workability and compressive strength of the plain and composite concrete were determined. The results showed that concrete workability was enhanced with introduction of nanosilica. The compressive strength also increased with addition of nanosilica. Maximum compressive strength of 27.53MP was achieved at 90 days with 1.5% nanosilica addition. It was concluded that nanosilica enhanced workability and improved both early and later strength development in wood ash concrete with 1.5% as the optimum addition.
Explaining Population Displacement Strategies in Civil Wars: A Cross-National Analysis

Abstract Why do combatants uproot civilians in wartime? In this paper I identify cross-national variation in three population-displacement strategies—cleansing, depopulation, and forced relocation—and test different explanations for their use by state actors. I advance a new “assortative” theory to explain forced relocation, the most common type. I argue that combatants displace not only to expel undesirable populations, but also to identify the undesirables in the first place by forcing people to send signals of loyalty and affiliation based on whether, and to where, they flee. This makes communities more “legible” and facilitates the extraction of rents and recruits. I test these arguments using a novel Strategic Displacement in Civil Conflict data set (1945–2008). Consistent with my expectations, different displacement strategies occur in different contexts and appear to follow different logics. Cleansing is more likely in conventional wars, where territorial conquest takes primacy, while forced relocation is more likely in irregular wars, where identification problems are most acute. The evidence indicates that cleansing follows a logic of punishment. The results for relocation, however, are consistent with the implications of my assortative logic: it is more likely to be employed by resource-constrained incumbents fighting insurgencies in “illegible” areas—rural, peripheral territories. A case study from Uganda based on in-depth fieldwork provides evidence for the assortative mechanism. As the most comprehensive analysis of wartime displacement strategies to date, this paper challenges some core assumptions about a devastating form of contemporary political violence.
Interaction of prion protein with divalent metals: Possible role in neuroprotection and neurodegeneration in prion disease model

v CHAPTER I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 1 THESIS ORGANIZATION 1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 3 BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 4 CHAPTER II. NORMAL CELLULAR PRION PROTEIN PROTECTS AGAINST MANGANESE-INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS AND APOPTOTIC CELL DEATH. ABSTRACT 70 INTRODUCTION 71 MATERIALS AND METHODS 73 RESULTS 82 DISCUSSION 90 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 97 REFERENCES 98 CHAPTER III. MANGANESE UPREGULATES CELLULAR PRION PROTEIN AND INHIBITS THE RATE OF PROTEINASE-K DEPENDENT LIMITED PROTEOLYSIS IN MOUSE NEURONAL CELLS. ABSTRACT 123 INTRODUCTION 124 MATERIALS AND METHODS 126 RESULTS 132 DISCUSSION 136 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 139
Application des fantômes numériques voxélisés associés au code Monte Carlo MCNP à la mesure in vivo réaliste des actinides dans les poumons et les plaies contaminées

In vivo lung counting, one of the preferred methods for monitoring people exposed to the risk of actinide inhalation, is nevertheless limited by the use of physical calibration phantoms which, for technical reasons, can only provide a rough representation of human tissue. A new approach to in vivo measurements has been developed to take advantage of advances in medical imaging and computing; this consists of numerical phantoms based on tomographic images (CT) or magnetic resonance images (IRM) combined with Monte Carlo computing techniques. Under laboratory implementation of this innovative method using specific software called ŒDIPE, the main thrust of this thesis was to provide answers to the following question: what do numerical phantoms and new techniques like ŒDIPE contribute to the improvement in calibration of low-energy in vivo counting systems? After a few developments of the ŒDIPE interface, the numerical method was validated for systems composed of four germanium detectors, the most widespread configuration in radiobioassay laboratories (a good match was found, with less than 10% variation). This study represents the first step towards a person-specific numerical calibration of counting systems, which will improve assessment of the activity retained. A second stage focusing on an exhaustive evaluation of uncertainties encountered in in vivo lung counting was possible thanks to the approach offered by the previously-validated ŒDIPE software. It was shown that the uncertainties suggested by experiments in a previous study were underestimated, notably morphological differences between the physical phantom and the measured person. Some improvements in the measurement procedure were then proposed, particularly new biometric equations specific to French measurement configurations that allow a more sensible choice of the calibration phantom, directly assessing the thickness of the torso plate to be added to the Livermore phantom based on the weight and height of the measured person. Lastly, the study underlined the interest of numerical phantoms and Monte Carlo simulation through actual contamination cases of lungs or wounds, which are impossible to study using traditional methods. In the case of contaminated wounds, this method was used to adjust the level of the retained activity in an actual injury on a hand and should improve the determination of source geometry, thereby refining the dose calculation. Personalised calibration of counting systems (for morphological purposes or distribution of radionuclides in the body) appears possible thanks to this innovative method and represents an important step towards implementation of personalised dosimetry.
Short Summary of Research Directions Section 1 ,

This proposal details the experimental and theoretical aspects of the research which is to be done under the premise of the irreducible representation of the Einstein translation group. The inherently non-abelian electrodynamic field theory resulting from this will provide experimentally testable results that would provide significant new technologies. New theoretical directions will also be examined as a logical extension to the experimental aspects.
The formation of the G phase from the a and polymorphs of polyvinylidene fluoride

Thermal, optical, infrared, and x‐ray techniques are used to demonstrate that the γ phase of polyvinylidene fluoride can be obtained from existing α‐ and/or β‐phase crystallites by either an annealing‐induced solid state α→γ phase transformation or as the result of a slow melting and recrystallization process. It is shown that certain surfactants modify the melting behavior of the α and β phases in a manner that accelerates the rapid recrystallization of the γ form. PVF2 samples that contain only the γ polymorph can be produced by this surfactant‐controlled technique. It is postulated that the surfactant delays the diffusion of molecules freed in the melting process and thus increases the probability of the stabilization of conformational fluctuations that result in the γ phase.
Maurocalcine, un nouveau vecteur de pénétration cellulaire pour la délivrance cellulaire de composés imperméables

La maurocalcine (MCa) est un peptide/toxin de 33 acides amines initialement isole du venin d'un scorpion Tunisien Scorpio maurus palmatus. Depuis ce travail pionnier, la molecule a pu etre produite par synthese chimique san alteration structurale. Trois raisons font que ce peptide est particulierement interessant. D'une part, il presente un homologie de sequence avec un domaine de canal calcium dependant du potentiel qui est implique dans le couplage excitation-contraction. Cette homologie est utile pour dechiffrer les bases mecanistiques de la mobilisation calcium dl reticulum sarcoplasmique. D'autre part, la MCa est un activateur puissant du recepteur a la ryanodine, declenchant d cette maniere la liberation de calcium des stocks intracellulaires. Finalement, ce peptide a une valeur technologique el raison de sa capacite a transporter des composes impermeables au travers de la membrane plasmique. Dans ce travail d these, j'ai planifie de nouveaux analogues plus efficaces de la maurocalcine, soit par des substitutions uniques d'acide amines ou en remplacant l'ensemble des cysteines par des acides amines isosteriques. Ces analogues possedent de efficacites de penetration cellulaire equivalente ou superieure, presentent des toxicites cellulaires limitees et n'ont pa d'activites pharmacologiques sur le recepteur a la ryanodine. J'ai analyse l'interaction de ces analogues avec des lipide membranaires et des glycosaminoglycans de surface, et le role de ces composants dans la penetration cellulaire de 1, MCa. L'entree cellulaire de la MCa se produit par macropinocytose quand ce peptide se fixe a la streptavidine.
Proteomics in functional genomics : protein structure analysis

Proteome mapping by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometric protein sequence analysis. - Techniques for sample preparation including methods for concentrating peptide samples. - Sample preparation by SDS/PAGE and in-gel digestion. - High-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and protein identification using western blotting and ECL detection. - Nanospray mass spectrometry in protein and peptide chemistry. - MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in protein chemistry. - The chemistry of protein sequence analysis. - The alkylated thiohydantoin method for C-terminal sequence analysis. - Ladder Sequencing. - New approaches for innovations in sensitive Edman sequence analysis by design of a wafer-based chip sequencer. - Analysis of glycoprotein-derived glycopeptides. - Lipopeptide preparation and analysis. - Phosphopeptide analysis. - Bioinformatics in protein analysis.
Synthesis of silica-polymer hybrid particles via controlled radical polymerization in aqueous dispersed media

Water-soluble brush-type polymers composed of poly(ethylene)oxide methacrylate (PEOMA) units with PEO side groups of various chain lengths (Mn = 300 and 950 g mol-1) or of PEOMA300 with methacrylic acid (MAA) were synthesized by nitroxide-mediated polymerization using an alkoxyamine initiator (BlocBuilder®) and SG1 nitroxide in the presence of a low amount of styrene. The PEOMA300-MAA based copolymers showed a dual temperature/pH response. The two series of macroalkoxyamines were used in aqueous emulsion copolymerization of nbutyl methacrylate and styrene leading to the formation of particles composed of amphiphilic block copolymers through polymerization-induced self-assembly, in both the absence and presence of silica. The experiments performed in the absence of silica particles resulted in the formation of sterically or electrosterically stabilized latexes. The polymerization exhibited all the features of a controlled system with however the presence of a small proportion of dead chains. The effect of pH value, ionic strength and type and concentration of the macroalkoxyamine initiator on polymerization kinetics and latex morphologies was investigated. Depending on the reaction conditions, spherical particles, vesicles or nanofibers were successfully prepared. The PEO-based macroalkoxyamines were shown to adsorb on the silica surface via hydrogen bond interaction between PEO and the silanol groups. This enabled block copolymers to be generated in situ on the silica surface leading to hybrid particles with snowman, raspberry, daisy, core-shell, “tadpole-” and “centipede-” like morphologies depending on the silica particle size, pH value and type of macroinitiator
On single-valued co-neutrosophic graphs

In this paper, we introduce the notion of a single-valued co-neutrosophic graphs and study some methodsof construction of new single-valued co-neutrosophic graphs. We compute degree of a vertex, strong single-valuedco-neutrosophic graphs and complete single-valued co-neutrosophic graphs. We also introduce and give properties ofregular and totally regular single-valued co-neutrosophic graphs.
Eﬀicient Extraction of Malware Signatures Through System Calls and Symbolic Execution: An Experience Report

The ramping up use of network connected devices is providing hackers more incentives and opportunities to design and spread new security threats. Usually, malware analysts employ a mix of automated tools and human expertise to study the behavior of suspicious binaries and design suitable countermeasures. The analysis techniques adopted by automated tools include symbolic execution. Symbolic execution envisages the exploration of all the possible execution paths of the binary without neither concretizing the values of the variables nor dynamically executing the code (i.e., the binary is analyzed statically). Instead, all the values are represented symbolically. Progressing in the code exploration, constraints on symbolic variables are built and system calls tracked. A satisfiability-modulo-theory (SMT) checker is in charge of verifying the satisfiability of the collected symbolic constraints and thus the validity of an execution path. Unfortunately, while widely considered promising, this approach suffers from high resource consumption. Therefore, optimizing the constraint solver and tuning the features controlling symbolic execution is of fundamental importance to effectively adopting the technique. In this article, we identify the metrics characterizing the quality of binary signatures expressed as system call dependency graphs extracted from a malware database. Then, we pinpoint some optimizations allowing to extract better binary signatures and thus to outperform the vanilla version of symbolic analysis tools in terms of malware classification and exploitation of the available resources.
Furfuryl Alcohol Treatment of Bamboo Betung (Dendrocalamus asper Backer ex K. Heyne) Strips

Based upon successful chemical modification of wood, bamboo strips were subjected to furfurylation treatment. Furfurylation in the mean of impregnating furfuryl alcohol to the bamboo and then heated at 100°C for 24 hours to produce solid polymeric resin. The success of furfurylation is assessed by uptake and the weight percentage gain of furfurylated bamboo strips. However, the treatability of dry bamboo strip is relatively poor. This paper studies the furfurylation process of bamboo betung ( Dendrocalamus asper Backer ex K.Heyne) strips by soaking, vacuuming and the combinations thereof. Results showed that soaking bamboo strips for two days after vacuum treatment achieved optimum uptake of furfuryl alcohol solutions and gave rise to an 80% weight gain. Catalyst addition during furfurylation did not increase the weight percent gain. Water was an active solvent carrier for achieving higher weight gains
Prompt air fluorescence induced by a high-altitude nuclear explosion

A high-altitude (>100) nuclear explosion emits a large fraction of its energy yield in the form of x rays, approximately half of which are deposited in the atmospheric layers {approximately}50--90 km, exciting prompt fluorescence. This paper examines four of the N{sub 2}{sup +} first negative bands that fluorescence strongly: {lambda}{lambda} 3914(0,0), 4278(0,1), 4709(0,2), and 5228(0,3) {Angstrom}. We developed both forward'' and backward'' Monte Carlo procedures and performed calculations using Los Alamos CRAY computers to simulate the physical problem for the variety of situations that are possible. We include the time-dependent treatment of x-ray energy deposition, both local and nonlocal excitation of fluorescence, multiple scattering and transmission of fluorescent photons with the resulting enhancement of the longer wavelength N{sub 2}{sup +} bands, and chemical reactions. A realistic atmospheric model is defined up to 800 km, including the troposphere and a Lambert reflecting ground surface with given albedo. To expedite such computations we use separate spatial meshes in which to carry out the x-ray deposition and fluorescence light scattering. Examples of our calculated results illustrate the effects of explosion yield, geometry, tropospheric scattering, ground albedo, and temperature of the fluorescing layer. 41 refs., 38 figs., 12 tabs.
Lowering the Bar? External Conditions, Opportunity Costs, and High-Tech Startup Outcomes

We assess the heterogeneous impact of economic downturns on individuals’ decisions to bring high-technology ideas to the market in the form of new ventures. We thereby examine how worsening labor market conditions influence individuals’ opportunity costs of starting new ventures, the resulting composition of the entrepreneurial pool, and startup performance outcomes. Using a rich dataset of startup founders in the biotechnology and medical device sectors, we find that an increase in the unemployment rate is associated with a substantial rise in the share of entrepreneurs who are most sensitive to worsening labor market conditions. Additionally, we find that startups founded by these entrepreneurs display lower financial and innovative performance than startups founded by entrepreneurs who are relatively insensitive to business cycles. Finally, we provide suggestive evidence that individuals’ heterogeneous response to worsening labor market conditions is a relevant factor in explaining the negative relationship between unemployment and startup performance outcomes. Previously circulated as: When Push Comes to Shove: External Conditions, Opportunity Costs, and Startup Outcomes