Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Braga-Portugal SYNTHESIS OF SINGLE-CHAIN POLYMERIC NANOPARTICLES BY A COMBINATION OF RAFT POLYMERIZATION AND “CLICK” CHEMISTRY TECHNIQUES

The synthesis and characterization of polymeric nanoparticles has attracted significant attention in recent years due to new and promising properties of nano-objects compared to bulk materials [1]. A good example is the viscosity drop observed in polystyrene melts upon nanoparticle addition, against classical Einstein ́s predictions [2]. In spite of this general interest, synthetic routes to single-chain cross-linked polymeric NPs in the 5 20 nm size range are certainly scarce and have severe limitations.
INNOVATIVE APPROACHES IN TEACHER TRAINING AND CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

There have been significant changes in the teaching-learning process over the last several years. Teachers have moved from the role of “dispensers of knowledge” to ”transformative practitioners”. This shift has provided students with the opportunity to take a more active role in their own learning and allowed them to foster competencies which employers are looking for in today’s workforce. Teacher training in the 21st century needs to encourage the development of skills and characteristics that help teachers become reflective practitioners and effective facilitators, in order to better meet the needs of their students. At the heart of Trinity College London’s work is the support it provides for teachers, both in terms of specific support for teachers preparing candidates for their exams, and more general teacher development. This paper will focus on Trinity’s commitment to providing both online and blended professional development training to support teachers’ needs through our local Italian Moodle platform (https://bcelt.trinitycollege.it/). This paper begins with a brief overview of our online teacher training experience and the changes that have occurred over almost a decade in our profession as instructional designers and teacher trainers. The discussion then turns to the professional development courses (designed in keeping with MIUR guidelines and EU education policies) delivered on Moodle and that explore innovative approaches to teaching and assessing English as a foreign language. The paper will also seek to offer some insights into how our support programme continues to adapt to the style and needs of our community of teachers.
The Influence of Rearing Light Period and the Use of Broiler or Broiler Breeder Diets on Forty-Two-Day Body Weight, Fleshing, and Flock Uniformity in Broiler Stocks

SUMMARY Feed restriction programs for rearing broiler breeders begin with a period of ad libitum feeding and long day lengths. It is not clear how much early growth rate is limited by light period or nutrient density. This trial was performed to determine the response of full-fed broiler males and females to 4-, 8-, 12-, or 16-h durations of light per day (after 3 d of age), and their responses to broiler or breeder diets. Body weight, feed consumption, mortality, corrected feed conversion ratio, BW uniformity, and carcass characteristics were measured weekly in Ross broiler chicks (800 males and 800 females). At 42 d, the 10 birds per pen closest to the mean BW (total = 320) were studied for external carcass morphometrics (shank length, chest girth and width, and keel length) and breast muscle and abdominal fat pad weights. Body weight uniformity was determined for the individual 42-d BW data. Males were heavier than females, and at 42 d had larger external measurements. However, females had a higher proportion of breast muscle at this time. The variability of 42-d BW of males (CV = 14.2%) was greater than that of females (CV = 12.8%). The 42-d BW of the birds fed the broiler diets was 2.16 kg, on average, compared with 1.79 kg for those fed the breeder diets. Surprisingly, the mean 42-d BW did not increase in direct relationship with light period. The 4h light period was advantageous for growth and breast muscle yield, when the broiler diets were used. An 8-h light period reduced growth, when the breeder diets were used, while no change was observed with 8 h on the broiler diets. Broiler chicks exposed to 4 h of daylight early in rearing may be highly motivated to consume feed during the dark period. An 8-h light period can slow growth, particularly when breeder diets are used.
Music Induced Brain Functional Connectivity using EEG Sensors: A Study on Indian Music

Music is promoted in all traditions for the wellbeing of the listener. The two-dimensional emotion models and their effects on the brain were analyzed while listening to selected raga and at Rest. The present study visualized the functional connectivity of emotional responses to Indian Dharmavathi raga thereby locating the similar regions across the electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor pairs. The international 1020 sensor placement system was followed for recording EEG signals. The stimulus based functional associations were noted which help in investigating the neuronal synchronization. Asymmetrical alpha band energy was noticed in the frontal locations where the energy was low at F3 and F7 positions compared to F4 and F8 sensor positions. This indicates that it induces a positive emotion. The relative theta band energy at frontal locations was increased during Task (listening to Dharmavathi raga) as compared to Rest (silence) condition. The relative energy of beta band at frontal locations was significantly decreased after listening to raga. While listening to Dharmavathi raga, alpha band energy on the left frontal region appeared to be low and high energy was observed on the right frontal region. The raga played evoked an increased bi-frontal theta response which indicates that the raga is pleasant and induces mood change after listening.
Elderly income inequality in China

China has achieved rapid economic development and large gains in life expectancy but is also facing increasing income inequality. We analyze the income inequality of the elderly in China over the period 1989-2015 using household panel data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). We compare the trends in income inequality of the elderly and the young and apply a regression-based method to decompose elderly income inequality by socioeconomic groups and by income sources to identify the leading causes of elderly income inequality. We find that the urban-rural disparity, mediated by the inequality of education, is the most prominent dimension of the elderly income inequality. We also conclude that public pension inequality is the key driver of elderly income inequality for older households living without younger family members while labor income from the young is the most important source of income inequality for multi-generation households. Our results suggest that elderly income inequality in China can be reduced by harmonizing pension benefits and, in the long run, by equalizing the educational attainment of urban and rural residents.
SELF-AWARE ADAPTABLE SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURAL PATTERN BASED ON ASSOCIATION RULE MINING

--Software architecture is one of the evergreen research areas, as the technical advancement relies on the software architecture. Due to the technical advancements, most of the users possess different terminals for accessing Internet. Irrespective of the diversity in operating system and user terminal, the web service must be interoperable and compatible. Based on the kind of user terminal, the web service has to be provided without any time complexity. The performance of the architecture is claimed better, only when the appropriate web service is provided to the user without any time delay. In order to map appropriate web services for varying user terminal, this article presents a self-aware adaptable software architectural pattern that is based on association rule mining. The proposed approach does not require any prior knowledge about the system and can work on the go. The performance of this approach is analysed by varying the count of user requests and time with respect to accuracy, precision, recall, F-measure and throughput. The proposed approach proves nominal results with better dynamic mapping capability.
Information Asymmetries and the Access Economy: The Impact of On-Demand Insurance on Competitive Insurance Market Equilibria

Access-based products and services are designed to target specific customer groups. Taking the example of on-demand insurance, which is generic for an intangible product with access-based design, we analyse market equilibria in competitive markets with asymmetric information. On-demand insurance is offered besides standard contracts and therefore stands in direct competition to them. Private information of customers comprise (1) their risk profile and (2) their frequency of usage of coverage. We find, that low frequency individuals can be attracted by the on-demand insurers’ offer as a result of an improvement of expected utility. However, high frequency individuals rather choose standard contracts. Overall, market entry of on-demand insurance companies is beneficial in the sense that market performance as well as utilitarian welfare increase. Our analyses show furthermore, that standard and on-demand markets coexist in a resulting equilibrium, which means that customers are distributed across both markets. In order to get those results, we use the optimization algorithm claimed by Miyazaki (1977) and extended by Spence (1978), and develop a proprietary optimization algorithm to meet the features of the market with two competing products.
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION OF LEADING-EDGE DEFLECTION ANGLES FOR AN SST CONFIGURATION AT LOW SPEED

A procedure for designing deflection angles of multi-segmented flaps in the design optimization of a supersonic wing has been developed to improve aerodynamic performance at taking-off and landing conditions. The geometric shape and computational mesh modification was conducted automatically by a newly-developed tool for all cases with different combination of the leading-edge deflection angles. Flow field around the configuration was simulated and aerodynamic forces were calculated by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with MPI parallel programming. In the design space, a response surface of the 2 nd polynomial was constructed initially by using a number of design variations sampled by an optimal Latin hypercube method, to approximately estimate aerodynamic force and improved by adding cases progressively in the design process. The response surface method largely reduced the number of sampling cases needed in design. Optimal solution of the leading-edge deflection angles, that the drag was the minimum at the specified design lift, was searched on the response surface. Optimization studies were conducted for a cranked-arrow wing with multisegmented flaps of a supersonic transport configuration. It was confirmed that aerodynamic performance was improved by the optimization design, and the design method was efficient to reduce design cost.
APPLICATION OF SINGLE SCAN DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINATION OF KINETIC PARAMETERS OF CRYTALLISATION

A single scan has been performed in Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) at a heating rate of 15°C/min under non-isothermal conditions to investigate the crystallization kinetics of glassy Se90In10-xAgx alloys(where x= 2, 4, 6, 8). Handerson’s theory based on non isothermal method for thermal analysis of single–scan DSC data has been used for this purpose. Activation energy of crystallization and order parameter have been determined and composition dependence of these parameters has been discussed.
Microhabitat Preference of the Alishan Salamander (Hynobius arisanensis)

Abstract: An analysis of the microhabitat preference of the Alishan salamander (Hynobius arisanensis) was conducted in the Alishan area of Taiwan from 2003 to 2006. The study consisted of two parts: one to record microhabitat use of salamanders, and the other to quantify suitable microhabitat in the study site. The salamanders were found to use most of the microhabitat types available to them in the study site. However, they used rocks as shelters at a high frequency (77.7%). Although decayed logs were less available than rocks, the salamanders seemed to choose the logs as shelters. The decayed logs can keep moisture for a longer time and provide more prey than rocks, which probably causes the salamanders to choose less-available logs. The salamander preferred large rocks, but showed no preference for the size of logs. They also liked the cover objects with mosses growing on them. As for substrates, soil and plant debris were used most frequently. Salamanders were found negatively associated with live plant roots. Plant roots growing profusely under the cover objects are difficult for the salamanders to pass. The Alishan salamander preferred substrates with neutral substrate pH (6.2–7.0), high substrate moisture (70%–90%), and moderate substrate hardness (10–15). These results show that when information on microhabitat availability is taken into consideration, the real microhabitat preference of the salamanders does not agree with the descriptive results. We suggest that a quantitative approach should be taken for a habitat preference study, and that this information will be very useful for habitat restoration.
Recursos genéticos de la papa en América Latina: distribución, conservación y uso

La papa cultivada tiene sus ancestros en todo el cordon andino, desde el Sur de Norteamerica, hasta el Archipielago de los Chonos en el Sur de Chile. En esta gran area crecen especies silvestres y cultivadas, que tempranamente (siglo XVI)) fueron llevadas a Europa y de alli al resto del Mundo. Esta gran area ha sido recorrida por multiples expediciones, principalmente por profesionales de paises desarrollados y estas colectas se preservan en bancos geneticos oficiales y privados de esos paises. En America Latina, muchos profesionales han colectado, preservado y usado estos materiales, sin embargo los gobiernos locales han dado escaso apoyo a esta actividad, presentandose en la actualidad un gran peligro de erosion a los accesos reunidos en bancos geneticos de instituciones gubernamentales y universidades. Se indica en este trabajo lo que algunos paises y profesionales latinoamericanos informaron y sus problemas.
Consistent Failure to Produce a Cognitive Load Effect in Visual Working Memory Using a Standard Dual-Task Procedure

Working memory performance is impaired when an attention-demanding task is executed during memory retention. The cognitive load effect is the consistent finding that the size of the memory impairment is determined by the relative amount of time that the secondary processing task occupies attention during memory retention. Cognitive load has been proposed to be a Priority-A benchmark any model of working memory should be able to explain (Oberauer et al., 2018), in part because the effect appears to generalize across different experimental procedures and materials. Using a standard dual-task procedure, we detail four experiments using a visual working memory recall task, two requiring memory for low-level features and two requiring memory for canonical angles (up, down, left, right, etc.). In all four experiments, we failed to find a cognitive load effect, calling into question the generality of the cognitive load effect and whether it is driving forgetting in multitasking contexts.
Risk Attitude towards On-Demand Insurance (Proposal)

Abstract As the technology advanced, on-demand insurance products are developed to cover risk in extremely short-term period. This proposal exams the change in the risk attitude as the period of the focused risk is cut. We run an experiment and shows that individuals become extremely risk averse when on-demand insurance is offered. This extreme risk aversion, or a decision anomaly, can be explained by two behavior biases: myopic bias and loss probability miscalculation.
The cephalopod specialties: complex nervous system, learning, and cognition1

While clearly of molluscan ancestry, the coleoid cephalopods are emergent within the phylum for complexity of brain and behaviour. The brain does not just have centralization of the molluscan ganglia but also contains lobes with “higher order” functions such as storage of learned information, and centres have been compared with the vertebrate cerebellum and frontal lobe. The flexible muscular hydrostat movement system theoretically has unlimited degrees of freedom, and octopuses are models for “soft movement” robots. The decentralized nervous system, particularly in the arms of octopuses, results in decision making at many levels. Free of the molluscan shell and with evolutionary pressure from the bony fishes, coleoids have evolved a specialty in cognition and they may have a simple form of consciousness. Cephalopods also have a skin display system of unmatched complexity and excellence of camouflage, also used for communication with predators and conspecifics. A cephalopod is first and foremost a learnin.
Gains Trading as an Earnings Management Tool: The Case of Property-Casualty Insurers

We investigate the incidence of “gains trading” by property-casualty insurers, in which firms sell invested assets to achieve an earnings benchmark. We identify gains trading behavior in just over 8% of insurer financial statements in our twenty-year sample. Approximately half of this behavior was to avoid reporting losses, while the other half was to show year-over-year earnings growth. The decision to gains trade varies by firm characteristics and financial standing. Gains trading is more likely for firms organized as mutuals, which we conclude is the result of greater agency conflict for mutuals.
Advanced Sensors and Their Interface Circuits: Review and Perspective

Sensor development started with process control demands but it is currently fostered by applications requiring sensors embedded in products, packages, and our environment. Sensors developed for specific markets often create unexpected markets. Sensor advances are linked to progress in materials and IC manufacturing technology, and benefit from both classical and novel sensing principles. MEMS, ceramics, thin films, organic polymers, and fiber optics have yielded sensors that are both displacing legacy sensors and opening new application areas. Sensor interface circuits benefit from: (a) more accurate and less expensive general purpose analog components; (b) IC signal conditioners tailored to specific sensor types; and (c) low-cost mixed signal circuits able to provide inexpensive computation and communication capabilities. The convergence of computing, communications, and sensors is leading towards sensors networks. Autonomous sensors in wireless sensor networks nodes need power-efficient signal and power conditioning, as well as signal communication and network management. Index Terms — Sensors, sensor interface circuits, autonomous sensors.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT ON LAND USE/LAND COVER CHANGE USING RS AND GIS: A CASE STUDY

The present study area is a micro watershed in semi-arid region in Telangana state, India, was given priority for land reclamation by governmental and nongovernmental organisation from past ten years. The main objective of this paper is to study the impact assessment of watershed management techniques towards the improvement in land use land cover change (LULC) in agriculture, wasteland and degraded forest areas using multi temporal remote sensing data and GIS. It includes LULC classification, post classification techniques to measure the change detection between 2005 and 2013. Increasing population from past several decades intensified land farming which has led to the rapid land use/land cover change. Among many causes agriculture expansion, natural climate changes and government policies play vital role for change in LULC. In this paper we attempted to analyse and monitor the changes using LISS III images from 2005 to 2013. Images were first classified using supervised classification by giving training pixels based on ground truth. Post classification comparison techniques were applied to analyse LULC change from satellite images and used to assess the accuracy of the classification results. Integration of ancillary data and supervised classification further improved the classification accuracy. The major changes at watershed level were increased area of both scrub forest/deciduous forest and water bodies. Also area reduced for wasteland and degraded forest classes. Even though the area is in semi-arid region showed significant increase in agriculture crops. The results indicate the overall positive impact due to watershed management programmes on the study area.
The Ecology of Introductions

non-calcareous screes, where Cryptogramma crispa (Parsley Fern) was found in a similar situation. This confirms once again that surface stability is of importance in colonization. Drawing these aspects together implies that, from the point of view of physical conditions, an 'ideal' mineral waste would possess a mixture of small and large particles, such that the small particles provided water-holding capacity and the large particles gave stability. It would, however, be premature to specify the best size-range for a particular situation. These considerations are very pertinent in the revegetation of a variety of mineral wastes where an unbalanced particle-size distribution is not uncommon. Tailings from metal mining and coal washing, of uniformly small particles, may be inimical to plant colonization, as we saw above; so may be materials such as mine and quarry waste-rock, where fine particles are often lacking and plant establishment is consequently difficult. Unwashed colliery wastes can vary considerably. In some cases, easily degraded shales and mudstones weather to produce an excess of fine particles, whereas in other cases the presence of more resistant sandstones may cause difficulties with coarser sizes. It seems, therefore, that there would be practical advantages in attempting to ensure that the rooting layer of mineral waste-dumps contains an adequate proportion of fine particles, but within a fairly wide size-range. Although cost considerations frequently dictate that importation of bulk materials to a revegetation site be kept to a minimum, in many cases the requisite materials to amend the particle sizedistribution already exist on the site.
Photosynthesis and respiration of a diatom biofilm cultured in a new gradient growth chamber

A diatom biofilm was grown in a chamber developed for culture of biofilms in chemical gradients. The diatoms grew on a polycarbonate membrane filter which separated a sterile reservoir, with added phosphate, from a reservoir without phosphate. Within 3 weeks of inoculation, a thick biofilm developed on the surface of the filter. The biofilms were homogeneous and therefore suitable for calculations of O2 diffusion fluxes from concentration profiles of O2. Profiles of O2, pH, and gross photosynthesis at different light intensities and liquid medium concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon and O2 were measured with microelectrodes. Respiratory activity in a layer of the biofilm was determined as the difference between gross photosynthesis and outflux of O2 from that layer. The photosynthetic activity in a well-developed biofilm grown at 360 μEinst m−2 s−1 and 2.4 mM HCO3− was limited by the supply of inorganic carbon. Exposure to light above 360 μEinst m−2 s−1 stimulated gross photosynthesis as well as respiratory processes without affecting net outflux of O2. Higher concentrations of inorganic carbon, on the other hand, enhanced gross photosynthesis without concurrent increase in respiratory rate, resulting in an increased outflux of O2. High concentrations of O2 in the liquid medium decreased the net outflux of O2 with little effect on the gross photosynthesis. The effects of inorganic carbon and O2 on the metabolic activities of the biofilm were consistent with the presence of photorespiratory activity.