Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhancement of laser plasma extreme ultraviolet emission by shockwave-laser interaction

A double laser pulse heating scheme has been applied to generate plasmas with enhanced emission in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). The plasmas were produced by focusing two laser beams (prepulse and main pulse) with a small spatial separation between the foci on a xenon gas jet target. Prepulses with ps-duration were applied to obtain high shockwave densities, following indications of earlier published results obtained using ns prepulses. EUV intensities around 13.5 nm and in the range 5–20 nm were recorded, and a maximum increase in intensity exceeding 2 was measured at an optimal delay of 140 ns between prepulse and main pulse. The gain in intensity is explained by the interaction of the shockwave produced by the prepulse with the xenon in the beam waist of the main pulse. Extensive simulation was done using the radiative magnetohydrodynamic code Z*.
Pricing Equity-indexed Annuities When Discrete Dividends Follow a Markov-Modulated Jump Diffusion Model

The Equity-Indexed annuities (EIAs) provide investors not only a minimum rate of return but also an opportunity to gain a potential profit that is linked to the performance of an equity index, typically SP 500. These properties make EIAs become very popular in the market and receive considerable attention in the actuarial literature. In this article, we investigate the Equity-Indexed annuities valuation when the discrete dividend payments follow a Markov-modulated jump diffusion model. Using the generalized Itô formula, we obtain the explicit solution for dividend payments of the model. From Dividend Discount theory, which implies that the stock price should be equal to the net present value of all its future dividend payments, the stock price process is then deduced. Within this framework, closed-form solution to the point-to-point EIA pricing problem is derived via the characteristic function of the occupation times.
Plasmonic reflection grating back contacts for microcrystalline silicon solar cells

We report on the fabrication and optical simulation of a plasmonic light-trapping concept for microcrystalline silicon solar cells, consisting of silver nanostructures arranged in square lattice at the ZnO:Al/Ag back contact of the solar cell. Those solar cells deposited on this plasmonic reflection grating back contact showed an enhanced spectral response in the wavelengths range from 500 nm to 1000 nm, when comparing to flat solar cells. For a particular period, even an enhancement of the short circuit current density in comparison to the conventional random texture light-trapping concept is obtained. Full three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations are used to explain the working principle of the plasmonic light-trapping concept.
ABRUPT CHANGES OF THE PHOTOSPHERIC MAGNETIC FIELD IN ACTIVE REGIONS AND THE IMPULSIVE PHASE OF SOLAR FLARES

We compared time profiles of changes of the unsigned photospheric magnetic flux in active regions with those of their associated soft X-ray (SXR) bursts for a sample of 75 ⩾ M5 flares well observed by Global Oscillation Network Group longitudinal magnetographs. Sixty-six of these events had stepwise changes in the spatially integrated unsigned flux during the SXR flares. In superposed epoch plots for these 66 events, there is a sharp increase in the unsigned magnetic flux coincident with the onset of the flare impulsive phase while the end of the stepwise change corresponds to the time of peak SXR emission. We substantiated this result with a histogram-based comparison of the timing of flux steps (onset, midpoint of step, and end) for representative points in the flaring regions with their associated SXR event time markers (flare onset, onset of impulsive phase, time of peak logarithmic derivative, maximum). On an individual event basis, the principal part of the stepwise magnetic flux change occurred during the main rise phase of the SXR burst (impulsive phase onset to SXR peak) for ∼60% of the 66 cases. We find a close timing agreement between magnetic flux steps and >100 keV emission for the three largest hard X-ray (>100 keV) bursts in our sample. These results identify the abrupt changes in photospheric magnetic fields as an impulsive phase phenomenon and indicate that the coronal magnetic field changes that drive flares are rapidly transmitted to the photosphere.
The impact of entrepreneurial leadership on innovative employee behavior: A multi-group analysis comparing the United States, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina

In the research of this paper, the center of events is entrepreneurial leadership as a new concept for the work behavior of associates. This study aims to determine the entrepreneurial self-efficiency and inclination of entrepreneurs towards innovation and creativity of entrepreneurs. The research aims to achieve results that reveal the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and the work behavior of employees. The study tested 360 individuals - subordinates in small and medium enterprises operating in the United States - California, Serbia - Vojvodina, and Belgrade, and Bosnia and Herzegovina - Republika Srpska. Based on the obtained results, a model was made and hypotheses were tested. It was a big problem to harmonize the results of research from these three regions. Careful processing of the data resulted from these results. The results obtained have a significant effect on innovative entrepreneurship, which again aims to determine whether there is entrepreneurial leadership and in what form. The research found that innovative entrepreneurs mediate between entrepreneurial leadership and the innovative behavior of associates. The results obtained in this study confirm the hypothesis that entrepreneurial self-efficiency has an adequate effect on the connection between entrepreneurial leadership and the innovative behavior of employees in the companies in which they work. The results of this research work are intended to achieve the originality of entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises dealing with innovation and a challenging business environment. According to the findings of numerous authors who deal with this issue, this research is not the first attempt to develop innovative behavior of employees in entrepreneurial small and medium enterprises, but it certainly has a great impact on increasing the effectiveness of entrepreneurial leadership on innovative behavior.
Orientational order in systems of nanorods: side-by-side and end-to end controlled assembly using lyotropic chromonic materials

We describe a simple and universal technique of controlled non-covalent assembly of metallic nanorods (NRs) using self-assembled stacks of lyotropic chromonic molecules. Depending on the charge of the NRs, the chromonic stacks assemble them either end-to-end or side-by-side through anisotropic attractive forces. The anisotropically aggregated systems of NRs show pronounced changes in spectral properties as compared to those of individual NRs, with longitudinal and transverse plasmon peaks shifting accordingly to the geometry of assembly. The length of chromonic stacks is not fixed by covalent bonds and depends strongly on temperature, chromonic concentration, ionic content and pH of the solution. As a result, all these parameters can be used to control the assembly of NRs through the control of the linking agents. We also demonstrate that the process of NRs assembly can be quenched by adding a polyelectrolyte to the solution of NRs and chromonic material. The NR assemblies arrested by the polyelectrolyte can be transferred into a polymer film such as polyvinyl alcohol, preserving their structural and optical features.
Laser-Induced Fluorescence Measurements of Atomic Oxygen Using Two Calibration Methods

Number densities of atomic oxygen have been measured in pure oxygen plasma, using two-photon laser-induced fluorescence measurements. In this paper, two calibration techniques are compared: the sensitivity of the experimental setup is calibrated using scattering experiments, and reference measurements on xenon are performed using two-photon laser-induced fluorescence measurements. The theoretical background and the experimental setup are described in detail. The advantages and drawbacks are herewith outlined. Applied to high-enthalpy, pure oxygen plasma, the evaluated number densities show fairly good agreement; however, because a constant discrepancy is measured between the results when using the two calibration approaches, a systematic error is probable. Possible reasons for this error are discussed (e.g., the cross-sectional ratio, in the case of xenon reference measurement calibration). One main conclusion is that measurements that are performed using the reference measurements on xenon are preferred, because they have much fewer experimental factors to be taken into account.
A comparative study on manifold learning of hyperspectral data for land cover classification

This paper focuses on the land cover classification problem by employing a number of manifold learning algorithms in the feature extraction phase, then by running single and ensemble of classifiers in the modeling phase. Manifolds are learned on training samples selected randomly within available data, while the transformation of the remaining test samples is realized for linear and nonlinear methods via the learnt mappings and a radial-basis function neural network based interpolation method, respectively. The classification accuracies of the original data and the embedded manifolds are investigated with several classifiers. Experimental results on a 200-band hyperspectral image indicated that support vector machine was the best classifier for most of the methods, being nearly as accurate as the best classification rate of the original data. Furthermore, our modified version of random subspace classifier could even outperform the classification accuracy of the original data for local Fisher’s discriminant analysis method despite of a considerable decrease in the extrinsic dimension.
Reliability and minimal detectable difference of pressure pain thresholds in a pain-free population

The objective of this work was to evaluate the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability and minimal detectable difference (MDD) of pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) in pain-free participants with two examiners over two consecutive days in a cross-sectional study design. Examiners used a standardized method to measure and locate a specific testing site over tibialis anterior for PPT testing with a hand-held algometer. The mean of each examiner’s three PPT measurements was used to calculate the intraclass correlation coefficient, inter-rater reliability, and intra-rater reliability. The minimal detectable difference (MDD) was calculated. Eighteen participants were recruited (11 female). The inter-rater reliability was 0.94 and 0.96 on day 1 and day 2, respectively. Intra-rater reliability for the examiners was 0.96 and 0.92 on day 1 and day 2, respectively. The MDD on day 1 was 1.24 kg/cm2 (CI: 0.76–2.03) and the MDD on day 2 was 0.88 kg/cm2 (CI: 0.54–1.43). This study demonstrates high inter- and intra-rater reliability and the MDD values for this method of pressure algometry.
Persistent and nonpersistent regional extreme total, daytime, and night‐time precipitation events over southwest China (1961–2019)

Extreme persistent precipitation is becoming increasingly common globally, and persistent extreme regional precipitation events (PERPEs) pose a particularly serious threat to humans and environmental systems. This study investigated total precipitation (TP), daytime precipitation (DP), and night‐time precipitation (NP) in southwest China (SWC) during 1961–2019. The occurrence of TP, DP, and NP was analysed under the conditions of persistence over 1–5 days, temporal persistence over >2 days, and temporal nonpersistence over ≤2 days, and spatiotemporal overlap for at least 3 days (i.e., a PERPE) using the objective identification technique for regional extreme events. The results indicated the following. (a) Annual maximum daily precipitation ≥200 (100) mm in terms of TP (NP) was recorded mainly in the Sichuan Basin (SCB) and eastern parts of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau (YGP), and it occurred mostly in summer. For DP, annual maximum daily precipitation of ≥100 mm was recorded throughout SWC, and it occurred mainly in winter in the Henduan Mountains, summer in the SCB, and spring in western parts of the YGP. (b) The magnitudes of NP and DP differed for events persisting for 1–5 days. The average amount of precipitation with temporal persistence increased during 1961–2019 for TP, DP, and NP. However, the frequency of occurrence of events with temporal persistence increased more in comparison with that of events with temporal nonpersistence. Overall, the frequency of occurrence of events with temporal persistence or temporal nonpersistence in the western SCB and eastern YGP increased more for TP and NP than for DP. (c) In the study period, 22, 44, and 4 PERPEs were detected for TP, NP, and DP, respectively, occurring mainly in the SCB, indicating that TP was dominated by night‐time PERPEs. These findings improve understanding of PERPEs changes in SWC and provide scientific support for implementation of measures intended to prevent and mitigate extreme flood events and waterlogging.
The Effectiveness of Online Learning Based on Learning Outcomes in the Mathematics Course during the Covid-19 Pandemic Period

The implementation of online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Indonesian government through the Ministry of Education has led to changes in the condition of the lecture system in public and private universities. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of online learning in the mathematics course at STIKes IKIFA in the Pharmacy Study Program during the 2020/2021 academic year using a quantitative descriptive method. Student learning outcomes from pretest and posttest were compared to find the differences before and after treatment during online learning. A total of 95 students were recruited as sample through total sampling. The measurement of the effectiveness of online learning based on students’ outcomes showed that 92.7% of students scored higher than 70 for posttest. The online learning would be considered effective if the students’ learning outcomes exceeded 80%. The effectiveness could also be seen in the increases in learning outcomes recorded by 85.26% of the students. It can be concluded that the online learning implemented in STIKes IKIFA was in the effective category. This result was made possible by a sound collaboration between the university and the lecturer as facilitator in creating an environment for online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assessing Temporal Aliasing in Satellite-Based Surface Salinity Measurements

AbstractThe Aquarius/Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-D (SAC-D) salinity remote sensing mission is intended to provide global mapping of sea surface salinity (SSS) fields over the next few years. Temporal and spatial averages of the satellite salinity retrievals produce monthly mean fields on 1° grids with target accuracies of 0.2 psu. One issue of relevance for the satellite-derived products is the potential for temporal aliasing of rapid fluctuations into the climate (monthly averaged) values of interest. Global daily SSS fields from a data-assimilating, eddy-resolving Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) solution are used to evaluate whether the potential aliasing error is large enough to affect the accuracy of the SSS retrievals. For comparison, salinity data collected at a few in situ stations over the tropical oceans are also used. Based on the HYCOM daily series, over many oceanic regions, a significant part of the total salinity variability is contributed by rapid fluctuations at periods alia.
Dapagliflozin improves pancreatic islet function by attenuating microvascular endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetes

Sodium‐glucose co‐transporter 2 inhibitors, including dapagliflozin, improve ß cell function in type 2 diabetic individuals. Whether dapagliflozin can protect islet microvascular endothelial cells (IMECs) and thus contribute to the improvement of ß cell function remains unknown.
Neutron stars and planet-mass companions

A formation mechanism is proposed for the recently discovered planet-mass companions to neutron stars, namely that the stellar companion of a millisecond pulsar is disrupted by rapid mass loss via an evaporative wind driven by the pulsar radiation. Because the star loses mass on a time-scale short compared to its thermal time-scale, it expands and overspills its Roche lobe. This process can result in the disruption of the stellar companion and the formation of a massive disc around the neutron star. This disc then evolves, in a manner analogous to the solar nebula, to form planet-mass objects around the neutron star
Predictability of China winter temperature under different intensities of La Niña events in seasonal climate forecast models

In this study, we focus on the features and predictability of winter 2‐m air temperature (t2m) over China under different intensities of La Niña events. The seasonal and intraseasonal prediction skills of winter t2m over China are examined by four state‐of‐art seasonal climate forecast models. The results show that the China winter t2m anomaly is sensitive to the intensity of La Niña. Strong and moderate (S/M) La Niña events are often accompanied by cold winter over China, while a positive anomaly of mean t2m over China frequently occurs in the weak La Niña events. The intensity difference of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) results in this discrepancy. All models have a slightly higher anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC) for the S/M La Niña than that for the weak La Niña in leading 1 month (LT1). Both individual models and MME exhibit higher skills of anomaly sign consistency rate (ASCR) for the S/M La Niña, which implies that models predict t2m anomaly over China more accurately in the S/M La Niña events. Furthermore, the winter t2m over China presents larger intraseasonal variability for the S/M La Niña than that for the weak La Niña. Models can capture the t2m anomaly over China more accurately when the temperature varies gently with small intraseasonal variability during winter for the S/M La Niña.
The Ortho/Para Ratio of H2 Newly Formed on Dust Grains

This paper considers experimental and theoretical studies of the H2 formation process on solid surfaces in an attempt to determine the ortho/para ratio (OPR) of H2 newly formed on dust grains. Estimates of OPRs and formation temperatures of H2 on icy mantles, silicate dust, and carbonaceous dust are given based on a new model. The OPR of H2 newly formed on dust grains differs from the value based on the nuclear spin statistics or the LTE value at the temperature of gas or dust. The final vibration-rotation distribution of the product H2 is determined as the result of a relaxation process of the metastable states of H2 adsorbed on dust grains via the dynamical adatom-surface interaction. We calculated the OPRs and formation temperatures by the new definitions with the formation pumping models built by Takahashi & Uehara. Test calculations with unrealistic, too small rotational energy distributions (only 1.4%-1.5% and 0.14%-0.15% of the formation energy, 4.48 eV), give anomalous OPRs because of imbalance between the odd-J and even-J populations in the rotational distribution. On the other hand, calculations with the original formation pumping models with realistic rotational energy distributions (14%-15%) give OPRs of nearly 3.0 on any dust surface and formation temperatures of 3600-4200 K.
Privacy-Preserving Database System with Hidden Queries

As the increase of adopting database systems as the key data management technology by organizations for day-to-day operations and decision making, the security and privacy issues of these systems becomes crucial. Achieving privacy-preserving range query efficiently is a difficult challenge in practice. Many privacy-preserving protocols use secure multi-party computation (MPC) as building block, which present elegant privacy and security, but brings too much computation and communication overheads at the same time. In this paper, we consider the three-party database system model: A client performing privacy-preserving range queries through a Proxy (trusted third party, TTP), to a Server’s database. The User does not learn how the query applied on the database, nor any other quarriable attributes that the database may contain. The Proxy does not learn any information about the Server’s private data, though he interacts with the Server directly. The Server on the other hand, learns nothing about the User’s query. We propose two practical privacy-preserving query schemes for database system. The basic idea of our schemes is to first convert each data entry into a set of concrete numbers, which is called attribute value numericalization. Then combines in a novel way several efficient cryptographic techniques, such as secure hash function, pseudo-random function, XOR, etc. to check whether the records match a query. The experimental evaluation (using the data sets collected by UCI KDD) of our prototype implementation show that our protocols incur reasonable computation and communicating overhead for added privacy-preserving benefit and perform better than those MPC-based solutions.
Assessing object-based classification: advantages and limitations

The advantages of object-based classification over the traditional pixel-based approach are well documented. However, the potential limitations of object-based classification remain less explored. In this letter, we assess the advantages and limitations of an object-based approach to remote sensing image classification relative to a pixel-based approach. We first quantified the negative impacts of under-segmentation errors on the potential accuracy of object-based classification by developing a new segmentation accuracy measure. Then we evaluated the advantages and limitations of object-based classification by quantifying their overall effects relative to pixel-based classification, with respect to their classification units and features at multiple segmentation scales. The results based on a QuickBird satellite image indicate that (1) segmentation accuracies decrease with increasing segmentation scales and the negative impacts of under-segmentation errors become significantly large at large scales and (2) there are both advantages and limitations in using object-based classification, and their trade-off determines the overall effect of object-based classification, which is dependent on the segmentation scales.
The use of multi-state capture-recapture models to address questions in evolutionary ecology

Multi-state capture-recapture models can be used to estimate survival rates in populations that are stratified by location or by state variables associated with individual animals. In populations stratified by location, movement probabilities can be estimated and used to test hypotheses relevant to population genetics and evolutionary ecology. When the interest is in state variables, these models permit estimation and testing of hypotheses about state-specific survival probabilities. If the state variable of interest is reproductive activity or success, then the multi-state modeling approach can be used to test hypotheses about life history trade-offs and a possible cost of reproduction.