Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification and Quantification of β-Sitosterol β-d-Glucoside of an Ethanolic Extract Obtained by Microwave-Assisted Extraction from Agave angustifolia Haw

β-sitosterol β-d-glucoside (BSSG) was extracted from “piña” of the Agave angustifolia Haw plant by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) with a KOH solution such as a catalyst and a conventional maceration method to determine the best technique in terms of yield, extraction time, and recovery. The quantification and characterization of BSSG were done by high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and high-performance liquid chromatography−electrospray ionization−mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS). With an extraction time of 5 s by MAE, a higher amount of BSSG (124.76 mg of β-sitosterol β-d-glucoside/g dry weight of the extract) than those for MAE extraction times of 10 and 15 s (106.19 and 103.97 mg/g dry weight respectively) was shown. The quantification of BSSG in the extract obtained by 48 h of conventional maceration was about 4–5 times less (26.67 mg/g dry weight of the extract) than the yields reached by the MAE treatments. MAE achieved the highest amount of BSSG, in the shortest extraction time while preserving the integrity of the compound’s structure.
Spending Power and match attendance: is Romanian football a normal or an inferior good?

Drawing on a database containing information on spending power of individuals and match attendance in the national football championship for 2006-2010, this research has the purpose to find out whether Romanian football is a normal or an inferior good. For making the correlation between the two economic proxys, the bivariate analysis function in SPSS was used. The results show a significant and negative correlation between the variables, indicating that football is an inferior good. In the discussion section, the paper presents some of the reasons that made local soccer reach inferiority and shows suggestions that could be implemented in order to not allow further coverage and attendance losses to occur due to the inferior status. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the local football industry, the latter one lacking economic and business oriented management which could make it more performant.
Descent for quasi-coherent sheaves on stacks S

Stacks were introduced in order to parametrize problems in algebraic geometry where the presence of automorphisms prevented representability by a scheme or even a sheaf (see Artin [1], Deligne–Mumford [3] and Giraud [5]). One early application was Deligne and Mumford’s use of stacks to prove the irreducibility of the space of curves of a given genus [3]. More recently stacks have also played an important role in algebraic topology. Complex oriented cohomology theories give rise to stacks over the moduli stack of formal groups and, in certain situations, stacks over the moduli stack of formal groups give rise to spectra (see Goerss [6], Goerss–Hopkins [8] and Rezk [21]) which play an important role in understanding the homotopy groups of spheres (see Goerss–Henn–Mahowald–Rezk [7] and Behrens [2]). One fundamental example is the spectrum of topological modular forms (see Hopkins [12]) which is associated to the moduli stack of elliptic curves.
Frequency-Scaled Curvature as a Proxy for Topographic Site-Effect Amplification and Ground-Motion Variability

We introduce a new methodology to predict the topographic site‐effect amplification. Ground motions obtained from a large database of 3D earthquake simulations show that the curvature of the Earth’s surface, defined as the second spatial derivative of the elevation map, is correlated with the topographic site amplification. The highest correlation between the frequency‐dependent topographic amplification and the topographic curvature is reached when the curvature is smoothed over a characteristic length equal to the S wavelength divided by two (i.e., frequency‐scaled curvature [FSC]). This implies the amplification is caused by topographic features for which horizontal dimensions are similar to half of the S wavelength. The largest ground‐motion variabilities are found at sites located on slopes and on the largest summits, whereas intermediate variabilities occur over narrow ridges and a stable behavior in the bottom valleys. The FSC proxy allows the identification of topographic features with similar characteristic dimensions and probabilistic estimates of amplification values accounting on the variability of ground motions due to source–site interactions. Amplification estimates using the FSC proxy are robust and easily computed from digital elevation maps provided that reasonable values of S‐wave velocities are available in the area of interest.
The Factors Affecting the Relationship between Remission Status and Employment in Chronic Schizophrenia Patients

Objective Symptomatic remission have substantial effects in long-term schizophrenia outcome, but exact determinants of the employment. In this study, the relationship between employment and symptomatic remission in chronic schizophrenia patients and other factors related to employment were investigated. Methods 100 patients interviewed were evaluated by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Functional Recovery Scale in Schizophrenia (FROGS), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Quality of Life Scale (QoL) and Subjective Recovery Assessment Scale (SubRAS). Sociodemographic variables, clinical features, antipsychotic dose and past working history obtained from patient interviews were investigated. Results The patients of 40% who participate in the study were symptomatic remission, but only 53.5% of these patients weren’t employed. Young age, especially, -regardless of the onset of illness- working a job in the past, low and moderate use CPED (equivalent doses according to chlorpromazine), shorter disease duration, symptomatic remission was found to be closely related to employment. While QoL, FROGS, GAF, and SubRAS total scores of employment group were higher than the unemployment group, PANSS total scores in the unemployment group were higher than that of the employment group. There was a high correlation between the scales and employment status. Conclusion Employment status was closely related with the remission status. This study supports that symptomatic remission alone is not decisive for employment. It was found that younger age, past working history (before or after the disease), low and intermediate CPED antipsychotic use and shorter duration of disease were closely related to employment with symptomatic remission.
International Journal of Instruction

Recently, psychologists and educators have been interested in the study of anxiety, motivation and achievements. The modern approach to the phenomenon of anxiety is based on the fact that anxiety should not be regarded as an initially negative personality trait; it is a signal of inadequacy of subject's activity in relation to the situation. Each person is characterized by the optimal level of anxiety, the socalled positive anxiety, which is a necessary condition for the development of personality, and there is a set of anxiety situations depending on the experience and personal resources. The relevance of the research topic is explained by the constant updating of the content of education. The latter often leads to meager understanding by students of their future profession and influences the formation of students' self-regulation techniques, necessary for a favorable independent learning and active life position. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of anxiety on motivation and performance. The results of the study showed that 49% of high-performing students have a medium level of anxiety, and 41% are highly anxious. High rates of internal and external motivation are among respondents with an average value of situational anxiety. Significantly lower motivation is in students with a high level of trait anxiety. A high level of anxiety contributes to a high level of academic achievement, but at the same time reduces the motivation for learning. A low level of anxiety leads to a decrease in academic performance, but the level of motivation is quite high. Therefore, the results of the study can be useful for teachers, university management, as well as for those who are responsible for the preparation and conduct of examination sessions.
A Design of Microwave LC-Resonator-Based Biosensor with Double Sensentive Region for Healthy-IoT Applications

This study presents a microwave LC-resonator-based biosensor with double sensitive region potentially for healthy Internet of things (IoT) applications. The proposed LC-resonator consists of an intertwined inductor and an interdigital capacitor, which can separately provide a sensitive region. The inductance and capacitance can be varied after the sensitive region contacts with potential healthy-IoT-based biomarker solution. Through two sensitive region, it could be feasible that two different biomarker solutions for two potential disease can be detected at the same time, for example, glucose biomarker solution for diabetes and uric biomarker solution for kidney failure. Moreover, disease that has to be diagnosed based on two necessary biomarkers could be feasibly proceeded based on our work. The proposed biosensor is simulated based on the GaAs-based integrated passive technology possessing a chip size of $1379 \mu m \times 585 \mu m$ and operation frequency of 7.46 GHz. This work is targeting to provide a new method to deal with healthy-IoT applications.
The Blanchet-Khovanov algebras

Blanchet introduced certain singular cobordisms to fix the functoriality of Khovanov homology. In this paper we introduce graded algebras consisting of such singular cobordisms \`a la Blanchet. As the main result we give algebraic versions of these algebras using the combinatorics of arc diagrams.
Description of Projects Illustrative of Practitioners' and Researchers' Relationships.

In 1984, the Spanish government created Teachers' Centres as part of educational reform. These were intended to improve teacher inservice education and foster professionalism. The pre-Civil War pedagogical culture was somehow maintained in a few movements of "Pedagogical Renovation. " The guiding principle of these movements was that schooling is the responsibility of teachers and that change cannot come from the outside, although external support can facilitate school improvement. One project that took place in the first phase of the Teachers' Centres consisted of an inservice activity based on school evaluation, to promote teacher awareness and professional reflective attitudes through systematic analysis of the Educational School Project and the school organizational structure. Five of the larger schools in a rural area participated. The main results were: participants recognized the possibility of learning from peers; the studies carried out by each school; the decisions made as a result of the studies; and the published cooperative article written by all the participants. Another pedagogical renovation movement carried out.in a progressive public school in Barcelona and conferences organized in Catalonia are summarized. (Contains 14
High Fiber Cakes from Mediterranean Multipurpose Oilseeds as Protein Sources for Ruminants

Simple Summary Recovery and valorization of residues are key factors for agro-industry to progress towards circular-economy models and more sustainable productions. In the vegetable oils industry, large quantities of spent seed cakes are produced downstream of the oil extraction processes, and their use as animal feedstuffs, mainly as protein supplements for ruminants, is a possible valorization strategy. In this study, we analyzed chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of spent cakes from sunflower, pomegranate, cardoon, tobacco and hemp that are multipurpose cultures emerging in Mediterranean area. The results showed that the cakes of tobacco, cardoon and hemp might be interesting alternative protein feeds for ruminants. The valorization of these cakes may potentially improve economic and environmental sustainability of the emerging vegetable-oil production chains. Abstract Fifteen oilseed cakes from sunflower, pomegranate, cardoon, tobacco and hemp were characterized with regard to chemical composition, Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) fractionation, in vitro digestibility of dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, and crude protein. All the cakes presented low moisture, rather variable ether extract contents and medium to high levels of crude protein and neutral detergent fiber. The cakes significantly differed in terms of CNCPS partitioning and in vitro digestibility. Tobacco and hemp cakes presented high contents of slow degradable fractions of crude protein and carbohydrate joined to good post-ruminal protein digestibility. Cardoon cakes presented the highest rumen protein degradability. Based on crude protein content and intestinal digestibility of rumen undegraded protein, cakes of tobacco and hemp showed the better potential as alternative protein supplements for ruminants, while pomegranate appears to be the least suitable for ruminant feeding.
On the existence of (400, 57, 8) non-abelian difference sets

Difference sets with parameters q d+1 −1 q−1 , q d −1 q−1 , q d−1 −1 q−1 , where q is a prime power and d ≥ 1, are known to exist in cyclic groups and are called classical Singer difference sets. We study a special case of this family with q =7 and d = 3 in search of more difference sets. According to GAP, there are 220 groups of order 400 out of which 10 are abelian. E. Kopilovich and other authors showed that the remaining nine abelian groups of order 400 do not admit (400, 57, 8) difference sets. Also, Gao and Wei used the (400, 57, 8) Singer difference set to construct four inequivalent difference sets in a non-abelian group. In this paper, we demonstrate using group representation and factorization in cyclotomic rings that, out of the remaining 209 non-abelian groups of order 400, only 15 could possibly admit (400, 57, 8) difference sets.
The Need to Develop a Single Multi-OMICS Tool for IVF Embryo Selection

In-vitro fertilization (IVF) patients are often made to rely on the judgement of embryologist to select embryo to be returned to the uterus in each treatment cycle. Most often, patients wish to know how the selected embryos are better off than the rest. This is especially true when they are displayed on the screen looking similar to each other. To an untrained eye, they may pass for the same quality but an embryologist use morphological criteria to distinguish the ones that have better quality. Some have argued that the experience of the embryologist is critical at this stage.
Dimensions of information technology infrastructure flexibility in improving management efficacy of construction industry perspective: A conceptual study

As technologies change rapidly, improved information technology (IT) products and services are released daily throughout the world. This phenomenon gives tremendous pressure on organization managers to plan, implement and adopt new technology solution in accommodating such changes. Thus, one of the most significant current discussions is IT infrastructure flexibility. Most of the studies in IT infrastructure flexibility have been carried out across industries; however less attention has been paid to measure flexibility of IT infrastructure in construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual understanding on how IT infrastructure flexibility responds in changing the business demand by exploring the dimensions that could be used to measure IT within construction industry. The study is based on textual reading in a range of recently published works, of which majority of them are from 2000 to 2010. The findings will provide potential variables about each dimension in measuring IT infrastructure flexibility, indicating factors that can be used for future development of an IT infrastructure flexibility maturity model. In this context, the maturity model will be useful for construction organisations to determine where they are. It also offers a benchmark for assessing different organisations for equivalent comparison.
Prediction via the Quantile-Copula Conditional Density Estimator

To make a prediction of a response variable from an explanatory one which takes into account features such as multimodality, a nonparametric approach based on an estimate of the conditional density is advocated and considered. In particular, we build point and interval predictors based on the quantile-copula estimator of the conditional density by Faugeras (2009). The consistency of these predictors is proved through a uniform consistency result of the conditional density estimator. Eventually, the practical implementation of these predictors is discussed. A simulation on a real data set illustrates the proposed methods.
Second-order MUSCL schemes based on Dual Mesh Gradient Reconstruction (DMGR)

We discuss new MUSCL reconstructions to approximate the solutions of hyperbolic systems of conservations laws on 2D unstructured meshes. To address such an issue, we write two MUSCL schemes on two overlapping meshes. A gradient reconstruction procedure is next defined by involving both approximations coming from each MUSCL scheme. This process increases the number of numerical unknowns, but it allows to reconstruct very accurate gradients. Moreover a particular attention is paid on the limitation procedure to enforce the required robustness property. Indeed, the invariant region is usually preserved at the expense of a more restrictive CFL condition. Here, we try to optimize this condition in order to reduce the computational cost.
Context-Dependent Behavior in Parkinson’s Disease With Freezing of Gait

Background. Context-dependent behavior is a phenomenon in which people demonstrate superior performance in the context where a motor task was originally learned, but show poorer performance in an unfamiliar context. Previous studies found that people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) demonstrated greater context-dependency than nondisabled adults. Moreover, the frontostriatal circuit appeared to play a role in mediating context-dependent behavior. Neuroimaging studies showed that people with PD and freezing of gait (FoG) had difficulty recruiting the frontostriatal circuit when performing a set-shifting task, known to be mediated by this neural network. Objective. This study aimed to investigate whether individuals with PD and FoG (PD + FoG) would be more context-dependent than those without FoG (PD − FoG). Furthermore, the association between context-dependent behavior and set-shifting ability would be determined. Methods. Sixteen individuals with PD + FoG, 15 participants with PD − FoG, and 15 nondisabled adults (Control) were recruited. The participants practiced 3 numerical sequences, each associated with a specific context. One day following practice, the participants were tested under 2 conditions: the sequence-context associations remained the same as practice or were changed. Set-shifting ability was measured by the Trail Making Test (TMT). Results. Compared to the PD − FoG group, the PD + FoG group showed a greater decrement in normalized motor performance when the sequence-context associations were changed. Context-dependency correlated with the TMT in the PD − FoG group but not in the PD + FoG or Control groups. Conclusion. While people with PD + FoG appeared to be more context-dependent than individuals without FoG, a relationship between context-dependent behavior and set-shifting existed only in those without FoG.
Development of multicore and tapered chalcogenide fibers for supercontinuum generation

DEVELOPMENT OF MULTICORE AND TAPERED CHALCOGENIDE FIBERS FOR SUPERCONTINUUM GENERATION Abba Usman Saleh M.S. in Materials Science and Nanotechnology Advisor: Bülend Ortaç December 2016 The dramatic spectral broadening of an electromagnetic radiation as it propagates through a nonlinear medium is called Supercontinuum generation. Supercontinuum generation is indeed regarded as one of the prominent phenomenon in nonlinear optics and photonics with burgeoning applications in various fields such as spectroscopy, early cancer diagnostics, gas sensing, food quality control, fluorescence microscopy e.t. c. Supercontinuum generation in optical fibers is however associated with three fundamental challenges: minimization of input power threshold, maximization of output power as well as output spectrum of a supercontinuum. Two unique fabrication approaches namely ”Direct tapering” and ”Multicore fibers” were proposed to address the aforementioned challenges. Chalcogenide nanowires were fabricated via direct tapering of chalcogenide glasses, and spectral broadening with extremely low peak power of ∼ 2 W was demonstrated. Multicore array of chalcogenide step index fibers were also fabricated using a new method. The fabricated step index fiber has a diameter ∼ 1.35 μm which was engineered to have a zero dispersion wavelength (ZDW) around 1100 nm with a pump of center wavelength at 1550 nm . Using split step Fourier method, it was shown that the fiber possesses a great potential for severe spectral broadening. Supercontinuum generation with the as drawn fiber, encountered challenges as well as proposed solutions were demonstrated and discussed.
Planar Lens Antenna with Enhanced Directivity Based on Miniaturized Element Frequency Selective Surface

We present a novel modeling of a low profile, dual polarization and high-directivity antenna lens using miniaturized element frequency selective surface (MEFSS), which is composed of three closely spaced metallic layers on thin substrate separated from one another by air space. The top and bottom layer are capacitive patch layers and the middle layer is inductive wire grid layer. The element with variable size of capacitive patches are judiciously distributed across the lens to provide a gradient phase function so as to compress the wave-front width. A lens antenna, composed of a patch antenna and the proposed lens above it, are designed, simulated and characterized. The results shows good performance-the realized gain increases by 7.08 dB at 2.5 GHz. The demonstrated lens with high directivity can be applied to radar and communication system.
Moments of runoff coefficient and peak discharge estimation in urban catchments

A study of hydrologic losses in urban catchments is presented, on the basis of rainfall-runoff data of events recorded in 21 urban experimental catchments. Interest was mainly focused on the runoff coefficient, usually used in simple conceptual models for discharge estimation in the design of drainage networks. This coefficient shows characteristics that are typical of random variates and that are usually neglected. From analysis of experimental data, its probability distribution function was found to be approximately normal, and simple relationships for estimation of main moments were developed. These relationships can be used in problems concerning reliability analysis and risk design of drainage networks. A modification of the rational method, taking into account the randomness of the runoff coefficient to achieve a correct estimation of risk level of design discharges, is then proposed for urban catchments.