Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimating Complementarity With Large Choice Sets: An Application to Mergers

Standard discrete choice demand models assume that products are substitutes. Merger analyses based on these models may overstate consumer harm when producers of complementary products merge. Allowing for demand complementarity greatly complicates demand estimation, particularly when the number of choices is large. We introduce a straightforward Generalized Method of Moments estimator that identifies preferences allowing for (1) potential consumption complementarity, (2) price endogeneity and (3) large choice sets. Our estimator parsimoniously leverages information on consumer level bundle specific purchases and aggregate sales data. We apply this estimator to the chips and soda market and find a high degree of complementarity between these product groups. We show that a merger between PepsiCo/Frito-Lay and Dr. Pepper would increase soda prices by 30% less than suggested by a model that does not account for complementarity. Post-merger chip prices decrease. Overall, accounting for complementarity leads to positive welfare gains in some markets with large numbers of Frito-Lay varieties.
Adolfpateraite, K(UO2)(SO4)(OH)(H2O), a new uranyl sulphate mineral from Jáchymov, Czech Republic

Abstract Adolfpateraite, monoclinic K(UO2)(SO4)(OH)(H2O), is a new supergene mineral from the Svornost mine, Jáchymov ore district, Czech Republic. It forms sulfur yellow to greenish yellow crystalline aggregates, up to 2 mm in diameter. Crystals are transparent to translucent with a vitreous luster, without observable cleavage. The streak is pale yellow. The Mohs hardness is ~2. The mineral shows a green fluorescence in long-wave ultraviolet radiation. Adolfpateraite is pleochroic, with α = colorless and γ = yellow (β could not been examined). It is biaxial, with α = 1.597(2), γ = 1.659(2) (β could not been measured), birefringence 0.062. The empirical chemical formula (mean of 4 electron microprobe point analyses) was calculated based on 8 O apfu and is K0.94(UO2)1.00(SO4)1.02(OH)0.90(H2O)1.00 (water content calculated). The simplified formula is K(UO2)(SO4)(OH)(H2O), requiring K2O 10.70, UO3 64.97, SO3 18.19, H2O 6.14, total 100.00 wt%. Adolfpateraite is monoclinic, space group P21/c, a = 8.0462(1), b = 7.9256(1), c = 11.3206(2) Å, β = 107.726(2)°, V = 687.65(2) Å3, Z = 4, and Dcalc = 4.24 g/cm3. The five strongest reflections in the X-ray powder diffraction pattern are [dobs in Å (I) (hkl)]: 7.658 (76) (100), 5.386 (100) (002), 5.218 (85) (1̅02), 3.718 (46) (021), 3.700 (37) ( 2̅02). The crystal structure has been refined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to R1 = 0.0166 with GOF = 1.30, based on 1915 observed reflections [Iobs > 3σ(I)]. The crystal structure consists of chains of uranyl polyhedra extended along [010], with OH- located on the shared vertex between the bipyramids. The sulfate tetrahedra decorate the outer side of the chain with bridging bidentate linkages between the uranyl pentagonal bipyramids. H2O groups are located on the edges of the chains on the non-linking vertex of each uranyl pentagonal bipyramid. K+ atoms are located between the chains providing additional linkage of these together with H-bonds. The fundamental vibrational modes of uranyl ion, sulfate tetrahedra, and H2O groups were tentatively assigned in the infrared and Raman spectra. The new mineral is named to honor Adolf Patera (1819-1894), Czech chemist, mineralogist, and metallurgist.
Ownership Structure and Financial Performance of Listed Firms in Kenya: Mediation Role of Corporate Diversification

Purpose: The study aimed at examining the mediating role of corporate diversification between ownership structure and financial performance of listed firms in Kenya. Methodology/Approach/Design: As guided by explanatory research design, 65 listed firms from 2003 to 2017 were targeted. However, panel data of 35 firms were considered after excluding suspended and delisted as far as the study period is concerned. Results: The panel regression analysis finding indicated that corporate diversification positively and significantly mediated between institutional ownership and financial performance (β = .005, p-value = .000). Furthermore, there was a negative but statistically significant mediation effect of corporate diversification between foreign ownership and financial performance (β = -.0019, p-value = .023). These mediation effects existed despite the direct effect between institutional and as well foreign ownership and financial performance being statistically insignificant. Practical Implications: The study, therefore, suggested to the management of listed firms to ensure proper implementation of corporate diversification as it transmits the effect of ownership structure on financial performance. More importantly, policymakers are suggested to streamline taxation of foreign investors, tackle malpractices in the firm leading to embezzlement of investor funds. Future studies need to enlarge the scope to incorporate unlisted firms as well as firms listed in different stock exchanges in East Africa. Other types of ownership structure as managerial, family and state need to be analyzed. In addition, other forms and measures of corporate diversification could be investigated by future researchers. Originality/Value: To attain the main objective, the study used panel regression analysis and path diagrams to examine the effect of ownership structure on financial performance via corporate diversification.
New time delay estimation-based virtual decomposition control for n-DoF robot manipulator

One of the most efficient approaches to control a multiple degree-of-freedom robot manipulator is the virtual decomposition control (VDC). However, the use of the re- gressor technique in the conventionnal VDC to estimate the unknown and uncertaities parameters present some limitations. In this paper, a new control strategy of n-DoF robot manipulator, refering to reorganizing the equation of the VDC using the time delay estimation (TDE) have been investigated. In the proposed controller, the VDC equations are rearranged using the TDE for unknown dynamic estimations. Hence, the decoupling dynamic model for the manipulator is established. The stability of the overall system is proved based on Lyapunov theory. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is proved via case study performed on 7-DoF robot manipulator and com- pared to the conventionnal Regressor-based VDC according to some evalution criteria. The results carry out the validity and efficiency of the proposed time delay estimation- based virtual decomposition controller (TD-VDC) approach.
Effect of geographical location and antibacterial activities of essential oils from Ivoirian Chromolaena odorata (L) R. M. King Robinson (Asteraceae)

Essential oil yield and chemical composition of fresh leaves of Chromolaena odorata obtained by hydro-distillation collected from five different sites in Abidjan were investigated. The chemical composition of the essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). From each locality, leaves were collected during sunny period to look for some correlation between composition and geographical variation. As a result, fifty four components were characterized, representing between all essential oil samples. From five investigated sample, all of the essential oil presented seven major components: germacrene D (15 to 20%), geijerene (14 to 17%), pregeijerene (11 to 12%), α-pinene (7 to 10%), β-caryophyllene (7 to 10%), β-pinene (4 to 5%) and δ-cadinene (3 to 5%). All essential oils considered were characterized by a clear predominance of hydrocarbon compounds chiefly sesquiterpenes (71.92 to 77.68%) and monoterpenes (15.71 to 18.38%). With only one exception, storage of the material plant, seasonal and geographical variation have no effect on the yield. Antibacterial activities of the oils from one location were tested against seven bacteria. The inhibition zones and minimum microbial concentration (MIC) for bacterial strains, which were sensitive to C. odorata essential oil, were in the range of 8 to 16 mm and 64 to 256 µg/ml, respectively. The oils showed moderate activity against all tested bacteria. Key words: Chromolaena odorata, essential oil, chemical composition, germacrene D, geigerene, pregeigerene, antimicrobial activity.
Desenvolvimento de eletrodos cilíndricos de diamante para tratamento de águas

Eletrodos cilindricos de diamante foram desenvolvidos com ate 75 cm2 de area e aplicados em degradacoes eletroquimicas de poluentes recalcitrantes em aguas. Estudo sistematico foi realizado para a deposicao de filmes de diamantes condutores e bem aderentes a superficie de diversos materiais. Estes eletrodos foram caracterizados em termos de suas propriedades fisicas e eletroquimicas por microscopia eletronica de varredura, espectroscopia Raman e de energia dispersiva de Raio-X, voltametria, nanoindentacao, quatro pontas de prova e ensaios de aderencia. As oxidacoes de diversos micro-poluentes emergentes em agua foram estudadas e monitoradas por absorbância na regiao do UV/Vis, demanda quimica de oxigenio (COD) e carbono orgânico total (TOC). Os resultados obtidos nas eletrodegradacoes, empregando os eletrodos cilindricos de diamante desenvolvidos, foram plenamente satisfatorios quando comparado com os melhores resultados ja apresentados na literatura, utilizando placas de diamante convencionais. Abstract
Effectiveness of hand splints on upper limb skills and functional activities in children with cerebral palsy: a review

Cerebral Palsy is a neurological disorder caused by nonprogressive lesions at single or multiple locations in the immature brain in the uterus during or shortly after birth and characterized by movement and posture disorders that result from brain development disorders leading to primary and secondary sensory, neuromuscular and musculoskeletal system impairments. The prevalence is not well known, but figures in the developed world are 1.5-5.6 cases per 1000 live births and the incidence is higher in males than in females (ratio of 1.33:1). Although some therapeutic approaches have underestimated the significance of characteristics such as strength and intrinsic muscle properties for motor function in individuals with CP, evidence suggests that these characteristics play an important role in the movement patterns observed in these children.
The toxico-transcriptomic analysis of nano-copper oxide on gazami crab: especially focus on hepatopancreas and gill

Metallic nanoparticles (MNs) have attracted scientists’ interest due to their advantageous properties on biomedical and engineering fields. Metallic nanoparticles can be synthesized and modified with appropriate functional groups to make it possible for drug delivery. Meanwhile metallic nanoparticles have been considered as one of the main pollutants in the aquatic environment. These heavy metal contaminations in aquatic environments, particularly in freshwater systems, have posed severe risks because their ability to produce toxicity in aquatic organisms. This process happens mainly for the effects of particulates rather than the release of dissolved ions. Some major metallic nanoparticles in the aquatic environment have been demonstrated acutely toxic to across a wide spectrum of aquatic species including freshwater Hydra (Tortiglione et al., 2007), nematode (Ahn et al., 2014; Ma et al., 2009), Daphnia (Allen et al., 2010; Li et al., 2010), zebrafish (Asharani et al., 2008, 2011; Bar-Ilan et al., 2009) and mice (Gajdosíková et al., 2006; Kim et al., 2006; Ziady et al., 2003). Nano-copper oxide (CuO-NPs), which has advantages of good sterilization, catalytic properties, thermal stability, has been widely used in coatings, waste water treatment, sterilization, biomedical ceramic materials, and other fields. Hence, it can inevitably enter into the environment and ecological system, and the corresponding environmental toxicology effect will be induced. CuO-NPs can be accumulated in different tissues after being absorbed by animals. It’s reported that the common mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) mainly accumulate in the digestive gland after suction of CuO-NPs (Gomes et al., 2012), while mussels (Mytilus edulis) mainly accumulate in gill (Hu et al., 2014). CuO-NPs usually has a bad effect on animal cells and tissues after being absorbed. In vitro studies have found that CuO-NPs are toxic to different cell lines, such as human’s liver cells, renal cells as well as epithelial cells of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), which will cause the stagnation of the cell cycle, affect cell proliferation and lead to apoptosis and so on (Wang et al., 2011; Xu et al., 2013; Thit et al., 2013).
Emerging potential photovoltaic absorber hybrid halide perovskites (CH3CH2NH3PbX3; X = Br, Cl) materials: an ab‐initio calculation

To address the instability issues arising due to leaching of lead in the extensively explored MPX perovskite, in this study, we suggest replacement of the cation CH3NH3+ (M+) with a larger cation CH3CH2NH3+ (E+). The proposed material EPX (CH3CH2NH3PbX3; X = Br, Cl), due to the larger size of E+ cation, is expected to offer increased hindrance to the movement of lead ions through the lattice and thereby reducing its degradation against heat and moisture. This investigation unfolds that EPBr has a direct energy band gap of 2.045 eV at R with absorption coefficient above 1.8 × 104 cm−1 and SLME parameter as high as 21.5% for a film of thickness of 1 μm at ambient temperature of 300 K, which confirm its aptness as photovoltaic absorber material (PVA). The investigation also shows that n‐type EPCl has a direct energy band gap of 2.668 eV with the figure of merit (ZT) exceeding 0.95 and Seebeck coefficient (S) more than 700 μV/K that reaffirm its suitability as thermoelectric (TE) material.
Research and Prediction of Wettability of Irregular Square Column Structure on Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) Surface Prepared by Femtosecond Laser

Based on the contact angle prediction model of a traditional square column structure, the prediction models for wettability of a parallelogram square column structure (PSCS) on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) surface prepared by femtosecond laser were established. An experiment was conducted to analyze the rationality of the established complete wetting model and incomplete wetting model. It was found that the incomplete wetting prediction model of the square column structure was more in line with the actual situation. For PSCS, the length of both the long and short sides of the boss and the width of the groove exerted an impact on the contact angle prediction results. Under the condition that the length of the long and short sides of the boss remained unchanged and the groove width increased, the contact angle increased under complete wetting and incomplete wetting. In contrast, under the condition that the long side length of the boss and the groove width remained unchanged and the short side length of the boss increased, the contact angle increased under complete wetting but decreased under incomplete wetting. The maximum contact angle reached 135.65°, indicating that PSCS on PMMA surface enhanced the surface hydrophobicity of the material.
Life Cycle Assessment of Protected Strawberry Productions in Central Italy

Agricultural activities in Europe cover half of the total area of the continent and are simultaneously a cause of environmental impact and victims of the same impact. Horticultural or fruit crops are considered highly intensive and often employ many crop inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and various materials. Strawberry falls into this group, and it has grown in acreage and production more than others globally. The aim of this study is to compare the environmental impact of two strawberry cultivation systems in central Italy, a mulched soil tunnel and a soilless tunnel system. The method used to assess the impact is LCA, widely applied in agriculture and supported by international standards. The data used are mainly primary, related to 2018, and representative of the cultivation systems of central Italy. For impact assessment, the method selected was the CML_IA baseline version. From the results obtained, the two systems show a similar impact per kg of strawberries produced (e.g., for global warming: 0.785 kg CO2 eq for soilless, 0.778 kg CO2 eq for mulched soil tunnel). Reduced differences can be observed for the use of crop inputs (greater for the tunnel) and the use of materials and technology (greater for soilless). The mitigation measures considered concern the replacement of the packaging (excluding plastic) and the growing medium of the soilless using perlite and compost from insect breeding.
Analysis of mechanical properties of copper thin film in ambient, DI water and slurry environment by nanoindentation

ABSTRACT The nanomechanical properties of chemically altered wafer surface are critical for modelling the material removal in the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). This paper investigates the nanomechanical properties of copper thin film on the silicon wafer and the reacted passivation layer in different environmental conditions by nanoindentation. The environmental conditions are ambient air, DI water and slurry environment at 45°C temperature. Nanoindentation test is performed on Hysitron TI980 triboindenter using standard Berkovich indenter. Experimental results show that the nanohardness and Young’s modulus of the copper thin film in the ambient environment are 1.72 GPa and 118.03 GPa, respectively. The passivation in DI water results in a slight increase in nano-hardness of copper thin film, on the other hand, a significant decrease in nano-hardness is observed after passivation in the slurry environment. The reduced values of hardness and young’s modulus in the slurry environment are in line with the chemical action of slurry in CMP. The estimated nano-hardness and modulus of the wafer contact surface after the chemical action of slurry are critical process parameters for the analysis and modelling of the advanced node (CMP) process.
Prediction of Standard Enthalpy of Combustion of Pure Compounds Using a Very Accurate Group-Contribution-Based Method

The artificial neural network–group contribution (ANN–GC) method is applied to estimate the standard enthalpy of combustion of pure chemical compounds. A total of 4590 pure compounds from various chemical families are investigated to propose a comprehensive and predictive model. The obtained results show the squared correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.999 99, root mean square error of 12.57 kJ/mol, and average absolute deviation lower than 0.16% for the estimated properties from existing experimental values.
Factors associated with chronic respiratory disorders in the saleswomen working near Dantokpas market highways in Cotonou, Benin

Sales around roads, a common activity mainly carried out by women in African urban areas, expose these later to outdoor air pollution (OAP), leading to chronic respiratory diseases (CRD). This research aims at studying associated factors with CRD among these professionals. A cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted among 396 saleswomen working on the outskirts of the main track of Dantokpa’s market in Cotonou. Participants were systematically recruited by convenience, in the proportion of one in two, according to the defined selection criteria and interview. A multivariate analysis was performed by the top-down procedure. The CRDs prevalence was 43.18% for chronic bronchitis (35.18%) and asthma (8.33%). The associated factors with CRD were (Adjusted OR; 95%CI): the low-quality housing (1.92; 1.18-3.13), monthly income above the minimum wage (2.48; 1.51-4.06) and the daily selling time above 9 h (3.66; 2.15-6.22). Three items of the knowledge’s level about OAP were found to be protective factors, namely the recognition by saleswomen of: At least three sources of OAP (0.43; 0.26-0.72), the OAP’s reality (0.25; 0.07-0.85), and their higher exposure (0.06; 0.013-0.31). The risk and protective factors identified will help implementing preventive measures, including consciousness-raising for saleswomen and targeted OAP mitigation efforts. Keywords: Chronic respiratory disorders, associated factors, road sales, outdoor air pollution.
The water demand shaping effects of new irrigation technology: evapotranspiration irrigation controllers in southern California, USA

The purpose of this work is a statistical analysis of the net change to water demand among customers who installed evapotranspiration irrigation controllers and customers given irrigation education in the Irvine Ranch Water District, California. This paper documents a statistical analysis of historical water demand to derive estimates of the net water savings from these interventions. This type of empirical investigation is important since California water agencies are considering multimillion dollar investments in this type of demand-side management. Thus, the predictable demand reduction and demand load-shaping are critical to rational economic investment decisions.
A RF Amplifier with Oscillation-Based BIST Based on Differential Power Detection

Oscillation-based built-in self-testing (OBIST) enables self-testing of active circuits without the application of a test vector. It is shown that the output f0 and Posc of a microwave amplifier under OBIST varies under supply rail variation (which causes variation in P1db and mid-band gain). It is shown that both parameters can be detected by differential power detection, but that the approach lends itself better to Posc-based detection than /o-based detection. Two distinct oscillation modes are identified, which may be exploited for future built-in self-diagnosis and self-healing.
Contribution to thermal behaviour study of lithium-ion battery for electric and hybrid electric vehicle

The main objectives of this study are to provide the essential information on the thermal behaviour of the battery cells for automotive purpose especially for EVs and HEVs through experimental work in order to develop an effective 3D electro-thermal model for lithium ion battery cells and pack. The experimental study is focusing on the distribution of temperature at various points of the battery cell surface, impact of different constant discharge rates, and also the importance of cooling system on the battery temperature behaviour. This thesis highlights the battery cell temperature under abuse discharge condition and the impact of stacking the battery cells inside the battery pack. Impact of different temperature and SOC on the battery cell internal resistance and a case study on the battery cell thermal behaviour used in a series HEV to complete driving cycles using different cooling strategies are also studied. Furthermore, the experimental study is extended to the characteristic of the cooling air flow behaviour inside the battery pack, using particulate image velocimetry (PIV) system. The 3D electro-thermal CFD model is implemented in a free, open source CFD software package called OpenFOAM. The target is to have a relatively simple but accurate model with reasonable computation time. This proposed model considers the heat generation from battery current and internal resistance as a function of temperature, heat transfer through conduction, forced convection and radiation.