Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Micro-sized TiO 2 as photoactive catalyst coated on industrial porcelain grès tiles in water drug photodegradation

Pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites raise worrying questions because they are continuously released and are not efficiently removed by conventional wastewater treatments; therefore, they are detected in groundwater, surface water and drinking water in increasing concentrations. Paracetamol and aspirin are two of the most common drugs employed as fewer reducer, analgesic and antinflammatory: they and their metabolites are very often found in river water, so their degradation is necessary in order to obtain water suitable for human consumption. The present work is focused on the comparison of the photocatalytic performance of industrial active grés porcelain tiles covered with a commercial micro-sized TiO2 by industrial process using either conventional spray deposition and innovative digital printing methods. The photodegradation of two common and widely used drugs, namely aspirin and paracetamol, was investigated both individually and as a mixture, in both deionized and tap water. Aspirin and paracetamol possess di-substituted aromatic ring in ortho and para position, respectively, and these affect the mechanism pathway, the side reactions and the photodegradation/mineralization trends. The experimental conditions were thus selected in order to investigate either the effects of the nature of pharmaceutical compounds when they were studied individually or in mixture and the role of the water medium, comparing distilled and tap water. In fact, the presence in water of both cations (Na+, Ca2+, etc) and anions, i.e. sulphates, nitrates, and/or bi/carbonates, may influence the different steps of the photocatalytic process modifying both the speed and the eventual deactivation of the surface photocatalytic coating.
Composition of Human Capital , Distance to Frontier and Productivity Growth

Human capital is generally considered as an important factor to accelerate economic growth though empirical evidences are mixed. Some argue that human capital should enter into production function as an input and thereby affects output growth directly, while others argue that human capital contribute to raise technological progress by easing innovation, diffusion and adoption of new technologies and thus affects productivity growth indirectly. It is also reasonable that different kinds and levels of human capital may have different impact on growth. Therefore, this study investigates the contribution of human capital to productivity growth through two major channels of technological progress-innovation and imitation-in a panel of 92 sample countries over the period of 1970 to 2004. The sample is further divided into 28 high, 41 medium, and 23 low income countries to gain some insights into the importance of composition effects of human capital on productivity growth in developing economies relative to their developed counterparts. Using different levels of human capital empirical results from system GMM demonstrate that growth enhancing effect of skilled labor (unskilled labor) increases (decreases) with the proximity to the world technology frontier. The results are robust in different measures for human capital. JEL Classifications: I20, O30, O40
DETERMINANTS OF EXPORT PROPENSITY AND PERFORMANCE : EVIDENCE FROM TURKISH FIRM-LEVEL DATA

The objective of the present study is to investigate the factors affecting Turkish firms’ export propensity and export performance. The dataset consists of 344 non-financial companies listed on Borsa Istanbul and covers the period from January 2005 to December 2014. Results from a random effects probit model reveal that larger and older firms are more likely to make export sales. In addition, results from a dynamic GMM estimation document that larger and younger firms have higher export performance. The same finding holds for highly leveraged companies. Finally, the real effective exchange rate is shown to have a negative impact on firm-level export performance in Turkey. Implications are provided.
PLAYLISTS FROM THE MATRIX — COMBINING AUDIO AND METADATA IN SEMANTIC EMBEDDINGS

We present a hybrid approach to playlist generation which combines audio features and metadata. Three different matrix factorization models have been implemented to learn embeddings for audio, tags and playlists as well as factors shared between tags and playlists. For training data, we crawled Spotify for playlists created by tastemakers, assuming that popular users create collections with high track cohesion. Playlists generated using the three different models are presented and discussed.
M ay 2 01 9 Matrix Poincaré , Φ-Sobolev Inequalities , and Quantum Ensembles

Sobolev-type inequalities have been extensively studied in the frameworks of real-valued functions and non-commutative Lp spaces, and have proven useful in bounding the time evolution of classical/quantum Markov processes, among many other applications. In this paper, we consider yet another fundamental setting — matrix-valued functions — and prove new Sobolev-type inequalities for them. Our technical contributions are two-fold: (i) we establish a series of matrix Poincaré inequalities for separably convex functions and general functions with Gaussian unitary ensembles inputs; and (ii) we derive Φ-Sobolev inequalities for matrix-valued functions defined on Boolean hypercubes and for those with Gaussian distributions. Our results recover the corresponding classical inequalities (i.e. real-valued functions) when the matrix has one dimension. Finally, as an application of our technical outcomes, we derive the upper bounds for a fundamental entropic quantity — the Holevo quantity — in quantum information science since classical-quantum channels are a special instance of matrix-valued functions. This is obtained through the equivalence between the constants in the strong data processing inequality and the Φ-Sobolev inequality.
Topology Reconfiguration Problem for Core-Level Redundancy in Homogeneous Chip Many-Core Processors

In recent years, significant research has been undertaken on tera-scale computing that is able to integrate tens to hundreds of homogeneous processor cores on a single chip to process massive amounts of information in parallel. For example, an 80-core teraflop processor prototype was demonstrated at Intel Developer Forum 2006 [1]. Effective defect tolerance techniques are essential for these complex chips, because the profitability depends heavily on the fabrication yield. Currently, most research efforts focus on microarchitecture-level redundancy while core-level redundancy was given little attention. However, as shown in [2] [3], when the number of cores is large, core-level redundancy is considered more appropriate because single core becomes small and inexpensive when compared to the entire chip. There are two schemes to design chip many-core processors with core-level redundancy, namely As Many As Available (AMAA) and As Many As Demand (AMAD). AMAA maximizes the use of operational cores by disabling faulty cores only. We may get various types of degraded chips (with different number of faulty cores) and the yield of the demanded N-core processor can not be promised. In addition, many different degraded versions may cause some confusion in marketing. In AMAD scheme, an N-core processor is provided with M spare cores and we always provide customers with N operational cores. That is, it is possible that there are fault-free cores left unused. In this paper, we consider to employ AMAD scheme in chip many-core processors. For homogeneous chip many-core processors, on-chip communication greatly affects the performance of parallel applications, because these cores work cooperatively through on-chip networks. As a result, topology is an important factor in such architectures. Operating System (OS) should know how underlying cores are connected to dispatch and schedule tasks. Parallel programmers should optimize applications based on topologies. For example, in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 [4], a hardware interface is provided to pass the underlying physical topology information, which is used by Windows to manage processors. Topology information is also supplied to programmers through API functions in order to optimize the performance of the program [4]. In AMAD scheme, faulty cores will be replaced by spare ones and the topology of the target design may be changed. Different chips may have different underlying topologies. Programmers have to face various topologies to optimize their parallel programs, which is a great burden for the programmers. To address the problem, the concept of logical topology, the degraded version of the reference topology (discussed later) is introduced in this short paper. We then briefly introduce a topology reconfiguration problem based on two performance metrics of the system.
Assessing the propensity for interdisciplinary development of the doctoral scientific fields in the academic research Case study: The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies

In this paper we intend to evaluate the probability of development of interdisciplinary field of science as a result of finalized doctoral thesis. We assume that every finalized doctorate thesis can be described by a vector with three dimensions. First dimension is given by the position in the doctoral scientific field taxonomy (at national level), the second is set by the position in the advanced high education program taxonomy (ISCED 6-7) and the third dimension reflects the place occupied in an international scientific taxonomy. The relative positioning to the frontier of the new in the taxonomy’s coordinates offer the opportunity to evaluate the distributions of the probability density for chosen dimensions by application of the Generalized EM and k-Means Cluster Analysis. Key-Words: interdisciplinary research, interdisciplinary field, doctoral process, academic research, doctorate academic program
Design of 64-Bit Reversible BCD Add-Subtract Unit using Parallel and Pipelined Method

In order to continue the revolution in the computer hardware performance, we need to reduce the energy dissipated in each logic operation. Energy dissipation can be reduced by preventing information loss. This is achieved by designing the circuits using reversible logic gates. Reversible logic computing is a rapidly developing research area. This paper proposes the design of 64-bit Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) addition and subtraction unit using reversible logic gates. The reversible 64 -bit BCD addition unit is designed using the reversible gates and propagation adder. The reversible 64-bit BCD subtraction unit is designed based on the nine’s complement method of 4bit reversible BCD addition. The reversible 64bit BCD addition and subtraction unit is designed based on the parallel pipelined unit to enhance the speed of operation. All the synthesis and simulation results of the Proposed Reversible 64 bit BCD adder Unit and subtract Unit are performed using Verilog HDL on Xilinx ISE 14.7.
Tribological Behavior of Journal Bearing Material under Different Lubricants

The friction and wear behavior of journal bearing material has been investigated using pin on disc wear tester with three different lubricating oils i.e. synthetic lubricating oil (SAE20W40), chemically modified rapeseed oil (CMRO), chemically modified rapeseed oil with Nano CuO. Wear tests were carried out at maximum load of 200 N and sliding speeds of 2 – 10 m/s. The results showed that the friction and wear behavior of the journal bearing material have changed according to the sliding conditions and lubricating oils. The journal bearing material has a lower friction coefficient for CMRO with Nano CuO than other two oils. Higher wear of journal bearing material was observed in SAE 20W40 and CMRO. Worn surfaces of the journal bearing material with three lubricating oils were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and wear mechanisms were discussed. © 2014 Published by Faculty of Engineering Corresponding author:
Is Diabetic Macrovascular Disease a Complication of Microvascular Disease ?

A causative role for hyperglycemia in the development of diabetic microvascular complications is very clear. In fact, the glycemic parameters that are used to define/diagnose diabetes mellitus (fasting blood glucose >7 mM) were chosen because they effectively differentiate individuals at high risk for developing retinopathy from those at low risk [1]. In contrast, the association between hyperglycemia and macrovascular disease appears to be much more complex. There is a progressive relationship between increasing blood glucose concentration and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), with CV risk rising approximately 20% for every 1.5 mM increase in fasting glucose, or for every 1% elevation in HbA1c levels [2,3]. Furthermore, both epidemiological and pathophysiological studies have shown that hyperglycemia is an independent CV risk factor. Unexpectedly, clinical trials, including ACCORD, ADVANCE and VADT, have shown that intensive glucose lowering does not prevent macrovascular complications in older patients with long-standing diabetes and existing CV risk factors [4]. In contrast, other trials in younger patients, have shown that glucose lowering is associated with reduced carotid atherosclerosis and CVD in patients with T1D, and has a significant cardiovascular benefit in patients with T2D [5-7].
Reduction of Large Dynamical Systems by Minimization of Evolution Rate

Reduction of a large system of equations to a lower-dimensional system of similar dynamics is investigated. For dynamical systems with disparate timescales, a criterion for determining redundant dimensions and a general reduction method based on the minimization of evolution rate are proposed. Key words, deduced chemical kinetics, low-dimensional manifolds, algebraic stress modeling Subject classification. Turbulent Combustion
Impacts of blackwater co-digestion upon biogas production in pilot-scale UASB and CSTR reactors

The performance of two pilot-scale blackwater co-digestion reactors was studied as an effort to reproduce the transition of current wastewater infrastructures to source-separated sanitation systems. The main focus of this study remained on assessing the feasibility of blackwater codigestion via two different approaches: for either municipal wastewater in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor or mixed sewage sludge in a continuously stirred tank reactor. For the CSTR, increasing methane yields of 222 to 332 l CH4 kg/CODremoved were achieved by increasing the blackwater load in the influent from 0 to 35% (COD % in influent load). COD removal ranged from >70% to 78% between transition states of 0–25%, while at high transition states of approx. 35% blackwater 60% COD-removal were observed. For the UASB reactor, COD removals of 57– 67% were reported despite high COD loading rates of 6.1–8.4 kg/(m d). Removal of organic matter was successfully achieved in both cases; blackwater co-digestion alongside raw sludge proved better in terms of biogas generation within the CSTR reactor. Thus, current digestors in wastewater treatment plants can be integrated in new concepts for separate treatment of different household wastewater streams.
3 Atmospheric Teleconnection Patterns

Teleconnections are spatial patterns in the atmosphere that link weather and climate anomalies over large distances across the globe. This chapter examines the spatial and temporal characteristics of teleconnections in both hemispheres, including the history of their discovery and research, and the methods by which teleconnections have been identified. We also present a detailed discussion on the leading theories of the physical mechanisms that account for the location, time scale, excitation, maintenance, and decay of teleconnections, as well as the role of tropical convection, and the inter-annual variability of teleconnections.
CARBON FIBERS-BASED COMPOSITES FOR THE TREATMENT OF HARD TISSUE INJURIES

Fibrous composites are ranked among the materials, which, owing to the similarity to some tissue structures, can play a role of implants to fill, substitute or unite those structures. Particularly interesting seems their application in bone surgery. Due to good mechanical properties they can work as load-bearing implants. In the evaluation of biomechanical functions the mechanical properties and biological behavior both should be taken into account. The crucial problem in designing the composite materials for medical applications is to properly select the fibers and the matrix. The analysis of biocompatibility of different implant materials indicates that the most suitable ones are ceramics based on hydroxyapatite and calcium phosphates, resorbable polymers representing the polyhydroxyacid group and carbon materials [1-3]. Because of the unfavorable mechanical properties of these matrices it is necessary to modify them with dispersions or fibers. In this paper analyzed is the effect of microstructure on the mechanical and biological properties of composites reinforced with carbon fibers.
Effect of hyper-modified asphalt binder on wearing course mixtures cracking behaviour

This paper presents a laboratory investigation aimed at evaluating the effect of employing hyper-modified asphalt binders in surface asphalt courses in terms of cracking resistance. Two different Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) surface layers were investigated: an Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC) and a full-graded blend. Two different asphalt binders were employed: a highly modified binder composed by 6% of a traditional SBS polymer and an experimental hypermodified binder composed by 7.5% of an innovative SBS polymer. Both natural aggregates and steel slags were used for asphalt mixture design. The cracking behaviour of the mixtures at intermediate temperatures were evaluated using a visco-elastic fracture mechanics-based cracking model entitled HMA Fracture Mechanics. The cracking behaviour of the mastics at intermediate temperatures was also investigated using a Modified Direct Tension Test (MDTT), together with a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) system. The results showed that the hypermodified binder provides better performance than the traditional hard modified one when used in OGFC mixes. Conversely, no significant differences were observed in the results obtained from full-graded mixes.
Arctic – lower latitude coupling : What is the forcing and what is the response ?

1 R ecent Arctic changes are expected to, and may already be, impacting middle latitudes and the rest of the globe. For the first time, the US National Climate Assessment (Melillo et al. 2014) has called attention to a possible role of the Arctic in variations of the jet stream (now referred to as the “polar vortex”) over the contiguous United States (http://nca2014. globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/melting-ice). As evidence of the increased public awareness of this topic, Hamilton and Lemcke-Stampone (2013) have recently reported results showing that a clear majority (60%) of surveyed members of the public now accepts that there is a connection between Arctic warming and mid-latitude weather. Yet the Arctic’s connection with middle latitudes represents a challenge to scientific diagnosis because the forcings and responses of the two regions are intertwined. Hence a key question about Arctic− lower latitude coupling is: What is the forcing and what is the response to Arctic warming?
Monetary theory and policy : the debate revisited 1

This paper is aimed at revisiting monetary analysis in order to better understand erroneous choices in the conduct of monetary policy. According to the prevailing consensus, the market economy is intrinsically stable and is upset only by poor behaviour by government or the banking system. We maintain on the contrary that the economy is unstable and that achieving stability requires a discretionary economic policy. This position relies upon an analytical approach in which monetary and financial organisations are devices that help markets to function. In this perspective, which focuses on the heterogeneity of markets and agents, and, consequently, on the role of institutions in determining overall performance, it turns out that nominal rigidities and financial commitment offer the means to achieve economic stability. This is because they prevent successive, unavoidable disequilibria from becoming explosive.
Parathyroid carcinoma

Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare but clinically-aggressive tumor. While most cases are sporadic, parathyroid cancer is overrepresented in hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome, or rarely other heritable syndromes. Evidence suggests that sporadic parathyroid carcinomas rarely, if ever, evolve through an identifiable benign tumor intermediate. A few genes have been directly implicated in the pathogenesis of sporadic parathyroid cancer; somatic (and less common germline) mutations in the CDC73 tumor suppressor gene are the most frequent finding and the only firmly established molecular drivers of parathyroid cancer. Alterations in other important human cancer genes, including CCND1 /cyclin D1, PIK3CA , MTOR and PRUNE2 have also been described in parathyroid cancer, however their abilities to drive malignant parathyroid tumorigenesis remains to be demonstrated experimentally.
INCOMPACT 3 D : A POWERFUL TOOL TO TACKLE TURBULENCE PROBLEMS ON SUPERCOMPUTERS

Simulating and understanding turbulent flows remains one of the most challenging problems in classical physics. Significant progress has been made recently using high performance computing (HPC), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is now a credible alternative to experiments and theories in order to understand the rich physics of turbulence. Only very few codes dedicated to Direct and Large Eddy Simulations (DNS/LES) are capable of undertaking massive simulations with several billion mesh nodes on thousands of computational cores. Most of them are simulating idealized homogeneous, isotropic turbulence, using spectral methods with at least periodic boundary conditions in two spatial directions. Unfortunately, for engineering problems in slightly more complex geometry, the full spectral approach (the most accurate one) is no yet feasible. In conventional CFD, especially in an industrial context, complex geometries are usually treated using non-structured element meshes, requiring low-order schemes and sophisticated tools for the generation of highly distorted meshes. The resulting accuracy is most of the time clearly incompatible for a detailed analysis of engineering problems. In this paper/talk, I am presenting an innovative numerical tool which can conciliate accuracy, efficiency, versatility and scalability using a Cartesian grid. This tool allows accurate simulations of a wide range of engineering configurations. Various examples will be shown in this paper/talk such as fractal-generated turbulence, gravity currents, impinging jets on a heated plate and a microjet device to control a turbulent jet.
A Study of Doxing , its Security Implications and Mitigation Strategies for Organizations

This research paper focuses on the impact of intentional and unintentional exposure or leakage of sensitive personal data elements thatwhen aggregated and used or disclosed in an unauthorized mannercould impact the employees of an organization. Doxing usually escalates to hacking, espionage and harassment. Such impacts could damage the reputation or competitive advantage of the organization; especially if the targeted employee is a senior management executive. Threat agents use doxing to collect data undetected, from targeted victims. Doxing is a mode of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), aimed at launching sophisticated attacks on individuals or employees of an organization, through the collection of personal information over time; as such, doxing is considered an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). Some risk management strategies today, may not consider the risk associated with doxing; the objective of this research is to create its awareness and recommend methods for its mitigation. Keywords— Advanced Persistent Threat; Doxing; Open Source Intelligence (OSINT); Sensitive Data; Risk Management