Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emerging Networks - A study on learning networks during the Covid-19 lockdown

This paper discusses findings from an investigation of students’ experiences from and participation in different learning networks during the Covid19-lockdown. The investigation is based on empirical data in the form of 32 interviews with students from a variety of University College Programmes (business-, administration-, construction-, technology-, health-, pedagogy- and teacher education). The interviews were collected as part of a larger study, where data also consisted of responses to surveys from, potentially, 84000 students. In the interviews, the students shared their experiences regarding learning and teaching online, respectively. Three cases were singled out aiming to maintain a high degree of complexity and maximum variation. Through the contemporary theories within the field of Networked Learning, we aim to show examples of how the students were networked during the Covid-19 shutdown and the implications that emerging networks had on their participation in online educational activities. Furthermore, we wish to make a suggestion for the use of the applied categorisation of networks for analyzing how students are networked. These categories, presented in this paper, are proposed by researchers within the field. The main findings suggest that online teaching during the lockdown required students to establish new patterns of participation, thus, establishing new structures and ways to collaborate. This led to emerging networks supporting different aspects of their life setting as students and creating opportunities for engaging in new social configurations and learning.
The tumor innate immune microenvironment in prostate cancer: an overview of soluble factors and cellular effectors

Prostate cancer (PCa) accounts as the most common non-cutaneous disease affecting males, and as the first cancer, for incidence, in male. With the introduction of the concept of immunoscore, PCa has been classified as a cold tumor, thus driving the attention in the development of strategies aimed at blocking the infiltration/activation of immunosuppressive cells, while favoring the infiltration/activation of anti-tumor immune cells. Even if immunotherapy has revolutionized the approaches to cancer therapy, there is still a window failure, due to the immune cell plasticity within PCa, that can acquire pro-tumor features, subsequent to the tumor microenvironment (TME) capability to polarize them. This review discussed selected relevant soluble factors [transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-23] and cellular components of the innate immunity, as drivers of tumor progression, immunosuppression, and angiogenesis within the PCa-TME.
Climate change, water resources and economic impacts in Brazilian hydrographic regions

: In the context of global climate change, one of the biggest challenges is water security. In Brazil, the prospect of water scarcity due to long-run climatic anomalies and the regional disparity between supply and demand for water resources may bring limitations to various socioeconomic activities. We built an economic model named Brazilian Multisectoral and Regional/Interregional Analysis Model with Water Module composed of 67 economic sectors and 12 Brazilian hydrographic regions, all this integrated with hydroclimatic modelling. We evaluated two channels of transmission of the climate change shock. Channel 1 represents the change in the price of treated water and Channel 2 models the possibility of purchasing capital to save raw water. The economic losses resulting from the effect of climate change on water availability are equivalent to a drop in Brazilian GDP (year reference 2015) of US$ 5.2 billion and US$ 12.5 billion under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 (by 2070-2099).
Spitzer Identifications and Classifications of Submillimeter Galaxies in Giant, High-Redshift, Lyα-Emission-Line Nebulae

Using Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC (3.6-8 μm) and MIPS (24 μm) imaging, as well as Hubble Space Telescope optical observations, we identify the IRAC counterparts of the luminous power sources residing within the two largest and brightest Lyα-emitting nebulae (LABs) in the SA 22 protocluster at z = 3.09 (LAB 1 and LAB 2). These sources are also both submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). From their rest-frame optical/near-infrared colors, we conclude that the SMG in LAB 1 is likely starburst dominated and heavily obscured (AV ~ 3). In contrast, LAB 2 has excess rest-frame ~2 μm emission (over that expected from starlight) and hosts a hard-X-ray-emitting active galactic nucleus (AGN) at the proposed location of the SMG, consistent with the presence of an AGN. We conclude that LAB 1 and LAB 2 appear to have very different energy sources despite having similar Lyα spatial extents and luminosities, although it remains unclear whether ongoing star formation or periodic AGN heating is responsible for the extended Lyα emission. We find that the mid-infrared properties of the SMGs lying in LAB 1 and LAB 2 are similar to those of the wider SMG population, and so it is possible that extended Lyα halos are a common feature of SMGs in general.
CONTAMINATION, RISK ASSESSMENT OF HEAVY METALS IN SURFACE SEDIMENTS FROM A MARICULTURE BAY IN SOUTH CHINA

In order to assess the contamination, ecological and biotoxicity risk of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in mariculture area of China, the total concentrations and speciation of metals were analysed in the sediments from a typical mariculture bay in 2011 and 2013. The results show that most heavy metal concentrations in 2013 were lower than those in 2011. The residual and sulfide-bound fractions were the primary fractions of heavy metals. The pollution can be described in all the sampling sites of heavy metals (except Cd) with moderate to a very high degree by geo-accumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF) and pollution load index (PLI). According to the risk assessment code (RAC), Cd, Ni and Pb posed a medium to very high ecological risk. The sampling sites that exhibited the biotoxicity risk in 2013 had higher biotoxicity levels than that in 2011. Based on statistical analysis and environmental investigation, four sites (S1, S2, S4 and S7) were highly affected by the environmental pollutants which primarily resulted from the combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel and the ships protective layer.
Simulated Mars Environments The evolution of the Martian magnetic field, the physical processes behind Recurring Slope Lineae and the possibility for microbial life on Mars

One subject that has interested people throughout time is the idea of finding life in places beyond Earth and one such place could be Mars. But could life survive on the red planet today? This is one of the questions the thesis focuses on. Separated into three major sections each section focuses on aspects that are crucial for life. The first section dives into the original Martian atmosphere and the time of the disappearance of the global magnetic field. Through simple calculations an estimated ratio of the original atmosphere of Earth and Mars, created either by outgassing or collisions, are found. From these calculations the estimated time for the disappearance of the Martian magnetic field is calculated. The calculations give a time of disappearance at either 2.96 Ga ago or at 3.74 Ga ago, depending on how the atmosphere was created. The second section focuses on the possibility of finding liquid water, in the form of recurring slope lineae (RSL) on the Martian surface today. Water is one possible explanation for RSL, that are dark lines traveling down slopes. The focus was to test the possibility for perchlorates to be a part of this explanation, and if they could lead to water vapor from the atmosphere condensing in the soil. The experiment consisted of a number of smaller experiments both testing soils with different concentrations of perchlorates measuring their reflectance as well as testing the slope. Liquid water is essential for all life known on Earth and this is why RSL is interesting and also leads to the third section which concentrates one the possibility for life on Mars. Through the use of a Mars simulation chamber, a Martian environment, consisting of a carbon dioxide atmosphere, a pressure of 1 % of Earth’s and a low humidity around 17 % was created and bacteria was tested. The bacteria was exposed to the environmental changes over two weeks, with the interest in seeing how they reacted to a Mars-like environment. An additional experiment, testing how the bacteria coped with UV-radiation, was also conducted, exposing the bacteria to different intervals of UV-radiation. The common thread for all three sections is their focus on life. With the calculations estimating the time of disappearance of the magnetic field, the experiments surrounding recurring slope lineae, to the testing of bacteria under Mars-like conditions, all with the interest of better understanding the red planet and the possibility for life beyond Earth.
Combining GPU Tracing Methods within a Single Ray Query

A recent trend in real-time rendering is the utilization of the new hardware ray tracing capabilities. Often, usage of a distance field representation is proposed as an alternative when hardware ray tracing is deemed too costly, and the two are seen as competing approaches. In this work, we show that both approaches can work together effectively for a single ray query on modern hardware. We choose to use hardware ray tracing where precision is most important, while avoiding its heavy cost by using a distance field when possible. While a simple approach, in our experiments the resulting tracing algorithm overcomes the associated overhead and allows a user-defined middle ground between the performance of distance field traversal and the improved visual quality of hardware ray tracing.
A Competition Analysis of Software Assurance Tools

In the production process of a software system, it is impossible to manually ensure that no vulnerabilities, license conflicts, or improper code cloning takes place. For this reason, several tools that automate such processes have been introduced in the market as software assurance tools, and enable software-producing organizations to create reliable and secure software systems. In this study, the market for these tools is explored by performing a gap analysis to unearth business opportunities for a new software assurance tool. The market is explored through a systematic snowballing procedure methodology to find more on current literature available in the domain to ultimately compose a requirement comparison matrix that surveys existing tools. Following this study, it is found that although the market is crowded, there are several business opportunities for a new software assurance tool to be introduced. By focusing on aspects that are uncommon in these tools, and therefore expanding the set of functionalities offered by the tool, opportunities arise to outperform the competition. Also offering the tool, or a part of the tool, for no cost would help achieve the successful introduction of a new software assurance tool.
Large positive magnetoconductivity at microwave frequencies in the compensated topological insulator 
BiSbTeSe2

The bulk electronic properties of compensated topological insulators are strongly affected by the self-organized formation of charge puddles at low temperature, but their response in the microwave frequency range is little studied. We employed broadband impedance spectroscopy up to 5 GHz to address the ac transport properties of well-compensated BiSbTeSe2, where charge puddles are known to form as metallic entities embedded in an insulating host. It turns out that the average puddle size sets the characteristic frequency cut-off in the GHz range, across which the insulating dc behavior is separated from a metal-like high-frequency response of delocalized carriers within the puddles. The cut-off frequency is found to be controlled by a magnetic field, giving rise to a large positive magneto-conductivity observable only in the GHz range. This curious phenomenon is driven by the Zeeman energy which affects the local band filling in the disordered potential landscape to enhance the puddle size.
NEFL is overexpressed and it modulates invasion and migration in neuroendocrine-like PC3-ML2 prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer clinical outcomes are varied, from non-aggressive asymptomatic to lethal aggressive neuroendocrine forms which represent a critical challenge in the management of the disease. The neurofilament light ( NEFL ) is proposed to be a tumor suppressor gene. Studies have shown that expression of the gene is decreased in various cancers. We have used quantitative RT-PCR, immunoblotting, methylation specific PCR, siRNA knockdown followed by migration/invasion assays to determine associations between NEFL expression and disease phenotype in a panel of prostate cells. We demonstrate that NEFL is overexpressed and it modulates invasion and migration in PC3-ML2 prostate cancers cells which have an aggressive neuroendocrine-like phenotype.
Journal Pre-proof Stage-specific survival from esophageal cancer in China and implications for control strategies: a systematic review and meta-analyses

Background & Aims Esophageal cancer claims over 500,000 deaths worldwide, with half occurring in China. We aimed to synthesise existing evidence on stage-specific survival from this cancer in China to inform cancer control strategies. Methods English and Chinese literature databases were systematically searched to identify original research published up to 31 May 2019 that reported stage-specific survival from esophageal cancer in China. Two meta-analyses were performed using random-effects models to summarise stage-specific survival differences on relative and absolute scales. The number of oesophageal cancer deaths that might have been prevented by early detection in China, in 2018, was estimated assuming two different downstaging scenarios. Results 150 eligible studies were identified, 97 had non-overlapping study populations (83,063 participants), 47 were included in the meta-analysis of hazard ratios and 26 in the meta-analysis of survival probabilities. Late-stage (III–IV) was associated with 92% higher hazard of death compared with early-stage (0–II) (95% CI 1.62–2.28), corresponding to an absolute 5-year survival difference of 31.2% (29.9–32.4%). In all, 5.2% esophageal cancer deaths could have been prevented in China, in 2018, if the observed stage distribution at diagnosis (~50% early-stage) were shifted to the real-life conditions of a population-based endoscopic screening program (~60% early-stage) and 26.9% if shifted to that observed in the controlled setting of a randomised trial (~90% early-stage). Conclusions Shifting downwards the stage distribution of esophageal cancer through screening would bring moderate reductions in mortality from the disease. Treatment improvements for early-stage patients are needed to reduce further mortality from this cancer.
Professional Motivations in the Public Sector: Evidence from Police Officers

How do public sector workers balance their workplace motivations with private economic concerns? We study this question in the context of police arrests, among the most common and consequential government acts. We study two institutional features that change an officer’s private cost of making an arrest. First, arrests near the end of a shift more often require overtime work and pay, and we show that officers respond by reducing arrests and increasing arrest quality near shift-end. Second, arrests on days when an officer works a post-shift off-duty job have a higher opportunity cost, which we find causes a modest reduction in late-shift arrests. Combining these estimates in a dynamic model identifies officers’ implied trade-off between private and professional motivations. Officers exhibit a high valuation towards their work but balance it with a high cost to working additional police hours. Changes to overtime pay policy would lead to almost no change in officer arrest activity. Our findings highlight the first-order importance of aversion to overtime work for the quantity and quality of public sector work. JEL Codes: K42 ∗We are grateful to Bocar Ba, Jordi Blanes i Vidal, Jesse Bruhn, Amanda Geller, Sierra Kuzava, Ilyana Kuziemko, Adriana Lleras-Muney, Bentley MacLeod, Michael Makowsky, Conrad Miller, Michael Mueller-Smith, Emily Owens, Nicola Persico, Alessandra Voena, Till von Wachter, Emily Weisburst, and seminar participants at the Ottawa Applied Micro Lab (University of Ottawa/Carleton University), Princeton University, UCLA, APPAM, NBER Summer Institute, SEA, SOLE, and the Arnold Ventures’ Police Accountability Roundtable for helpful comments. We thank the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas County Attorney General’s office for sharing their records and Lieutenant Stephen Bishopp and Corporal Julie Martin for help with institutional details. Any remaining errors are our own. †University of Pennsylvania and NBER, achalfin@sas.upenn. edu ‡University of California, Los Angeles and NBER; fgoncalves@ucla.edu.
STUDY OF SEED DORMANCY ORIGINS IN THREE ATLAS PISTACHIO ECOTYPES ( PISTACIA ATLANTICA DESF.)

The Atlas pistachio ( Pistacia atlantica Desf.), a rustic tree distributed in different bioclimatic areas, is rapidly declining, particularly in Algeria. Among the actions to be undertaken is the launch of a restocking program. Nevertheless, Atlas pistachio seed dormancy is an obstacle limiting its germination and obtaining seedlings. The aims of the present study are to define the nature of seed germination inhibitors and to propose pretreatments that would limit their effects. Seeds were collected from three locations in Algeria. Quantitative and qualitative traits of phenolic compounds and total antioxidant activity were determined at three levels, namely, seed, epicarp and kernel. Germination was investigated in seeds with epicarp, epicarp removed, and with or without H 2 O 2 treatment. Results showed that whole seed germination is not effective. Scarification by removing epicarp did not improve the germination rate. Chemical analyses indicated that seeds, kernel and epicarp were rich in total phenolic compounds. These compounds are known to limit seed germination in several species. Application of hydrogen peroxide induced a significant increase in seed germination rate in the three ecotypes. H 2 O 2 caused inhibition of polyphenol compounds effects on germination. The results indicated that the inhibitory effect of phenolic compounds can be found at the kernel level instead of the epicarp. However, studied genotypes indicated that only one ecotype was distinguished by seed dormancy that originated in the epicarp and kernel.
Adaptive image magnification using edge-directed and statistical methods

This thesis provides a comparison of two adaptive image magnification algorithms selected from the literature. Following implementation and experimentation with the algorithms, a number of improvements are proposed. The first selected algorithm takes an edge-directed approach by using an estimation of the edge map of the high-resolution image to guide the interpolation process. It was found that this algorithm suffered from certain inaccuracies in the edge detection stage. The proposed improvements focus on methods for increasing the accuracy of edge detection. The second selected algorithm takes a statistical approach by modelling the highresolution image as a Gibbs-Markov random field and solving with the maximum a posteriori estimation technique. It was found that this algorithm suffered from blurring caused by the general way in which the clique potentials are applied to every sample. The proposed improvements introduce a set of weights to prevent smoothing across discontinuities. The two selected algorithms are compared to the enhanced versions to demonstrate the merit of the proposed improvements. Results have shown significant improvements in the quality of the magnified test images. In particular, blurring was reduced and edge sharpness was enhanced.
Extended paraconductivity regime in underdoped cuprates

We reconsider transport experiments in strongly anisotropic high-${T}_{c}$ superconducting cuprates and we find that the universal Aslamazov-Larkin paraconductivity in two dimensions is surprisingly robust, even in the underdoped regime below the pseudogap crossover temperature ${T\phantom{\rule{0.1em}{0ex}}}^{*}$. We also establish that the underlying normal-state resistivity in the pseudogap region is (almost) linear in temperature, with all the deviations being quantitatively accounted for by Aslamazov-Larkin paraconductivity. The disappearance of paraconductivity is ruled by the suppression of Gaussian pair fluctuations at an energy scale related to ${T\phantom{\rule{0.1em}{0ex}}}^{*}$.
Constraint on the effective number of neutrino species from the WMAP and SDSS LRG power spectra

We derive a constraint on the effective number of neutrino species Nν from the cosmic microwave background power spectrum of the WMAP and galaxy clustering power spectrum of the SDSS luminous red galaxies (LRGs). Using these two latest data sets of CMB and galaxy clustering alone, we obtain the limit 0.9 < Nν < 8.2 (95% C.L.) for the power-law Λ CDM flat universe, with no external prior. The lower limit corresponds to the lower bound on the reheating temperature of the universe TR > 2 MeV.
Phase transitions induced by confinement of ferroic nanoparticles

A general approach for considering primary ferroic (ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, ferroelastic) nanoparticle phase transitions was proposed in phenomenological theory framework. The surface stress, order parameter gradient, and striction, as well as depolarization, demagnetization, and de-elastification effects, were included into the free energy. The strong intrinsic surface stress under the curved nanoparticle surface was shown to play the important role in the shift of transition temperature (if any) up to the appearance of a new ordered phase absent in the bulk ferroic. Euler-Lagrange equations obtained after the Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire free energy minimization were solved by direct variational method. This leads to the conventional form of the free energy with renormalized coefficients depending on nanoparticle sizes, surface stress, and electrostriction tensor values, and so opens the way for polar property calculations by algebraic transformations. Surface piezoeffect causes built-in electric field that induces an electretlike polar state and smears the phase transition point. The approximate analytical expression for the size-induced ferroelectric transition temperature dependence on cylindrical or spherical nanoparticle sizes, polarization gradient coefficient, correlation radius, intrinsic surface stress, and electrostriction coefficient was derived. Under the favorable conditions (radius of $5\char21{}50\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$ and compressive surface stress), spatial confinement induces a ferroelectric phase in incipient ferroelectric nanowires and nanospheres. The prediction of size-induced ferroelectricity in $\mathrm{K}\mathrm{Ta}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ nanorods with radius less than $5\char21{}20\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$ at room temperature could be useful for the next generation of devices based on three-dimensional nanostructures.
Secrets of Successful Science Projects

Over the past several years, the authors have served as teachers, qualified scientists, mentors, and/or parents on dozens of science projects. These projects ranged from elementary school projects that can be completed in a weekend to high school and college freshmen projects that take a semester or year to complete and yield published scholarly papers and/or compete at the highest national and international levels. This article describes what we have observed to be important to success.