Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
REVISITING THE 2019 CASE OF TAX JUSTICE NETWORK- AFRICA versus CABINET SECRETARY FOR NATIONAL TREASURY & 2 OTHERS

The main focus of this review is on the 2019 ruling of the High court of Kenya: the case regarding the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between Kenya and Mauritius. This review explores how the decision on the constitutionality of the Kenya- Mauritius DTA by the Kenyan High Court has broad impacts on the ability of Kenya to mobilize the requisite resources required for development. The review delineates the role that tax treaties play in financing for development investigating both the positive and negative effects on countries ability to mobilize resources that countries should potentially consider as they enter into these agreements. The review explores specific provisions of the Mauritius-Kenya DTA revealing that in fact Kenya stands to lose plenty of taxable revenue if such a treaty were to enter into force. Lastly, the review delves into a critique of the decision of the Kenyan High court in this particular case setting out other best-case scenarios that the court could have explored in order to render the agreement unconstitutional.
Validation of High-Resolution CFD Method for Slosh Damping Extraction of Baffled Tanks

Determination of slosh damping is a very challenging task as there is no analytical solution. The damping physics involve the vorticity dissipation which requires the full solution of the nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. As a result, previous investigations and knowledge were mainly carried out by extensive experimental studies. A Volume-Of-Fluid (VOF) based CFD program developed at NASA MSFC was applied to extract slosh damping in a baffled tank from the first principle. First, experimental data using water with subscale smooth wall tank were used as the baseline validation. CFD simulation was demonstrated to be capable of accurately predicting natural frequency and very low damping value from the smooth wall tank at different fill levels. The damping due to a ring baffle at different liquid fill levels from barrel section and into the upper dome was then investigated to understand the slosh damping physics due to the presence of a ring baffle. Based on this study, the Root-Mean-Square error of our CFD simulation in estimating slosh damping was less than 4.8%, and the maximum error was less than 8.5%. Scalability of subscale baffled tank test using water was investigated using the validated CFD tool, and it was found that unlike the smooth wall case, slosh damping with baffle is almost independent of the working fluid and it is reasonable to apply water test data to the full scale LOX tank when the damping from baffle is dominant. On the other hand, for the smooth wall, the damping value must be scaled according to the Reynolds number. Comparison of experimental data, CFD, with the classical and modified Miles equations for upper dome was made, and the limitations of these semi-empirical equations were identified.
Salt di usivities and salt di usion in farmed Atlantic salmon muscle as in ̄ uenced by rigor mortis

Salt infusion in farmed Atlantic salmon muscle as aected by rigor mortis during salting was investigated. A ®nite-dierence model was developed to determine the salt diusivity and to simulate salt infusion in the salmon muscle. Experiments veri®ed that the model gave good ®ts for pre-rigor, in-rigor and post-rigor states. Salt diusivities in the Atlantic salmon muscle were determined to be 8:77 0:88C 10ÿ11; 0:23 4:81C 10ÿ10 and 1:08 0:59C 10ÿ10 m=s (at 10°C) for pre-rigor, in-rigor and postrigor ®sh, respectively; where C is the salt concentration (g/g salt-free solids) in the muscle. Simulation results revealed that the prerigor salmon had the lowest salt concentration when compared with in-rigor and post-rigor salmon after the same salting time. Salt distribution inside the salmon samples was less uniform than in-rigor and post-rigor ®sh. The equilibrium salt concentrations had a signi®cant impact on the concentration pro®le for the in-rigor salmon ®llets. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-1-0676 TITLE: Defining the Role of Alpha-Synuclein in Enteric Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease

Alpha-Synuclein (α-syn) is by far the most highly vetted pathogenic and therapeutic target in Parkinson's disease. Aggregated α-syn is present in sporadic Parkinson's disease, both in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). The enteric division of the PNS is of particular interest because 1) gastric dysfunction is a key clinical manifestation of Parkinson's disease, and 2) Lewy pathology in myenteric and submucosal neurons of the enteric nervous system (ENS) has been referred to as stage zero in the Braak pathological staging of Parkinson's disease. The presence of Lewy pathology in the ENS and the fact that patients often experience enteric dysfunction before the onset of motor symptoms has led to the hypothesis that α-syn pathology starts in the periphery, after which it spreads to the CNS via interconnected neural pathways. Here we sought to directly test this hypothesis in rodents and non-human primates (NHP) using two distinct models of αsyn pathology: the α-syn viral overexpression model and the preformed fibril (PFF) model. Subjects (rat and NHP) received targeted enteric injections of PFFs or adeno-associated virus overexpressing the Parkinson's disease associated A53T α-syn mutant. Rats were evaluated for colonic motility monthly and sacrificed at 1, 6, or 12months, whereas NHPs were sacrificed 12months following inoculation, after which the time course and spread of pathology was examined in all animals. Rats exhibited a transient GI phenotype that resolved after four months. Minor α-syn pathology was observed in the brainstem (dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and locus coeruleus) 1month after PFF injections; however, no pathology was observed at later time points (nor in saline or monomer treated animals). Similarly, a histopathological analysis of the NHP brains revealed no pathology despite the presence of robust α-syn pathology throughout the ENS which persisted for the entirety of the study (12months). Our study shows that induction of α-syn pathology in the ENS is sufficient to induce GI dysfunction. Moreover, our data suggest that sustained spread of α-syn pathology from the periphery to the CNS and subsequent propagation is a rare event, and that the presence of enteric α-syn pathology and dysfunction may represent an epiphenomenon.
Time resolution measurements with SiPMs coupled to a scintillator

This paper reports on the results of time resolution measurements of detectors consisting of SiPMs coupled to a scintillator. The R&D has been performed both in a cosmic-ray setup, at the Bologna INFN laboratories, and in a beam test, at the CERN T10 beam line. Different couplings, direct or by means of optical fibres, have been tested. The measurements indicate that to reach better time resolutions, it is important to have a direct coupling between the SiPM and the scintillator. A time resolution of 67 ps has been achieved, for the direct coupling, broadened by the full electronics chain jitter.
Individual Rainfall Change Based on Observed Hourly Precipitation Records on the Chinese Loess Plateau from 1983 to 2012

The magnitude and spatiotemporal distribution of precipitation are the main drivers of hydrologic and agricultural processes in soil moisture, runoff generation, soil erosion, vegetation growth and agriculture activities on the Loess Plateau (LP). This study detects the spatiotemporal variations of individual rainfall events during a rainy season (RS) from May to September based on the hourly precipitation data measured at 87 stations on the LP from 1983 to 2012. The incidence and contribution rates were calculated for all classes of rainfall duration and intensity to identify the dominant contribution to the rainfall amount and frequency variations. The trend rates of regional mean annual total rainfall amount (ATR) and annual mean rainfall intensity (ARI) were 0.43 mm/year and 0.002 mm/h/year in the RS for 1983–2012, respectively. However, the regional mean annual total rainfall frequency (ARF) and rainfall events (ATE) were −0.27 h/year and −0.11 times/year, respectively. In terms of spatial patterns, an increase in ATR appeared in most areas except for the southwest, while the ARI increased throughout the study region, with particularly higher values in the northwest and southeast. Areas of decreasing ARF occurred mainly in the northwest and central south of the LP, while ATE was found in most areas except for the northeast. Short-duration (≤6 h) and light rainfall events occurred mostly on the LP, accounting for 69.89% and 72.48% of total rainfall events, respectively. Long-duration (≥7 h) and moderate rainfall events contributed to the total rainfall amount by 70.64% and 66.73% of the total rainfall amount, respectively. Rainfall frequency contributed the most to the variations of rainfall amount for light and moderate rainfall events, while rainfall intensity played an important role in heavy rainfall and rainstorms. The variation in rainfall frequency for moderate rainfall, heavy rainfall, and rainstorms is mainly affected by rainfall duration, while rainfall event was identified as a critical factor for light rainfall. The characteristics in rainfall variations on the Loess Plateau revealed in this study can provide useful information for sustainable water resources management and plans.
Locating policies in the daily practices of the land reform beneficiaries : a case of two land reform farms (Mighty and Whales) in the Northern Cape Province

Despite intensive and vast research on the issues surrounding Land Reform in South Africa, little is known about “what is happening on the Land Reform farms” and what the perceptions of the Land Reform beneficiaries are about the programme land reform (LRAD). A range of studies have argued that land is not a simple, one-dimensional asset (Shipton and Goheen, 1992). According to Anderson (1999), land is not only used for production purposes and survival, but also plays a role in gaining control over other land users and owners (Anderson, 1999).
Constraints on large-x parton distributions from new weak boson production and deep-inelastic scattering data

Here, we present a new set of leading twist parton distribution functions, referred to as "CJ15", which take advantage of developments in the theoretical treatment of nuclear corrections as well as new data. The analysis includes for the first time data on the free neutron structure function from Jefferson Lab, and new high-precision charged lepton and W-boson asymmetry data from Fermilab, which significantly reduce the uncertainty on the d/u ratio at large values of x.
Developing a Culture of Health and Safety on Construction Projects Framework in Nigeria

Managing health and safety on construction sites has always been a challenging issue faced by the Nigerian construction industry. Safety conditions on the construction sites depends on type or nature of work to be carried out and the management make commitment to implement safety projects concerning construction. There are no requirements assigned for implementing a security management system by the Nigerian government. Construction industries lacked a framework to implement security regarding projects on construction sites. Developing a Safety Framework can help professionals involved in carrying out construction works, implement and improve safety practices in executing their projects on sites. This study presents the development of a structure for implementing an effective health security on construction sites. An extensive review of the literature was carried out to design an appropriate security framework. The results underscore the requirement for competent personnel who must be appointed to ensure safety on construction sites. Finally, a security framework was developed in which companies can accept and adhere. The results of this research will help Nigerian construction companies to improve safety on construction sites.
Hydrology-Based Catchment Water Resources Model

A conceptual rainfall-runoff model, the Catchment Resources and Soil Hydrology (CRASH) model, designed for catchment management purposes, has been developed to compute continuous river flow at the catchment or river basin scale. Its input data requirements are limited to data normally existing in any catchment of potential interest. The mechanistic model is driven by soil, land use and weather data, and is parameterised according to the soil series types within the catchment. One model parameter related to runoff is derived from computed coefficients from the soil hydrological classification of the Hydrology Of Soil Types (HOST) system. HOST is a conceptual representation of the hydrological processes in the soil for which calibrated values of Base Flow Index and Standard Percentage Runoff have previously been computed. The three other parameters are calibrated for each HOST class. Due to the specification of the HOST system CRASH has been evaluated at first in the United Kingdom. It has initially been independently applied to medium size catchments with acceptable results. As a second step, the model has been tested with a common set of parameter values in two catchments of similar size and soil characteristics but with contrasting climate condition. The results are reasonable through the range of the flow duration curve and would tend to confirm that it is possible to derive unique model parameters for soils with similar hydrological behaviour. It is however necessary to test the model more widely to obtain a robust set of parameters that would allow the use of the model in ungauged catchments without catchment-specific calibration.
Deep Eddy Kinetic Energy in the Tropical Pacific From Lagrangian Floats

16 [At the ocean surface, satellite observations have shown evidence of a large spectrum of waves 17 at low latitudes. However, very little is known about the existence and properties of the deep 18 variability. Most of the subsurface observations rely on localized measurements, which do 19 not allow for a global estimation of this variability. In this study, we use velocity estimates, 20 provided by Argo ﬂoat drifts at 1000 m, to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution 21 of the deep Eddy Kinetic Energy (EKE) and its spectral signature with an unprecedented 22 time and space coverage. In the tropical Paciﬁc, high EKE is found along the Equator, at 23 the western boundary and poleward of 7 ◦ N. EKE meridional distribution is also found to 24 vary at the scale of the meridionally-alternating mean zonal jets: it is higher inside eastward 25 currents. We develop an original statistical scale analysis to determine the temporal and 26 spatial scale-dependence of this deep EKE footprint. We show the presence of periodic 27 features whose characteristics are compatible with theoretical equatorial waves dispersion 28 relations. Annual and semi-annual Rossby waves are observed at the Equator, as well as 29 ∼ 30-day Yanai waves, consistent with surface Tropical Instability Waves. The location 30 and intensiﬁcation of these waves match the downward energy propagation predicted by ray 31 tracing linear theory. Short-scale variability (with ∼ 70-day periods and 500-km wavelength) 32 has also been detected poleward of 7 ◦ N. The generation mechanisms of this variability is 33 discussed, as well as its potential importance for the mean circulation. ] 34 and we discuss their potential generation mechanisms as well as their implications for the circulation. These new observations may help to validate some theories or numerical simulations of the deep equatorial and tropical
Rationalizing the Reactivity of Mixed Allyl Rare-Earth Borohydride Complexes with DFT Studies

The reactivity of rare-earth complexes RE(BH4)2(C3H5)(THF)x (RE = La, Nd, Sm, Y, Sc) toward the Ring-Opening Polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) was rationalized by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. Even if the polymerization reaction can be initiated by both RE-(BH4) and RE-allyl bonds, experimental investigations have shown that the initiation via the borohydride ligand was favored, as no allyl group could be detected at the chain-end of the resulting polymers. DFT studies could confirm these observations, as it was highlighted that even if the activation barriers are both accessible, the allyl group is not active for the ROP of ε-CL due to the formation of a highly stable intermediate that disfavors the subsequent ring-opening.
SU-8 Hydrophilic Modification by Forming Copolyrner with Hydrophilic Epoxy Molecule

In this study, we develop a method to permanently modify SU-8 resist (Microchem, Inc., USA) to be a more hydrophilic material. SU-8 is often used in MEMS for the fabrication of high aspect ratio structures. It’s major chemical structure is aromatic ring and epoxy functional part, which result in a large water contact angle after cross-link. To permanently modify SU-8 surface, a copolymer method by employing glycidol in SU-8 resist is proposed. Due to glycidol’s similar epoxy structure to SU-8 resist and hydrophilic functional group, SU-8’ cross-linker can cross-link this copolymer with SU-8’s epoxy molecules to produce hydrophilic resist. Test result demonstrated a 20” contact angle reduction on the modified SU-8 surface. The modified SU-8 surface has lasted at least one week and has been verified to resist the washing by acetone and IPA.
Density functional/molecular dynamics simulations of phase-change materials

The rapid and reversible phase change in chalcogenide phase-change materials is an unusual property with many technological applications in rewritable optical memory, such as CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. Phase change materials are a promising candidate for next-generation electronic memory applications, and the first devices became available in 2012. In this thesis, we studied the structure and dynamics of four phase-change materials: Ge15Te85, Ge2Sb2Te5, GaSb and GaSb7 by simulating the structural models using the density functional (DF) theory of electronic structure. We developed a new model for Ge15Te85 by fitting experimental high-energy x-ray and neutron diffraction data with an atomic structure that had a low DF energy. We studied the crystallization progress of Ge2Sb2Te5 by simulating the structures with a fixed seed to promote crystallization at 500 K, 600 K and 700 K. In the final article, we used molecular dynamics simulation to mimic deposition of GaSb and GaSb7 thin films and modeled the as-deposited and melt-quenched polymorphs of those alloys. The new model for Ge15Te85 incorporates Ge-Ge bonds, which were excluded from most earlier models. In this material, germanium has two different local environments (tetrahedral and defective octahedral), and tellurium can be classified in two cases depending on its binding with Ge. Nanosized cavities calculated using a Voronoi prescription comprise 22-24% of the total volume. Ge2Sb2Te5 crystallization simulations at different temperatures agreed with the experimental result for the fastest crystallization speed. We show that the crystalline structure has “wrong bonds”, which are absent in the idealized model of the structure, and that percolation of the crystalline cluster starts at an early stage of crystallization. Cavities (vacancies) aid the atomic rearrangements during crystallization. GaSb simulations reveal tetrahedral local coordination for both species, as in crystalline GaSb. This can explain the very fast crystallization speed of this material. In GaSb7, gallium is again bonded tetrahedrally, but antimony has the defective octahedral coordination found in elemental antimony. GaSb has no rings with more than eight atoms but GaSb7 has larger rings. The lack of large rings in GaSb was attributed to the lack of suitable cavities that would allow long irreducible rings to surround them. GaSb structures include Ga-rich clusters similar to the crystalline gallium structure.
Issues in the area of secure development: trust as an innovative system’s economic growth factor of border regions (Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus)

The article is dedicated to the research and assessment of trust and partnership impact throughout the main authors of innovation cooperation universities, business and state. This impact is put on the innovative cooperation’s development of the border region (Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus) and production of innovative products and services in that region. The research region is consisting of the regions of Latvia (Latgale region), Lithuania (Vilnius region, Alytus region, Utena region, Panevezys region, Kaunas region), Belarus (Vitebsk, Grodno region, Minsk region, Mogilev region). Lack of attention to the above issues, related with border region, stresses the importance of the article. Innovations are key factor in long-term economic development of the region. The main condition for development is a purposeful formation and effective functioning of the territorial innovation system, in which one of the factors of its successful development is trust between participants of the system. The information base of the research is survey of 620 entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized enterprises in the border region.
Some Factors Affecting The Accuracy Of The Infrared Stress Analysis Method

Stress concentration factors measured by an infrared stress analysis method have usually been lower than theoretical or analytical values In order to reveal the source of the error, an unsteady heat conduction analysis under cyclic loading was carried out and the results were compared with the measurement results. The comparison showed that there were three sources of error: (1) inability to achieve the adiabatic condition due to heat conduction around the notch root, (2) the edge effect of infrared camera and (3) the resolution limit of an infrared camera.
Fragility functions and behavior factors estimation of multi-story cross-laminated timber structures characterized by an energy-dependent hysteretic model

The authors assessed the fragility functions and behavior factors of cross-laminated timber (CLT) structures. The structures derive from the assembly of single CLT wall panels characterized by different configurations. The extended energy-dependent generalized Bouc-Wen (EEGBW) hysteresis model describes their inelastic behavior: the experimental data obtained by Gavric et al. are used to calibrate the hysteretic models of the considered cases. The truncated incremental dynamic analysis of the building models under a set of earthquake records yields the fragility functions and behavior factors. The copious results allow a comparative study between multiple structural configurations characterized by different constructive features. The behavior factors match those already proposed by the scientific literature. An analytical relationship was estimated relating the behavior factors and a suite of parameters (e.g. joint density, slenderness ratio of the CLT panel, and number of stories) representative of the tested cases. The fragility functions evidence the notable role of the number of stories over the failure probability, rather than the particular wall configuration.