Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interlayer Coupling and Pressure Engineering in Bilayer MoS2

Controlling the interlayer coupling by tuning lattice parameters through pressure engineering is an important route for tailoring the optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional materials. In this work, we report a pressure-dependent study on the exciton transitions of bilayer MoS2 exfoliated on a diamond anvil surface. The applied hydrostatic pressure changes from ambient pressure up to 11.05 GPa using a diamond anvil cell device. Raman, photoluminescence, and reflectivity spectra at room temperature are analyzed to characterize the interlayer coupling of this bilayer system. With the increase of pressure, the indirect exciton emission disappears completely at about 5 GPa. Importantly, we clearly observed the interlayer exciton from the reflectivity spectra, which becomes invisible at a low pressure around 1.26 GPa. This indicates that the interlayer exciton is very sensitive to the hydrostatic pressure due to the oscillator strength transfer from the direct transition to the indirect one.
Optimal Balance between Heating, Cooling and Environmental Impacts: A Method for Appropriate Assessment of Building Envelope’s U-Value

In Europe, the recent application of regulations oriented to zero-energy buildings and climate neutrality in 2050 has led to a reduction in energy consumption for heating and cooling in the construction sector. The thermal insulation of the building envelope plays a key role in this process and the requirements about the maximum allowable thermal transmittance are defined by country-specific guidelines. Typically, high insulation values provide low energy consumption for heating; however, they may also entail a risk of overheating in summer period and thus negatively affect the overall performance of the building. In addition, the embodied energy and related emissions caused by the manufacturing and transportation processes of thermal insulation cannot be further neglected in the evaluation of the best optimal solution. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the influence in terms of embodied and operational energy of various walls’ thermal insulation thicknesses on residential buildings in Europe. To this end, the EnergyPlus engine was used for the energy simulation within the Ladybug and Honeybee tools, by parametrically conducting multiple iterations; 53 variations of external wall U-value, considering high- and low-thermal-mass scenarios, were simulated for 100 representative cities of the European context, using a typical multifamily building as a reference. The results demonstrate that massive walls generally perform better than lightweight structures and the best solution in terms of energy varies according to each climate. Accordingly, the wall’s thermal transmittance for the samples of Oslo, Bordeaux, Rome and Almeria representative of the Continental, oceanic temperate, Mediterranean, and hot, semi-arid climates were, respectively: 0.12, 0.26, 0.42, and 0.64 W/m2K. The optimal solutions are graphically reported on the map of Europe according to specific climatic features, providing a guidance for new constructions and building retrofit.
Inter-sexual differences in contributions of helpers in a tropical population of the cooperatively breeding Grey-crowned Babbler Pomatostomus temporalis

ABSTRACT The Grey-crowned Babbler Pomatostomus temporalis is a group-living, cooperatively breeding species in which offspring of both sexes are equally philopatric, but only male helpers inherit the natal territory. We quantified helping efforts in a tropical population of the babbler, and tested the hypothesis that inter-sexual differences in helping efforts are related to the chance of inheriting their natal territory. We found that the total nest visiting rate during the nestling period and fledging success were higher among larger groups, but dominant birds (breeders) did not decrease their effort with group size. The total nest visiting rate during the nestling period increased with the number of female helpers, and fledging success was higher in groups with a female-biased sex ratio. In contradiction of the above hypothesis, female helpers contributed more towards nestling care than male helpers, although the latter contributed more towards nest building. There was no tendency for helpers to contribute more care towards nestlings of related breeders than those of unrelated breeders, suggesting that indirect (kin selection) benefits for helpers may be less important than direct benefits in explaining helping behaviour in this population. Our study suggests there may be sex-specific differences in the costs and benefits of helping behaviour.
Monetary Policy Transmission and Policy Coordination in China

: We study the transmission of conventional monetary policy in China, focusing on the interaction between monetary and fiscal policy given the unique institutional set-up for macroeconomic policy making. Our results suggest some progress but also continued difficulties in the transmission of monetary policy. Similar to recent studies, we find evidence of monetary policy pass-through to interest rates. However, the impact of monetary policy measures that are not coordinated with fiscal policy is significantly weaker than that of coordinated measures. This suggests the need for further improvements to the interest-rate based framework.
Fuzzy Power Management For Automatic Monitoring Stations In the Arctic

Monitoring stations in the Arctic operate in harsh environments, with limited seasonal availability of solar energy. Using an energy simulator, we have developed intelligent power management strategies to overcome these difficulties. The simulator includes renewable energy production modules (wind and solar), and loads (station components). Guaranteeing constant energy availability requires an adequate sizing of the power sources, and their prudent usage. At the same time, system shut-downs have to be minimized to allow data collection at required intervals. To achieve such performance, we devised a fuzzy logic control strategy. Results presented in this paper confirm viability of this approach.
Prediction of Gold Price Movement Considering the Number of Infected With the Covid 19

: The beginning of the health and economic crisis caused by the appearance of the new Covid-19 virus showed us that, in the perception of investors, gold is still highly valued as a guardian of value. This paper aims to test several models and select the best one for predicting the price of gold on the world market for the next day, in five and ten days, taking into account the number of cases and deaths from the Covid-19 virus. We believe that predictions with Covid-19 parameters give more accurate results than predictions that take only historical gold prices as information. These predictions can help decision-makers whether, at what point, and in what amount, it is best to invest in gold and gold-related financial instruments, relative to the projected price of gold from the model. The paper tests models called Decision tree, K-nearest neighbours, Linear regression model, and Support vector machine based on the information on gold prices and the number of cases and deaths from the Covid-19 virus. It will be seen in the paper that even models with only information on the price of gold give quite reliable predictions, but in unstable times like this, models that take into account the instability factor give more accurate predictions. The research is aiming to determine the optimal amount of information on which the models will "learn" to give the most accurate possible result. This work’s data processing and models are done in the Python programming language.
An Advanced Bioreactor Simulating Dynamic Physiological Conditions in the Human Ascending Colon: MimiCol3

In recent years, the colon has become a hot topic in biopharmaceutical research as several in vitro models of the human colon have been presented. A major focus is on the characterization of the microbiota and its capabilities. The aim of the present study was to further develop the MimiCol, preserving its properties and accelerating data acquisition. Emphasis was placed on the simplicity of its design and easy scalability. To prove the viability of the concept, degradation of sulfasalazine was investigated, and the bacterial composition during the experiment was assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing. The transfer of the experimental conditions to the new model was successful. Commercially available components were implemented in the setup. The model MimiCol3 represented the colon ascendens satisfactorily in its properties regarding volume, pH value, and redox potential. 16S rRNA sequencing led to further insights into the bacterial composition in the vessels. Degradation of sulfasalazine was in good agreement with in vivo data. The new model of the colon ascendens MimiCol3 enabled us to collect more reliable data, as three experiments were conducted simultaneously under the same conditions.
Development of Superconducting Links for the LHC Machine

In the framework of the upgrade of the LHC machine, new superconducting lines are being developed for the feeding of the LHC magnets. The proposed electrical layout envisages the location of the power converters in surface buildings, and the transfer of the current from the surface to the LHC tunnel, where the magnets are located, via superconducting links containing tens of cables feeding different circuits and transferring all together more than 150 kA. Depending on the location, the links will have a length ranging from 300 m to 500 m, and they will span a vertical distance of about 80 m. An overview of the R&D program that has been launched by CERN is presented, with a special attention to the development of novel types of cables made from MgB2 and High Temperature Superconductors (Bi-2223 and REBCO) and to the results of the tests performed on prototype links. Plans for future activities are presented, together with a timeline for a potential future integration in the LHC machine.
Defect Detection for Metal Base of TO-Can Packaged Laser Diode Based on Improved YOLO Algorithm

Defect detection is an important part of the manufacturing process of mechanical products. In order to detect the appearance defects quickly and accurately, a method of defect detection for the metal base of TO-can packaged laser diode (metal TO-base) based on the improved You Only Look Once (YOLO) algorithm named YOLO-SO is proposed in this study. Firstly, convolutional block attention mechanism (CBAM) module was added to the convolutional layer of the backbone network. Then, a random-paste-mosaic (RPM) small object data augmentation module was proposed on the basis of Mosaic algorithm in YOLO-V5. Finally, the K-means++ clustering algorithm was applied to reduce the sensitivity to the initial clustering center, making the positioning more accurate and reducing the network loss. The proposed YOLO-SO model was compared with other object detection algorithms such as YOLO-V3, YOLO-V4, and Faster R-CNN. Experimental results demonstrated that the YOLO-SO model reaches 84.0% mAP, 5.5% higher than the original YOLO-V5 algorithm. Moreover, the YOLO-SO model had clear advantages in terms of the smallest weight size and detection speed of 25 FPS. These advantages make the YOLO-SO model more suitable for the real-time detection of metal TO-base appearance defects.
KDM2B controls tumorigenesis in pancreatic cancer via Polycomb-dependent and -independent transcriptional programs

target loci. The graphs show the relative enrichment of KDM2B at of mammalian genes and biological structured biological concepts related to pathways and diseases. The experimental data sets were used to query the IPA and to compose a set of interactive networks taking into consideration canonical pathways, relevant biological interactions, and cellular and disease processes. The significance of the association between the experimental data sets and the Ingenuity ® Knowledge Base concepts was measured in two ways: (a) a ratio of the number of molecules from the data set that map to a particular Ingenuity ® Knowledge Base concept, and (b) a Fisher’s exact test was used to estimate the statistical significance of overlap between the two gene sets. To predict alterations in the activity of transcription factors that can explain the observed gene expression changes in PDAC cell lines expressing shKDM2B we considered transcription factors with z-scores >3 and a p overlap value of <0.01. The regulation z-score represents a statistical metric of the direction of the transcriptional changes (>1.5 fold) caused by KDM2B in at least 4 PDAC cell lines compared to the changes regulated by the transcription factor of interest in the Ingenuity ® Knowledge Base. The positive or negative sign of z-score indicates activation or repression, respectively, of a particular transcription factor; a z-score higher than 2 is considered significant. The overlap p , value, calculated using Fisher’s Exact Test, measures whether there is a statistically significant overlap between the dataset genes assigned for a particular transcription factor in Ingenuity ® Knowledge Base and the genes that are regulated by KDM2B. with biotynilated anti-goat IgG antibody (1:200 dilution in blocking solution) for 1 hour at room temperature. Specimens were washed 3 times in 0.3% Triton X-100/PBS and treated with ABC reagent (Vectastain ABC kit #PK-6100) for 30 min, followed by three washes 3 min each. Finally, specimens were stained for peroxidase for 3 min with the DAB (Di-amine-benzidine) substrate kit (Vector Laboratories, cat no. SK-4100), washed with water and counterstained with hematoxylin. Slides were photographed with an Olympus DP72 microscope.
New approaches in treatment of acute myeloid leukemia

Historically acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment was limited to standard intensive induction chemotherapy with a combination of cytarabine and anthracycline for fit patients and non-intensive strategies with hypomethylating agent (HMA) or low dose cytarabine (LDAC). Allogeneic stem cell transplantation has also become an important treatment option that prolongs survival in selected patients. Over the last years with a better understanding of genomic and molecular pathogenesis of the disease, new treatment options have emerged with the contribution of translational studies. Especially less intensive frontline options have expanded. The combination of targeted therapies and standard therapies has helped to overcome treatment resistance and led to prolong survival. In this article, new approaches and especially targeted agents in the treatment of AML are discussed.
First-year engineering student perceptions of creative opportunities in design

This paper presents the outcomes of a study of first-year engineering student perceptions of creative opportunities in engineeringdesign tasks. The study was guided by three key questions: (1) How do first-year engineering students view creativity and its role inengineering? (2) What opportunities do students see for creativity in their engineering design projects? (3) How do various factors,including the course structure and the instructor, influence student choices to pursue creative opportunities? First-year engineeringstudents participated in four surveys during the semester in which they were working on an engineering design project. Overall, theparticipants perceived many creative opportunities; however, the opportunities they saw at the beginning of their work were greaterand broader, while once into their projects, the scope of their perceptions narrowed. Throughout the design project, the instructor,project constraints, and risks associated with exploring a creative design option influenced the participants’ perceptions. Theresearch outcomes can guide how instructors advise student decision-making and structure their design courses to facilitatecreativity.
Objective Comparison of Fatigue Crack Growth Laws

This paper presents objective criteria for choosing between different fatigue crack growth laws to represent a material's fatigue behavior based on a data set containing multiple records of crack growth. The selection criteria are based on a stochastic model of fatigue crack growth resistance and on the time series analysis of fatigue crack growth rate data. An example is presented comparing the performance of four well-known FCGL's and polynomial expressions to represent the well-known replicate data set generated by D.A. Virkler, P.M. Hillberry and B.L. Goel. The results show that a cubic polynomial equation is most preferable.
Decentralized Active Power Management in Multi-Agent Distribution Systems Considering Congestion Issue

Recently, due to the restructuring of power systems and the high penetration level of local renewables, distribution systems have encountered with the complexity of power management. Therefore, the modern systems would be operated in a multi-agent structure which facilitates the power management as well as privacy protections of independent entities. In this structure, the distribution system is assumed to compose of several agents who independently schedule their local resources in order to maximize their own profits. Consequently, this paper provides an efficient peer-to-peer (P2P) active power management framework in a multi-agent distribution system while considering network constraints (i.e., line loadings and losses). In this context, in the proposed P2P scheme, the distribution system operator (DSO) model the network constraints in the form of line-usage costs within the transactive signals. Respectively, the developed transactive control signals enable the DSO to model the power loss as well as alleviate the congestion in the grid. Therefore, the agents automatically consider the network constraints in their power transactions management procedure without any direct interferences of the DSO in their resource scheduling. Finally, the proposed model is implemented on the modified-IEEE-37-bus-test system in order to investigate its effectiveness in the energy management of multi-agent systems.
The integration of technology into ELT: a case of STBA’s lecturers

Technology has had a major impact, especially on education. The integration of technology into ELT to facilitate the learning and teaching process has become a more and more popular trend. This research was a case study designed to explore the integration of technology into ELT by the lecturers of STBA Pontianak. The data were gathered from 3 full-time lecturers at the STBA Pontianak using semi-structured interviews, observation, and audiovisual materials. The research found out that the lecturers of STBA Pontianak had positive perceptions towards the integration of technology into ELT due to their belief in technology-enhanced language learning, technology knowledge, and understanding; two of them have been integrating technology as transformation (modification and redefinition) tools in its pedagogical processes; and the constraints of integrating technology into ELT dealt with the limited resources, time, internet access, and the technology that did not fit with the courses. It is suggested that the lecturers work in collaboration with each other to share ideas and teaching strategies, as wells as to integrate the technology into ELT.
Multi-AP and Test Point Accuracy of the Results in WiFi Indoor Localization

WiFi-based indoor positioning has attracted intensive research activities. While localization accuracy is steadily improving due to the application of advanced algorithms, the factors that affect indoor localization accuracy have not been sufficiently understood. Most localization algorithms used in changing indoor spaces are Angle-of-Arrival (AoA) based, and they deploy the conventional MUSIC algorithm. The localization accuracy can be achieved by algorithm improvements or joint localization that deploys multiple Access Points (APs). We performed an experiment that assessed the Test Point (TP) accuracy and distribution of results in a complex environment. The testing space was a 290 m2 three-room environment with three APs with 38 TPs. The joint localization using three APs was performed in the same test space. We developed and implemented a new algorithm for improved accuracy of joint localization. We analyzed the statistical characteristics of the results based on each TP and show that the local space-dependent factors are the key factors for localization accuracy. The most important factors that cause errors are distance, obstacles, corner locations, the location of APs, and the angular orientation of the antenna array. Compared with the well-known SpotFi algorithm, we achieved a mean accuracy (across all TPs) improvement of 46%. The unbiased joint localization median accuracy improved by 20% as compared to the best individual localization.
A Scoping Review of Learners' Perceptions on What Influences Teachers' Approaches to Teaching Comprehensive Sexuality Education in South African Schools

Recent arguments regarding the South African comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) curriculum indicate that the existing programme neglects to incorporate factors that influence the behaviour of school learners in South Africa such as learners' and teachers' perceptions of cultural, social, and gender norms. Based on a literature search, it is evident that there is a paucity of research that reflects the voices of learners regarding their experience of how the CSE subject is taught as compared to what they want to learn. Therefore, this article aimed to conduct a scoping review to map learners' perceptions of what influences their teachers' approach to teaching CSE subject matter in South Africa. The Cochrane, EBSCOhost, Scopus, ProQuest, JSTOR, and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies (a) published from January 2010 till May 2021, (b) with an explicit focus on learner feedback on their perceptions of influences to teachers teaching CSE, (c) that were qualitative studies, and (d) were published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Four studies were identified that reported on data collected from learners aged 14-18 years using in-depth interviews (N = 1), focus group discussions (N = 2), and an ethnographic study (N = 1). A qualitative analysis of the findings identified three major themes: (1) an inherent bias towards heterosexuality as normal and natural, (2) the belief that learners need to be taught to uphold culturally dictated normative gender roles, and (3) an avoidance of subject matter relating to the LGBTQI+ community, influenced by beliefs that limited interactions would lead to limited gender and sexual fluidity. Findings conclude that transformative communication needs to take place to update the curriculum to create a space for all learners to learn about healthy life choices.