Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Relevance of Social and Environmental Disclosures and Corporate Governance for Financial Analysts Forecasts: Canadian Evidence

In this study, I explore the relationships between social and environmental disclosures, corporate governance, and analyst forecast precision. Results are the following. First, findings show that both CSR disclosures and corporate governance increase consensus among analysts and reduce forecast dispersion. Second, results suggest that there is a substitution effect between environmental and social disclosures in their relation with analyst forecast precision. Third, corporate governance substitutes to environmental and social disclosures in improving analyst forecast precision. Finally, results also suggest a mediating effect of governance and analyst following in the relation between environmental and social disclosures and analyst forecast precision. It appears that both CSR disclosures and good corporate governance attract analysts and improve their ability to forecast earnings.
Development of Demand Response Energy Management Optimization at Building and District Levels Using Genetic Algorithm and Artificial Neural Network Modelling Power Predictions

Demand Response (DR) is a fundamental aspect of the smart grid concept, as it refers to the necessary open and transparent market framework linking energy costs to the actual grid operations. DR allows consumers to directly or indirectly participate in the markets where energy is being exchanged. One of the main challenges for engaging in DR is associated with the initial assessment of the potential rewards and risks under a given pricing scheme. In this paper, a Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimisation model, using Artificial Neural Network (ΑΝΝ) power predictions for day-ahead energy management at the building and district levels, is proposed. Individual building and building group analysis is conducted to evaluate ANN predictions and GA-generated solutions. ANN-based short term electric power forecasting is exploited in predicting day-ahead demand, and form a baseline scenario. GA optimisation is conducted to provide balanced load shifting and cost-of-energy solutions based on two alternate pricing schemes. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach for assessing DR load shifting options based on a Time of Use pricing scheme. Through the analysis of the results, the practical benefits and limitations of the proposed approach are addressed.
Transient Electromagnetic-Thermal FE-Model of a SPICE-Coupled Transformer Including Eddy Currents with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2

Operation of a transformer is charac- terised by strong dynamic interactions between the electrical subsystems on the primary and secondary sides and the magnetic subsystem. Transient finite element (FE) analysis of a trans- former together with SPICE-coupled external electrical sources and loads is a powerful tool for the analysis and design of transformers. This paper describes electromagnetic and thermal 3D FE modelling and transient simulation of a cur- rent transformer with focus on the non-linear characteristic of the ferromagnetic transformer core, the coupling of the transformer windings to external circuitry, and the effects of eddy cur- rents and self-heating.
Quantum characterization of bipartite Gaussian states

Gaussian bipartite states are basic tools for the realization of quantum information protocols with continuous variables. Their complete characterization is obtained by the reconstruction of the corresponding covariance matrix. Here we describe in detail and experimentally demonstrate a robust and reliable method to fully characterize bipartite optical Gaussian states by means of a single homodyne detector. We have successfully applied our method to the bipartite states generated by a sub-threshold type-II optical parametric oscillator which produces a pair of thermal cross-polarized entangled cw frequency degenerate beams. The method provides a reliable reconstruction of the covariance matrix and allows us to retrieve all the physical information about the state under investigation. These include observable quantities, such as energy and squeezing, as well as nonobservable ones such as purity, entropy, and entanglement. Our procedure also includes advanced tests for the Gaussianity of the state and, overall, represents a powerful tool to study the bipartite Gaussian state from the generation stage to the detection one.
Phytoremediation - A review

The pollution of environment i.e., soil, water and air is not uncommon. The contamination of first two with metals, heavy metals and radio nuclei has been on the increase since starting of industrial revolution. The primary sources of pollution include burning of fossil fuels, mining and smelting of metalliferous ores, municipal wastes, fertilizers, pesticides and sewage. The pollution of soil and water is posing threat to human, animal and plant life in various ways. Soil which is called a natural resource base for plant growth is becoming unfit for cultivation mainly due to contamination of heavy metals. These include Cd, Pb, Cr, Au, As, Cu, Zn, Se and Ni. Phytoremediation is the best option for cleaning up environment as it is the ecologically sustainable and environmentally viable technology. The Brassicaspecies are identified as good candidates for phytoextraction of heavy, metals especially Zn. EDTAand Citric acid are commonly used for induced phytoextraction ofPb. Rabbit foot grass was identified as suitable species for phytovolatilisation of Se from constructed wetlands. The aquatic plant species are regarded as best species for removing metals from contaminated water. Poplar trees are used for phytodegradation of harmful compounds like TNT. This green cure technology no doubt has the ability to clean up contaminated soil and water but slowly.
Comparison of Physiological Adaptations in Highly Trained Aerobic Endurance Athletes and Highly Trained Resistance Athletes

Purpose: To compare the physiological differences between highly trained resistance and aerobic athletes (who perform five or more hours per week of resistance or aerobic exercise). Methods: Participants had resting heart rate, blood pressure and lactate taken before entering the BOD POD to get body fat percentage. Then a five minute warm up on a cycle ergometer before doing the VO2 max treadmill test following the Bruce Protocol. At the completion of the VO2 max treadmill test, participants had heart rate recorded from the heart rate monitor, blood pressure and lactate were taken immediately after the max test. The sample size was n=9 for AG and the sample size for RG was n=8. Results/Conclusion: All variables were compared among AG (aerobic group), RG (resistance group). The AG VO2 max average was 2.6ml/kg/min higher than the RG, with their max VO2 max result 6.4ml/kg/min higher than the max RG VO2 result. The AG body fat percent average was 4.3% higher than RG and percentile averages were 9.7 below RG averages. The AG resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure was about the same as the RG, however they had a higher final systolic blood pressure by 5mmHg on average and a lower final diastolic blood pressure by 11 mmHg on average. The AG had 10bpm lower resting and 5bpm lower final heart rate averages as well as lower minimum and maximums for both. The AG had a resting lactate level of double the RG (4.8mmol compared to 2.2mmol) and they both had the same final lactate level averages. However, the AG had a higher minimum and maximum resting and final lactate level. In conclusion, VO2 max and lactate levels increase with aerobic training while heart rate preand post-exercise decreases.
Experimental Analysis of Roll Waves in Overconcentrated Flow

Water surface instabilities have been observed as wave trains both in laboratory and in field. This phenomenon, called roll waves, is typical of steep and suciently long channels (Montuori, 1961; Brock, 1969). Moreover roll waves development concerns not only Newtonian fluid but also mud and debris flow and has been studied most of all in fixed bed condition. In the present paper the phenomenon of roll waves over mobile bed is presented. A hydraulic flume has been used to study this wave trains in presence of intense bed-load. Measurements of wave features like amplitude, wavelength and celerity have been performed. Finally a comparison with the results known for the fixed bed has been carried out. Particular attention has been dedicated to give physical explanation and interpretation of roll waves development over mobile bed with intense bed-load.
Joint Estimation of Intersecting Context Tree Models

We study a problem of model selection for data produced by two different context tree sources. Motivated by linguistic questions, we consider the case where the probabilistic context trees corresponding to the two sources are finite and share many of their contexts. In order to understand the differences between the two sources, it is important to identify which contexts and which transition probabilities are specific to each source. We consider a class of probabilistic context tree models with three types of contexts: those which appear in one, the other, or both sources. We use a BIC penalized maximum likelihood procedure that jointly estimates the two sources. We propose a new algorithm which efficiently computes the estimated context trees. We prove that the procedure is strongly consistent. We also present a simulation study showing the practical advantage of our procedure over a procedure that works separately on each data set.
Adaptive IIR Notch Filter with Modified Algorithm for Echo Cancellation

In this paper an adaptive echo canceller is presented, based on adaptive IIR notch filter with a new algorithm, for the echo cancellation in telephone network. Where the new algorithm is employs the modified signregressor algorithm and works with the autocorrelation of the error signal to estimate the parameter, resulting in obtaining good estimate of parameter for the echo canceller. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed canceller outperforms the canceller with the classical LMS, SR and RLS algorithms in terms of Echo Return Loss Enhancement (ERLE). 
Community and Relation Discovery in E-mail Network Using Author-Recipient-Community Topic (ARTC) Model

-In recent years, the issue of community detection has come into prominence and many approaches have been developed to extract latent communities by analyzing social documents and connections. Previous works have largely focused on the topology of networks. However, recent studies deal with topic-based community detection. The drawback of topic-based methods is that they obtain topologically diverse sub communities, because they concern with content analysis of nodes and ignore link information of the network. However, edges have information about properties of communities, because they are important points to analyze the content of relationships. In this work, we have proposed a model to learn communities sharing similar topics and to identify community distributions based on the content of edges using messages sent between users. The proposed model is built on Community Topic Model (CTM) by adding the link information of corpus. Experimental studies on Enron e-mail corpus have shown that proposed model was able to group edges in a community in regard to similar topics. The proposed model analyses relations between users in the same community and these communities appear a part of the social network of Enron. Also, top actors have been identified by using ARCT model.
Strain Tuning of Ferroelectric Thin Films

Predictions and measurements of the effect of biaxial strain on the properties of epitaxial ferroelectric thin films and superlattices are reviewed. Results for single-layer ferroelectric films of biaxially strained SrTiO3, BaTiO3, and PbTiO3 as well as PbTiO3/SrTiO3 and BaTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices are described. Theoretical ap- proaches, including first principles, thermodynamic analysis, and phase-field models, are applied to these biaxially strained materials, the assumptions and limitations of each technique are explained, and the predictions are compared. Measurements of the effect of biax- ial strain on the paraelectric-to-ferroelectric transition temperature (TC) are shown, demonstrating the ability of percent-level strains to shift TC by hundreds of degrees in agreement with the predic- tions that predated such experiments. Along the way, important ex- perimental techniques for characterizing the properties of strained ferroelectric thin films and superlattices, as well as appropriate sub- strates on which to grow them, are mentioned.
Characterization of thirteen microsatellite loci from the Ghanian antimalarial plant Cryptolepis sanguinolenta

Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Lindl.) Schlechter (Periplocaceae) is an herbaceous plant used in traditional medicine to treat malaria and populations of the species are diminishing due to overharvesting and lack of conservation. Codominant microsatellite markers that can be used to characterize genetic diversity and population structure are currently not available. Therefore, the study isolated 75 microsatellite loci from genomic sequence data, which were then screened for the ability to reveal polymorphisms. From the 75 candidate loci, 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci were optimized for future population genetics studies. Twenty-two C. sanguinolenta samples were collected from eight different geographical locations in Ghana. Alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 7 with a mean of 4.4. Expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.24 to 0.77, and all but one locus deviated significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Genetic differentiation mean was 0.06 among all loci, indicating relatively low genetic diversity in these samples. These microsatellite loci should be useful to study genetic diversity, gene flow and population structure as well as in a project involving breeding and conservation of C. sanguinolenta. Key words: Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, genetic diversity, malaria, medicinal plant, microsatellites.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF CNTFET AND MOSFET FOCUSING CHANNEL LENGTH, CARRIER MOBILITY AND BALLISTIC CONDUCTION IN HIGH SPEED SWITCHING

Enhancement of switching in nanoelectronics, Carbon Nano Tube (CNT) could be utilized in nanoscaled Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET). In this revi ew, we present an in depth discussion of performances Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistor (CNTFET) and its significance in nanoelectronic circuitry in comparison with Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET). At first, we have discuss ed the structural unit of Carbon Nanotube and characteristic electrical behaviors beteween CNTFET and MOSFET. Short channel effect and effects of scattering and electric field on mobility of CNTFET and MOSFET have also been discussed. Besides, the nature o f ballistic transport and profound impact of gate capacitance along with dielectric constant on transconductance have also have been overviewed. Electron ballistic transport would be the key in short channel regime for high speed switching devices. Finally, a comparative study on the characteristics of contact resistance over switching capacity between CNTFET and MOSFET has been addressed.
CSSR: a 2For1 Compressive Sensing Software Receiver with Combined Correlation For GPS-CA and Galileo-OS Signals

This is a 2for1 receiver because it acquires both GPS and Galileo signals at less than 50% of the complexity and processing time required by a Matched Filter acquisition receiver. CSSR is a new implementation of a dual-GNSS-signal Software Receiver using, for the first time, the compressive sensing technique to process the two GNSS signals at the same time (in this implementation, GPS C/A code and Galileo OS code signals are used). This paper describes this CSSR implementation, focusing on: (a) how we remove the subcarrier frequency effect from the Galileo signal, and combine it with the GPS signal as a BPSK like signal; (b) the pre-processing stage of the resultant BPSK signal to generate the non-Doppler shift vectors that compensates for the matching measurements in the compressive sensing process; and finally (c) the compressive sensing process to acquire both signals simultaneously by combining their dictionaries, or correlators. CSSR has been simulated using various actual signal conditions/scenarios. The results are compared to those obtained from running the same tests on 3-other matched filter receivers. CSSR achieves similar probability of detection to the others, and has a higher frequency resolution of 10Hz for the same 4ms dwell time. With Application processors on-board Smartphones getting more powerful and cheaper, and with 60% of the 3.1 billion dual GNSS offering on-board current Smartphones are based on side-by-side implementations, we believe that CSSR is a good candidate to saving cost and valuable battery energy when implemented on-board Smartphones.
Avenues of contestation. Football hooligans running and ruling urban spaces

S'appuyant sur des enquetes d'anthropologie urbaine menees en Angleterre et en Ecosse sur les hooligans, les AA. discutent la maniere dont les chercheurs ont jusqu'ici manque de reconnaitre l'importance exacte qu'occupe la dimension spatiale dans les rivalites entre hooligans. Les aspects emotionnels qu'attachent les supporters a l'espace sont identifies, reprenant la dichotomie faite par Fiske entre zones de rencontre et points d'ancrage, les espaces contestes dans les stades entre supporters des equipes, directions des equipes et forces de l'ordre. De ce premier milieu, emergent les rassemblements de hooligans, concus comme des reseaux de mobilisation utilisant le temps, l'identite et l'information (Wallman), plus qu'ils ne sont produits, comme le voulait Dunning par des processus de segmentation ordonnee. Les AA. explorent ensuite differentes trajectoires historiques du hooliganisme au travers des espaces contestes par les groupes rivaux et par la police. L'intensification des strategies de controle menees par les forces de l'ordre a eu pour effet d'engendrer un elargissement des espaces significatifs, des contextes et des techniques au sein desquels les hooligans poursuivent de maniere autorisee leurs confrontations. Le processus se voit encore complexifie lorsqu'il implique deux equipes d'une meme ville, ou ce sont cette fois des espaces familiers qui deviennent les enjeux ambigus de groupes rivaux depassant les seuls enjeux du football. En conclusion, les AA. envisagent de maniere critique les consequences et les significations culturelles induites par le controle accru de la police sur les supporters, notant en particulier les reactions qu'il suscite chez les hooligans eux-memes pour reorganiser leurs lieux de confrontation loin des espaces de jeux et aux peripheries extremes des sites urbains.
Importance of Active Play

Historically, the value of children’s play activity has long been held; physical activity (PA)-based or active play (AP), exceptionally, contributes to holistic health and serves in the optimal growth and development of children. Aside from all of the physical benefits, play in child development/education is important because of the other numerous benefits that it is viewed to provide children. However, despite the supposed value and decades of research documenting the critical role that play serves in children’s optimal growth and development, evidence related to the AP component and its direct effects on particularly academic achievement is somewhat limited. This lack of direct evidence of developmental and academic success often spurs intense debate related to the need for play. All AP, including that in the educational setting, must be continually defended and supported. This descriptive research is focused on the role of PA-based play and purposed to highlight and advocate the importance of AP, especially as it relates to academic achievement including the: value; evidence of effectiveness; as well as not only the prevalence, but also recommendations for further promotion and application of such in primarily the educational setting.
Nine Level H Bridge Grid Connected Inverter Operated Photovoltaic Module Using Matlab

In this paper, the topology of H Bridge configuration meet many demands in the Industry of Power Electronics with the nearest progress in MOSFET switches the cost, size and installation area are highly reduced. It is a transformerless process in order to increase the quality of the Power with reduction in losses and stress. In the PV panel the solar radiance method is employed for energy harvesting in Agriculture site. Finally, the simulation relations using MATLAB / Simulink show the applicability and performance of the proposed model in PV storage system for the prediction of Boosted PV output power. Indexwords: H bridge multilevel inverters, Boost Converter, Photovoltaic module.
Discovery of a Transiting Adolescent Sub-Neptune Exoplanet in the Cas-Tau Association with K2

The role of stellar age in the measured properties and occurrence rates of exoplanets is not well understood. This is in part due to a paucity of young planets and the uncertainties in age-dating for most exoplanet host stars. Exoplanets belonging to coeval stellar populations, young or old, are particularly useful as benchmarks for studies aiming to constrain the evolutionary timescales relevant for planets. Such timescales may concern orbital migration, gravitational contraction, or atmospheric photo-evaporation, among other mechanisms. Here we report the serendipitous discovery of a transiting sub-Neptune from K2 photometry of the low-mass star EPIC 247267267. From multiple age indicators we estimate the age of the star to be in the range of 50-500 Myr at 68% confidence. However, based on its kinematics, we propose the star belongs to the Cas-Tau association, which we suggest has an age of 46 $\pm$ 8 Myr. Our newly derived age estimate for the association is based on a color-magnitude diagram analysis of high-probability members near the main sequence turnoff. The size of EPIC 247267267 b ($R_P = 3.0 \pm 0.5 R_\oplus$) combined with its youth make it an intriguing case study for photo-evaporation models, which predict enhanced atmospheric mass loss during early evolutionary stages.
A Brief Political Economy of Energy Subsidies in the Middle East and North Africa

Energy subsidies are among the most pervasive and controversial fiscal policy tools used in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In a region with few functioning social welfare systems, subsidised energy prices continue to form an important social safety net, albeit a highly costly and inefficient one. In the MENA region’s oil and gas producing countries, low energy prices have also historically formed an important element of an unwritten social contract, where governments have extracted their countries’ hydrocarbon riches in return for citizens’ participation in sharing resource rents. While it is clear that energy subsidy reform will not be the only variable at play, its potential socio-economic dividends are important factors for enabling some common regional objectives—sustainable fiscal policies, fiscal space to invest in key areas, and a more efficient and equitable distribution of scarce resources—to be achieved, helping to promote a more stable political status quo in the long term. If accommodated by effective mitigation measures, reforming energy subsidies in the MENA region’s middle-income economies could be a powerful tool for governments—addressing those very profound socio-economic grievances that have contributed to the outbreak of political protest and, in some cases, to an intensification of domestic infighting over political control. In this paper, we look at some of the MENA region’s potential avenues for reform. While the past has demonstrated the political difficulty of reforming energy prices, recent experience also shows that the reform of energy subsidies can be achieved, if accompanied by a set of enabling factors.