Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maybe Twitter Actually Is Real Life: An In-Depth Examination of the Connections Between Twitter and Politics

Despite its third-place rank in total users, Twitter represents the most popular social media platform for politicians to communicate with their constituents. In addition, journalists, pundits, and politicians alike have formed a so-called “Political Twitter” bubble that has an outsized influence on policy, media, and politics itself. In this thesis, we examine the relationships between politics and Twitter. We analyzed how partisanship affected politicians’ willingness to tweet about politically toxic events such as impeachment, and found a strong correlation between the partisanship of a given politician and their willingness to tweet about impeachment. We also found that politicians in so-called “crossover” districts, where the representative’s political party does not match the party that their district chose for the presidency, are much less likely to tweet about impeachment than counterparts in non-crossover districts with the same level of partisan lean. Having examined one side of the relation, we then attempted to use Twitter as a predictor for Democratic primary polling. After finding limited results for national primary polling, we focused on the more limited domain of Democratic debate performances. We found strong evidence that the number of times a candidate’s name and username are mentioned during a debate are powerful predictors for polls of that candidate’s debate performance. We conclude by examining the implications of our findings, suggesting that Twitter can in fact be a valid predictor for certain more high-engagement domains, and that despite Twitter’s reputation as hyper-partisan, politicians perform a remarkable amount of self-mediation on the platform.
A numerical study of droplet trapping in microfluidic devices

Microfluidic channels are powerful means of control of minute volumes such as droplets. These droplets are usually conveyed at will in an externally imposed flow which follows the geometry of the micro-channel. It has recently been pointed out by Dangla et al. [“Trapping microfluidic drops in wells of surface energy,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 107(12), 124501 (2011)] that the motion of transported droplets may also be stopped in the flow, when they are anchored to grooves which are etched in the channels top wall. This feature of the channel geometry explores a direction that is usually uniform in microfluidics. Herein, this anchoring effect exploiting the three spatial directions is studied combining a depth averaged fluid description and a geometrical model that accounts for the shape of the droplet in the anchor. First, the presented method is shown to enable the capture and release droplets in numerical simulations. Second, this tool is used in a numerical investigation of the physical mechanisms at play in th.
Direct Incorporation of Magnetic Constituents within Ordered Mesoporous Carbon−Silica Nanocomposites for Highly Efficient Electromagnetic Wave Absorbers

Low-density ordered mesoporous carbon−silica nanocomposites with different Fe contents have been prepared by a facile solvent-evaporation-induced self-assembly approach. Magnetic metal nanocrystallines are highly dispersed in the composites due to in situ carbothermal reduction. The optimal reflection loss calculated from the measured permittivity and permeability is −34.4 dB at 13.1 GHz. Moreover, the electromagnetic wave absorption less than −10 dB is found to exceed 5.0 GHz for an absorber thickness of 2 mm. The microwave enhancement absorption of the mesoporous C−SiO2−Fe nanocomposites is contributed to the better match between dielectric loss and magnetic loss, which originates from the high absorption by the incorporation of magnetic species as well as the multiple reflections by the ordered mesoporous structure. The mesoporous C−SiO2−Fe nanocomposites also exhibit a lower infrared emissivity in the wavelength from 8 to 14 μm than that of Fe-free powder.
A study of the relationship between freshwater runoff and benthos abundance : A scale-oriented approach

Abstract In some coastal environments, freshwater runoff is one of the main potential sources of auxiliary energy. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms by which this energy input influences biological production, particularly at intermediate and high trophic levels. Moreover, the evidence available does not allow to link runoff variability one unambiguously to the dynamics of marine fauna. Here, an empirical approach based on exploratory data analysis is used to test for a link between these components of the ecosystem. Linear regression and correlation models were used to examine the relationship between runoff and abundance, biomass and mean weight per individual of juvenile populations (
Some observations on the typology of linguistic theories

Gilles Fauconnier & Eve Sweetser (eds.), Space, worlds, and grammar. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1996. 355 Pp. Masayoshi Shibatani & Sandra Thompson (eds.), Grammatical constructions: their form and meaning. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Pp. xvii+345. Several years ago a volume of articles appeared called The view from Building 20 (Hale & Keyser 1993). As suggested by the title, the contributions reflected trends guiding the theoretical paradigm pre-eminently associated with MIT. After reading this collection, a colleague quipped that she wondered how well the view from Building 20 accorded with the broad research world beyond it. In this connection, the two books under review represent perspectives on language analysis which encourage one to pause and consider the present theoretical landscape in linguistics, and, less directly, the role of linguistics within modern cognitive science. Among their other merits, both books provide a rich and useful illustration of some of the perspectives on language analysis outside of Building 20. In doing so, they also help to define a more interesting research landscape than that usually characterized as an opposition between ‘formalists’ versus ‘cognitive/functionalists’.
Adaption and Optimization of the Ferric-nitrilotriacetate Spectrophotometric Method for Quantification of Lactoferrin in Raw Milk

This study aimed at adapting and optimising the Fe3+-nitrilotriacetate (Fe3+-NTA) spectrophotometric method for determining lactoferrin (LF) content in raw milk and milk fractions. Isolation of LF from acid whey was achieved by using cellulose phosphate resin. LF was quantified from the standard curve based on spectrophotometric reading at 465nm. The purity of LF isolates was established based on lactoperoxidase (LP) activity. The adopted method indicated under estimation of LF content. However, this was modified by incorporation of NaHCO3 and Fe3+-NTA in both the blank for the standard and test samples, which improved the performance of the method. Results generally indicated that modified Fe3+-nitrilotriacetate (Fe3+-NTA) method is a simple, quick and reproducible method that can give a better quantitative estimation of LF. A batch procedure using cellulose phosphate resin was highly effective for the isolation and purification of LF as demonstrated with less contamination of LP.
Economic Iterative Learning Control with Application to Tethered Energy Systems.

COBB, MITCHELL. Economic Iterative Learning Control with Application to Tethered Energy Systems. (Under the direction of Dr. Chris Vermillion.) A multitude of engineered systems in the manufacturing, robotics, and energy systems communities operate in a cyclical or repetitive fashion. The preponderance of traditional tools from repetitive control and its cousin, iterative learning control (ILC), has focused solely on the tracking of a prescribed path. However, many recent and even not-so-recent repetitive processes stand to benefit from control strategies that consider some economic objective (e.g., manufacturing time, metabolic cost, or net energy generation, depending on the application). This dissertation presents two iterative learning control frameworks for repetitive, path-following systems, both of which are tailored to explicitly consider economic performance objectives. In the first, we adapt the update law from traditional ILC so that it applies to the path shape, thereby allowing for the adaptation of the path itself rather than merely tracking a prescribed path. In the second, we adapt the lifted system representation and the update law in order to directly modify control inputs to a system in a way that allows the iteration time to vary from one iteration to the next. These methodologies differ from preexisting work in that they i) allow for optimization of an economic objective, ii) allow the timing properties of a system to vary from one iteration to the next, and iii) do not require that the initial conditions be reset between iterations. Of these contributions, the second and third not only facilitate the consideration of economic performance goals (which are severely hampered by the need to keep iterating timing fixed and reset a system between repetitions) but also amount to lifting fundamental restrictions that are inherent to much of the preexisting work on ILC. The methodologies developed in this work have been validated on a tethered energy system, whereby a high-lift tethered “kite” executes periodic flight patterns that, when optimized, produce more than an order of magnitude more power than an equivalently-sized stationary system. To this end, we present a sequence of four dynamic models of tethered energy systems. These models represent a sequence of incrementally increasingly complexity and realism while also capturing the key elements of the economic optimization problem that are important to this work. This dissertation then validates the ILC algorithms on each of these models in succession, demonstrating increased economic performance in each case. © Copyright 2020 by Mitchell Cobb All Rights Reserved Economic Iterative Learning Control with Application to Tethered Energy Systems
Application of controlled switching to 500-kV shunt reactor current interruption

To suppress reignition overvoltages caused when a 500-kV shunt reactor current is interrupted by a 550-kV one-break circuit breaker (CB), a study was carried out on controlled switching. Using a full-scale test circuit, reactor current interruption tests were carried out to obtain the relation between opening phase angle and generation of reignition. The results showed that even with the dispersion of CB operations taken into account, there were contact separation points free from high reignition overvoltages. It was also proved that no voltage escalations were caused by reignition and high-frequency arc extinction, and that overvoltages due to current chopping were at a safe level in terms of equipment insulation.
Current Status and Emerging Trends in Wide Bandgap (WBG) Semiconductor Power Switching Devices

The current state-of-the-art of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor material technology is reviewed for the manufacturing of high-performance and reliable power electronics switching devices. In particular, silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) material and device technologies are evaluated when compared to conventional silicon power switching devices. For commercial applications above 400 volts, SiC stands out as a viable near-term commercial opportunity especially for single-chip current ratings in excess of 20 amps. For voltage ratings below 900 volts and smaller currents (below 20 amps), lateral GaN power transistors that utilize two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) are promising candidates. At the time of this writing, field-reliability of WBG power devices is yet to be demonstrated in power converter applications. The exact role of high-density of material defects in both SiC and GaN semiconductors, primarily in the drift-region of the device, is not known from manufacturing and reliability considerations. This fundamental understanding is critical in order for WBG power devices to rapidly penetrate the vast commercial and strategic markets.
Precise electronic Χ(2) spectra of molecules adsorbed at an interface measured by multiplex sum frequency generation

We have developed a new technique to obtain a second-order nonlinear (χ(2)) electronic spectrum of molecules adsorbed at an interface. This technique is based on multiplex sum frequency generation that utilizes femtosecond near-infrared pulses and white light continuum. We obtained the |χ(2)|2 spectra of a dye Nile Blue (NB) at the air/water interface with an unprecedented high signal-to-noise ratio and dense wavelength data points. Fitting analyses with an exact χ(2) expression were performed for the spectra, and detailed information about the electronic structure of NB at the interface was obtained.
Structure and reactivity in langmuir films of amphiphilic alkyl and thio-alkyl esters of α-amino acids at the air/water interface

The structure and reactivity of alkyl esters of several α-amino acids self-assembled at the air/water interface have been investigated as part of our studies on mechanisms that are possibly relevant for the generation of homochiral prebiotic peptides. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) studies of monolayers of racemic and enantiopure alkyl esters and thio-esters of alanine on the water surface demonstrated that these racemates self-assemble in the form of mixed solid solutions, because of disorder of the headgroups of the two enantiomers (enantiomeric disorder) within the two-dimensional (2D) crystallites. Matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization time-of-flight Mass Spectrum (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis of the products collected from the air/water interface indicated the formation of low-molecular-weight oligopeptides (primarily dimers) and, in the case of some of the thioesters, small quantities of trimers and tetramers. Mass spectrometric studies on the diastereoisomeric distribution of the oligopeptides, starting from deuterium enantio-labeled monomers, demonstrated binomial statistics, such as that in reactions occurring in an isotropic environment. The alkyl esters of phenylalanine and tyrosine did not form 2D crystallites at the air/water interface, and, upon polycondensation, they yielded only dipeptides. The enantiomeric disorder within the 2D crystallites of the monomers of the alkyl esters and thioesters of racemic serine was absent. Polycondensation of these esters, however, yielded only dipeptides and tripeptides and they were not investigated further. In contrast to previous reports, the present studies demonstrate that this reaction does not proceed beyond the dipeptide stage and, therefore, cannot be regarded as a plausible system for the generation of prebiotic peptides.
Housing and Household Characteristics of Single- and Dual-Earner Families

The purpose of the present study was to identify and compare the housing char acteristics of categories of single- and dual-earner families with respect to (a) demographic characteristics, (b) characteristics of present home, and (c) satisfac tion with present home. In a sample of 784 husband-wife families, findings indi cate significant differences in housing and household characteristics, not only between single-earner and dual-earner families, but also among the categories of single- and dual-earner families. Among dual-earner families, differences were most often found between career/part-time-earner families and two-earner fami lies. Two-earner families were found to be more similar to one-earner families than to the other dual-earner family types.
Numéro spécial sur la gouvernance de l'eau

Dans ce numero special sur la gouvernance de l’eau, nous nous interessons a la question de la fragmentation et de l’integration d’un point de vue international. Notre intention est d’examiner la facon dont differents pays d’Amerique du Sud et d’Europe ainsi que les Etats-Unis font face a la fragmentation dans les questions liees a l’eau. Cette premiere contribution constitue d’une part une introduction au theme de la gouvernance de l’eau et au debat qui fait rage dans l’administration publique a propos de la fragmentation/de l’integration et, d’autre part, presente des exemples issus des Pays-Bas (deux zones de delta) pour illustrer la fragmentation et les tentatives d’integration. Ces deux cas montrent que la fragmentation est manifeste et que les tentatives d’integration existent bel et bien, mais sont souvent vaines. D’une part (Delta du sud-ouest), on vise l’integration au travers de la centralisation (coordination descendante) et de la creation d’une structure globale formelle (par le biais de la legislation) et, d’autre part (Delta d’Ijssel – Sud), on constate que l’integration est difficile a gerer et entraine des effets d’eviction et des disparitions (des initiatives d’integration regionale centrales aux initiatives d’integration locale). Remarques a l’intention des praticiensLes ressources en eau, en particulier l’eau douce, vont devenir l’une des ressources les plus rares pour les humains, les societes et les ecosystemes. Cela s’observe deja dans plusieurs regions du monde. Un tiers de la population mondiale vit dans des pays soumis a des stress hydriques. La gouvernance de l’eau est par ailleurs determinante sur le plan des excedents d’eau. Tous les deltas du monde ou presque sont concernes, et trois quarts de la population mondiale vit dans des deltas. Le point de depart commun de ce numero special sur la gouvernance de l’eau concerne la fragmentation des responsabilites observee dans ce domaine. Parvenir a la cooperation et a l’integration dans des systemes aussi fragmentes est un probleme de gouvernance fondamental.
An Index to Measure Rural Diversity in the Light of Rural Resilience and Rural Development Debate

Abstract Diversity has been extensively studied in ecological systems and its relationship with resilience has been well recognized. In social and ecological systems, in fact, diversity is considered key to determining resilience where resilience is defined as system’s capacity to learn and adapt in the face of internal or external perturbations. However, although human and ecological systems are dynamic, interacting and interdependent, little attention has been given to social systems diversity and its implications. The interest in diversity and resilience of social-ecological systems is increasingly growing, particularly in the rural contexts, due to its possible effects on social and economic development and livelihoods. In this paper we define an analytical tool, the Rural Diversity Index (RDI), to assess the role of natural, economic and social diversity in determining alternative rural socio-ecological developmental patterns. The application of the RDI in pilot areas of Southern Italy showed that, in specific socio-ecological systems, higher natural-socio-economic diversity leads to higher degree of rural development, as measured through standard socio-economic indicators.
Zone Map Layout Optimization

A zone map is a lightweight data structure that stores multiple summary statistic tuples (e.g. min/max) for multiple contiguous regions of an array called “zones”. The most common application of a zone map, and the one that we consider for most of this work, is as an index to accelerate range queries in relational databases by determining which zones should be skipped during a scan. Most prior academic work in zone maps has only discussed uniformly sized zones that were drawn without much consideration of the underlying data. However, a lot of real-world data exhibits a high degree of clustering and partial-orderedness. Uniform-sized zones are incapable of recognizing this structure which limits their ability to effectively skip data. To enable the maximum amount of data skipping, non-uniformly sized zones are required. In this work, we propose a novel technique for statically generating optimal nonuniformly sized zone map layouts via the minimization of a cost function that models the expected amount of data that needs to be scanned for a random query. We show that the layouts generated by this technique have better expected performance than any uniformly-sized zone map, and depending on the distribution of the data, can obtain up to 6.4x lower query latencies than the best uniformly-sized zone map. We additionally implement this system in a mature, open source, column-oriented database called MonetDB, and compare its performance to that of MonetDB’s native lightweight indexing data structures: imprints. We show that in comparison to MonetDB’s imprints, optimized zone maps can be built just as quickly, take up almost 100x less space, and, depending on the column’s data distribution, offer up to 10x lower latencies for medium to high selectivity queries.
Power flow analysis on simplified feeder modeling

Three novel models to simplify distribution network analysis are presented including equivalent load model (ELM), equivalent load density model (ELDM), and discrete equivalent load density model (DELDM). The voltages and the power on/through both ends of a feeder are used to describe the load and its distribution pattern within the feeder line. Only real time field data from feeder circuit breakers in substations and sectionalizing switches along the feeder lines are needed to obtain a satisfied analysis result. The loads on the feeder are represented by one load in ELM. Six fundamental load distribution patterns are put forward in ELDM. By solving the voltage drop function and the power loss function of the feeder line, characteristic values together with the corresponding similarity parameters for the six load distribution patterns are obtained, respectively. Weighting values for the six load distribution patterns are calculated, respectively. Consequently, voltage drop and line loss can be acquired without needing the data from each distribution transformer on the feeder line. Based on above method, a discrete equivalent load density model is advanced to improve the property. Examples are also given with comparison with other approaches showing the feasibility of the proposed methods.
Theoretical study of rearrangements in water dimer and trimer

The global minimum and transition states for the acceptor-tunnelling, donor-acceptor interchange and bifurcation tunnelling rearrangements of the water dimer, and the single-flip, bifurcation and concerted proton transfer processes in the water trimer have been reinvestigated. Our analysis of the tunnelling splittings and spectroscopy is based on ab initio calculations at the computational level of second-order Møller-Plesset (MP2) theory with basis sets of aug-cc-pVXZ quality (X = D, T, Q for the dimer; X = D, T for the trimer). In both water dimer and trimer, the binding energy, barrier heights, intermonomer distances, and harmonic frequencies converge smoothly as the size of the basis set increases. In the water dimer, the binding energy was evaluated as 5.09kcal mol−1, while the activation energies are 0.52 (acceptor-tunnelling) 0.79 (donor-acceptor interchange), and 1.94 kcal mol−1 (bifurcation tunnelling) at the MP2/aug-cc-pVQZ level. In the water trimer, the binding energy was evaluated as 16.29 kcal mol−1, while the activation energies are 0.28 (single-flip), 2.34 (bifurcation), and 26.36 (proton transfer) kcal mol−1 at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level.