Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards biomimetic air retaining ship hull surfaces – AIRCOAT and its experimental and computational validation methods

Air lubrication has a high potential to reduce skin friction of ship hulls. Active air lubrication system are already available on the market and initial results could show significant long-term energy savings of 4 % [1]. The EU project AIRCOAT (Air Induced friction Reducing ship Coating) aims to develop a passive air lubrication technology inspired by Salvinia molesta, a floating water fern that forms a permanent air layer when submerged in water [2]. AIRCOAT will technologically implement this natural phenomenon to produce a biomimetic hull surface with a high potential to significantly reduce the frictional resistance of ships. The air retaining surfaces based on the Salvinia effect rely on a complex microand nanostructured surface with hydrophobic and hydrophilic characteristics [3]. Transferring such characteristics onto sea going ships (e.g. container ships) – which are the largest maritime macrostructures – and demonstrating its effectivity within a three-year project is an ambitious task that involves a well-defined validation method. The AIRCOAT project does this by means of combining experimental and numerical methods to upscale results from laboratory prototypes to application of full-scale solutions in operational environments. Smalland largescale laboratory experiments will investigate the air retaining and friction reducing capabilities of the surface. Visualisation techniques will be used to determine the phenomena occurring at the ship-air-water interface. In parallel a set of numerical studies at different levels (small, large and full scale) will be carried out to estimate the drag reduction for a sea going ship virtually coated with AIRCOAT. This contribution will introduce into the AIRCOAT project, elaborate on biomimetic air-retaining surfaces and outline the validation concept developed to quantify potential friction reduction.
A Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo study of phase coexistence in model C60

Extensive Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo (GEMC) simulations of a rigid molecule model of C60, characterized by a deeply attractive short-ranged interaction potential, are performed with the aim to establish the effect of the system size on the existence and location of the liquid–vapor binodal line and of its critical point. The results obtained with N=300, 600, and 1500 particles indicate that the position and the overall shape of the binodal is only minorly influenced by finite size effects. The estimated critical temperature and density at the different N fall in the ranges 1920–1940 K, and 0.4–0.45 nm−3, respectively. The results are discussed by making reference to previous studies of finite size effects in GEMC simulations. The GEMC predictions are also compared with previous computer simulation and theoretical calculations for the same model fluid. The agreement is on the whole satisfactory for both the liquid–vapor coexistence line and the critical point parameters. On the basis of previously determined freezing lines of C60, and of the actual binodal line, different estimates of the location of the triple point are also made. Triple point temperatures are found, in any case, definitely lower (by at least 150 K) than the critical temperatures, thus confirming the existence of a relatively narrow liquid phase region in the phase diagram, as predicted in previous molecular dynamics and theoretical works. The existence of such a liquid phase for the adopted model potential is discussed and assessed in the more general framework of liquid–vapor coexistence conditions in fluids interacting through short-ranged forces. The possibility to get the liquid phase of “real life” C60, hitherto not observed experimentally, is also discussed in connection with recent high temperature experimental results on fullerite samples.
20-01 Load flow computations for ( integrated ) Transmission and Distribution systems . A literature review

Electrical power systems are complex systems and traditionally modeled in two separate systems. Power is generated at the transmission system and at several substations converted to the distribution systems. The increasing amount of generation produced at distribution level can eventually effect the transmission network. An integrated model of both systems can help studying these effects and prevent harmful events on the power system. Transmission and Distribution systems differ significantly from each other. Where transmission systems are assumed to be balanced and therefore modeled as a single-phase system, the distribution systems are in general unbalanced and should be modeled in three-phase. Furthermore, high R/X ratios of distribution lines, the lower voltage level, the radial structure and the presence of unbalanced loading lead to different solution techniques. Connecting these two systems pose complications for both the solution method and the connection method. In this report, we present several methods to solve the integrated Transmission-Distribution system. One of them is to omit the simplifications we can make in a transmission system and solve both systems as a three-phase system. Another method is to use a master-slave splitting approach and solve both systems iteratively, using a boundary state. A last method is building an interconnected network which solves the system at once, respecting both the transmission and distribution conditions. Some artificial currents and voltages have to be injected on the boundary. We compare the different methods on CPU-time, convergence, accuracy and complexity and present the preferable method for the specific network criteria.
Spatiotemporal changes of nitrate and Vc contents in hydroponic lettuce treated with various nitrogen-free solutions

Abstract Nowadays, off-season leafy vegetables are generally characterized by low vitamin C (Vc) content and high nitrate accumulation due to low light intensity inner protected systems and high-level nitrogen supply. A glasshouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of three kinds of nitrogen-free solution treatments before harvest on Vc and nitrate contents in expanded leaf blades, expanded leaf petioles and old leaves of hydroponic lettuce. The results showed that using nitrogen-free solutions could decrease nitrate contents of expanded leaf blades, expanded leaf petioles and old leaves, also nitrate contents in above parts reduced increasingly with treatment time extending. In addition, three nitrogen-free solution treatments increased the Vc content of expanded leaf blades instead of expanded leaf petioles and old leaves. There were instead of significant positive correlations between nitrate contents but Vc contents of expanded leaf blades, expanded leaf petioles and old leaves. To conclude, nitrogen disruption treatment before harvest could effectively reduce nitrate contents in edible parts of lettuce, and also improve Vc content in expanded leaf blade.
Multi-Agent Thompson Sampling for Bandits with Sparse Neighbourhood Structures

This is an extended abstract of the article that was accepted and published in Nature Scientiﬁc Reports: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62939-3 Multi-agent coordination is prevalent in many real-world applications, such as traﬃc light control, warehouse commissioning and wind farm control. Often, such settings can be formulated as coordination problems in which agents have to cooperate in order to optimize a shared team reward. Handling multi-agent settings is challenging, as the size of the joint action space scales exponentially with the number of agents in the system. Therefore, an approach that directly considers all agents’ actions jointly is computationally intractable. This has made such coordination problems the central focus in the planning literature. Fortu-nately, in real-world settings agents often only directly aﬀect a limited set of neighbouring agents. This means that the global reward received by all agents can be decomposed into local components that only depend on small subsets of agents. Exploiting such loose couplings is key in order to keep multi-agent decision problems tractable.
New tenants of the lipid droplet : MLX transcription factors preview

Introduction Lipids are fundamental building blocks for biological membranes, reservoir for energy storage, and also signaling mediators. Therefore, the proper regulation of lipid storage and metabolism is directly related to cellular and organismal homeostasis. Lipids are preserved within the cells in the form of neutral lipids, such as triacylglycerides and sterol esters, and deposited in specialized organelles named lipid droplets (LDs). Universally found in almost all eukaryotes and some prokaryotes, lipid droplets are composed of a core of neutral lipids surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer membrane embedded with a variety of proteins. Dysregulation of lipid storage in LDs is central to the development of prevalent metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. The sequestration of lipids in lipid droplets also helps cells and tissues against lipotoxicity by mitigating overload of excess cholesterol as cholesterol esters (CEs) and fatty acid intermediates as triacylglycerol (TG). In addition, the role LDs is beyond lipid storage, because they are also dynamic structures that constantly interact with other organelles as endoplasmic reticulum (ER), peroxisome, mitochondria and lysosome, thus acting as vital role in modulating cellular metabolism.
Protected Areas Governance and Justice: Theory and the European Union’s Habitats Directive

This article investigates protected areas governance and the role of justice in it. The article argues that protected areas governance is needed because resources such as biodiversity and heritage create conflicts over their use and preservation. The resolutions of these conflicts need to be justified for the involved and affected interest groups in order to guarantee their legitimacy and effectiveness. The legitimacy of governance solutions is argued to rest on both distributive and procedural justice. On one hand, the distribution of beneficial and adverse consequences of protected areas governance must be justifiable and justified. On the other hand, decisionmaking regarding protected areas has to satisfy expectations regarding procedural justice. The article exemplifies these arguments by analysing the European Union’s Habitats Directive and experiences in implementing it. The article demonstrates how the lack of attention to distributive and procedural justice has resulted in conflicts which have delayed the implementation of the directive and have undermined its effectiveness.
Control measures of a 400-year-old plague epidemic: an example of past efficiency at controlling disease and similarities with current epidemics

The plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, provides one of the best historical examples of pandemic infection. It can therefore be considered the first “globalized” disease, thanks also to the crowds that favoured the rebalancing of infectious agents between Europe and the Middle East. In this paper we analyse all the official documents of the time, highlighting the most effective prevention measures implemented in the city of Ferrara during the Italian plague. Historical mortality data for the 1630 Italian plague in northern Italy are first analysed. In contrast to the high rates recorded throughout the area from Milan to Florence, the mortality rate in Ferrara remained normal over the period. From the city’s documents it emerged that the authorities, from the 16th century onwards, had already understood that the spread of the contagion could also occur through domestic animals, although rats are never mentioned. The strength of Ferrara’s response to the “plague emergency” stems from an efficient and emergency-ready health control system, financed and supported by the “permanent surveillance team of the city and the Pontifical Legation of Ferrara Azienda Sanitaria Pubblica” even in times of great economic difficulty for the State. Among the various measures that the city of Ferrara SUMMARY
BOARD MEETINGS AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

: This study examined the impact of board activism on performance of quoted insurance companies in Nigeria. The study evaluates the effect of board meetings on the financial performance of 15 listed insurance companies existing on the Nigeria stock exchange between the period 2006-2017.Panel data regression and descriptive analysis was used to analyze the data obtained from the annual report of the sampled companies. The result of the study revealed a negative relationship with no significant impact between the board meeting and performance of insurance firms in Nigeria with emphasis on Return on Equity, Return on Asset and Tobin’s Q. It was suggested that regulatory authority focus their attention more on the skill and experience of directors at meeting of the board for good performance.
Addition of Regular Insulin to Ternary Parenteral Nutrition: A Stability Study

Abstracts Background: Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a complex medium in which added insulin can become unstable. The aim of this study is, therefore, to evaluate the stability of insulin in PN and to identify influencing factors. Methods: A total of 20 IU/L of regular insulin was added to PN in either glass or Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) containers. A 24 h stability study was performed via an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay in different media: A ternary PN admixture, separate compartments of the PN bag and a binary admixture. This study was repeated in the absence of zinc, with the addition of serum albumin or tween and with pH adjustment (3.6 or 6.3). Insulin concentration at t time was expressed as a percentage of the initial insulin concentration. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was applied to determine the factors that influence insulin stability. Results: In all PN admixtures, the insulin concentration ratio decreased, stabilising at a 60% and then plateauing after 6 h. At pH 3.6, the ratio was above 90%, while at pH 6.3 it decreased, except in the amino acid solution. ANCOVA (r2 = 0.68, p = 0.01) identified dextrose and pH as significant factors influencing insulin stability. Conclusion: A low pH level seems to stabilise insulin in PN admixtures. The influence of dextrose content suggests that insulin glycation may influence stability.
StepSync : 脚部スキル転移のための リアルタイムなウェアラブルシステム StepSync : Wearable Skill Transfer System for Real-time Foot-Based Interaction マーラナラザニ

本研究では、ダンス・体操などの足の運動に関する技能伝達の文脈において、視覚・触覚 刺激を用いてインストラクターの運動を実時間で伝達する手法を提案する。 靴に搭載した慣性セン サによりインストラクターの運動を計測し、学習者の運動に視覚・触覚を通じて伝達するシステム を構築した。 提案システムの評価として、触覚フィードフォワード提示と視覚フィードバック提示、 またはその逆を行った場合について比較した。
Emotion Speech Recognition using Deep Learning

: Emotion Speech Recognition (ESR) is recognizing the formation and change of speaker’s emotional state from his/her speech signal. The main purpose of this field is to produce a convenient system that is able to effortlessly communicate and interact with humans. The reliability of the current speech emotion recognition systems is far from being achieved. However, this is a challenging task due to the gap between acoustic features and human emotions, which relies strongly on the discriminative acoustic features extracted for a given recognition task. Deep learning techniques have been recently proposed as an alternative to traditional techniques in ESR. In this paper, an overview of Deep Learning techniques that could be used in Emotional Speech recognition is presented. Different extracted features like MFCC as well as feature classifications methods including HMM, GMM, LTSTM and ANN have been discussed. In addition, the review covers databases used, emotions extracted, and contributions made toward ESR.
Preview for “ Autophagy compensates for defects in mitochondrial dynamics ”

Mitochondria are subcellular organelles that act as the main place of energy generation through oxidative phosphorylation and also involve in multiple cellular processes such as Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production and stress response activation in eukaryotic cells (van der Bliek et al., 2017). Mitochondria homeostasis is not only important for maintaining cellular energy metabolism, but they are also involved in many diseases and normal aging processes. Recently, many studies discovered various mechanisms to maintain mitochondria homeostasis. However, how these mechanisms are coordinated is not well understood yet.
Sound velocity, heat conduction and virial coefficients of gaseous mixtures at high pressure from NIR laser-induced grating experiments

Using near-infrared laser radiation at 1064 and 1890 nm, respectively, laser-induced gratings (LIG) were generated in gaseous mixtures of nitrogen with small amounts (less than 1% mole fraction) of methanol (CH4O) or 1,2-ethylenediamine (C2H8N2). The variation of the electrostrictive and thermal LIG signal amplitude with laser energy and concentration of absorbing species was analysed. At a pump wavelength of 1064 nm electrostrictive as well as thermal gratings could be observed, whereas at 1890 nm the electrostrictive contribution to the LIG signal was negligible. The speed of sound and the thermal heat conduction in the medium were derived from the observed acoustic oscillations and the long term decay of the LIG signal amplitude, respectively. Second and third order acoustic virial coefficients were determined in the pressure range between 1 and 50 MPa. Although absorption at the two laser wavelengths was extremely small the detection limit for both absorbing species was below 20 ppm at 50 MPa.
Controlling asymmetry in c. elegans neuron pairs preview to biorxiv manuscript ‘Optically splitting symmetric neuron pairs in C. elegans’

C. elegans is a well-established model organism for understanding the neural circuit and the molecular basis of animal behaviors [1]. Worm researchers benefit from the fully delineated connectome of 302 neurons and extensive study of individual neuronal function [2]. Two-third of the neurons in C. elegans exist in paired form with spatially symmetric feature, and it is observed that some of these spatially symmetric neuron pairs function asymmetrically [3]. For example, the olfactory AWC neurons develop asymmetry stochastically, and this asymmetry lead to functional difference by expressing different odor receptors [4]. Furthermore, the AWC but not the AWC regulates peripheral lipid metabolism upon sensing the odorant 2-butanone [5]. Other neurons such as ASE and PLM also show asymmetry, and connectome analysis indicate that more neurons might have asymmetric characteristics [6][7]. Nonetheless, other than AWC and ASE, neuronal asymmetry is generally not well-understood since the promoters for expressing gene in an asymmetric fashion is lacking. Thus, the authors of this study tried to solve this problem by utilizing the photo-caged Cre to drive gene expression asymmetrically [810]. The Cre is photo-caged by the incorporation of 6-nitropiperony-lysine (a non-canonical amino acid) into its catalytic site. Upon light stimulation, the 6-nitropiperony-lysine converts to lysine, making the Cre catalytically active. The Cre in turn activates the target gene (Channelrhodopsin) expression by removing the transcriptional stop sequence placed upfront. By light stimulating only one neuron at a time, this system allows asymmetrical gene expression in C. elegans neurons.
The Effects of Applying Good Human Resources Management Practices on Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Human resources management (HRM) is one important management function as it is dynamic as far as employees’ behavior is concerned. Research in HRM practice is often related to employees’ performance. Some researches prove that there are positive effects of HRM practices on the employees’ performance. However, some research results can only be explained through limited point of view in connection with the two variables. To find out more about HRM practices and employees’ performance, this can be explained by organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). This research aims to analyze the effects of HRM practices on OCB that is mediated by organizational commitment conducted at a higher distance education institution in Indonesia. A total of 248 employees at the head office and 12 regional offices participated in this study by filling questionnaires. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s Alpha, and path analysis. The result showed that there are positive effects among variables. The direct effects of HRM practices on OCB and the role of organizational commitment as intervening variable are also discussed in this article.
Digital Commons @ Colgate Digital Commons @ Colgate

Misinformation has long been a tool for political influence, but it has taken a new form in the information age: fake news. After exploding into public consciousness during the 2016 United States presidential election, fake news has become a reality of political life around the world, featuring heavily in the 2017 German election and the 2018 Brazilian election. Fake news poses a significant threat to civic society, and is too easily produced and quickly disseminated to be resolved by manual fact-checking. As such, fake news detection has received significant attention by machine learning and natural language processing researchers in the last years. Previous work in this field has overly relied on deep learning approaches suffering from the black-box problem, rendering them unable to articulate precisely what properties separate fake news from real news. This paper contributes to the limited work on interpretable fake news detection by engineering text-based features, applying statistical tests, and fitting and interpreting logistic regression models. The results of this paper support previous findings that fake and real news are best differentiated by metrics capturing complexity and style, that fake headlines communicate far more than real ones, and that text-based approaches can effectively discern between real and fake news.
AN INTERACTIVE SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING MOVEMENT OF BUSES IN HAJJ

Analyzing traffic behaviour performs a robust part to accomplish day-to-day activities of the users efficiently and effectively, particularly in densely populated urban areas. Activities drawing in huge numbers such as religious pilgrimage or sporting events, collisions among automotive traffic flows are likely resulting in interruptions and unsafe situations for pilgrims, often creating chaos and congestion. The issue is more ambitious as millions of pilgrim’s travels over a fixed period throughout Hajj from one location to the other. Hajj is an Islamic pilgrimage which occurs annually during the month of Dhul al-Hijjah 1 which begins on the eighth day of the month and last for five days where millions of pilgrims from across the globe assemble in Makkah to perform the Spatio-temporal rituals. This article presents an interactive platform that utilizes large-scale GPS traces to know the motion of buses during Hajj. For a period of 60 days, GPS traces are gathered for over 20,000 plus buses for pilgrim’s mobility to conduct their rituals. To save big spatial data, we developed an interactive platform that can help in analyses and visualization. The analyses have been done for various stakeholders which includes company authorities. They can visualize the movement of buses, identify driver’s behaviour, speed violations, and area of the violations using maps-based visualization. Extracted expertise would be of benefit to stakeholders to improve the accessibility of pilgrims throughout the Hajj by creating a smart transport system like scheduling, evacuation, maximizing the number of buses or roads for each establishment.