Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Geographical, Economic and Legal Regionalization of the Changes in Dividend Payments in the World

The dynamic growth of nominal and real values of dividends paid in the world, observed since the last quarter of the twentieth century, is determined by the companies with the largest capitalization. However, the increase in global dividend payments is not the same in all countries and is subject to geographical, economic and legal regionalization. It is also disturbed by economic fluctuations (especially the 2008 crisis) and, more recently, by the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper, using the data from the survey of Janus Henderson Investments, analyses changes in dividend payments in geographical (continents) economic (countries with a similar level of economic development) and legal (countries with similar legal systems) regions by the 1,200 largest companies in the world between 2009 and 2021. Linnear trend models taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic in the world and in separate regions and subregions, as well as the panel partial adjustment model of dividends vs. GDP, were estimated. The conducted research confirmed the impact of different forms of regionalization on the rate of dividend payments by the world’s largest companies. In the years 2009–2021 dividend payments in Australia and Asia grew the fastest. COVID-19 significantly reduced dividend payments in 2020 in Europe. Dividend payments in emerging markets countries grew faster than in developed markets countries and COVID-19 did not significantly reduce payouts on emerging markets. However, it is the developed markets that still provide the vast majority of dividends. The common law system is more favorable to dividend payments.
Emergent topological and half semimetallic Dirac Fermions at oxide interfaces

Tian-Yi Cai, ∗ Xiao Li, ∗ Fa Wang, Ju Sheng, † Ji Feng, ‡ and Chang-De Gong 4 Department of Physics and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, P. R. China International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P. R. China Center for Statistical and Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics and Department of Physics, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, P. R. China National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China
TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC POLYMER BASED DISSOLVABLE MICRONEEDLE PATCHES HAVING VARIABLE RELEASE PROFILES

Acute toxicity studies of dissolvable microneedle (dMN) patches fabricated from a combination of polymers, i.e. thiolated chitosan (TCS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), were performed to determine the safety of polymers on white albino rabbits. The selected albino rabbits were categorized into four groups. Group I was a control group, whereas groups II, III and IV were administered different doses of polymeric dMN patches. The food and water uptake and the weight of the animals were observed before and after administration of the microneedle patch on days 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14. Hematological and serum biochemical changes were observed by taking blood samples of treated and control group rabbits on the 15th day of study. The weight of the main organs was determined and a histopathology study was also performed. Negligible alteration in body weight, meals and water uptake was observed. The control and treated animals displayed similar behavioral pattern. Moreover, the treated groups showed hematological and biochemical analysis results, which were comparable with the results of the control group animals. Animals from both control and treated groups did not present any significant difference in the results of relative organ body weight and urine analysis. A comparison of histopathology results for both treated and control animals’ vital organs confirmed the absence of lesions. The findings of antioxidant effect, dermal and cardiac toxicity studies of chitosan, thiolated chitosan and the TCS/PVA/PVP combination were compared to those of the analysis of circulating oxidative levels, demonstrating that the combination of TCS/PVA/PVP showed improved antioxidant effect, as compared to those of chitosan and thiolated chitosan alone, and showed no significant effect on skin and heart. Thus, the findings of the study established the fact that the fabricated polymeric dMNs are a safe carrier system for different drugs.
Capture of field stars by giant interstellar clouds: the formation of moving stellar groups

In the solar neighbourhood, there are moving groups of stars with similar ages and others of stars with heterogeneous ages as the field stars. To explain these facts, we have constructed a simple model of three phases. Phase A: a giant interstellar cloud is uniformly accelerated (or decelerated) with respect to the field stars during a relatively short period of time (10 Myr) and the cloud's mass is uniformly increased; phase B: the acceleration (or deceleration) and mass accretion of the cloud cease. The star formation spreads throughout the cloud, giving origin to stellar groups of similar ages; and phase C: the cloud loses all its gaseous component at a constant rate and in parallel is uniformly decelerated (or accelerated) until reaching the initial velocity of phase A (case 1) or the velocity of the gas cloud remains constant (case 2). Both cases give equivalent results. The system equations for the star motions governed by a time-dependent gravitational potential of the giant cloud and referred to a coordinate system co-moving with the cloud have been solved analytically. We have assumed a homogeneous spheroidal cloud of fixed semi-major axis a=300 pc and of an initial density of 7 at cm^{-3}, with a density increment of 100 per cent and a cloud's velocity variation of 30 km s^{-1}, from the beginning to the end of Phase A. The result is that about 4 per cent of the field stars that are passing within the volume of the cloud at the beginning of phase A is captured. The Sun itself could have been captured by the same cloud that originated the moving groups of the solar neighbourhood.
The optical variability of steep-spectrum radio quasars in the SDSS Stripe 82 region

While there are a lot of investigations on the optical variability of flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), not much work has been done on the optical variability of steep-spectrum radio quasars (SSRQs). We investigate the optical variability of 18 SSRQs and 15 FSRQs in the SDSS Stripe 82 region using SDSS DR7 released multi-epoch data covering about nine years. For all SSRQs studied, we detect variations in r band flux of overall amplitude between 0.22 mag and 0.92 mag in different sources. Eight of 18 SSRQs display a bluer-when-brighter (BWB) trend. In contrast, the variability amplitude of 15 FSRQs in r band ranges from 0.18 to 0.97 mag, and 11 of 15 sources show a BWB trend. We found an anti-correlation between the Eddington ratio and the variability amplitude in r band for SSRQs, which is similar to that in radio quiet AGNs. This implies that the thermal emission from accretion disk may be responsible for the variability in SSRQs, although the jet nonthermal emission cannot be excluded. In contrast, there is no correlation in FSRQs, which implies that the mechanisms of variability in FSRQs may be different from that in SSRQs. The optical continuum variability of radio loud broad absorption line quasars (BALQs) are investigated for the first time here on two sources with steep radio spectrum. Both radio loud BALQs show variations with amplitude of about 0.3 mag at r band. Their spectral variability all show a BWB trend. In a combined sample (18 SSRQs, and 44 FSRQs) of our sample with the FSRQs in Gu&Ai (2011), we found a trend of a broader line width of broad Mg II emission line with steeper radio spectral index. It implies a disc-like broad line region (BLR) geometry may present in these quasars. In these 62 quasars, we found a ~ 57% source percentage showing BWB trend in FSRQs, whereas it is ~ 44% in SSRQs.
Lattice Monte Carlo calculations for unitary fermions in a finite box

We perform lattice Monte Carlo simulations for up to 66 unitary fermions in a finite box using a highly improved lattice action for nonrelativistic spin 1/2 fermions. We obtain a value of $0.366^{+0.016}_{-0.011}$ for the Bertsch parameter, defined as the energy of the unitary Fermi gas measured in units of the free gas energy in the thermodynamic limit. In addition, for up to four unitary fermions, we compute the spectrum of the lattice theory by exact diagonalization of the transfer matrix projected onto irreducible representations of the octahedral group for small to moderate size lattices, providing an independent check of our few-body simulation results. We compare our exact numerical and simulation results for the spectrum to benchmark studies of other research groups, as well as perform an extended analysis of our lattice action improvement scheme, including an analysis of the errors associated with higher partial waves and finite temporal discretization.
Facilitating future implementation and translation to clinical practice: The Implementation Planning Assessment Tool for clinical trials

Implementation assessment plans are crucial for clinical trials to achieve their full potential. Without a proactive plan to implement trial results, it can take decades for one-fifth of effective interventions to be adopted into routine care settings. The Veterans Health Administration Office of Research and Development is undergoing a systematic transformation to embed implementation planning in research protocols through the Cooperative Studies Program, its flagship clinical research program. This manuscript has two objectives: 1) to introduce an Implementation Planning Assessment (IPA) Tool that any clinical trialist may use to facilitate post-trial implementation of interventions found to be effective and 2) to provide a case study demonstrating the IPA Tool’s use. The IPA Tool encourages study designers to initially consider rigorous data collection to maximize acceptability of the intervention by end-users. It also helps identify and prepare potential interested parties at local and national leadership levels to ensure, upon trial completion, interventions can be integrated into programs, technologies, and policies in a sustainable way. The IPA Tool can alleviate some of the overwhelming nature of implementation science by providing a practical guide based on implementation science principles for researchers desiring to scale up and spread effective, clinical trial-tested interventions to benefit patients.
Comparison of laser-induced and intrinsic tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect in CoFeB/MgAl2O4 and CoFeB/MgO magnetic tunnel junctions

We present a comparison of the tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect for laser-induced and intrinsic heating. Therefore, Co40Fe40B20/MgAl2O4 and Co25Fe55B20/MgO magnetic tunnel junctions have been prepared. The TMS ratio of 3% in case of the MAO MTJ agrees well with ratios found for other barrier materials, while the TMS ratio of 23% of the MgO MTJ emphasizes the influence of the CoFe composition. We find results using the intrinsic method that differ in sign and magnitude in comparison to the results of the laser heating. The intrinsic contributions can alternatively be explained by the Brinkman model and the given junction properties. Especially, we are able to demonstrate that the symmetric contribution is solely influenced by the barrier asymmetry. Thus, we conclude that the symmetry analysis used for the intrinsic method is not suitable to unambiguously identify an intrinsic tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect.
SUZAKU X-RAY IMAGING OF THE EXTENDED LOBE IN THE GIANT RADIO GALAXY NGC 6251 ASSOCIATED WITH THE FERMI-LAT SOURCE 2FGL J1629.4+8236

We report the results of a Suzaku X-ray imaging study of NGC 6251, a nearby giant radio galaxy with intermediate FR I/II radio properties. Our pointing direction was centered on the γ-ray emission peak recently discovered with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) around the position of the northwest (NW) radio lobe 15 arcmin offset from the nucleus. After subtracting two “off-source” pointings adjacent to the radio lobe and removing possible contaminants in the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer field of view, we found significant residual X-ray emission most likely diffuse in nature. The spectrum of the excess X-ray emission is well fitted by a power law with a photon index Γ = 1.90 ± 0.15 and a 0.5–8 keV flux of 4 × 10−13 erg cm−2 s−1. We interpret this diffuse X-ray emission component as being due to inverse Compton upscattering of the cosmic microwave background photons by ultrarelativistic electrons within the lobe, with only a minor contribution from the beamed emission of the large-scale jet. Utilizing archival radio data for the source, we demonstrate by means of broadband spectral modeling that the γ-ray flux of the Fermi-LAT source 2FGL J1629.4+8236 may well be accounted for by the high-energy tail of the inverse Compton continuum of the lobe. Thus, this claimed association of γ-rays from the NW lobe of NGC 6251, together with the recent Fermi-LAT imaging of the extended lobes of Centaurus A, indicates that particles may be efficiently (re-)accelerated up to ultrarelativistic energies within extended radio lobes of nearby radio galaxies in general.
Entropy conservative finite element schemes

The question of entropy stability for discrete approximations to hyperbolic systems of conservation laws is studied. The amount of numerical viscosity present in such schemes is quantified and related to their entropy stability by means of comparison. To this end, two main ingredients are used: entropy variables and the construction of certain entropy conservative schemes in terms of piecewise-linear finite element approximations. It is then shown that conservative schemes are entropy stable, if and (for three-point schemes) only if, they contain more numerical viscosity than the abovementioned entropy conservation ones.
Nonlocal bispectra from super cosmic variance

We present examples of non-Gaussian statistics that can induce bispectra matching local and non-local (including equilateral) templates in biased sub-volumes. We find cases where the biasing from coupling to long wavelength modes affects only the power spectrum, only the bispectrum or both. Our results suggest that ruling out multi-field scenarios is quite difficult: some measurements of the scalar correlations, including the shape of the bispectrum, can be consistent with single-clock predictions even when cosmic variance from super-horizon modes is at work. Furthermore, if observations of the density perturbations rule out single-clock inflation, we will face a serious cosmic variance obstacle in drawing any further conclusions about the particle physics origin of the scalar fluctuations.
Shelving and probe efficiency in trapped ion experiments

A generalized probe sequence typical of trapped ion experiments using shelving is studied. Detection efficiency is analyzed for finite shelved state lifetimes and using multi-modal count distributions. Multi-modal distributions are more appropriate for measurements that use a small number of ions than the simple Poisson counting statistics usually considered and have a larger variance that may be significant in determining uncertainties and in making weighted fits. Optimal probe times and the resulting state detection efficiency and sensitivity are determined for arbitrary cooling rates, initial states, and shelved state lifetimes in terms of a probe coherence time τp. A universal optimal probe time of t p ≈ 0.43 &tgr; p ? > is shown to give close to the optimal probe sensitivity for most systems.
A method for implementing Dirichlet and third‐type boundary conditions in PTRW simulations

We present an efficient and accurate numerical method for implementing Dirichlet boundary conditions in particle tracking random walk (PTRW) simulations of advective‐dispersive transport. This is a challenge, because defining concentrations for Dirichlet boundary conditions requires invoking control volumes of some kind, which are not natural to the Lagrangian‐based PTRW concept. Our method performs a Galerkin projection of PTRW‐based particle densities onto control volumes that discretize the boundary. Thus, we obtain concentration values at the boundary condition and can control the particle release rates such that the prescribed boundary values are met. This allows for complex‐shaped internal and external boundaries, where concentration values are fixed to prescribed values. Third‐type boundary conditions can be addressed as well. We test and illustrate the properties and behavior of our method in a series of test cases. The results are benchmarked against the conceptually related semianalytical method MASST (multiple analytical source superposition technique) and to those of a finite element method (FEM). While MASST is restricted to uniform velocity fields due to the underlying analytical solutions, FEM is limited in heterogeneous velocity fields at large Péclet numbers by numerical dispersion in the feasible discretization range. The results demonstrate that our proposed method performs better than the other methods in both regimes.
STELLAR VARIABILITY AND FLARE RATES FROM DOME A, ANTARCTICA, USING 2009 AND 2010 CSTAR OBSERVATIONS

The Chinese Small Telescope Array (CSTAR) carried out high-cadence time-series observations of ∼20.1 square degrees centered on the South Celestial Pole during the 2008, 2009, and 2010 winter seasons from Dome A in Antarctica. The nearly continuous six months of dark conditions during each observing season allowed for > 10 6 images to be collected through gri and clear filters, resulting in the detection of > 10 4 sources over the course of three years of operation. The nearly space-like conditions in the Antarctic plateau are an ideal testbed for the suitability of very small-aperture ( < 20 cm) telescopes to detect transient events, variable stars, and stellar flares. We present the results of a robust search for such objects using difference image analysis of the data obtained during the 2009 and 2010 winter seasons. While no transients were found, we detected 29 flaring events and find a normalized flaring rate of 5 ± 4 × 10−7 flare hr−1 for late-K dwarfs, 1 ± 1 × 10−6 flare hr−1 for M dwarfs and 7 ± 1 × 10−7 flare hr−1 for all other stars in our sample. We suggest future small-aperture telescopes planned for deployment at Dome A would benefit from a tracking mechanism, to help alleviate effects from ghosting, and a finer pixel scale, to increase the telescope's sensitivity to faint objects. We find that the light curves of non-transient sources have excellent photometric qualities once corrected for systematics, and are limited only by photon noise and atmospheric scintillation.
ON RADIATION PRESSURE IN STATIC, DUSTY H ii REGIONS

Radiation pressure acting on gas and dust causes H ii regions to have central densities that are lower than the density near the ionized boundary. H ii regions in static equilibrium comprise a family of similarity solutions with three parameters: β, γ, and the product Q0nrms; β characterizes the stellar spectrum, γ characterizes the dust/gas ratio, Q0 is the stellar ionizing output (photons/s), and nrms is the rms density within the ionized region. Adopting standard values for β and γ, varying Q0nrms generates a one-parameter family of density profiles, ranging from nearly uniform density (small Q0nrms) to shell-like (large Q0nrms). When Q0nrms ≳ 1052 cm−3 s−1, dusty H ii regions have conspicuous central cavities, even if no stellar wind is present. For given β, γ, and Q0nrms, a fourth quantity, which can be Q0, determines the overall size and density of the H ii region. Examples of density and emissivity profiles are given. We show how quantities of interest—such as the peak-to-central emission measure ratio, the rms-to-mean density ratio, the edge-to-rms density ratio, and the fraction of the ionizing photons absorbed by the gas—depend on β, γ, and Q0nrms. For dusty H ii regions, compression of the gas and dust into an ionized shell results in a substantial increase in the fraction of the stellar photons that actually ionize H (relative to a uniform-density H ii region with the same dust/gas ratio and density n = nrms). We discuss the extent to which radial drift of dust grains in H ii regions can alter the dust-to-gas ratio. The applicability of these solutions to real H ii regions is discussed.
The Construction of Knowledge Claims in Three Disciplines: An Exploration of Hedging and Boosting Strategies in Research Articles Written in English by Arab and Anglophone Writers

Background. Academic writers utilize a variety of rhetorical methods to construct their knowledge claims through hedges and boosters. These two strategies may also be affected by disciplinary, cultural, or generic contexts. Purpose. This mixed-methods contrastive research study explored how disciplinary and cultural contexts may affect the way Arab and Anglophone writers construct and modulate knowledge claims through hedges and boosters in the results and discussion sections of 90 English research articles in three disciplines: Journalism, Law, and Political Science. Methods. Instances of hedges and boosters and their pragmatic functions in context were identified, employing Liu and Tseng’s (2021) framework. This framework provides a detailed functional interpretation of the use and variation of these devices along four continuums: authorial voice, reasoning, consensus-building, and information evaluation. Results. The results showed interesting contrasts and similarities between both groups regarding the approaches they used to define their levels of commitment and detachment in their knowledge claims. The quantitative findings revealed significant differences in hedges but non-significant differences in boosters used by both groups. The qualitative analysis revealed that hedging and boosting functions in Arab and Anglophone writers’ RAs differed along the four continuums. Anglophone writers often used hedges in their writing to show humility, negotiate knowledge claims, and accommodate vagueness. These acts enabled them to sketch the realities emerging from their research. By contrast, the English-speaking Arab writers used fewer hedging strategies and demonstrated assertiveness, and assumed shared knowledge to enhance the realities constructed in their knowledge claims. Implications. These findings can benefit ESP/EAP teachers, especially those teaching writing for publication purposes to raise postgraduate students’ awareness of epistemic modality markers. A custom-made ESP/EAP course tailored to the needs of learners based on Liu and Tseng’s (2021) hedging-boosting framework can be devised to develop communicative and academic strategies in English.
The dichotomy of “first timer” and “regular” and its implications for legal advice and assistance

ABSTRACT When an individual is suspected or accused of committing a criminal offence, they are brought into the realm of the criminal process. This process can be complex and alien, and the accused person may not understand – or be able to engage with – elements thereof. This paper examines how experiences of the criminal process are framed by lawyers, drawing from interviews conducted with lawyers (N = 36) as part of a larger project on the experiences of criminal justice in (south) Wales. Lawyers, when discussing the experiences of the accused, made frequent distinctions between “first timers” and “regulars”. Whilst this distinction has been touched-upon in previous studies, it has not yet been subject to much exploration and interrogation. Within this paper, we explore and critique the how and why of this distinction, querying the utility and limits of such a distinction. We argue that whilst an accused’s experience should be accounted for, it is unhelpful to frame “regulars” as not needing – or being undeserving – of attention.