Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Multiple WRF Configurations and Forcing over the Northern Patagonian Icecap (NPI) and Baker River Basin

The use of numerical weather prediction (NWP) model to dynamically downscale coarse climate reanalysis data allows for the capture of processes that are influenced by land cover and topographic features. Climate reanalysis downscaling is useful for hydrology modeling, where catchment processes happen on a spatial scale that is not represented in reanalysis models. Selecting proper parameterization in the NWP for downscaling is crucial to downscale the climate variables of interest. In this work, we are interested in identifying at least one combination of physics in the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model that performs well in our area of study that covers the Baker River Basin and the Northern Patagonian Icecap (NPI) in the south of Chile. We used ERA-Interim reanalysis data to run WRF in twenty-four different combinations of physics for three years in a nested domain of 22.5 and 4.5 km with 34 vertical levels. From more to less confident, we found that, for the planetary boundary layer (PBL), the best option is to use YSU; for the land surface model (LSM), the best option is the five-Layer Thermal, RRTM for longwave, Dudhia for short wave radiation, and Thompson for the microphysics. In general, the model did well for temperature (average, minimum, maximum) for most of the observation points and configurations. Precipitation was good, but just a few configurations stood out (i.e., conf-9 and conf-10). Surface pressure and Relative Humidity results were not good or bad, and it depends on the statistics with which we evaluate the time series (i.e., KGE or NSE). The results for wind speed were inferior; there was a warm bias in all of the stations. Once we identify the best configuration in our experiment, we run WRF for one year using ERA5 and FNL0832 climate reanalysis. Our results indicate that Era-interim provided better results for precipitation. In the case of temperature, FNL0832 gave better results; however, all of the models’ performances were good. Therefore, working with ERA-Interim seems the best option in this region with the physics selected. We did not experiment with changes in resolution, which may have improved results with ERA5 that has a better spatial and temporal resolution.
Pedal to the metal: Cities power evolutionary divergence by accelerating metabolic rate and locomotor performance

Metabolic rates of ectotherms are expected to increase with global trends of climatic warming. But the potential for rapid, compensatory evolution of lower metabolic rate in response to rising temperatures is only starting to be explored. Here, we explored rapid evolution of metabolic rate and locomotor performance in acorn‐dwelling ants (Temnothorax curvispinosus) in response to urban heat island effects. We reared ant colonies within a laboratory common garden (25°C) to generate a laboratory‐born cohort of workers and tested their acute plastic responses to temperature. Contrary to expectations, urban ants exhibited a higher metabolic rate compared with rural ants when tested at 25°C, suggesting a potentially maladaptive evolutionary response to urbanization. Urban and rural ants had similar metabolic rates when tested at 38°C, as a consequence of a diminished plastic response of the urban ants. Locomotor performance also evolved such that the running speed of urban ants was faster than rural ants under warmer test temperatures (32°C and 42°C) but slower under a cooler test temperature (22°C). The resulting specialist–generalist trade‐off and higher thermal optimum for locomotor performance might compensate for evolved increases in metabolic rate by allowing workers to more quickly scout and retrieve resources.
Historical aurora borealis catalog for Anatolia and Constantinople (hABcAC) during the Eastern Roman Empire period: implications for past solar activity

Abstract. Herein, Anatolian aurorae are reviewed based on the existing catalogs to establish a relationship between the aurora observations and past solar activity during the Medieval period. For this purpose, historical aurora catalogs for Constantinople and Anatolia are compiled based on the existing catalogs and compared with those in the Middle East region. The available catalogs in the literature are mostly related to the records observed in Europe, Japan, China, Russia, and the Middle East. There is no study dealing only with the historical aurora observations recorded in Anatolia and Constantinople. The data of the catalog show that there is a considerable relationship between the aurora activity and past strong solar activity. High auroral activity around the extreme solar particle storm in 774/775 and the Medieval grand maximum in the 1100s in Anatolia and the Middle East is quite consistent with the past solar variability reported in other scientific literature.
Individual investors’ intention towards SRI in India: an implementation of the theory of reasoned action

Purpose This study aims to explore and comprehend the reasons behind individual investors’ intention towards socially responsible investment (SRI) in the Indian stock market along with examining the validity of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) model to predict such phenomenon in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach The TRA has been used as an underlying framework and has been extended by adding four variables, namely, moral norms, environmental concern, financial literacy and financial performance. The study used a self-administered questionnaire and adopted a convenience sampling method for a survey to collect the data from the individual investors from the capital cities of three states of India. Further, the collected data have been analysed using two-step structural equation modelling. Findings Results of this study indicate a significant impact of attitude, subjective norms, moral norms, financial literacy and financial performance on investors’ intention towards SRI; however, no significant relation was found between environmental concern and investors’ SRI intention. The multiple squared correlation (R2) shows that the final model could explain 71% of the variance in investors’ intention towards SRI, which signifies a successful implementation of TRA model along with new additions to predict investors’ decision-making behaviour for SRI. Moreover, investors are found to be highly concerned primarily about their financial goals and then for their personal obligation towards society as far as SRI is concerned. Practical implications This study reports significant and prominent importance of subjective norms in SRI which could be a strategic theme for the government and the policymakers to influence investors through their opinion leaders to promote SRI. The government should also increase its efforts to facilitate financial literacy among citizens. Originality/value Using the TRA model and four variables, namely, moral norms, environmental concern, financial literacy and financial performance addition to its original variables, this study extends the understandings of SRI which is perhaps the novelty of this paper because such examination of SRI has not been conducted, especially in the case of developing countries such as India.
Breaking the Bayesian Ice with Preclinical Discovery Biologists by Predicting Inadequate Animal Enrolment

Abstract An initial proposal was made to start 30 monkeys in the run-in period of a preclinical translational research study, to have 24 or more animals qualify for randomization in the subsequent treatment period. Based upon data from previous studies, Bayesian posterior prediction indicated that successful enrolment was highly unlikely. At least 67 animals were required to achieve an acceptable posterior predictive probability of success. Importantly, we leveraged these feasibility analyses to introduce our preclinical scientist collaborators to a Bayesian strategy for probability-based decision making. We provided them with a generous helping of graphics to effectively and efficiently illustrate Bayesian concepts and methods. We present our 4P strategy for collaboration with preclinical scientists: patience, persistence, positioning, and privilege. We discuss the alignment of the Bayesian and 4P strategies with goals common to pharmaceutical researchers: scientific innovation; stochastic intelligence and statistical literacy of team members; team collaboration and collegial partnerships; ethical acuity; and fiscal stewardship. Our article is as much about successfully reaching out to preclinical scientists, and introducing them to the Bayesian strategy, as it is about that strategy successfully addressing the animal enrolment question. This article is written at a statistical level accessible to both preclinical scientists and statisticians.
Interaction of Sox2 with RNA binding proteins in mouse embryonic stem cells

Sox2 is a master transcriptional regulator of embryonic development. In this study, we determined the protein interactome of Sox2 in the chromatin and nucleoplasm of mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells. Apart from canonical interactions with pluripotency-regulating transcription factors, we identified interactions with several chromatin modulators, including members of the heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) family, suggesting a role of Sox2 in chromatin-mediated transcriptional repression. Sox2 was also found to interact with RNA binding proteins (RBPs), including proteins involved in RNA processing. RNA immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing revealed that Sox2 associates with different messenger RNAs, as well as small nucleolar RNA Snord34 and the non-coding RNA 7SK. 7SK has been shown to regulate transcription at regulatory regions, which could suggest a functional interaction with Sox2 for chromatin recruitment. Nevertheless, we found no evidence of Sox2 modulating recruitment of 7SK to chromatin when examining 7SK chromatin occupancy by Chromatin Isolation by RNA Purification (ChIRP) in Sox2 depleted mES cells. In addition, knockdown of 7SK in mES cells did not lead to any change in Sox2 occupancy at 7SK-regulated genes. Thus, our results show that Sox2 extensively interact with RBPs, and suggest that Sox2 and 7SK co-exist in a ribonucleoprotein complex whose function is not to regulate chromatin recruitment, but might rather regulate other processes in the nucleoplasm. Summary blurb Sox2 interacts with RNA-binding proteins and diverse RNAs
Rational Design of Hierarchically Structured CoS2@NCNTs from Metal–Organic Frameworks for Efficient Lithium/Sodium Storage Performance

In this report, hierarchically structured CoS2 was formed with ZIF-67 as a template. CoS2 nanoparticles are prepared through two processes, including carbonization and sulfurization. At the same time, the ZIF-67 precursor is converted into a nitrogen-doped carbon polyhedron at the temperature from 550 to 750 °C. Due to the catalytic activity of cobalt, the surface of the carbon polyhedron framework catalytic formation of N-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs). We optimized the CoS2@NCNT composite material by controlling the carbonization temperature; the study found that the sample obtained at a temperature of 650 °C has a large specific surface area and a moderate degree of graphitization. When evaluated as a secondary battery anode material, CoS2@NCNTs-650 exhibits excellent lithium/sodium storage performance. Discharge specific capacities of 1057.4 mA h g–1 [lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)] and 621.5 mA h g–1 [sodium-ion batteries (SIBs)] are maintained after 200 cycles (0.5 A g–1). In addition, because of the higher capacitance contribution rate and lower electrochemical impedance of the CoS2@NCNTs-650 electrode, excellent rate performance is exhibited for both LIBs and SIBs.
Centring race in contemporary educational privatization policies: the genealogy of U.S. ‘private school choice’ and its implications for research

ABSTRACT Just ahead of the 2017 U.S. presidential inauguration the Hoover Institute convened a forum to explore policy avenues for privatizing public education. The option favoured by forum moderator and Fordham Institute President, Michael Petrilli, was the tax-credit scholarship, a policy currently employed in 18 states. Funded through donations from corporations and individuals whoreceive a tax benefit, these programs are managed through state revenue codes, not education codes. In 2019,U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos proposed a federal private school choice program despite the fact that evaluations have struggled to demonstrate any evidence of educational benefit. This paper argues that present-day efforts to privatize public education are rooted in social, political, and economic projects that consolidate power among white Americans. Finally, the paper sketches the contours of a historical-geographic materialist research agenda that examines the implications of privatization in public education for racial justice.
Mendelian Sampling variance tests with genomic preselection

Interbull has introduced a new validation test, and provided corresponding software to detect non-zero time trends and outliers years, for estimates of genetic variance. The test is applied separately for cows and AI sires, for all traits included in the Interbull MACE evaluation service. In recent years, AI sires have been genomically preselected, using genotype-based evaluations when they were young calves. Genomic preselection significantly changes the expectation of Mendelian sampling distributions for AI bulls. The new Interbull test is applied to EBV computed without genotypes, which are biased by ignored genomic preselection effects. The purposes of the present study were to apply the new validation test to Canadian data, firstly using official EBV submitted for MACE, and secondly using corrected EBV, after making adjustments to reduce preselection biases in the MS distributions of the most recent AI bulls. For the main traits under selection in Canada, test results were a pass for official EBV, but a fail for bias-corrected EBV. For bull populations with genomic preselection, biased EBV are expected to pass the test, while unbiased data are expected to fail.
Short Text Classification and Clustering based Mobile Application Traffic Identification Method

With the rapid development of mobile network, mobile traffic accounts for a large proportion of network traffic nowadays, and mobile application traffic identification is becoming increasingly important in network security. For mobile application traffic identification, recent works have focused on proposing supervised classifiers that have shown promising performance. However, it is difficult to obtain labeled traffic in practice and most of the traffic is unlabeled. In this paper, we propose a semi-supervised mobile application traffic identification method based on short text classification and clustering, which requires only a small number of labeled samples to classify traffic. First, plain text in mobile traffic is regarded as short text and its features are extracted using a short text classification algorithm. Then K-Means++ is used to cluster the samples and give the predictions. Experimental results show that the proposed method is more effective than the semi-supervised traffic identification methods that use statistical features.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: A Survey on Malware Detection and Classification

We, the Editor and Publisher of Journal of Applied Security Research, have retracted the following article, which was published in volume 16, issue 3, 2021: Rupali Komatwara & Manesh Kokare. A Survey on Malware Detection and Classification. DOI: 10.1080/19361610.2020. 1796162. This article has been retracted because it contains a significant amount of unreferenced material from previously published sources: Alireza Souri & Rahil Hosseini (2018). A state-of-the-art survey of malware detection approaches using data mining techniques. Human-centric Computing and Information Sciences, 8. Lakshmanan Nataraj, Gregorie Jacob & B. S. Manjunath (2010). Detecting Packed Executables Based on Raw Binary Data. Technical Report, Vision Research Lab, University of California Santa Barbara. Lakshmanan Nataraj (2011). Malware Images: Visualization and Automatic Classification. Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Visualization for Cyber Security. Lakshmanan Nataraj (2015). A Signal Processing Approach to Malware Analysis. Ph.D. thesis, University of California Santa Barbara. The amount of unreferenced material exceeds the acceptable limits outlined in the Publisher’s corrections policy, regardless of whether the lack of referencing was intentional. The authors have been notified of the decision to retract. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted. ”
Nanostructured Fuel Cell Catalysts

A long term challenge for society is to develop sustainable energy systems to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and to decrease air pollution. This requires new alternatives regarding the supply of energy and increased efficiency of the future energy systems. Fuel cell technology is one such possible alternative. Fuel cells convert chemical energy directly to electrical energy with small environmental effects. Today, the greatest disadvantage with the fuel cell technology is the cost. Low temperature fuel cells, such as polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFC), require expensive noble metal electrocatalysts. Improved catalyst activity with lower Pt content could contribute to a decrease in fuel cell cost. Real fuel cell catalysts are not suited for fundamental studies they consist of nm sized particles deposited on porous supports with a three dimensional structure. To develop improved and cost-effective fuel cells detailed studies on catalyst reactions are important. Model systems of well defined nanostructured (electro) catalysts are well suited for such studies. The main objective of this work was to explore and establish a platform to fabricate stable model electrocatalysts, using modern nanotechnology methods, and to test them in electrochemical / fuel cell systems. Nanofabrication techniques, such as colloidal lithography and thin film deposition, were used to prepare well-defined nanostructures. Surface science and microscopy methods were used for characterization. The electrocatalytic properties were evaluated with respect reduction of oxygen, and oxidation of methanol, formaldehyde, and CO. A general result from this study is the establishment of a nanotechnology platform for evaluation of various aspects of fuel cell performance, particularly in PEMFCs. Experiments with nanostructured catalysts on glassy carbon supports demonstrate their suitability for studying electrocatalytic reactions and transport processes. In addition, results on catalysts prepared by thin film deposition on Nafion membranes show that this approach is well suited for material screening and for studies regarding material stability and distribution in the catalyst layer. In particular, I found that the active surface area and performance were increased by deposition of TiO2 in between the Nafion membrane and the Pt layer. The TiO2 layer was also shown to have good proton conduction properties. Material screening for oxygen reduction showed that the activity for the single material films ranks as Pt > Ir > Au > TiO2. When Pt is mixed with Ir or TiO2, the activity is similar to pure Pt samples with twice the amount of Pt. Pt mixed with Au results in poor activity. Interesting extensions of this work include smaller particles, new material combinations and theoretical modelling. Keywords: PEMFC, model catalyst, electrocatalyst, nanofabrication, screening, Pt, TiOx, polymer electrolyte, colloidal lithography, thin film evaporation, Nafion, oxygen reduction, methanol oxidation, formaldehyde oxidation, acetic acid oxidation, CO oxidation
Impact of Nutrition Education on the Nutrition Capacity of Caregivers and Nutrition Outcomes of Indigenous Mbororo Children in the West Region of Cameroon: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Inadequate diets and life-threatening infections have profound adverse implications for child growth, development, and survival, particularly among indigenous peoples. Evidence of the effectiveness of community-based nutrition education interventions in improving child feeding and nutrition outcomes among indigenous Mbororo population in Cameroon is scarce. Objective This study aims to investigate the impact of culturally tailored community-based nutrition education intervention on caregivers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding complementary feeding and on nutrition outcomes of indigenous Mbororo children (aged 3-59 months) in the Foumban and Galim health districts of the West Region of Cameroon. Methods A two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial will be conducted in the Foumban Health District and Galim Health District. The intervention and control arms will each comprise 5 clusters with 121 child–caregiver pairs. Participants in the intervention arm will be organized into 5 caregivers’ peer-support platforms. A total of 12 educational sessions will be assigned to the intervention group by trained female Mbororo nutrition volunteers (n=6) and community health workers (n=6). The control arm will receive routine facility-based nutrition education. Data will be collected at 3-month and 6-month follow-up. Both descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic models will be used to estimate the effect of culturally tailored community-based nutrition education intervention (independent variable) on outcome variables (caregivers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice), child growth (weight, height/length, weight for age), and morbidity status (diarrhea, cough, and fever) between both arms. Data assessors will be blinded to the group allocation. Ethical approval (reference no. 2019/1002-07/UB/SG/IRB/FHS) was obtained from the Faculty of Health Sciences Institutional Review Board at the University of Buea. Results Baseline data were collected in September 2019. In February 2020, 10 Mbororo communities (clusters) with 242 child–caregiver pairs were selected and allocated to the experimental and control arm in a 1:1 ratio. Community nutrition volunteers (n=6) and community health workers (n=6) were selected and trained. Data collection and analysis are ongoing, and results are not available for this manuscript. Conclusions The findings of this study will provide evidence on the impact of culturally tailored and health belief model–based nutrition education on behavior change as a complementary strategy for strengthening health facility–based approaches in the reduction of malnutrition burden among the study population International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/23115